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nyorksgrannie

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Everything posted by nyorksgrannie

  1. nyorksgrannie
    Than you Randall, that’s good news looks like we can apply.
  2. nyorksgrannie
    Thank you for responding Ramot, I know the rules changed just trying to work out when we can apply.
  3. nyorksgrannie
    Can someone tell me whether the time a person is allowed to apply for Citizenship is 4 years from date of arriving or 4 years from residency being given? We are seniors and came here 8 months before our 143 was granted on a 12 month 600 visa.
  4. nyorksgrannie
    Thank you Ramot we are already living in Australia, we came out in 2017 and our 143 visa was issued in 2018, see below. We haven’t visited UK since and I didn’t know the state pension went up when visiting, how strange I thought you would have to be back permanently and prove it for that to happen. As we have no close relatives in the uk it is unlikely we would visit for long and we hope some friends will visit us here post Covid. We have kept a UK bank account too and also do a transfer from that via Halo. I will investigate Citizenship further, it’s tricky when the necessary documents on line are not available to view until you have reached the qualifying number of years to apply. We are so happy to be here. Thank you for replying.
  5. nyorksgrannie
    Thank you that is nice to know and I don’t have a problem with voting I have always voted , women suffered in the Uk protesting to get women the vote we should respect that. Many thanks for replying.
  6. nyorksgrannie
    Congratulations Ramos I was just browsing looking for info on citizenship so wondered if you or anyone else might be able to help. We only got our 143 parent visas in 2018 and we are in our early 70’s I understand older people can apply earlier for citizenship but not sure if this is true. Also are there any downsides we should be aware of, would we still be able to draw our UK state pensions for instance? We have never worked in Australia and have a private pension too. Also are we able to have dual citizenship? We have no intention of going back to UK to live but just wondered about passports ours have several years left. I would be grateful for any info.
  7. nyorksgrannie
    Just checked in to see how everyone is doing and so pleased for you SusieRoo some progress at last, I hope you manage to travel in Europe - safely and hope you will soon be in Australia with family.
  8. nyorksgrannie
    Have you tried American Express ?
  9. nyorksgrannie
    Many congratulations, lots of celebrating when you get to uk and they issue your visa, very happy for you.
  10. nyorksgrannie
    I guess you have found somewhere to live now but we like Saratoga and Davistown. We are retired but travel to see family in Berowra and Sydney area. Driving is fine until you get to Hornsby and south then it is busy and full of trucks. The great thing about a Davistown is that there is plenty of space to walk by the water, it doesn’t get the weekend tourists that clog up Terrigal and Avoca and there is a ferry across to Woy Woy where you can catch a train into Sydney some of which are fast (ish) not stopping everywhere. We can walk to cafes, restaurants and takeaways. There are hospitals in Gosford, shopping mall st Erina, 15 mins drive to Avoca when you want beach. etc etc. You might struggle with budget but there are still some bargains to be had if you don’t mind a bit of renovating. Good luck with wherever you choose.
  11. nyorksgrannie
    Unless the rules have changed they just need to be out of Australia we were asked to give our departure date and flight details and were given a date to leave before (we went to Fiji) our residency was granted as soon as we were there but you should allow a few days, a week to be safe in my opinion before returning.
  12. nyorksgrannie
    Congratulations Jimbob007, what a wait! we never realised at the time how lucky we were - 3 years Good luck to everyone still waiting.
  13. nyorksgrannie
    Many thanks Ramot, I am not sure if there is any relevance but Barclays closed a lot of their overseas branches, Sydney being one of them and they just have a Corporate office now. Not sure why this would affect our UK account though but the impression we were given was that it would be a temporary arrangement to keep the account open, our state pensions are paid into there and I have used it to send gifts etc., but that also has become more difficult as companies want Uk billing address for card payment. I use Paypal when I can now, or just pay in Aus Dollars. I do find the pin sentry gadget useful though for accessing account details. Many thanks for your help.
  14. nyorksgrannie
    Barclays
  15. nyorksgrannie
    Many thanks rammygirl, Jetblast & MarisaWright, We assumed others with UK accounts gave a close relatives address, still in the UK. We don’t have any close relatives left there, just elderly cousins. We were originally told the bank wouldn’t send replacement debit cards overseas but did get them to do it after several requests.We have been with the bank in question a long time, with hindsight should have transferred to another whilst still in UK. We will continue with our present system thanks to your help! We love it here but so much still to learn!
  16. nyorksgrannie
    We no longer have a uk address
  17. nyorksgrannie
    Hi I hope some of those that used to contribute to this site that got visas earlier than us might still pop in and read updates from time to time , hopefully someone will know the answer. We have up to now had our uk state pensions paid into a uk bank account and then transferred to a currency transfer company who arrange the payment into our Aus bank account, if we close the uk bank account which we will need to do, does the pension office transfer through a bank with higher transfer fees to us?
  18. nyorksgrannie
    Try posting on Parent visa forum, we did our health checks in Australia, we got the impression from the Doctors there that there was no concern over our medicals but I don’t think we had a letter saying that, things change so hopefully someone on the forum can help you that has gone through this process more recently.
  19. nyorksgrannie
    Re SuzanneW - listing holidays When we were at this stage I found it useful to check photographs to prompt my memory, we had most on computer and some records of flights etc on a filed travel itinerary, also look at any stamps in your passport. It is time consuming putting all the dates in but better to do it than have questions later. Good luck
  20. nyorksgrannie
    Hi Catlady you are very lucky, we have found Bulk billing practices thin on the ground and people having to wait a long time to see the Drs. The Drs we used to go to near our daughters however did sometimes bulk bill at their discretion when it was a short follow up appointment for instance and we too have found the Drs good here and X rays etc done amazingly quickly at PRP. We are about to start at a new Drs practise having moved into our renovated house and I understand some of the Drs there only bill privately so will have to choose carefully as it is a fairly small practise, we are not in a city. I hope you are enjoying life in Queensland.
  21. nyorksgrannie
    Yes it is and we pay extra for dental .
  22. nyorksgrannie
    Re health insurance in Aus, it doesn’t cover everything like in Uk most Drs/surgeons charge more than the health insurance allowance and you pay the balance. I recently had a fall and the specialist I was referred to was based at a private hospital, Medicare paid for some of the medical fees but I had to pay the surgeon days in advance of surgery (which was minor but still cost a lot) and then reclaim from medicare who only pay part of the amount charged. Bupa paid the hospital fees but not the surgeon, anaesthetist etc. This would explain why private insurance costs less than the Uk but all Australians are encouraged and expected to have it and are penalised when they don’t. Medicare doesn’t cover dental, Bupa who we are with and pay extra for dental, pay a fraction of total cost, for example I chipped a tooth, it didn’t need any anaesthesia ,was a quick job ,the fee was Aus$ 325.00 Bupa paid $80.20 I paid the rest. The service is usually good but you should be prepared for the costs involved as most on this site may well be fit, but are not young.
  23. nyorksgrannie
    Just seen your posting, great news after all this time, congratulations, I hope you will be very happy in your new home when you have sold and packed up. It is hard work organising it all but so worth it when you get here, being with your family and the weather helps too!
  24. nyorksgrannie
    Just seen your good news, at last! many congratulations and good luck with the house sale etc.
  25. nyorksgrannie
    I would try not to worry about it too much, all the scaremongering and politicians/bankers with their own agenda cause the lack in confidence, once the deal is done they will have to get on with it. Great Britain was and still is Great and is not going to collapse over Brexit. I think houses prices will rise when confidence returns after Brexit. Good luck to everyone in the queue I guess we are lucky that we got our visas in three years, we didn’t think so when we were in the queue though as we thought it would be two years, at least now people have a more realistic idea of the wait involved.
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