bonanza

good to know and all avenues are worth a try. There is also a new online chat in beta but you have to discover it yourself as cutting and pasting the url doesn't work.

My partner and I gave up trying to get our NI gap years sorted out last year, as it was near on impossible to even get into the phone queue, even from within the UK. and correspondence took months. However we tried again last week and found the phone wait times for HMRC and DWP have improved dramatically down to between 10 and 20 minutes even at lunchtimes, and better later in the day around 4pm BST. It was also good that significant effort has been put into improving the call flows, use of AI and the online support. The only problems for those living in Australia (and other offshore locations) trying to make voluntary NI contributions for 2006 - 2016 and later years are: 1. if you are trying to make voluntary class 2 contributions for periods of overseas residency this is not an automated online process and you still need to write or ideally speak to humans at both DWP and HMRC; it is definitely worth pursuing Class 2 if you qualify, as the costs are significantly less than the class 3 NI rates; 2. As my friend who emigrated from the UK to Australia 2 decades ago found out, you cannot get access to the very useful online information (future pension forecasts, details of years where you have full or missing contributions) through Government Gateway if you no longer have a UK address or UK driving licence, or if your name has changed since you last paid tax in the UK, so you still have to either write a physical letter to get these and send it snail mail (registered delivery) or persevere with the phone lines ; 3. once you do get through to a human being they are well informed, very helpful and very efficient; 4. you need to assume that you will need to make at least one or two calls to each of DWP Future Pensions team and HMRC to finalise the years for which you should pay, the costs and the paying in references, so don't wait till the last minute (eg next March) before applying!

My partner did this last year when there was a mad rush on to meet the April deadline and HMRC and DWP went into meltdown to respond. The deadline got extended to April 2025 and timeliness have definitely improved a lot. Its worth sending in the form, the waiting time may well continue to improve as the backlog is caught up and you've still got till end March next year to sort it all out. I would go for class 2, as the financial difference if you can prove you were not in the UK, is compelling. Coincidentally we sorted our back Ni class 2 contributions out today and were pleasantly surprised, a) how easily we got thru by phone and b) the personnel and processes have improved massively since June 2023 when we first sent off the form.

My dual national partner was living in Perth and used to travel with just his (under age) son, also dual national, on annual visits to grandparents in UK. They used to get stopped at border control both ways because there was no mum travelling. Son used to get questioned separately from dad. Would agree you should over-equip yourself with evidence as well as approvals.

Is there something you're not telling us Paul, or do you have second sight!?!

you don't need an Australian mobile phone for banking from the UK with ANZ. I live in the UK and have an ANZ account which I sometimes need 2f authentication to operate certain transactions but it works with my UK mobile number. I get my new debit cards sent to my UK address. It's true HSBC has a global currency account which is aimed at people who travel a lot, not sure which financial jurisdiction this operates out of? You might want to be aware of different rules eg anti money laundering, deposit protection and independence of the state. For day to day UK to UK transactions I would check out the UK bank that best serves your UK interests and hold on to your Australian bank rather than moving all your accounts. Before you open a UK bank I would check out the reviews for their IT systems. Some of them are rubbish! HSBC UK (regulated in the UK with deposit protection etc) is one of the better ones but their subsidiary First Direct is better still.

And register to vote as soon as possible. Being on the electoral register for 6 months gets you a credit record too.

You get issued with an NI number at age of 16. Perhaps you don't get a nice little card in the post like you used to! However you can go and get one by attending the local DWP office. They will expect ID ... a UK passport so that is definitely top priority. Plus a UK address, which is hard to prove until you've been offered a job or obtained a bank account. My step son also found it challenging to come back to the UK from Australia as an adult because of the circuitous nature of not being able to get ID without having ID. but it takes perseverence and it starts with geting a UK passport and NI number.

it's the law and has been for some years. As a UK landlord you can be prosecuted for allowing non eligible people to rent your property. I personally had the case of an American applicant, who had a start up business in the UK, try to get round this by trying to sign a tenancy agreement as a corporate entity. But the law applies to the individual occupier, not the legal entity.

My own circumstances were very VERY similar to those you describe! I did get a partner visa approved and several years later still do not have any joint financial accounts with my lovely partner despite the fact we've now been together in de facto relationship for 11 years. Just like many other people, we have separate accounts which were in place before we met. It's convenient for us. Therefore the mortgage is in my name not his, etc etc just as you describe. One thing we do have however is credit cards whereby one person is the account holder and the other is a a second cardholder whose spending is shown separately on the monthly statement. American Express does this but some other credit card companies do not. See if you can apply for second cards for each other if the spending is shown separately. The account holder will still have sole responsibility for the account balance payment and debt but it demonstrates that you trust each other with spending your own money. (It could also be practical in advance of your wedding !). The other thing is that (unless their policy has changed recently) ANZ will accept overseas applicants for its bank accounts in anticipation of migration, so your fiance could open one from the UK based on his UK credentials. He will have to make a deposit but will not be able to operate the account (ie withdraw any cash, get a debit card etc) until he presents himself with ID in a branch in Australia. (He can however print statements etc. ) I have personally found ANZ very helpful and suggest you see if they will accept a joint application on this basis. However, as I can attest, you do not absolutely need to have joint accounts in order to demonstrate an exclusive commitment to each other. However I recommend you contact a qualified migration agent like Paul Hand who can guide you. I have consulted with Paul recently on another matter and his advice is both pragmatic and useful. Good luck!

Good luck to you and enjoy Bali.

Gnarabup has stunning beaches and is a couple of kms from the town of Margaret River, it is a good spot to stay with lots of holiday rental options (or stay at the smart Cape Lodge Hotel though it caters more for international tourists). While in Gnarabup visit the White Elephant Beach cafe and take a few detours up and down Caves Road to Cullen Wines, Vasse Felix, Stella Bella, and Moss Wood (if the latter is open for visitors). Many of the wineries do great lunches, Voyager being the glitziest and there are lots of little boutique wineries also worth a visit. We recently stayed at Redgate Beach Villas just a bit further down the road from Margs, a great spot but more isolated. (We are going back in March )There are lots of great places if you liike the outdoors. If you llike walks then a local guide book 'Walking Round In Circles' has some interesting short and longer walks in the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park that include interesting landmarks and beaches too. Albany's worth a couple of days visit (whalewatching boat trips with Naturaliste Charters and the old whaling station) and if you have the time you can do a circuitous trip heading first to Albany then Margaret River then Bunker Bay. Albany Highway (does what it says) is a good fast road, allow 5 hours to/from Perth. There's also Porongarup (Sleeping Lady Retreat) and Mount Barker area further south east, with the Stirling Ranges and the Great Southern an interesting environment too. If you don't mind a long drive you could head from Perth down to Bremer Bay and go out on an Orca sighting boat trip (need to stay 2 nights), or head further east towards Esperance though that's a l-o-o-o-o-ng way . Have a great time, I'll be heading over right behind you! Book accommodation asap because this is still summer hols and options will disappear fast.

I just want to add that the OP may well be able to DIY a successful application especially if their history is straightforward, but at least a preliminary chat with an experienced migration agent could help clarify whether using an agent might be beneficial, or not. In my case my parther and I were in a long distance relationship so not so easy to evidence the de facto bit and that's where the help paid off.

My partner and I (he Aussie/Brit and me Brit) used Alan's team in the UK and the points he makes here are spot on. I am an experienced professional person and would normally consider myself as pretty competent at preparing and writing detailed documentation, but am glad we went down the route (and expense) of using an agent . Go Matilda were really helpful in showing us how to evidence our case as strongly as possible, in the most succinct and well structured way. The experience we were able to draw on as to what the authorities were looking for, and what to include vs leave out was very valuable as some of the evidence might otherwise have been a bit lightweight in some areas. I received a temp 309 visa in April 2016 followed by a permanent 100 visa in June 2018.

I know this is old fashioned but I dislike using apps for financial transactions, preferring the sanctuary of my own laptop and relative privacy of home to make bill payments in a more considered way. Plus as you point out, apps only work as long as you keep the one authenticated device on you. So ANZ were not very accommodating when I said I had no need of an app and moreover didn't use an Aussie sim. I was slightly gobsmacked to discover how few hurdles there are to getting into their desktop banking though.

Totally agree. We boomers get labelled as 'old people not able to use new tach' which is nonsense. Apps are for the providers' convenience. If you lose your phone, then what?!

2fa is fine with most uk banks offering a combo of desktop, email, sms, tokens and good ole fashioned passwords or memorable data as part of the options for 3fa logins as well as apps. Anz seems to have assumed that the entire customer base wants to use just an app and an Aussie sms. My partner, who used to live in Perth for many years had some problems with anz after moving to the UK because for transferring large sums their sms authentication kept failing but the Anz system wouldn't allow him to change his phone number to a non Aussie one. Hence we always seem to end up visiting the Anz Freo branch at least twice on every visit over from the UK!

I did open up an account with ANZ from the UK before my first visit to validate my PR visa then validated my account credentials on my 'recce' trip to Perth from the UK. I just had to make an appointment to go into branch (fremantle is helpful and less busy than Perth CBD). I didn't need an address in Australia. The only bottleneck was that (as with an increasing amount of ID security in Australia), the bank's systems would not accept a non-Australia mobile phone number as ID authentication and since the pandemic Australian banking systems seem to be heading rapidly towards 100% cashless and 100% mobile phone requirement - with only an Aussie phone number rather than international numbers accepted by their systems. However... there are workarounds, but you need to see the branch personnel in order to get around this then set up your international ie +44 mobile number instead... Anyway, I can confirm this works, I use my UK address and UK mobile phone for ID and my replacement bank cards arrive at my home in the UK. Everything else is online with no problem.

There is a small HSBC branch within Claremont Quarter shopping mall which you may find helpful. It seems to be set up to service non residents. I am living in the UK for now and opened up a basic ANZ current account from here using my UK address and can operate it easily in both countries. The ANZ branch in Fremantle is very helpful for the stuff you can't do online. There are minor benefits to having an account in place before you travel in Nov. but the obvious one is that you can be up and running quickly for things like paying for rental deposits etc (and saves you getting hit twice on FX surcharges if you get your deposit returned etc).

Great insights, thanks very much.

Thanks for heads up on timescales, I think I need some help with getting all the ducks in a row both on 1. the application structure / content and 2. guidance so that my partner and I can optimise our next steps to get a successful RRV outcome.

We are back in the UK at the moment having returned 2 weeks ago, but have another trip booked to WA for March. We had been looking to split more of our time between Australia and UK so to spend more time with partner's son in WA as well as UK aging parents in their 80s and 90s. But I only now realise that as a PR not having lived in Australia, we need to hasten our plans to be in WA more permanently from early next year. My 5 year travel permission ends in June. My partner and I would spend several months in WA during which time we will try to rent a property in advance of buying once UK assets are sold. during this time I could apply for RRV so that partner and I can return to UK periodically to visit our parents. Applying for a partner visa all over again would be a drag and an expensive one , but my partner and I have now been living together for 11 years and our lives are much more straightforward than when we did the initial 309 then 100 , plus we know how to do it and have retained all our past and current evidence. Frustratingly the pandemic delayed us spending more qualifying RRV time in Australia and hastened the isolation and decline of our parents' health here in the UK. While we did not see partner's son for 3 years. I'm sure lots of other people are in similar situations, it's sad. thanks for your help.

Thanks, just wondering out loud whether our next trip in March is a good moment to stay on in WA to establish more ties for a few months rather than leaving at what will be the end of 5 Yr travel term and risk not getting an rrv to come back on. Thanks for your help.

Thanks very much for your fast reply. I know this is a 'how long is a piece of string' question but is the application likely to be straightforward in this scenario or should I re-engage my MA ?

Hi its been a long time since I needed PomsinOz but I'd be grateful for help through the confusing world of RRV. I am British with permanent resident visa granted though defacto partner who is dual brit and Aus citizen. PR was granted June 2019. We have been living in UK since applying for my PR. Entered WA in Feb 2020 to initiate the visa, opened an ANZ bank account looked at property, but went back to UK in March 2020 just ahead of lockdown as partners' ageing parents in UK and my mum in Uk needed a lot of support in self isolation. Partner has son in Perth (Aus citizen)who is now adult. I have no children of my own so partner and his son are my family. Didn't manage to get back to Oz until Feb 23 despite a few attempts during lockdown (airline cancelled flights, borders shut in WA). Have been back again last month and are planning to go back to Perth in March 24. Have not therefore been able to establish 2 yrs residency in last 5 years (90 days approx). Our intention has always been to move permanently back to Aus but at present we are having to attend to parents issues in Uk (nursing homes, sale of their properties, financial management etc). I am 63 partner is 61. As my partner is Aus citizen and I have a partner perm visa am I eligible for RRV 157 when travel permit expires in June 2024? If so, should I apply from Australia when I am there in March 2024? Would I also need to apply for bridging visa at that time before leaving Australia in advance of June 24 travel expiry? Thanks for any advice on this.