David Leask
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Everything posted by David Leask
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I’m not sure BPay is available in the UK. I only heard of it when I came here. We have a Comm Bank account here so BPay was easy. Worth checking with your bank in the UK.
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Hi Rosiejaq, First of all, congratulations on moving closer to getting your visa. It won’t be long now [emoji41] When we were asked to pay our second vac the invoice offered 3 methods of payment. Credit/DebitCard/PayPal, BPay or billpay (via Australia Post). I guess a bank cheque would have been acceptable but there was no mention of this option. We used BPay. It was fast and there were no surcharges. I’m not sure if you could use Transferwise. If you could I think it would be the same as a Credit card and come with hefty surcharges. Good luck David
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Hi, Our daughter applied online through her MyGov account. She had to go into the local Centrelink to verify her identity (using passport & driving license) and they ticked the box within her online application to confirm it had been done. It was only after this successful identity check that our daughter was able to submit the application. Around 14 weeks later we went back to the local Centrelink to try to get an update on the application. The staff at Centrelink said that AoS applications were dealt with centrally and they couldn't help us. They advised us just to wait. A few weeks later our daughter received the letter requesting her to lodge the bond money with the Commonwealth Bank - this letter came through her MyGov account. Once we lodged the bond and got confirmation paperwork from the bank our daughter uploaded the confirmation via her MyGov account. To be doubly sure we also went into the local Centrelink office with the bank papers and showed them - there was a person there who recognised the bank papers and knew what to do with them. A week or so later we had our AoS acceptance letter (again, through MyGov). I hope this makes sense and helps. David
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Hi, Immi told us that scans of all the documents were perfectly acceptable. They told us to keep the originals safe in case they were called for. Good luck! David
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Hi Dan, If the subclass 600 visa comes with an 8501 condition (maintain adequate health insurance) I have my doubts that a travel insurance will meet the requirements. I could be wrong but it’s certainly worth checking. We used Allianz Overseas Visitor Cover. There will be others if you do a search. In saying this, when we entered Australia on our 600 visa, fully armed with all the paperwork to prove we had medical insurance, we were never asked to show it. Having the benefit of this hindsight I would still take out the right medical insurance. It’s not worth the risk. Your wife may be eligible for a reciprocal Medicare card. This is another thing worth checking. Even the reciprocal card give you good cover. Good luck! David
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I’m pretty sure that’s what we chose when we uploaded the bank guarantee. We also went into the local Centrelink office and gave them paper copies. I’m not sure which method worked. Maybe both. Good luck!
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My daughter wasn’t interviewed by Centrelink. I’m not sure why this was. All I would say is don’t be surprised if there is no interview. Good luck [emoji4]
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A MyGov account gives you access to a number of government services online e.g. Medicare, Centrelink, ATO. You can access all of these services individually but a MyGov account brings them all together in one place. My daughter lodged her AoS application using her MyGov account. She had to go into the local Centrelink office to verify her identity and once this was done she received an acknowledgment of the application online. The estimated date for completion of the AoS was around 8 weeks from application. At week 12 (4 weeks after their estimated date) my daughter went into the local Centrelink office to get an update. She was advised not to pay too much attention to their estimated date and to be patient. They could see the application and they assured her that it was being dealt with. Around week 15 my daughter received a letter from Centrelink via her MyGov account asking her to lodge the Bond amount with the Commonwealth Bank. I hope this helps.
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Anything less than 12 months old has the potential to attract import duties/tax. I think there are limits on alcohol and tobacco. Importing plants or seeds is difficult/impossible. We were required to identify anything wooden - probably from the point of view of termites rather than duty/tax. Seven Seas provided good information about what you can and can’t take with you and I’m sure other companies will do the same. Short of googling the topic and searching through the numerous hits or contacting a removal company I’m not sure where you would get the information.
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Hi, Receiving the message from Centrelink is good news and it indicates that your sponsor meets the income requirements. The next step is to lodge the Bond in the Commonwealth Bank and show evidence of this to Centrelink and hopefully your AoS Acceptance will follow. In our case we lodged the Bond on 16 April, received AoS acceptance on 23 April (which we immediately sent to Immi), 2nd VAC request came on 2 May, paid on 5 May and visas granted on 6 May. I hope the process is as quick for you. Good luck! David
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Centrelink will tell you when to lodge the bond money. You should wait for them to get in touch. For us it was around 15 weeks after application.
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It was the same for us - an estimate of the Australian end costs which turned out to be quite accurate. We were happy with what we got from Seven Seas and would recommend them [emoji4]
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We used Seven Seas to move our belongings (in a large MoveCube) and they were totally up front with us on the costs from door to door.
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Hello Michael, I’m afraid my advice to you is to ignore this estimated completion date. We were given a similarly early date and our AoS took 4 months from Dec 18 to Apr 19. At one stage, a few weeks after the estimated date, we went into Centrelink and asked for an update showing them their estimated date. They told us that this was a standard response and that we should not take the date too seriously and to just be patient. Sorry ........ [emoji30] Good luck David
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Hi Danny, I think you will have to take out a dedicated Medical Insurance. I doubt that Travel Insurance will tick the box. When we came in on a 600 visa 14 months ago no one actually checked that we had insurance but, for me, it wasn’t worth the risk of entering without cover. You might want to look at Allianz - they do an Overseas Visitor Health Cover which they say complies with Immi requirements. Allianz were cheapest when we were looking for cover. Another tip - if there is two of you take out two separate policies, it’s cheaper that way. Good luck David
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I agree. The PCC is valid for 12 months from the date of issue, so it makes sense to me if the period of the check is 10 years from the PCC application date and not the visa application date.
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Hi Vicky, Our visas were granted within 24 hours of payment by BPay. 3 days seems a long time. I suggest you email Immi the BPay receipt to see if that hurries them along. Good luck David
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We opened a Commonwealth Bank account a few years ago when we were across on one of our holidays. We gave them our UK address at that time. We opened a savings account and a smart access account. The smart access account fee is $4 per month, but if you pay a minimum $2000 per month into the account this fee is waived. The smart access account doesn't pay any interest (no surprise there) and there is a small amount of interest paid in the savings account. We have not incurred any fees for transferring money into the smart access account from the UK - we initially used UK Forex and now use Transferwise for money exchange and transfers. Whilst we were living in the UK we were taxed as non-residents. I think the tax rate is 10%. Once we migrated here and gave the bank our Australian address the tax on our interest became nil. At the same time as giving the bank our Australian address we gave them our Tax File Number (TFN) so this may have contributed towards the tax being nil. We are happy with the Commonwealth Bank and have no plans to change banks in the near future. I hope this helps. David
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Hi Rosiejaq, I paid my 2nd vac by BPay from our Australian bank account. David
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Hi Vicky, I paid our 2nd vac by Bpay. In my opinion it's the best way. There are no additional fees and it is super-fast. The Bpay details are shown on the invoice you receive. We saved the receipt and e-mailed it to Immi to be double sure they knew we had paid. Good luck David
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That all sounds good Catherine. Once you have your visa and you validate it you can relax and ‘enjoy’ your contract. It will soon pass and you’ll be here with your son [emoji4]
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Hi Catherine, First of all, congratulations on getting the request for AoS! I’m assuming at the same time you got the request for Police Check, Medical Check and Form 80. The AoS process will take around 16 to 20 weeks from now assuming there are no problems. If everything is ok with your other documents your visa will come a few weeks after the AoS is concluded. When you get your Police and Medical Checks they will be valid for 12 months. When your visa is granted you will need to enter Australia to validate the visa and you will have to do this before Police and Medical Checks expire. If you can’t migrate until after June 2021 you will have to come over for a visit/holiday (to validate your visa) before then. I hope this makes sense. Good luck! David
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Hi, I would suggest you wait until you hear from Immi when they request further documents. You will be asked for Form 80, Police Checks, Medical Checks and Assurance of Support. The e-mail from Immi will include a HAP ID that you will need to use when you book your medical check. Good luck! David
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Hi, Use Form 929 to advise Immi of your new passport and address details. If you are changing your e-mail address I suggest you use Form 1193. If you Google 'Form 929" or 'Form 1193' they should show up in your browser. Download and print the forms, scan them and e-mail them to Immi. You are likely to get an automatic response initially but a few days later you should get an e-mail from a 'real person' advising you that your details have been changed. David
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Hi, First of all, congratulations on receiving the request from Immi for additional documents and for getting these documents submitted. As visa applicants there is nothing for you to do in connection with the AoS application until the process is complete. Our daughter is our assurer. She made her AoS application online through her MyGov account. It was 18 weeks before she heard anything from Centrelink and that was a request to make the $14k deposit into the Commonwealth bank and get a Bank Guarantee. There was no interview. We went along with our daughter to make the deposit in the bank and get the necessary confirmatory documents to send back to Centrelink. She uploaded the bank documents to Centrelink (again through her MyGov account) and she also went into the local Centrelink office in person with the hard copies of the documents. One or both of these methods must have worked because less than a week later our daughter received the AoS acceptance letter. This was the stage where we, as visa applicants, took over again and sent the AoS acceptance letter to Immi. A few weeks later we had our 143 visas! I hope this helps. Good luck! David
