Paolo

It’s been good to see some long-term contributors making some progress recently – given that the medical is the one ‘unknown’ factor in this process is anyone willing to share their general medical examination process experience with the group? (no personal details expected of course). Just be good to know how long it took to arrange / how long did it take / what was the Dr focused on / did they access medical records / was there a choice of venues etc Any info welcome.

1 hour ago, bry45 said:

I was just sat here thinking along the same lines and contemplating what will be !! There's little point in us applying for the new temp visa as I'm assuming it will be $5,000 each. As we are now 12 months in to our 143, the are only reasons preventing us from applying for a 600, a) the 6 months out of every 18 were we can't be in OZ and b) the fact that I can't work, which is really annoying as I'm quite happy to contribute the the OZ budget.

Alan, as I can work remotely, would it be possible for me to continue being employed in my current role whilst living/staying in OZ? I can transfer my employment status from being employed to being a consultant for which the company will be invoiced, any income I then get would be declared in OZ and taxed accordingly.

 

Bry - the 600 Visa is clearly designed to be a Tourist Visa and does not usually permit work of any kind. Why not look at it from a different angle and enjoy your 'holiday' and a bit of travel but do occasional work for your UK 'employer' whilst on your sabbatical. The invoice can be raised in the UK for this consultancy work, paid into your UK Bank and any tax can also be paid there. You can enjoy your long holiday and put a dent in the 143 queue and also be gainfully employed as well. I guess like me you have been able to / had to work remotely whilst on your 'normal' month long Oz holidays anyway, so what is the difference? 

On 5/7/2017 at 4:44 AM, daveedley said:

We opened a bank account with the Commonwealth Bank before our visa was granted. You are right that you cannot withdraw money until you go in person to your bank branch (you can do this on a visitor visa). This is a government dictate to prevent money laundering. We sorted the application out with the Commonwealth Bank branch in the UK who were very helpful.

For those recently asking about Australian Bank Accounts I can tell you about my experience. Whilst on holiday I visited a Commonwealth Bank branch with my passport and asked to open an account using my sons Australian address. I deposited a few hundred dollars and after about 10 minutes walked out with a new account and a temporary card for the cashpoint. My ‘official’ card arrived within a few days at my son’s address.

I have transferred more money over the past few years and am able to do online banking the same as my UK Account. If I change any details or make online payments the Comm Bank send a text to my UK mobile and it comes through within seconds. I was able to set up 1 year and 2 year saving accounts on line – probably easier than my UK account would have allowed. My dealings with Comm bank have always been excellent.

8 hours ago, Geoffandgill said:

Hi Sue, hope the following may help. I googled our query and immediately came up with www.bobinoz.com/blog/17873/individual-income-tax-rates-australia-and-uk-compared-201516/

he gives a lot of info that might be of use

Geoff & Gill

Thank you Geoffandgill for the bobinoz webiste referral - it has lots of useful info on it and is nicely written (with humour). Also good to see some progress recently from people I've been following (Catlady2014 for one) Best of luck everyone and here's hoping the waiting list shortens soon!

17 hours ago, clarkesville1 said:

With the new visa, after the 10 years can you re-apply for a further 10? 

Clarkesville1 - The press releases would suggest not ......

Under the new scheme, applicants could seek a three-year visa for $5,000 or a five-year visa for $10,000, with the opportunity of a single renewal for another five years at the same price.

The visa-holders would not be allowed to reapply beyond the 10 years and would have no pathway to permanent residency.

ok Catlady2014 - the info I saw was on 27 April it was up to 22 Sep 14 -  but it is now 3 Oct 14, so whilst that is a two week movement it must have been stuck on 22 Sep for a month - frustrating!

We are currently assessing applications lodged up to and including 3 October 2014 (143/173)

This has moved up 2 weeks in the past week!

In the 2015–16 Migration Programme year:

• 1 500 places have been allocated to Parent (non-contributory) visas (subclasses 103 and 804)
• 7 175 places have been allocated to Contributory Parent visas (subclasses 173/143 and subclasses 884/864).

These figures are taken from the current border.gov.au site. Other postings have suggested that the 7175 places have all been allocated - does anyone have any idea when the 2017 allocation will be made public?

Hi – I’m Paul and this is my first posting although I have been following a lot of the regular postings and appreciate all the comments and advice, it’s been very useful. We applied for our 143 on 1 Oct 2015 and heard nothing since. We were told by our agent that it would be 18 months and he can’t tell us anything further. To be honest I have received a lot more information from this forum than what I’ve had from my agent.  

I see now that the process takes about 33-34 months and the best method of getting to Oz during that time appears to be the 600 visa. This new visa announced now is clearly aimed at Parents who aren’t looking for permanent residency (or are frustrated at the 30 year wait for a 103)  but I can see major issues arising in 10 years’ time when elderly parents have to return home and leave their ‘children’ in Australia.