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Everything posted by DrDougster
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In WA a C-A licence is for automatic vehicles. A manual car licence is a C licence. https://www.wa.gov.au/service/transport/road-transport/upgrade-or-add-drivers-licence-category#:~:text=Car licence&text=You can upgrade from the,practical driving test in advance. The waits for vehicle licensing etc are nothing like as bad as I have experienced in UK or Brisbane. Plenty of reasons to get a manual licence and plenty not to bother. My wife only has an automatic - it's better that way. I shipped my Lotus. It's a lot of fun.
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You'll get a lot of conflicting opinions but I would say definitely move from the UK. I love our life in Aus. Don't take this personally, it is not directed at you as an individual: I'm always amazed by the dog in people's lives. I find it so odd that it's become socially acceptable to develop and cage an animal and then act like it's your "best friend" and, in this instance, let it cage you. There is no rational decision regarding the dog. That ship has sailed.
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Skilled - Independent (Subclass 189) (Points-Tested Stream)
DrDougster replied to Louise1234's topic in Working and Skilled Visas
I think the mild amusement is coming from your mistake on the numbering. Escalated from mild to rather amusing now after such a sure footed response... -
Indeed, although not my experience with the mortgage we took out this year. The bank does get the house in the you turn out to be useless scenario you describe! We had an Airbnb for six or seven weeks when we moved to Brisbane to give us time to find a rental we liked. Worked very well within a walk of work so we only needed one car.
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Another thing to consider if you're in a rental: there isn't the same disincentive to buying as in UK as you can still negatively gear interest on a loan if you buy somewhere else that you let out. You have to have the "headroom" to get through the financial year but what you can put on your tax return for a property you own and let out is very generous compared to UK.
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We didn't have a probationary period. They were happy with just a couple of months payslips to demonstrate income.
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Depends where you want to be. I'd say Ascot, Hendra are nicer areas and they'd be five times that...
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I would make sure that you keep records and receipts of all the costs of relocating. You may be able to retrospectively package costs in a tax efficient form.
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It depends massively on your personal situation - job security, volatility of rates and outgoings are the most important things to bear mind. I don't think a blanket 3x income as a maximum is a useful approach. Would you bet your house on it? Is the prescient question! This year we borrowed an eye-watering amount of money at 95%. But, we were able to get a very good rate, not needing lender insurance, based on incomes, income progression and job security. We have high outgoings and the bank took all of this into account. However, the way the market has moved, the house would be way out of reach now. If you are going to be moving to a job working for government or a charity there are also quite a lot of things that can be salary packaged in Australia that you wouldn't think possible coming from UK.
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If someone who had a suffered a suicide attempt answered "no" to Do you suffer, or have you ever suffered, from mental health problems? I would say that's clearly not being truthful. I wouldn't advise it. I'm sure you'd invariably get away with it but being honest isn't going to be an issue. It doesn't sound like the op has ongoing severe mental health issues or is at high risk of relapse. If they did relapse and need care being able to be open and honest about their history is pretty important. What they are doing is weighing up not being truthful on a visa application. In this instance I don't think being open and honest would change a medical assessment.
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As it's a forum of opinions: I don't read it like that. I would say Q18 is a pretty clear, objective but open question. Q21 needs clarity rather than an essay. Q18 Answer: Yes. I suffered from severe depression for a brief period ten years ago since which time I have remained well, been managed as mild depression with a single antidepressant medication: fluoxetine. (This is a suggestion, not based factual info) Q21Answer: Yes, low grade prostate, Gleason 6:no associated excess morbidity or mortality, no treatment required.
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Do I just put the scan of the photo page of the passport I had when we arrived in Aus and they will see the info on their entry/exit data? Or, do I need any further images?
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Sounds like you know you're asking a forum if it is ok to lie on a visa application if you'll get away with it. You've already told this forum that you tried to kill yourself 10 years ago. Maybe get the other issue out in the open on a public forum and you'll feel able to put it on the document that legally requires it? You know the answer to your question. Russian roulette is relatively low risk but very high consequence.
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Subi is great - going through something of a rebirth. Older housing with a "heritage area" and named after a monastery near Rome where St Benedict lived in a cave I think... It also produces a particularly ostentatious free local magazine with wine recommendations none of which seem to be based at all on value! Perth has a much more communal atmosphere than I found in Brisbane - the areas still have smaller grocers which we use over the enormous Coles/Woolies but I do miss the butcher at Wavell Heights. The weather is a bit better with the evening sea breeze and the beaches are lovely. The view out over Rottnest and the ferry out to it are beautiful. I used to ride up to Nudgee and on to Sandgate/Margate but Cottesloe is just a really lovely beach and the ride around the Swan River loop is great Probably being so much happier in my job here puts rose tinted glasses on it. You can't get away from the lovely ocean though. Did I mention the beaches?
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Our Samsung one works fine. We actually don't have a tv connected to terrestrial any longer!
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It will cost you about $8-12K depending on RORO vs using a container and if you have to have the bloody thing washed at both ends!
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We moved to Perth from Brisbane at the start of the year and I love it so far. Been working a bit too much to get lots of experience but able to cope with the workload due to the lovely environment. We are in Subiaco so I can walk to work (hospital) alternating with driving our daughter 10mins to school then 10-15mins back to work. Bike paths are pretty good for nice loops around the Swan river or further afield South or across to the hills. Generally cycling not as varied/interesting as Brisbane. However, beaches more than make up for that and the Swan river is unbeatable for kids' water sports. We have bought in Cottesloe for a move next year to somewhere with a little bit of work needed but a 500m walk to the beach and 7Km bike path to work. There are great coffee shops both there and in Subiaco. These two areas would be my top choices for where to live and we plumped for being by the beach at the expense of livelier night life and easy access to the city that Subi provides. We're completely isolated from any issues with drug misuse outside of work.
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Autistic child moving to Australia will they accept British diagnosis for NDIS support
DrDougster replied to Natgoesrunning's topic in Visa Chat
Einstein almost certainly would if assessed as a five year old, yes. Absolutely no way he'd have got NDIS though, given my experience of trying to get people support through it! But, not really the point I was trying to make. Immigration policy probably pays to be open minded for a rich and diverse society to develop. Having global talent visas has its place but a policy that excludes people who need a bit of support is probably short sighted. -
Autistic child moving to Australia will they accept British diagnosis for NDIS support
DrDougster replied to Natgoesrunning's topic in Visa Chat
Imagine what a disaster it would've been for the country to have had someone like Bill Gates or Einstein emigrate to Australia! -
Most people moving to Aus will take their birth certificate with them. That and your passport and a credit card is plenty (70,70,25). Remember you'll need marriage certificate if changed your name.
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I guess it depends on the sums of money that you're talking from your "place in London" to "your place in Brisbane". If you're coming with a few million dollars in your pocket then I'd do it now, fast and Brisbane. If you buy, leave yourself some to live on, then it's likely that if you've chosen your property well it will work as a third income for you in the longer run. If you change your mind about where to live in a few years then sell at a profit, you'll have more knowledge and more options with more cash. Some recent signs Brisbane is going to follow Sydney and Perth property market growth this year rather than loss. Might be worth moving sooner rather than later. (Investments may go down as well as up :-))
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I had this issue with a Malaysian bank and needed to move the money across to a local HSBC account and then across to Wise. Your solution using your sister is probably the best - flick the money from Virgin to a different UK account (fee free transfer) and then from there into your Wise "UK account" before converting to AUD and then paying the very nominal (was $0.57) to send it to your Australian bank.
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Deciding if I should move back to Aus with children
DrDougster replied to dilby's topic in Aussie Chat
Sorry you're put off - and apologies if I was to blame. Just fed up with the berating of good local services by a disgruntled individual. I hope you do move back to Aus. Our five year old absolutely loves her life here. She's so happy and for us we could never give her a comparable quality of life in the UK. -
Deciding if I should move back to Aus with children
DrDougster replied to dilby's topic in Aussie Chat
How could I be in a better position to answer? I am one of the staff. I have worked in the NHS and at Sir Charles Gairdner. I worked in the NHS under the Blair government. I have never worked as a recruiter. I actually am on the ground. -
Deciding if I should move back to Aus with children
DrDougster replied to dilby's topic in Aussie Chat
This is just rambling nonsense. Take one of your points: "Actually one of our main hospitals, Sir Charles Gairdner, went into code Yellow 144 times alone." Do you know what this means? It means at that point there's bed pressure. So 144 times there was acute bed pressure that was then resolved. Do you hold this up as an example of a system in crisis? At Sir Charles Gairdner this year there is big expansion of services. For example, new services to support outpatient antibiotic services, a new CT scanner, four new respiratory specialists and staff to bring down wait times, improve care and all through public funding. Yes things aren't perfect, they won't be in a public service, but to even draw an analogy to the NHS is bonkers. There will always be underfunded, understaffed areas but you appear to have absolutely no real knowledge of this area beyond that which can be gleaned from a keyboard.