DrDougster

1 hour ago, Areyousure said:

I guess one option would be to apply for jobs. As far as I’m aware doctors are exempt from the travel ban, if they have a job offer. This would enable you to apply for sponsorship.

This is probably a decent plan. And, with all Aus visas it's a "nothing ventured, nothing gained" scenario.

We live in Brisbane and were on a 457 in September. Our 190 application was, to all intents and purposes, an absolute breeze in October. However, I really do think they read the cover letter you put with the EOI. We both applied and I was invited while my wife was not. She is junior to me (at work!) but would have more points and wrote a pretty crappy email whereas I fleshed it out a bit with some stuff on my research, some Qld gov funding I have for Covid research, watching the sunset over Brisbane and the general wonder of it all. I continued this theme when BSMQ asked us to do the EOI and we then got nominated for the visa.

I can't comment on your AHPRA status and I'd be surprised if anyone knows for sure. Have you rung one of the AHPRA offices to ask?

I think there was an interventional radiologist who posted on here offshore who got nominated for a 189 around Sept/Oct.

Out of interest, were you a junior over here and then returned to both CCT before coming back here to be SMOs? Will you still need the supervise time before you are fellows?

Ohhh how I now miss my Le Creuset. Can we please stop this thread before I have to get someone to go over and fill a movecube for me! 

1 hour ago, Snowball2 said:

Yes that makes sense. I guess it depends on COVID whether we’ll get away on hols for more than 8 weeks over the next 2 years!

I had a bit of a WTF moment when someone pretty high up slipped out "probably two years" in a sentence relating to UK the other day. I'm still not convinced that is likely but probably 2022...

My understanding is you've got 2 months left that you can be out of the country before Jan 2019 date shifts and starts to shift Rammygirl's Jan 2023 date. If that makes sense.

Depends a lot on what you spend money on I guess. For me only a few high value items that are kinda luxury lifestyle ones. I'd just buy a tumble dryer for $400!

For example the big Mac screen that is sitting on a desk in our UK house while I have a less aesthetically pleasing Dell one here that I bought. Also the Tacx Neo that is boxed up in my garage in UK has had to be replaced by a second-hand KiCKR here.

I'd also probably have shipped my touring, MTB and TT bike if I knew we were going to be staying. Jeez, you've got me started now - I miss some of my stuff!

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

You are right, prescriptions will be at the PBS rate. However, @PommyLyn would get all her prescriptions free in the UK, whereas here, prescriptions can easily cost $30 a pop, even on the PBS.  

It's a good question about doctors.  They are supposed to have tightened up, because the government was fed up of Brits moving to Spain, Italy etc, then hopping back to the UK for their healthcare. In practice, I suspect many GP's practices are too busy to check properly.

Hmmmmm. Dunno. Anyone think of anything that might possibly have bumped this down UK Drs "To Do List" in the last year?

Seriously though - not a chance of this happening to a large degree in the near future.

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

@PommyLyn, there are some members who've done it, but I haven't seen any of them here for a long time.   Here are the facts:

1.  Your UK pension will be frozen at whatever rate it is now. You'll never get any increases and any supplements will stop.  

2.  If you're currently resident in the UK, you'll be eligible for Medicare under the reciprocal agreement.  Officially that's limited, but in practice, you'll get the same as an Australian.  Be aware, though, that Medicare doesn't cover everything.  You'll have to pay for your prescriptions (no pensioner concessions), and they can be expensive.  You'll also pay for specialist visits ($200-$300 a pop) and depending where you live, there may be a co-payment for visiting your GP.    Spectacles and dental are not covered by Medicare at all.   

3.  Once you leave the UK, you lose the right to treatment under the NHS and any other benefits, even though you are a UK citizen.  So you can't pop back to the UK to get treatment/specs/dental if you find you can't afford it in Australia.

4. You'll be on a bridging visa.  That means you can't leave Australia. If you need to go overseas, you must apply for permission (a BVB), explaining your reason for needing to travel.

5.  You can buy a home to live in, but you'll need to apply to the FIRB for permission (for a fee).  Then you will pay a surcharge on the purchase.  On a $400,000 home, the surcharge would be around $30,000.   

6. As the waiting time for the 804 is 30 years, you're going to be on the bridging visa till you die.  

I'm concerned that you're going for the 804 visa and not the Contributory option.  It suggests to me that you (or your boys) aren't able to afford the Contributory visa, and that's a big red flag to me.  Living in Australia in old age on a bridging visa, with no access to pensioner benefits or aged care support, will be expensive.   If you were in the UK and got into financial difficulty in your old age, you'd have access to government support.  In Australia, you'll have no safety net at all. 

There is a Contributory visa that you could go for.  It's expensive, but the wait time is 8-10 years.  So by the time you're 80, you'd be a permanent resident and have access to all the services and benefits you might need in your old age.

I agree with Paul that a consultation with an agent would be a wise move.  It's a small expense in the scheme of things and can be done over the phone.  Paul is a good choice.

Couple of real life points - 

Regarding 2: There are gaps in reciprocal cover that Australians would be covered for, especially if you need admission under your private cover (which I would suggest taking out over here).

Regarding 3: you would never get pulled up on this if you used the NHS. You'll remain in the system. I'm more than happy to stand corrected by anyone who has experienced difficulty with this but having worked for the NHS for over 15yrs I NEVER knew anyone actually not get treated or pay any bill that was cooked up if they were an illegal immigrant/tourist etc. The NHS just treats people and the number of people who get billed because they shouldn't have been covered is absolutely tiny.

Regarding The forum: Poor chap asks for visa advice and instead first receives advice on his life choices! Classic forum stuff!

I'm happy to have a read for you. 

21 hours ago, Marisawright said:

The international current account is not a UK bank account. It's an account in pounds sterling.  It's not available to anyone who lives in the UK.  

The banks told us that they would be breaking money-laundering law if they allowed us to use an account without proof of address.  Breaking the law = illegal.  I don't have documentary proof of that so maybe they were shooting us a line, but they were all very definite about it.

Not necessarily... I'm sure if there's an interested lawyer they could eloquently explain.

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

Glad I could help.  However, as a medical professional, I'd expect you to be well aware of the costs.  The government did a research project which you can look up.  The NHS also did a study recently which showed that the elderly cost the NHS four times as much as younger people.  Your parents will come to Australia and enjoy full access to Medicare for, say, 20 years, having made no contributions to offset that.  Your taxes pay for your old age, not theirs.

I am well aware of the estimated costs. I think people sometimes equate this to value. Cost-wise I think I've got more than just my old age covered by my tax and insurance! I fully expect to pay this for the role I have in the functioning society I am a part of.

I'll be impressed if you can find legislation that doesn't have any potential loophole, especially when a body is seeking to control something be that funding, jobs, vaccinations or visas. How do you think lawyers, agents and psychiatrists are kept off the streets and in gainful employment? 

But, thanks for highlighting what might be a very useful pathway should one of my parent's find themselves alone. (And, I assure you my tax and other contributions will cover any cost they may bring. It's impossible to accurately cost and value people - just ask Lord Sumption!)

3 hours ago, Marisawright said:

I'm not disputing that it's legal currently, although how the government can decide to interpret "intend to visit only" as "intend to visit OR intend to arrive and apply for a visa" is beyond me.  However as a taxpayer, I don't think it should be legal.  Their Medicare costs are coming out of my pocket.

I think it's impressive that you have the strength in you to worry about that fraction of government expenditure rather than the other ridiculous ways they spend money!

I also don't get the thought process that results in not wanting to contribute to someone's healthcare based on whether or not they have the right visa.

The crazy, woke lefty liberal coming out in me perhaps?

Interesting email from Transferwise telling me I saved a couple of thousand dollars vs international bank transfers last year. The service and platform with Transferwise has always been faultless from my perspective so the multinational card they now do looks very interesting. It looks like a really great value multi-currency account. 

Has anyone got one yet? Any thoughts/reviews?

(Looks like they have actually been doing it a few years!)

2 hours ago, palg1 said:

Thank you all for your input.

Reply from MigrationNT: "we do not provide release letters under any circumstances"

I guess at the end of the day, no one can guarantee what effect an early exit will have on an 887, especially one that is yet to be applied for.

At the moment is seems to be a bit of a grey area, but not a risk we are willing to take that could jeopardise PR.  

Thanks again for all the feedback!

Until you apply it is hard to imagine the stress you have over the PR application - it's almost like filling out that first job application or your UCAS form for God's sake!

You certainly don't want to be thinking "oh shit, we really shouldn't have left NT early should we?". It'll be a real torment!

There are two issues: Safety of travelling and Regulation for travelling.

You should be safe to travel if everyone you are going with had onset of symptoms over 10 days before your flight and are then completely recovered. If one of your party hasn't got symptoms yet then you're in trouble and I'd really think 14 days after onset is safer - this is why the isolation has stayed at 14 days.

From a regulation point of view my understanding is that you are only allowed to travel with a clear test within three days of the flight? I'm less sure about this. This may well prove difficult.

8 minutes ago, ramot said:

Will you all  have finished self isolating for 14 days and have had a clear  test before you drive to Heathrow for another test?  

And you might consider a quick drive up to Barnard Castle to test your eyes too.

8 hours ago, Dorsetbrit said:

We are booked to fly on the 4th and an update on Singapore airlines says that flights from the UK can go ahead as passengers will remain on the aircraft. This means the flight may actually go after five cancellations! It’s just getting the test done. We have had COVID over the last week so pray this gets out of our system. We are on the south coast and can’t see any other way other than driving to Heathrow for a drive through 2 days before then drive back again to fly. Has anyone done the test to fly or have any better solutions. At this stage I’ll do whatever it takes! Thanks guys and keep fingers crossed for us it’s been a long wait. 

Has your whole travelling group had covid? When did the last one of you get symptoms? You're flying close to the wire!

As Southlander hints at, there is a bit of a stigma (not sure that's quite the right word) attached to Australian immigration via NT. I always called Darwin a gateway drug - you get a hint of the possibilities of life in Australia and it tempts you to try other places. I do still think we will probably go back at some point, probably very late in our careers or for some time in our retirement as it will always hold a piece of my heart. However, from a career perspective when a job was made for me at a world renowned centre in Brisbane it was a no brainer to move and once here we have both found this to be a place where we want to live permanently. On the surface it looks like I maybe "used" NT as a pathway to get here and it is really only me that knows I didn't. However, if you still believe in the notion of honour, I'm at peace with my decision and I fulfilled my obligations in NT and didn't burn bridges leaving there. 

Make sure you're at peace with what you do and, as suggested, I'd have a chat with NT government and ask if they agree to the move.

I would cross the NT government at your peril!

Having worked in Darwin for a year and experienced a few interactions and examples being made of people, I think your best course of action would actually be to go to them directly and ask if they will agree for you to go. There's every chance they will agree. And, if they don't, well you know where you stand and can delay your move.

Strikes me as a big opportunity for Qatar here - if they invest strongly in a few routes and treat people well they are going to become the go to airline for a lot of people. Certainly when we have flown with them I've been fairly impressed - the wine is always better quality than Emirates! People will quickly forget the incident with the ladies being mistreated (quite an understatement) and will vote with their feet/dollars.

I think it was The Palais in my first year at med school. That was also the year there was some officious council ban on serving quadruple vodkas. Honestly, some people just like weak drinks. Like you say: how did we survive

On 19/01/2021 at 20:45, FirstWorldProblems said:

Hope it continues to go smoothly for you.

Can I ask what options you have for accommodation?   Are you put where you are put and that's that?  My wife is desperately missing her Australian family and contemplating going through the quarantine to go visit and take the kids too.  To me the idea of the 3 of them cooped up in a small room sounds horrible.  I'd be willing to pay for a serviced apartment type room or two adjoining rooms etc.

Any info you can share would be appreciated.

 

Good luck for the rest of your time in lock up 

If you wish to dissuade her some more - it's not that well publicised but if you test positive in quarantine in Qld you'll become our guests in hospital for fourteen days rather than staying in your hotel...

Maybe look at digital health PhD scholarship opportunities if you are interested in that? We have some interesting ones at UQ. I have just funded a scholarship for one of our junior doctors but we are keen on cross-cutting disciplinary work and I'm hoping to expand our digital health work. There will be lots of big data analysis with computer scientists and some machine learning work. 

I'd definitely suggest you look at PhD opportunities if further learning interests you.

32 minutes ago, Graham Fletcher said:

Thanks. As a migrant myself I obviously know a bit about the process and how difficult and also how scary it can all be. I was very lucky, an Accountant who was married to a Midwife. But it is a massive life change and having a job to go to is one less thing to worry about. I am the only former Englishman in the town where I live so if I can bring someone over and help them acclimate with my own experience I am happy to. 

We were very lucky with the last of the 457s that covered our cost and last year getting PR very quickly with the COVID response. I really feel for the people who post their dreams on here and are met with doom and gloom!

Just read that - the 457 no where near covered our cost! But, it helped.

1 hour ago, Graham Fletcher said:

Yes it is. Social worker was added in November. I realise you are, for some reason, being negative as you obviously think I am trying to con people but I am not. My immigration agents are a national company and, quite honestly, I will take their advice rather than yours thanks

I think it is absolutely brilliant that you have put this on here. There are so many people posting saying "I want to move to Australia" and it is going to be so hard for them to accomplish it so some brighter threads are a great change. Hope this one ends with some jobs!