costa123

Was it difficult to claim job seekers allowance? The thought hadn't really crossed my mind but since we will both be coming back without jobs then it might be worth trying to claim...?

Thanks for the responses, really helpful. So it sounds like hopefully it won't be too much of an issue, I guess I wouldn't be so panicked about the timeframe if it wasn't that I was pregnant!

Thanks-and good luck too! I am actually still registered with a GP surgery from years ago (never actually told them I had moved to Oz as at the time I left the UK I didn't know how long it would be for - hope I'm not penalised for this when I return!!) It's a bit of a worry but hopefully it will be ok.

Hi everyone My husband and I have been planning our move back to the UK for a while now however I have just found out that I am pregnant which was a bit of a shock (a good one of course!) We are due to move in 5 weeks and my GP here advised that I contact the hospital in my catchment area (i know roughly where we will be living). I called them the other day and explained that we were British Citizens who had been living out here for 7 years but that we were moving back permanently. She put me through to the hospital's overseas team who basically inferred that I would have to pass a Habitual Residency Test otherwise I wouldn't be able to have my baby on the NHS. Neither my husband and I have jobs to come back to as we were planning on securing them once we landed so I can't show the hospital any job offer letters. Although I can of course show them the one way tickets, the fact that we have family there and evidence that we are cutting all ties with Australia. Does anyone have any experience of this and any advice as to what I need to do / say when I get back? Thanks!

Brilliant, thanks for this. Will definitely look up.

Thanks everyone - very helpful. I think it's a good idea to start selling some of our stuff now so that there isn't a mad last minute rush. With regard to shipping, we are thinking of only sending one container with personal items, pictures, clothes etc. Can anyone recommend a reasonable and reliable shipping company? Cheers.

Hi everyone So we'be finally decided that we'll be heading home in April! We need to book our flights as still currently deciding whether to go back at the beginning or end of the month. I was just wondering whether those of you who have already made the move think that 4 months will be enough time to tie everything up here? It's myself, my husband and our toddler son. No property to sell. Am getting a bit overwhelmed worrying about the logistics of the move and how we are going to organise selling all our furniture/car/appliances etc but still function with a toddler in the last few weeks! Also, with regard to notifying banks, mobile phone provider etc - did you tell them you were moving abroad? I want to be able to keep my Australian bank account open but won't have an actual address anymore. Any advice on the practicalities would be greatly appreciated- thank you!

Seems fairly straightforward then - good to know!

thanks for this - do you know how we would go about declaring ourselves "ordinarily resident" when we get home? Is this something that we have to actually do or do we just tell GP's etc that we have returned on a permanent basis? thanks

Thanks - good to hear. Do you know if we need. We'd to do anything official i.e. Register as returning residents?

Hi everyone My husband, son and I are planning on moving back to the UK in June next year. Both my husband and I are UK citizens (but also have aussie citizenship). We will have been over here 7 years by then. Our son is age 2 and was born over here. He has both australian and british passports. Does anyone know whether we will be immediately entitled to using the NHS without cost when we head back? I f have never declared myself as living over here permanently (as I never really knew how long we were going to be over here for) and have used my regular GP and dentist etc when I visit home every year. However my husband informed them that he was leaving to go live in Oz (back in 2010) and I'm thinking it might be more of an issue for him when we return? And will be my son be able to access hospital care etc? He is already registered with my GP in London as I had to take him last year to have some vaccinations but no hospital treatment etc. I'm also hoping to try for a baby not long after we head back and am nervous in case we are not entitled to free healthcare as we have been away for so long - any advice would be greatly appreciated and apologies if this has been asked already on a different thread! Thanks

Good to know. My husbands family is from Nottingham so pretty close to Leicester. I just think it would be the perfect location for us. I've pretty much always lived in London when I've been in the UK but it would be nice to live somewhere a bit less hectic but with all the amenities and close enough for when we want to do things in the city. Rental prices in Windsor do seem on the pricier side but it's going to be for such a nice area I guess!

That’s good to know! 6am is a lot better than 4am that’s for sure. Would really love to move Windsor way but have to persuade my husband as his parents are in the Midlands (mine are in London) so the travel time would be a couple of hours to the grandparents. Thanks

Interested to see what you think about the airplane noise living in Windsor? I’m originally from SW London but would love to move to Windsor when we head back, but if it’s anything like as loud as living under the flight path in Putney is then I might need to reconsider! The planes there used to wake me up at 4am…

Similar story here too! Met my husband over here 6 years ago and we lived about 2km from each other back home! We now have a baby boy who is 16 months old. Since having him I unfortunately suffered with PND and started to miss my family and back home enormously. Problem was that my husband said he never wanted to move back to UK for similar reasons to yours, although like you said I know things would hopefully be different if we went back now. Anyway, we did two trips to the UK last year and have decided we both want to head back. Both our families are over there and it's just too hard being so far away and not having any help, plus I would love my son to grow up being close to them. Also, we both want another child but it was such a struggle first time around that neither of us want to go through that again and with me being so depressed - so we have decided to head back in around a year, although we have no idea where to live in the UK yet! Luckily we've all got dual citizenship already. I just hope that when we move back my husband isn't unhappy and doesn't resent me for "making" him move back...

really helpful, thank you! I know just bring in the same country and on the same time zone will help so much.

Really helpful - thank you!

Thanks for all the replies! We've got a lot to think about an organise, can imagine there's a lot of paperwork to complete after being away for so long but just hope it's not too painful. On a side note does anyone know what happens if we had debt when we originally left the UK - is it erased after a certain period of time or will it chase us again once we open up British bank accounts etc?

thanks! I guess I just need to be a bit more open to the idea of where we end up living. To be honest it will just be good to be back home and the U.K. is so small anyway. Are you enjoying being back, do you feel it was the right decision? We will have been over here 8 years too by the time we leave.

This is my first post on here so apologies if I’m repeating what so many other people have already asked! Little bit of background, I came out to OZ on my own back in 2009 on a one year visa with the view to heading back home after that. Typical story, met my husband at work a few months later and then got sponsored, residency, citizenship etc. About 4 years in started to get quite homesick but hubby wanted to stay here forever (he is also from the UK) 15 months ago we had a baby and unfortunately I suffered with PND which was made worse by the crippling homesickness of not having family support here. After 2 trips home last year to visit my husband finally agreed to give it a go moving back to the UK next year after he has been in his current job for a while (he recently got a promotion) so that he can hopefully get a decent job back home. I just can’t handle raising another child out here away from family and close friends. I literally cannot wait to move back and would go tomorrow if I could but know there needs to be a compromise. At the moment we are undecided as to where to live in the UK as his family is from the Midlands and mine are in London. I know he would get a better job in London but he’s not sure if he wants to do a long commute (we couldn’t afford to live in London itself) but I really don’t want to move up north as I don’t get on with his family and we would like to have a second child once we move back and I want to be nearer to my mum for support. Anyway, I guess I should be relieved that we are moving back to the UK regardless of where we go. Does anyone have any advice on the basics that we should try in get in place before we move back? I have no idea where to start. Neither of us own property either back home or here. What do we do with our super here? I’m pretty sure we can’t take it with us but should we be shopping around for a fund with low fees? Have we lost our residency status in the UK given that we will have been over here for around 8 years by the time we go back? I’d like to alleviate as much stress before we move back if I can by being organised! We would be looking to rent as soon as we get home, do you know if that would be an issue if we don’t have any credit rating for the last 8 years? Sorry for all the questions but if anyone has any general advice I would really appreciate it. Thanks in advance!