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!

I am in the same position. Born in the U.K. & are returning to live there indefinitely after 8 years here. Have continued to pay National Insurance contributions the whole time we have been here.

I will be 16 weeks pregnant when we return. I called a couple of GP surgeries & was told I would need to provide proof of permanent address, e.g utility bill before I could register. Didn't care that I was pregnant & need monitoring as developed pre eclampsia in my last pregnancy.

We have a holiday rental booked for a month when we return & will be looking for a long-term rental. I panicked a bit & emailed another surgery explaining my situation. I got a reply saying I can attend the surgery & use our temporary rental address in the short term, so we'll see how that goes....

In the meantime I have found a private scanning place & booked a scan for some peace of mind before I get into the NHS system.

I have had a look at the habitual residency test & it seems we need to prove we intend to remain there but it's a bit wooly on how to do that initially. Good luck!

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!

Hello All,

 

For those that sent me lots of questions about the move and for those who just fancy a read heres an update on my move home.

 

Background

I have lived in Perth for 12 years. I moved over with my mum, dad and 2 brothers when i was 18. Met my now wife in Sydney who was travelling and believe it or not lived in the town about 20 minutes up the road from where i lived in the UK. I went back to stay with her for a few months and then she came out to visit before eventually applying for a visa and joining me in Australia. This was in 2012. We have since had a son (17 months old now). About a year ago we visited England to show the baby off to my extended family and my wife family. We started to become really homesick (I had always found it the hardest out of my family and new one day i would head back) and really missed the UK and our friends, more my wife friends as they had all had babies at the same time as we had our son but i was still very close to a lot of my friends as well. We made the decision officially in July of this year and put the house on the market and started to plan. Told my parents who were of course devastated as i had just given them their first grandson. Originally the move was not going to be until June next year. Then out of the blue my wife received an email from her old boss asking how everything was. They started talking and it was brought up that her old job had just become available and that she should apply as we were heading back but we would need to make the move permanent in Jan 17. Total coincidence. My wife applied for the job and got it. Brilliant. 1 of us had guaranteed employment which was a huge weight off our shoulder.

 

We already had a holiday booked back to the UK in the October just gone for a friends wedding and after a bit of chat decided it would make sense to just go then which my wife boss loved as it meant she would start sooner. Told the folks and obviously they were even more devastated. I won't go into how the final 2 - 3 months were with them, but it was hell. Sold the House in September, finance all finalised just in time for the move and shipped our furniture 2 weeks prior to leaving. Everything just fell into place in such a short period of time. A lot of planning was put into it but we had a some good fortune as well as some bad fortune (Perth property market is very bad right now).

 

Securing a house in the UK

We had already looked at houses to rent on the web and luckily my mother in law went to view a handful on our behalf before we managed to secure a property in the town my wife is from by offering 6 months upfront. The town my wife is from is in greater London and as expected the prices for houses to buy and rent are pretty high. But we knew this so no complaints here and decided that for convenience and my wifes commute to work in London it was a good idea to set up home there for the first year while we settled in, got our feet on the ground and had the support and help from family and friends very close by. We will then look to head a little further out once we are settled which would fit into our budget.

 

Shipping

As mentioned we shipped our furniture 2 weeks prior to us leaving as this meant it would arrive within 2-3 weeks of us getting there. We were comfortable doing this as the final two weeks in perth we stayed at my folks and we had a house secured here. For those 2-3 weeks in england we stayed at my mother in laws, don't get me started on that. Furniture arrived, delivered to the house, unpacked and finally we had our home back and was able to set up our new life and get on with it. The shipping company we used were Chess - 1 word amazing! They were great, cheap, thorough and just brilliant both ends.

 

The first 6 weeks

My wife settled back into her job well, we have seen all of our friends and family and are feeling very good. We have our son in day care for 2 days a week at the moment to settle him in before i start looking for work just after christmas which he will then go 4 days a week. He loves it in day care and we are so pleased we found a great one close by, a huge weight off our shoulders. So right now I'm the house husband/ baby sitter and its bloody hard work! I now know why my wife had had enough of maternity leave after a year! Its actually been handy having me at home as i have been able to set the house up and do all the essential bits that you need to do when you set up life somewhere new which you may not necessarily be able to do as easily if both were working. After being here for 3 weeks i returned to perth for 7 days as we had return flights already booked as it was just meant to be a holiday. This allowed me to sort the dog out, get him shipped over and finish off a last few things in perth, mainly have a leaving do with my mates and a week off with the folks after 3 tiring weeks! Doing this trip was good for me as it allowed me to see my parents and ultimately reinforce that i had made the right decision. Would i have done this if the return flight was not already booked prior to us knowing we were moving home? probably not and i was dreading it a bit and thinking it was a bad decision but I'm glad i did it. So 3 weeks on from returning from Perth and I'm back, still loving it and continuing to set up shop.

 

Good decision based on early findings?

For us, absolutely. Australia is a fantastic country, it was my home for 12 years. I was lucky enough to travel all of Australia through work and personal holidays and it is a beautiful place. However, right now, at this point in time, my wife and i wanted to be in England, needed our strong social network here that enabled us to socialise with our son included as all our friends here have kids and just to be home, where we both feel like we belong. In Aus our friends were in different stages and we didn't have a massive social network so very rarely did anything. My wife had a very close circle of friends here in the uk and never really settled 100%. We pretty much socialised with my mum and dad which was not healthy for our marriage. We could have made more of an effort but we got into a rut and just wanted to come home. Will this move be forever? We don't know, right now we belong here and want to be here, but in 5-10 years time we may want to head back, who knows. Probably not but were lucky enough to all have dual citizenships and have that option.

 

England - If i haven't bored you already and you are still reading

I just love it, its only when you move away from something for a long period of time do you realise that England really is a great country. Yes its got its faults but what first world country hasn't? The history here is just amazing and i appreciate it a whole lot more now after spending 12 years in perth. The novelty may ware off slightly but i don't think it will to be honest, the countryside here, the life style, the villages, as previously mentioned the history, its just great and there isn't a day where i do not stop and look at a building and think wow. The ease of access to everywhere (south east), the choice in everything, its overwhelmingly brilliant. yes theres some not so nice places and a few undesirable people but i was under no illusion that i would not see this occasionally. And yes the prices in the south east are expensive, but we worked hard, saved hard and can afford it right now. However, i do not think general day to day living it is anymore expensive than Perth. Houses may cost a lot more here but look what you have on your doorstep.

 

At the end of the day, if you have the option to move somewhere that will make you happy or you think will make you happy then take the chance and do it. Right now this has been the best choice i have ever made and i will do everything in my power to make this successful, however i have the right attitude so i doubt this move will ever fail. I will miss my family in Perth, i will miss certain things in Australia, i will get "Australia Sick" occasionally but that is to be expected. I should also add I'm not one to look at things through rose tinted glasses, i new what both places were like, the pros and cons of each, i just pined to be home where i feel like i belong.

 

Cheers!

Great post - a lot of similarities to where we are right now! Except my husband will be the one finding the job in the UK (although I will be hoping to find something part time and will then look to put my son in daycare for 3 days a week once settled.

Quick question about the fact that your mother in law helped you secure a property before you moved over - would you recommend this? I'm now thinking of flying home with my son a few weeks ahead of my husband just to try and get the property sorted before he arrives, will be a lot less stressful I can imagine and would mean that we would only have to stay a short amount of time with my mum before moving into our rental property...

Movecube are very good. They come in three sizes and with some thoughtful packing you can get a lot in. We used a small one and got in 6 tea chest boxes. It is delivered to your house and picked up, then delivered at the other end.

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!

All we did was chose a gp, turn up and fill in the normal registration form and I was seen by them that week. I also received hospital treatment the following week.

Seems fairly straightforward then - good to know!

The NHS rules have changed a great deal over the past year! It's no longer based on anything else other that being an ordinary resident, doent matter about anything else!

 

The UK’s healthcare system is a residence based one. Free NHS treatment is provided on the basis of someone being ‘ordinarily resident’. It is not dependent upon nationality, payment of UK taxes, national insurance contributions, being registered with a GP, having an NHS number or owning property in the UK.

'Ordinary residence' should not be confused with terms such as usual, permanent or habitual residence. It has been considered in the courts to mean, “living lawfully in the United Kingdom, voluntarily and for settled purposes as part of the regular order of their life for the time being.” The concept of ‘settled purpose’ has been developed by the courts: “there must be an identifiable purpose for the residence here, there can be one purpose or several and it may be for a limited period. The purpose for living in the UK must have a sufficient degree of continuity to be properly described as 'settled'.”

It is not necessary for a person to be living permanently or indefinitely in the UK to be deemed ordinarily resident. They can be ordinarily resident in two countries at once. They can be absent from the UK for a temporary or finite period and still be ordinarily resident here. There is no minimum period of residence that confers ordinarily resident status and ordinary residence can be of short or long duration. But it seems likely that in general, the longer someone is out of the UK, the more difficult it may be to establish OR status. Citizens who return to the UK on a settled basis will be classed as ordinarily resident, and will be eligible for free NHS care immediately.

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

You will all get full NHS treatment.

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

Our family is in the East Midlands as well and I had originally envisaged that we would go back there. In fact we were in Leicester at the weekend visiting friends.

 

Its a pretty painless journey. At the moment it takes 2 hours - just under, but that is with a massive stretch of road works on the M1 which have average speed cameras with a 50 restriction. I would say once they are finished it will be a 1 hour 40 trip. Still very doable for a day visit. Easy enough - leave Windsor about 8am, by in the midlands for 10am, can have all day with friends and family and be home in time for dinner.

 

It is a lovely town and we get a number of perks. For example, residents get free or very cheap parking throughout the town, free entry to the castle and other bits. London is only half an hour away and the countryside is on the doorstep.

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

Our place is directly under the flight path - unlucky as most of Windsor isn't. My work is also literally at the end of the runway. But, to be honest, we already barely notice it. They also now have flight restrictions and we don't have anything come over between 10pm and 6am and very little after 9pm.

 

We are also in an odd shaped top floor flat which because of its design, has no loft and so no insulation / barrier between us and the roof and the double glazing is very poor, yet except for the odd one - maybe a couple a day - we don't notice them anymore.

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…

I thought I would just give an up date for anyone interested.

 

For those that don't know me, we had talked about returning to the UK for a while due to lack of work and I had started looking for jobs in the UK. Then, a few weeks ago, I had an interview and was offered the job. With the condition that I start work the following week. So, in a week, we managed to sell most of the furniture and clear the house, get flights, arrange the dog to fly and get ourselves here. I have been here 2 weeks now and my wife and dog one week.

 

We has temporary accommodation booked via AirBnB which was wonderful and was a small self contained cottage in a Berkshire village.

 

At the weekend, we got our bank accounts sorted - Halifax opened it with no problems and cards will arrive in the next couple of days. We moved into our long term rental as well. It is only an apartment, but has two bedrooms and is very nice and in Windsor with views of the castle. Though, far from ideal for us as my wife is a very keen gardener and we have the little furry fellow. So, taking him out for a pee in the night means a lot of stairs - we are on the 3rd floor with no lift! But, we can leave in 6 months and that gives us enough time to explore and look for a place properly. Neither of us know the SE of England very well.

 

I have been in my job now two weeks and it is going well - though got a very busy month ahead. But, my boss and the company are great and we have been invited to join him in the Royal Box for Champions Day at Ascot later in the year. Should be fun!

 

I haven't really stopped for a day off now for weeks and we spent the weekend buying a bed and other bits. Family have donated a fair few things as well. I have also found a massive bargain that I am picking up tomorrow - one of the big rich houses in Berkshire are having a remodel and they have a load of bedroom furniture that is solid wood and craftsman made and only 6 months old and they are giving it away, so jumped on that!

 

Looking forward to next weekend and the long weekend. My brother in law owns a few very well known / very successful restaurants in London and we are off for a day of treats with him around them. Then hopefully a chilled out weekend with a nice walk in the royal park Windsor.

 

My wife is applying for jobs and has come across her ideal role - a big private garden store wants a person to work with "exotic plants" - mainly Australian. So fingers crossed.

 

So, overall, everything is going well

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...

wow! I wasn't sure if I was reading a post from my partner then! Your story is pretty much identical to mine!

 

we are both from the uk, I lived in a town 10 minutes from where he was from in the uk. He is 30 years old, I am 25. How old is your wife? He was here in oz first and we got together over here. Now have a baby boy. How old is your boy by the way?

I have been thinking of moving back due to family and friends missing out on our boy and him missing out on those family connections. I am also eligible for citizenship next March! My boy and partner both already have (well partner is applying).

 

it has been really good to read the mans side of the situation. My partner doesn't want to go back at all as he relates it to being a miserable depressing place, although I have tried to explain he is older now and has a child so the uk would not be the same for him as it once was when he was single without a child. Although he doesn't want to move back I know if it came to it then he would do so.

 

i have already been back for 2 months when baby was 6 months and I am heading back in July for another 4 week visit. (Have spent so much over the last 3 years on flights visiting the uk!)

 

i have learnt from this forum that my best bet is to wait and get my citizenship too. I now feel more settled and comfortable that I have a plan. I would hate for my child to move here to oz later on in life and I can't follow if I want to. I have also learnt that maybe moving and trying a different place in oz might be good for us too. I am in Mackay and my sister is in Perth and a few other friends who followed shortly after I came to oz. I have heard it is a nice place and great for children.. Would you agree?

 

i totally get what your partner means about the family and not making friends the same as back in the uk... No offence to Australians and I have some good Australian friends but I have found myself that they are harder to click with than English people and it's difficult to build those good bonds.

 

best of luck to you and I wonder where this time next year we will all be!! Will be interesting to keep tabs and check later on down the line. Feel free to inbox me anytime or your partner if she wants to talk to somebody who understands!

I tend to think unless you were to live within a stones throw of your Mum, support as such isn't going to be on tap. Having had PND myself and knowing how horrible it is, yes I can appreciate you wanting to be close to your Mum but PND does not last forever and at some point you own families needs and wants are going to come to the forefront (we lived almost 2 hours away from my parents when I had my baby and then moved while I was suffering PND another hour plus further away but we got through it). I guess what I am saying is don't bank or plan on being too close to your Mum distance wise. You could end up an hour or two away and its not the end of the world.

 

Having another baby is not a given, so don't plan for something that hasn't happened yet IYKWIM. Cross those bridges if and when you need to. I'd say its more important to just get back to England, for your husband to be able to secure work and for that to be decent and then the other things will follow. If he finds a good job up north a bit for a while, so be it I think. What will matter more in the long term is that your husband can find a decent job he enjoys that is something he can cope with commute wise and not being the one to commute hours each way because you want to be closer to family or some such.

 

Credit history wise, you'll have zip in the UK. I'd look to opening up an account there while you are still in Aus. Some UK banks are in Aus and you can do this with them. Pay something in to the account so you can build up a bit funds wise perhaps?

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?

Hi and welcome.

 

First, no, you don't lose your residency, though getting certain things will require waiting periods such as benefits.

 

Where to live is always a hard one. We have just moved back to the UK after 8 years. We went to Australia from Leicester and would have liked to have lived back there, but I got a job near London - very close to Heathrow. So, we have moved down here. It is significantly more expensive to live in the South East, but, salaries are usually higher. For example, I get about 8k more for living here than I would in the midlands. While this doesn't fully make up for it, it does help and with some careful house hunting you can get somewhere nice without going over board. Also, the commutes are not necessarily that bad by going further out and getting a cheaper rental. The roads don't really get busy until very close to London.

 

However, don't assume that you cant get a well paid job in the midlands or even north. Most of my friends are in the midlands and north and earn as much as they would and have careers just as good as they would if they lived in London. But, are much better off financially as a result.

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!