GrandpaGrumble

I like that idea - thanks! If you don't mind me asking, where is your local deli? Should be visiting ACT soon so could stock up. Yes that's where we get our Henderson's from (or "Hendo's" as we should probably call it here). There's also a place out in WA that has it a lot cheaper, but things are more likely to get damaged in transit coming from there, as their web site admits.

Mushy peas yes. Also 'Our Mate'. Bisto is pretty identical to Gravox. We do mail order a few things - Encona hot pepper sauce, Henderson's Relish, decent malt vinegar to go with the mushy peas. Embarrassed to say that we go one further than your husband and buy frozen Yorkshires - a bit lazy as they're not hard to make from scratch.

As mentioned, it's not a question of the public school making you an 'offer'. If you're in the catchment zone you are guaranteed a place there, as far as I'm aware. This can make it difficult for head teachers to make plans for their school (speaking from experience on our school's P&C), but it's not a problem for parents. If you're in NSW, you can double check which school's enrolment area you're in here: https://schoolfinder.education.nsw.gov.au/ Other states presumably have something similar. But if you're just across the road from the school it's pretty certain that you'd be in the catchment ... though I have seen counterexamples to that in the UK.

To clarify, if you're on a permanent visa the public school will be free apart from some fairly nominal fees, but if it's a temporary visa some states will charge you more for a public school than you'd pay for a typical private one.

Yes I can confirm what others have said. In NSW at least if you're in a public school's catchment area or 'zone', then (unlike in the UK) you're guaranteed a place at the school. Can't vouch for other states though. Depending on the state, and what type of visa you're on, the Catholic school might be cheaper.

Recently ranked as the world's most "Instagrammable" bird: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/30/researchers-find-frogmouth-is-worlds-most-instagrammable-bird

I'm thinking Tawny Frogmouth, which isn't technically an owl apparently.

New Zealanders can still use the skilled migration pathways, same as everyone else. The problem is that most of them don't go down that route because it's much easier to just roll up and be given the 'temporary but indefinite' 444 visa, whether or not they would have stood a chance with the skilled pathway. They can then stay as long as they like but, as you say, never become legally 'permanent' (unless they get a partner visa or whatever). What changed was that before September 1994 they were automatically given permanent residency. [That's why any Kiwi who visited before then is a 'former permanent resident', and can get the RRV if they can show 'substantial ties' and give a good account of why they haven't moved here before now.] If they arrived between then and 2001 they're 'eligible NZ citizens' but I won't go into that. The 'new scheme' you mention is perhaps the 'NZ 189' visa which grants permanent residency if you've been here since before February 2016 and are earning roughly the average wage or more. But that was more about horse-trading, and drawing a line, than any great concession - though some people will have benefited from it. I guess the relevance to this thread is that Australia is gradually making it harder for Kiwis to come here, and are unlikely to make it easier for people from third countries like the UK. Though I suppose the immigration dip caused by covid might change that in the short to medium term. The other thing that tends to bug Kiwis is that it's much easier for Aussies in NZ to gain citizenship, access welfare benefits etc. than it is the other way round: https://ozkiwi2001.org/2016/03/rights-comparison/

This seems to answer most of your questions: https://www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-british-parent/born-on-or-after-1-july-2006 As I read it, your son is already automatically a UK citizen, provided that either you or your husband were born or adopted in the UK, or were naturalized there. In which case you can just apply for his passport. You don't have to claim citizenship for him, though you can ask for a letter confirming it if you like (is my reading). Can't speak for the UK but our son is kiwi by descent. Arranging his passport and proof of citizenship was pretty straightforward. Seems to be more complicated and expensive, but not impossible, if neither you nor your husband meet those criteria, e.g. if you were both UK citizens by descent.

'45 business days' now, i.e. about 2 months, according to the automatically generated acknowledgement you get at the moment.

I've just spotted that this is inapplicable in our case (person in question is a minor, and you don't give their passport details anyway). But the answer might be interesting for future reference.

Quick question about filling in the 1359 form. If your old passport has expired, and you've obtained a new one (and have told the Department about this), since your last overseas journey, do you give the details of the old or new one on the form? I'm guessing the new one, since previous requests have returned information about all previous passports, which implies that they've got some method of linking back to your old passports, and I'm guessing that this applies even if you haven't used your new one. But is that correct?

I'm not a migration agent either, but my understanding is that if @LucaLeon arrived on a PR visa 6 years ago, and went back to the UK less than 3 years ago, then they should qualify for the RRV on the "2 years as PR out of the last 5" rule. In that case the visa is processed immediately, within a day or two. I'm sure they'll have discussed this with Paul by now.

I agree with @Tulip1. A good agent is the best person to advise on whether you can make a case for substantial ties etc. No point fretting about it until you've done that. With the RRV at least you get a reasonably quick decision (a few months).

In a way that's fair enough, at least from an economic point of view, if it's indeed true that education is (or was) Australia's third biggest export category.

https://www.justice.govt.nz/criminal-records/get-your-own/ [and see https://www.police.govt.nz/faq/how-do-i-get-a-police-clearance-certificate ]

Well, after further inspections etc. we went ahead and bought the house. We are getting the annual checks done, and all OK so far, but are wondering if it's worth getting a barrier treatment done? Would that have any impact (positive or negative) if we ever wanted to sell the house - could it make it easier, or harder, to sell, or make no difference? Any opinions?

Doesn't the UK already have a points based system for non-EU citizens, presumably soon to be rolled out to EU citizens as well? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Points-based_immigration_system_(United_Kingdom) https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-part-6a-the-points-based-system Complete with Shortage Occupation Lists? https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-k-shortage-occupation-list Maybe the point is that there are still significant differences between the two systems, so that the emphasis is on Australian, rather than points based. I don't know enough about either system to be able to comment on that.

You probably know this already, but if you're planning your trip for 1st October or later, you'll need to get NZeTA's before you go. Not needed if you're going before then. [I'm not sure what the rules are if you arrive before 1st October but leave after that date. My guess is that you wouldn't need one, but it might be worth checking.]

Thanks patience, that's a real treasure trove.

Better informed people can correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that: 1. The bridging visa is granted as soon as your application has been received and paid for, but 2. Your existing visa remains in force, and takes precedence over the bridging visa, until it (the existing visa) expires. Only then is the bridging visa activated. 3. Work rights will be the same on the bridging visa as on your existing visa.

When applying for a UK police check, the advice from ACRO is "You do not need to send in a copy of your driving licence but it will assist with processing your application if you do." I was wondering what happens when your UK driving licence is up for renewal after 10 years. Do you use your old, expired licence? Do you not refer to your licence at all, in which case I wonder how much it slows down the application? Can you renew the licence if you're not resident in the UK any more? Not an issue for me yet, just want to be prepared.

I've heard that 820/801 applications from May 2018 are starting to come through now (August 2019). If that's correct, the minimum processing time is now about 15 months. Coupling this with the Department's information that 75% (resp. 90%) of applications are processed within 22 (resp. 28) months, a simple (and therefore quite possibly incorrect) statistical model suggests that (a) about 1/4 of applications will be processed soon after the 15 month minimum, and (b) if that doesn't happen, you'll have an average of about 6 or 7 months longer to wait after that - could be more, could be less. But that's just a back of the envelope type calculation, I wouldn't take it too seriously. In particular, if anybody is seeing processing times less than 15 months, that would reduce the predicted probability of being processed immediately after the minimum. And if there are any processing times less than 13 months, then my model is definitely wrong!

I'm advised that the validity of the medical is automatically extended to 18 months, if the processing is taking more than a year through no fault of your own. I think the same might apply to the police checks too, but you might as well keep them up to date as they're relatively cheap.

Not particularly recent, but for a point of reference, mine took 48 days back in mid-2016.