Patphillips47

I actually read up on the Centrelink website last night re portability of disability pensions and it looks as if in some situations it can be taken overseas If the recipient is severly disabled they take a work test for want of a better word the info isnall available online Our friend who went back allthough he has short term memory loss is capable of work that's why his pension has been stopped I have always got any info in writing from Centrelink in any situation just don't trust word of mouth Melpom if you don go back to access benefits you would probably need to go through the residency test again a minefield i am not trying to dishearten you by the way just advising as your obviously aware any way that it can be a minefield

If that's a Centrelink pension then please for goodness sake get it in writing from them We went back in 2001 to look after my Mam and my hubby was classed as severly disabled so he got his disability pension and I got wife pension ( he was under retirement age ) However I did not get carer payment as that can't be paid outside Oz The criteria has definitely changed since then and as far as I know disability pension is only pay able over seas for around 6 weeks then it's stopped We have a friend who was on a disability pension went back recently ,he received nothing from the UK for a few months and I am sure his Aussie pension has now stopped ( I will try to find out for you ) He has now I believe signed on for unemployment benefit as he is capable of work

You might have what they call a Pair Gain line we had one in SA and no way could we get broadband through the phone line We tried dial up and dongles until eventually we had an aerial installed under the government broadband guarantee as the internet we had was dreadful We then went with a local provider I don't know if the government broadband guarantee is a state or Australia wide scheme maybe make some enquiries

I mean for the children they really need to travel on thier Australian passports as I don't think they would get a visa on a UK passport

You would get pulled with your boys travelling on a UK passport and no RRV in it at check in We were checking in one time and I handed over my UK passport - had travelled out of Oz on my Aussie one nd in to UK on UK one - lass said straight away Oh you can't fly ! I then realised I needed to give her the Aussie passport gets very confusing

Quarantine was $1461 plus the $29 deposit paid when we booked Ralphy in I think PEQ is the import permit that was $485 and you cant book quarantine unless you have the import permit Our boy had to fly by April 30th as Emirates wont fly Bracheleptic breeds between May and I think its October Vets fees I would say added up to well over 500 pound that was his rabies worming flea treatments plus blood testing -which as I have said before got lost ! Are you shipping him yourself or with a pet transport company - I was so pleased we used the latter when the blood tests got lost as I would not have known where to start The one thing I had to get through to my vets receptionist at every appointment was shipping a dog to Oz is not just a Pet Passport its totally different !

I am not sure if your son would qualify for any benefits for disability straight away if you do go back The old DLA Disability Living Allowance has been relaced by PIP and seemingly is a mine field Attendance allowance which is a benefit for those over I think it 65 is now only payable after being back in the country for 3 years as is carer allowance I think most information is online but one thing I do know is in the UK information was never volunteered by the government agencies it was often by accident or word of mouth that we found out anything I don't want to seem doom and gloom and hope it all works out for you it must be so difficult for you

thing is with some of the shippers they only class within a 30 kilometre radius of the CBD as being delivery or pick up free any distance over that adds more dollars

its not always as simple as it seems unfortunately We went back late 2013 bought a lovely little Bunglaow and settled back easily as we have may tend life long friendships in our home town But when my hubby fell and broke his hip we realised how things could be as we got older with no family in the UK so made the Decision to return to Oz We are not unhappy here but if we had our time over again would we emigrate no we wouldn't as for years it's torn us between the two countires When we emigrated I had the pull of my parents now it works the other way round and we feel we need to be close to our children and theirs In retirement the UK is easy in so many aspects travel being the foremost as no where is too far away ! Whereas in Oz we often say we spend half of our life in the car Hindsight is always a good thing methinks

step by step timeline instructions are on the AQUIS site We had our boy vaccinated 20 days later the RNNAT test was done then he had to wait the required 180 days after that Cost of his flight etc well over £2000 he is a Shar Pei so medium sized then aroundv$1500 quarantine fees plus import permit of $480 so not a cheap excercise

Cheers just don't want the tax man getting a cut if I can help it lol

Reading through the notes am wondering how we would go if we transferred the funds from our house sale in the uk now as we would have around $265,000 We were thinking of leaving it for a while because of the £ to $ value but the interest rate in UK is only 0.25 My bank has an offer of an account with good interest so thinking its swings and roundabouts syndrome would we be liable for capital gains though as its over 250 ?

Yes your probably right the holiday was to Thailand - well it almost wasn't ! I had dropped my sone at the airport when he rang to say he was stopped at check in Luckily in some ways my daughter in law panicked and had an asthma attack so they were covered as an emergency and flew later once he renewed his passport Must admit I am paranoid now and check mine religiously

conatct the airline your flying with my son was knocked back with Singpaore airlines from a flight to Thailand and he had 5 months on his passport It's often the airline not immigration etc that's the problem My son by the way has a UK passport too

If you share a container with someone via the shippers it should be cheaper as long as your stuff is not needed urgently or a small move cube maybe ?

The RNNAT has to be around 20 days after the initial rabies jab then travel is after the 180 days wait for want of a better word the AQUIS site lists step by step maybe check on there how long the RNNAT test is valid for just checked AQUIS and they state the rabies test is valid after 180 days up to 24 months

Just double check all documents treatments etc as unfortunately our vet lost Ralphys final blood sample which could have stopped him flying on his due date We had followed everything to the letter and left him in the hands of Golden Arrow when we flew out Only to have our vet ring us in Singapore to say his tests had gone astray I must admit it caused a huge panic for me but thankfully Golden Arrow got everything sorted with 48 hours to spare ! I had thought of doing the process myself thank goodness I didn't !!Our boy being a Shar Pei could only fly within certain dates because of his type that final mistake could have meant months in the Uk before he could fly

our boy did the Heathrow option was picked up by the company we shipped him with from Sunderland and traveled to thier kennels a few days before his flight personally I think the shorter the travelling time the better

We went back late 2013 hubby fell and broke his hip 3 months later there was never any questions of us having been overseas asked even though I took in his Aussie X-rays In fact while he was getting an X-ray they came up with an address where we had lived - 40 years previously !

clean as best you can and label as large vases

We moved back twice in recent years 2001 and 2013 and just signed on with a GP it was months later when our GP referred my hubby for surgery but we were never asked by the hospital is we were resident We were only asked to prove residency in 2002 when we tried to claim a rates rebate and believe me it was hard we were actually refused residency because we had left family in Australia !!! This was despite me being an only child had gone home to look after my Mum We had sold our house etc in OZ shipped everything we had etc and bought a house in the UK We were refused on the grounds of we had left children , they were 35 and 36 and had family's of their own Plus we had left an Aussie bank account open as my hubby was on a disability pension at the time ( and yes it was payable even though we were in the UK ) The disability pension was paid into our Aussie account and we then transferred it We never ever tried to claim an UK benefits only a rates rebate hence the Habitual Residenst test I appealed the decision that we did not satisfy the criteria and did have the decision overturned but the whole scenario was quite demeaning to say the least

You don't have to go through the residency test to be eligible for the NHS as you have the right of abode You do have to go through the residency test to claim benefits of any kind

I think the costs for clearing are on the AQUIS site - or similar site I have trawled so many I forget which is which I think we paid 340 disembarking fee then 370 and that was a 40ft container All furniture etc was fine for clearance but the car cost $ 870 to be steam cleaned and it failed again after that !!!! It was eventually cleaned again at no cost to us and then got through AQUIs

If in doubt don't ! We planned our emigration in 1981 after having a great holiday in Oz It was Maggie Thatcher times and getting tough in the UK But as we got to crunch time I had a change of heart not wanting to leave my elderly parents in the UK We talked it through as a family and made the move thinking of our teenage kids future We settled well got jobs etc straight away but the pull to hone was always there for my parents 2001 we moved back to the UK to look after Mam 2006 we moved back to Oz when Mam went into a home But the pull for the UK was always there do 2013 we moved back again Big mistake and we moved back earlier this year to have our family close I love Australia but if I am honest my heart lies in England we both feel that way If we had our time again would we emigrate No we wouldn't as in lots of ways it's torn at us so often If one partner is in doubt then I would say don't !

I disagree that most vets know what's what mine was quite good but the receptionist kept saying Oh the passport for Australia I followed the step by step instructions from both AQUIS and the company I used to ship my Pei which was Golden Arrow and so glad that I did use Golden Arrow because a few days before Ralphy flew our vet lost a crucial blood test !!! If it had not been for GOlden Arrow knowing how to move fast on the problem our boy could have been stuck for weeks in the UK