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datstheone

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  1. datstheone
    My application was recently approved. I am over 60 and didn't need test or interview before approval, just got the letter a few days after I noticed the status had changed. I wonder if the interview is more to confirm the identity of someone about to take the test to avoid fraud during the testing process than actually checking the documents. I don't know how things will change in the current circumstances but I suspect that over 60 applications tend to end up at the back of the queue. With no movement and seeing others who had applied after me getting tests and approvals in Sydney I submitted a FOI request as my application came up to its first birthday. The information returned suggested that a couple of months after I applied someone confirmed that my application was exempt from interview/test and then nothing for 9 months. My Immi account was updated to show approved a week after I received the FOI return. Coincidence or did that wake the application up? Now just waiting for some form of ceremony to complete the process.
  2. datstheone
    For me it doesn't make any real difference, and I have just renewed my RRV for 5 years anyway. But as I understand it not being a citizen has implications for some jobs and things like University fees, so if social distancing goes on for a year people impacted by this would be disadvantaged. Only difference for me is that my UK passport expires in November and I am not sure whether my visa depends on maintaining a valid passport regardless of whether or not I want to travel, if post gets disrupted and things in UK go bad then not too keen on posting off my passport for an overseas renewal, so becoming an Australian citizen and getting Australian passport covers me for that. Sadly, I do expect that you are right and nothing will happen until ceremonies can restart and then I will just have to wait my turn.
  3. datstheone
    After being in Australia for 4 years on a PR 100 partner visa I submitted my citizenship application on 6/4/2019 for Sydney, I am over 60 so exempt from test (though even without really studying I got passes everytime I tried one of the on-line example tests), UK born and bred with University education so English language ability not an issue. Still showing as received in March so I sent in FOI request having seen that later applications were getting tests and approvals. The response arrived last week and showed that the last action was in June last year when it was confirmed that I was exempt from Integrity Screening, which I assume means exempt from interview and test. I have just checked my Immi account and lo and behold my application is not approved, so perhaps the FOI request did alert them to the fact that nothing had happened to a simple application for 10 months, meaning they got on with it. Now to wait for a ceremony, or any alternative that is introduced in the current situation, almost there.
  4. datstheone
    Not sure what you mean by worked example. As far as I am aware you will only need to get a UPP ruling if you opt to receive your final salary based pension, and if you are liable for Australian income tax. You just need to fill in https://www.ato.gov.au/uploadedFiles...43_01_2015.pdf which will require, with evidence from pension provider, and in relevant local currency e.g. GBP. - contributions to scheme - lump sum taken on retirement - CETV on day before lump sum taken - first year's pension amount ATO also want to know if part of the pension will continue to be paid to any partner should they survive you. Post form off to ATO and you should get ruling in a month or two. Mine took a bit longer as I made an error adding up the annual contributions supplied by pension provider, so needed to confirm that ATO maths was better than mine! For a typical UK final salary pension I think that everything is sorted at retirement and that is the only time to take any cash out of the scheme other than the on-going pension, and that this is all paid to you. This means that calculating the UPP allowance is a case of dividing your contributions by the your or your partner's (if they get continuing pension) life expectancy at the time of retirement - ATO works this out from dates of birth supplied on form. This is supplied as a local currency value, e.g. GBP which is converted to AUD using ATO exchange rate for the tax year in question and that value used as an allowance against income. In my case my total contributions were around £40000 and my wife's life expectancy was longer than mine at 30 years when I retired in 2010, so my UPP was 40000/30 which is around £1333. So for 2015-16 I was able to reduce my taxable income by $2605, saving just over what I spent getting my pension provider to retrospectively calculate my retirement CETV. If nothing changes then ruling can be used for subsequent years, converting £1333 into AUD each time. So I will then get full benefit as don't have to offset against costs of getting the CETV. If you move back to Australia after retiring and don't become an Australian tax resident until after retirement I don't think lump sum will be liable for tax in Australia. I married and moved to Australia with my Australian wife after retirement so that was just part of my existing assets. I hope this helps.
  5. datstheone
    I obtained a private ruling regarding U.P.P. on my private pension from Universities Superannuation Scheme in July and got a deduction on my tax for 2015-16 I filled in the UPP form (https://www.ato.gov.au/uploadedFiles...43_01_2015.pdf) and sent it off. I didn't use an accountant as the ones I spoke to were ok with applying a U.P.P. deduction but not making a claim to get one. In order to get the ruling I needed to have details of my payments into my pension scheme. My pension company supplied me with the details of all my annual contributions which need to be added up to give the total for the form. There doesn't seem to be any allowance for inflation, just a sum of the actual contributions. I also needed the value of the pension at the time I retired. This is something called Cash Equivalent Transfer Value, CETV. Again I had to get this from my pension company, but as I have already retired they needed to get this calculated and charged a fee for this. So just about break even on the cost of this and the tax savings for this year, but as a one off no future fees. As I get the whole pension and no residual capital value the UPP is simply what I paid in divided by my wife's life expectancy at the time I retired (ATO use youngest spouse for this, in this case her). Also things are simplified by the fact that I spent my entire working life in UK University sector so have a single private pension. I guess that if someone has multiple private pensions they will need a UPP ruling on each pension. UPP is a fixed sum based on values at time of retirement, so it will not change over the years as pension goes up. It is quoted in GBP so actual allowance will depend on ATO exchange rate for any given tax year. For this year it comes out as just over 5% of pension being tax free so on my estimates I am saving around $1000 on my total tax bill. Although the ruling was requested and given for the 2015-16 tax year there is a note that says that if nothing changes in the information given it can apply for more than just that tax year. Other than having to sort out a minor error in my adding up of all my contributions the process was quite painless. However, I was fortunate to just have one pension provider who understood the information that was required by ATO and were willing to provide it, albeit requiring a fee for CETV calculation due to my already drawing my pension. As I only turned 65 in June I did not receive any UK state pension until after the end of the tax year so haven't put claiming the 8% allowance on that, but there nothing in private pension ruling about a limit on total UPP deductions that can be claimed for multiple pensions. Hope this helps and that you can get the information that ATO need to do the calculations and grant you a private ruling.
  6. datstheone
    My situation was not quite the same as we knew that we were getting married at the time I applied for my visa and included the details of register office appointment with application. CO then asked for copy of certificate once wedding had taken place. Might have been one reason why I was granted 100 straight off. Situation might depend on how soon you get married or can have some form of formal evidence that wedding is taking place. If in the near future then get the information in to help application. If married after visa granted then I guess that would be a case of reporting any change of passport number. If you get a 100 straight off, and if you have 7 years de facto evidence you may well do so, then that is probably it, if 309 then might need to notify someone though perhaps not as relationship is continuing, leave that until submitting evidence for 100 when the time comes?
  7. datstheone
    One other thing to bear in mind if you plan to make trips back to UK is your UK tax situation. If you switch to being an Australian tax resident having moved to Australia then there are limits on how long you can spend back in UK before getting sucked back into UK tax system. First year it is only a couple of years, increasing each year after ceasing to be UK tax resident. I am not sure of the practical problems since the dual tax arrangement should make sure that you are not taxed twice, but it might mean more form filling!
  8. datstheone
    I am the POM and have just been granted a 100 visa and this time next week will be on my way to rejoin my wife to start our new life together in Sydney. As I am retired I was able to visit Australia several times and met several of my wife's friends there. When we were preparing my application we asked 3 of the friends we had visited together for our 888s and another Australian citizen now living in US who had known us individually before we met and as a couple. I submitted my visa application with three of the four 888's but in one case without a certified copy of their passport page to prove citizenship. This, and the last 888 arrived after visa application was submitted. As my wife and I married after my application had gone in when I submitted a copy of our marriage certificate and the missing certified passport page I asked if I should also upload the extra 888 and was told that this was not needed as what I had submitted was sufficient. I guess that in the end it comes down to the quality of the evidence you can submit, not the quantity. Two comprehensive 888s that tie in with the rest of the application may well be all that is needed.
  9. datstheone
    My must enter by date is 3 months after both my medical and police check! I suspect CO typed December when they meant September as that would have matched date of medical. Everything else on grant is correct so I didn't bother to query this as I am flying out on Easter Sunday anyway.
  10. datstheone
    Having resigned myself to waiting until next week I have just received my grant email! 9 months. And straight to a 100. (Though unlike some others I have only got the one email granting the 100, not 309 and then 100.) Didn't come from my CO, so perhaps other members of staff can work through ready to go grants even if CO not in office. One other strange thing about the grant is that I have until 15 December to enter the country when my medical and police check were done in September, doesn't even match up with getting an e-visitor visa at beginning of December last year. Not an issue to me as I hope to be entering in a month. Really happy to get the 100 as we only got married in July having spent more and more time together in both UK and Australia since we met 6 years ago, but without merging our lives completely. For example, I handled all the sterling spending and my wife the Australian dollar spending, with spreadsheets keeping track of things! Wasn't sure whether that would tick the right boxes. Now to get things moving and rejoin my wife in our new home. Good luck to all of those of you still waiting.
  11. datstheone
    No, nothing for me either. With recent grant times, a part-time CO and the fact that February was a short month I wasn't really expecting to get it this week. Given that some people who lodged after us were granted on Tuesday I now feel rather disappointed that mine didn't come through. Mixture of feeling happy for them and upset that they got their grants before I did! If I don't hear anything on Monday I will send a reply to an earlier email along the lines that I am seeing later grants, believed that visas were granted in order and wondering if there is any issue with mine that is causing it to be delayed etc. If I get a grant next week I think that will still give me time to go with my plan to leave at Easter, several things make that the perfect time to leave including the friend buying my car being able to pick it up from Brighton and all of my sister's family being at home for Easter.
  12. datstheone
    I have the same CO as Rikkeskill, unless there are two COs with same initials. On the original email about visa being lodged and her being appointed my CO there was a note saying that she is only in the office Monday to Wednesday.
  13. datstheone
    I have been lurking on the forum and following all the grants without updating my details. My 309/100 application was lodged on 5th June and my case officer is also JM. I applied after booking our wedding but before it took place, so only additional information was to send the wedding certificate after we married in July. Given recent grants and a part-time CO it would be good to get my grant today or Wednesday, but to avoid disappointment expecting that it might slip till next week. I have things lined up to go once the visa is granted, agents for renting flat, shippers, friend buying car etc, so hoping I can clear flat just before Easter and fly out on Easter Sunday. While it won't change the tax I have to pay I am hoping that there may be a form filling advantage in leaving UK in one UK tax year and arriving in Australia and starting to get rental income the next! I was fortunate to spend most of January in Sydney helping my wife reclaim her house after it has been rented out for the last few years, so first stage of setting up home already done and it is not going to be a total leap in the dark. As I took early retirement a few years ago I am not faced with having to find work. Not sure if I could have managed what many of you are doing in making a complete leap into the unknown to build a whole new life in Australia. Good luck to you all.
  14. datstheone
    I saw this and did some checking. The response from immigration implied that the bit about not having to go off-shore when 100 is granted only applies when this is granted after entering country after 309 was granted and then going through the provisional phase. If you apply off-shore for 309/100 then you have to be off-shore when you get first grant, even if you get 100 straight off. But if you move to Australia on 309 then the 100 will be granted without you having to go off-shore then. I am just back from a few weeks helping my wife settle back into her house ready for it to become our home when my visa is granted. I decided not to make full move until visa actually granted but I had no problems entering on an e-visitor visa, and nothing would have stopped me staying and then going out for a few days when visa ready to be granted. My 8 months are up in a couple of days but I'm not holding out much hope of getting visa until early March, but can't wait to get back and start living in Sydney.
  15. datstheone
    I applied for my partner visa at the beginning of June ahead of marrying in July. Other than supplying marriage certificate after wedding no requests for additional information and health & police checks ok. Seeing all the recent posts about processing time increasing I am now confused as to why things take so long is it - that there is a monthly quota so everything is queued and queue is getting longer because of number of applications Or - that so much going on that things just taking longer to get done? If it is workload related at what point is a decision made about whether or not the visa will be granted? (I did postal application since since I didn't spot that they had started to accept on-line applications after I had started preparing the application, so can't check status on-line). Does the fact that CO has given go-ahead for police/medical check without asking for any more evidence mean that actually the visa information has been processed and they have found that everything is in order and so it is a case of when not if the visa will be granted? My wife has just returned to Sydney and gets back into her house tomorrow after current tenants move out. I have just got a new valid tourist visa and since I am retired I could rent my flat out in the New Year and head out to join her, with a trip to NZ when visa ready to be granted. However, don't really want to do this unless I am certain I will actually get the visa and there will be no last minute requests for extra information that would be difficult to provide if everything packed up waiting to be shipped. If clear that everything is ok then I am getting tempted to arrange the move towards the end of February and hope that if I alert my CO at the beginning of February (i.e. end of my 8th month) that I am going on-shore and will need to arrange to go off-shore for the grant it may trigger an immediate grant to save them the hassle associated with co-ordinating grant with applicant making off-shore trip :-)
  16. datstheone
    Hoping to get my partner visa in February and come to Australia as soon as possible after that. Trying to work out whether it is worth shipping my car. Ford Fiesta 1.0 EcoBoost Zetec 3 door with air-con bought July 2013 and in good condition with 8000 miles. Bought for £13000. Looks as though I could sell for £8500 to £9000 in UK. EcoBoost engine is Ford's fuel efficient 3 cylinder engine. Currently the only Australian model with this engine is a Sports Fiesta released about a year ago costing around A$20000 second hand. Would like to keep the fuel efficiency if the economics for shipping work out, rather than go for a similar spec normal engine e.g. Ambient version, which seems to be available for around A$16000. Resale value not really an issue as would plan to keep the car for many years. I assume that if Ford are selling a car with that type of engine in Australia that servicing would not be an issue? Any advice and guidance welcome.
  17. datstheone
    If the information on my medical information letter is correct then I am being considered for 100 straight off without any asking for it. I also saw the bit about not needing to be off-shore when 100 is granted and sent a query on London contact form to get clarification. Sadly all I got was a standard reply saying that there is no visa designed to allow one to be in Australia waiting for a partner visa, and no clarification of my actual question. I would also be grateful to know if one can be in Australia on tourist visa and then go straight to PR when 100 is granted without needing an off-short trip. I suspect that the wording on the website refers to the 309/100 route, so if you were off-shore when 309 was granted then no need to go off-shore again when 100 is granted in its place after the 2 year period. My guess is that if one is granted a 100 straight off that will still require one to be off-shore when it is granted. I would be happy to be proved wrong on this if someone gets a specific clarification from their CO.
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