Gemini

UK passport renewals are currently taking 10-12 weeks apparently. We renewed ours last year, wonder if they''ll let us have an extra year extension, seeing as we've not been able to use it, lol. 

My heart goes out to you, my dad suffered from vascular dementia for 2 years before he died from an unrelated physical condition. There is never a good time and this timing is really terrible. In common with others on here, my thoughts are that one way is your future as a family and the other is your past. You don't need me to say it's not going to be easy but waiting will not make it any easier and you have other family members in the frame.  

6 hours ago, Emmy_18 said:

Hi all,

I came out as a backpacker knowing there was a chance I might stay. I'm now going through the de facto visa process and wonder what I need to do in England to "tie up loose ends". Are there specific people I have to let know?

I still have active bank accounts and licence etc registered to my mum's address which i'll continue to keep as we go back to the England approx once a year (pre-covid anyway). I was reading a blog on here earlier that mentioned not being entitled to NHS in England as there is a period of paying no tax or national insurance.

So long story short, as my PR approaches, what do I need to do in England? Moving back in the future has not been ruled out.

My son did this too, went out as a backpacker in 2010, became PR in 2019. He keeps a UK bank account open which has been useful when coming back home. Statements are sent to our address. He let his UK driving licence lapse but wished he'd kept this up to date. We have never informed our GP that he lives abroad because, you never know what's round the corner, he may come back. Unlikely, but who knows? I've no idea about the rights & wrongs or legal ins & outs, just commenting from our experience. 

Thank you very much for the replies here, it's a big relief to know it sounds straightforward and not a barrier to us having an extended stay. 

I had read that visitors could apply for Medicare but we've never needed it on our previous visits, I also thought I'd read somewhere that Medicare just covered emergency treatment so again, am relieved to learn it covers more than that.

My husband has been diagnosed with RA since our last trip. When he first became ill we thought he would never be able to do a long haul flight again, thankfully, things have improved since then.  

Our son and his girlfriend have only just relocated to Brisbane from Sydney so they are still getting used to the location themselves but in time they will be able to make the necessary enquiries for us. We're just trying to remain patient & positive until we can come out ourselves. Covid vaccinations are booked for next week so that's a step in the right direction!

Thanks again.

Hi - hoping someone can help with my query? We are hoping to come over from the UK to visit our son in Brisbane when travel is allowed, who knows when that will be, but that is not my query.  

My husband needs to have a blood test every 3 months because of medication he takes for Rheumatoid Arthritis. He is also only able to get 3 months supply of medication in advance so, if we were to visit for longer than 3 months he will need to arrange a blood test and get a prescription for medication.  I expect these will not be covered by the Reciprocal Health Care Agreement because it is a pre-existing condition. I have checked the PBS list for the medication but does anyone know the procedure for getting a prescription and booking a blood test? Also, any idea what a blood test would cost?

We have done this in Spain where we took the UK prescription to the Spanish Health Centre, saw a doctor who changed this for a Spanish prescription which we took to the pharmacy. It was also straightforward to book a blood test. How would things work in Australia?

Thanks in advance.

"If you’ve applied for a parent visa

You can’t enrol in Medicare if you’ve applied for an 804 or 103 parent visa. You may have some cover under a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement.

You can enrol if either:

• you’ve applied for a contributory parent visa and have a temporary 173 or 884 visa
• you have a permanent contributory parent visa subclass 143 or 864.

You may be able to enrol if you have a temporary contributory parent visa."

Sorry, I can't change the formatting  so I've changed the colour- This is the link to the page

https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/subjects/how-enrol-and-get-started-medicare/enrolling-medicare/if-youre-australian-permanent-resident#a4

4 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

A few days immediate lockdown makes sense I think; business can get through it.  The UK is seeing the impact of making decisions too late every time.

Totally agree, if you want to see what happens when you don't act swiftly then study what has happened here in England. Scotland & Wales took different actions. Businesses should be able to handle 3 days, imagine 9 months of on/off lock downs. Business owners are in despair.

1,162 deaths yesterday, almost 80,000 total now. Average of 50,000+ new cases daily, hospitals in the south on the brink of collapse & very sick patients being transported across the country. This so called British variant was first identified by British scientists, it was first found in Kent in September so could easily have come from Europe as free movement in & out of the country was allowed. Only now are the government looking at tightening up entry regulations in any meaningful way. 

12 hours ago, Gemini said:

Thanks Wanderer Returns, we've got many things to take into consideration and plenty of time to do it with lockdown restrictions :). One of the worries of course is a fluctuating exchange rate if all your income is from the UK. I'm going through all our expenditure so I can do a better comparison. What percentage higher would you say the cost of living is in Australia? It seems you've been back recently & your hometown is not far from where we live. I'm sounding like a stalker here but have read some of your other posts. I remember the first time we came to Oz in 2010 -  the exchange rate was 1.48 AUD to £1!    Nearly fainted when I saw the prices in Coles & Woolworths. Then we found an Aldi so that was ok:)

Thanks for your feedback Marisawright and WandererReturns. I have looked at Numbeo before & will look at it again and the Aldi website. Both your observations confirm what we noticed when visiting Oz previously. We spent about a month each time touring in a campervan so low fuel costs were great. Food in supermarkets was more expensive but manageable and encouraged the sampling of lunches out which seemed reasonably priced & meant no cooking that evening! Obviously we were there in a holiday frame of mind but, coming from Yorkshire, we're always keen on value for money :).

I had hoped to buy a few clothes in Oz but found them expensive, however, I hardly ever buy any clothes at full price here, always wait for the sales & make a lot of my own having studied this at college. Going off my original topic again, I've noticed that "slow fashion" is much more of a thing in Oz. By this I mean small businesses who create, make & sell their own ranges of clothing - oh to be 25 yrs younger & this is what I would be doing. Didn't seem possible in the UK because everyone expects to pay so little for clothes - fast fashion, wear once or twice & throw away. 

This is our first winter at home for 4 years & I dread to think what it will be costing in fuel to heat the house, I'm leaving my husband to keep tabs on that!

I'm off to read up on FIRB. When I looked at this a few years back, I think it was possible to buy a holiday home without being a PR but I can't really remember & it will have changed. Does anyone have knowledge on this? 

Thanks again for input from everyone, all useful!

21 hours ago, Wanderer Returns said:

My mum (who passed on in 2017) used to get AA and it was a separate payment on her bank statement to her state pension, which was £157/week (£680/month) from recollection. £900/month seems very high for the SP on it's own, although if the two payments were combined then that sounds about right. However, you wouldn't be entitled to receive AA if you lived in Australia, would you? - so you couldn't budget for that amount if you were retiring over here. 

In my humble opinion, if you didn't qualify for the Australian Aged Pension and the UK state pension was your only source of income, you'd be destined for a life of beans on toast in your twilight years. Compared with the UK, food here (apart from a few items) is hellishly expensive. It irritates me when you hear people state that 'the cost of living in Australia is roughly the same as in the UK' because it's very misleading. Either they have money coming out of their ears so they don't compare prices, are basing their calculations on £1=$3 when they emigrated 20 years ago - or they just never passed O level Maths!

It'll be almost a year to the day since I arrived back (6 months for my wife) and when we look at how much we spend on groceries a month and other essential items, I wonder if we could survive here after my private pension(s) ran out. We are thinking about moving overseas when I'm 60 and then returning to Australia when I'm 67, so there'll be a bit more left in the pot. You can get a retirement visa to live in Portugal for a maximum of 10 years, during which time you only pay 10% tax on your overseas income, which is looking like an attractive option - unless they change the rules.

Thanks Wanderer Returns, we've got many things to take into consideration and plenty of time to do it with lockdown restrictions :). One of the worries of course is a fluctuating exchange rate if all your income is from the UK. I'm going through all our expenditure so I can do a better comparison. What percentage higher would you say the cost of living is in Australia? It seems you've been back recently & your hometown is not far from where we live. I'm sounding like a stalker here but have read some of your other posts. I remember the first time we came to Oz in 2010 -  the exchange rate was 1.48 AUD to £1!    Nearly fainted when I saw the prices in Coles & Woolworths. Then we found an Aldi so that was ok:)

57 minutes ago, Tulip1 said:

Yes apologies to @Gemini

 

I should be getting mine this year at age 66yrs so will be interested to see if it's anything like the pension forecast

9 hours ago, Tulip1 said:

We can’t just opt out of paying tax. Mine gets taken at source, how would you suggest I opt out. I doubt our government want to trap old people in one place as they’re likely to cost the country money to look after them.  I’m sure they’d be quite happy if they manage to bag a visa to live in Australia or anywhere else where the new country takes on that burden of cost.

They could encourage us to leave by not freezing UK state pensions when we do leave :). Pitiful though it is, it still forms a substantial part of retirement income for many. 

I was searching to try to find recent experience of anyone successfully getting the 804 to see how long it actually took. Some posters in the Pomsinadelaide section had said theirs had taken 8 years in total, awarded in 2016 but this was the most up to date post I could find. Maybe I should try another post with that specific question. Maybe once people get their visas they don't come onto the forum anymore?

9 hours ago, LindaH27 said:

And even up to 30 years should people  choose to go for 804 !!

I was searching to try to find recent experience of anyone successfully getting the 804 to see how long it actually took. Some posters in the Pomsinadelaide section had said theirs had taken 8 years in total, awarded in 2016 but this was the most up to date post I could find. Maybe I should try another post with that specific question. Maybe once people get their visas they don't come onto the forum anymore?

10 hours ago, Tulip1 said:

It’s not now closer to 5 years.  It’s about 10 years if you were to apply now. 

Which visa are you referring to here Tulip1, the 804 or the APCV 864? Are you waiting for one of these visas, if so how long have you been waiting now? The couple I've referred to applied for a 143 visa

9 hours ago, LindaH27 said:

Not sure how they did that! Immi are only now processing June 2016!! 

Hi, though the wonders of modern technology I've been in touch with this couple. They moved to Australia in Sep 2018 and the whole process took less than 3 years. They had been told it would take 2 years so were annoyed it took longer because they thought paying a load of money was to fast track things. They are absolutely dismayed to find it's now closer to 5 years!

2 minutes ago, Loopylu said:

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the governments of this world in which populations are now so mobile would put in place some sort of reciprocal social security system. Let's face it, our parents in the UK have paid their NI contributions and tax their whole lives and so, if they choose to relocate to be where there children are, they should be able take their social security "pot" to where they choose to live.  We have reciprocal healthcare and tax conventions..... Just a thought.

Wonderful idea! We've just lost the possibility of doing that across Europe 

13 minutes ago, The Pom Queen said:

I know Mum regretted not doing it especially because she is also the last remaining relative in the UK. 

So hard for you both

6 minutes ago, The Pom Queen said:

It is worrying and I understand your concern. We have been in Australia 17 years this year and have never been back to the UK because family always visited. I know my husband would move back there tomorrow if I agreed but my sons are here and happy and I love Australia and could never leave.  It is hard because I’m told I will probably not manage a long haul flight with my health and my mum can’t get out here now so we are both in the position of knowing we will probably not see each other again. I really wish she had applied for the visa when she was younger. At the time she could have applied whilst she was here on holiday, meaning she could stay and not leave until she got the visa but I think they have probably closed that loophole now.

Hi, this option is still available to apply for the 804 visa & the 864 so you can see our temptation, despite the obvious drawbacks on being on a Bridging visa. I'm worried it may be withdrawn in the future. 

42 minutes ago, Tulip1 said:

They mentioned it to the OP in Dec 2016 but said they’d already submitted the application. I expect they’d done it some years before they mentioned it. 

I'm still in touch with them so will ask

1 hour ago, LindaH27 said:

Not sure how they did that! Immi are only now processing June 2016!! 

I wish I could remember when they said they'd applied but it was well under 3 years at that time. They went home to Wales from Spain to pack everything up & moved out to Australia in Oct/ Nov 2018. Thanks for your comprehensive reply about the 870 visa.

3 hours ago, Loopylu said:

Toots - thanks for your volunteering efforts. Australia needs more people like you.   My MIL's experience is the tip of the iceberg in some very nasty experiences I have had in my 12 years in Australia but I won't bore you with the details.  However, hopefully this goes some way to explain why I don't like living here and maybe some of the people who have posted some quite hurtful comments in response to my posts might now understand why I don't consider Australia to be paradise on earth.....

I have also volunteered a lot in Australia.  I have assisted children from very deprived backgrounds with reading and mentoring to assist them to grow, prepared statutory declarations for refugees about their experiences (very harrowing) and why they should be allowed to remain in Australia and my latest is as the risk and compliance officer for a small charity that provides overseas aid in the Asia-Pacific region. 

Anyway, I am digressing from the topic of this thread which is aged care. So to return to topic - if you are financially secure, Australia is potentially a good place to grow old provided you can either stay in your own home and pay for the support that you need or find a decent care home.  

Happy New Year Toots!

8 hours ago, Toots said:

Blimey!  I'll be growing old in this country and very much hope i don't end up like your mother-in-law.  Poor old soul.

I volunteer at a nursing home and I have to say the staff are lovely with the oldies.  None of the people there seem miserable but i dare say there must be some who aren't happy with how they have ended up.  I take a lovely old man in his wheelchair out for a walk.  His daughter brings his ancient dog to see him and so the old dog plods along beside us.  The old chap never says a word but I can tell he's enjoying being out.   There are trishaws to take the oldies for longer trips along cycle paths and beside the sea.  Some of the staff drop the men off at the local pub for an hour and the women get a lift to the local bingo.  

There are a few poor souls with dementia who really take a lot of looking after but the staff have endless patience with them.  

 

I know this has gone off topic from my original post about the 804 visa but is interesting to read as none of us know what our care needs will be in the future. What a wonderful post Toots. Sorry this will be another long post & I may get told off by the administrators, so read it or not, as you wish. I'm finding this forum is like a form of therapy  

I've had some experience of the UK Aged Care system here in England, it was a complete nightmare. My dad started to show signs of dementia in 2014, about 10 years after my mum had died. Me & my sister had a huge battle to even get him assessed for this, his normal GP just wanted to fob our concerns off, it was only when we got a locum that we got anywhere. He was assessed, diagnosed then we were just left to get on with things as he owned his own bungalow and didn't qualify for any means tested benefits so, no local authority help. We arranged for private daily care through an agency (We were both working full time) with lots of daily support from us as we, fortunately, lived close by. 

Things couldn't continue because, amongst other things, he'd taken to wandering off in the evenings from his home to the local betting shop! Totally out of character, he never went in betting shops before but we think he had no idea what time of day it was, went out and found that this was the only place open. Can you imagine our worry at this time! We had no idea what was going to happen next but then, at a routine health check, it was discovered he had a massive Aortic Aneurysm and was admitted to hospital immediately. The young consultant was brilliant with our dad, he described what they needed to do, draw diagrams, went over it time & time again so that dad could grasp it enough to give or deny his consent. Anyway, the operation went ahead, there were complications (he was 86) and this meant a long stay in hospital. He was discharged from there to our local care home for a convalescence period where he would be assessed to see if he could return home.  Me & my sister knew he wasn't capable and his physical strength had diminished due to hospitalisation, but the powers that be decided he was ok to send back home with carers calling 4 times a day. Within 3 days (between carers visits) he had fallen, broken his shoulder & was hospitalised again for several more weeks then sent to a community hospital for convalescence. He was even less capable by this time, me & my sister were at our wits end! No-one would tell us what was going to happen next. At this community hospital he had an excellent & very experienced Occupational Therapist who managed to get my dad to communicate his worst fear which was to die at home, alone, and that he wanted to be cared for. We were present, it was totally non - coercive, quite an achievement with a patient who has lost the ability to communicate his feelings. The OT said this then gave the green light for looking for full time care. 

My sister & I did the legwork of visiting all the care homes in the area who were able to care for dementia sufferers & had vacancies. Most of these were privately run & were dire, money making facilities at an eye watering cost which he would have to fund from the sale of his home. They were truly awful. The only care home we would be happy to send him to was the one he had been sent to at his first discharge which was run by the local authority (the fees were about a third cheaper, out of interest), but our concern was getting a well run establishment. We had a real battle with the authorities to even get him on the waiting list, basically it meant that a resident had to die, and Dad's needs deemed to be the most urgent at that time, to get the care bed offered to us. His stay at the community hospital was coming to an end, they had done all they could & the bed was needed for someone else so we thought we would be forced to move him to one of the private ones and his opportunity for a bed at the LA home would be gone forever - and then a place came up! So tragedy for one family meant an opportunity for our family. Who would ever think that your dad going into a care home would be considered the luckiest break ever!

So, he was admitted to the care home in November 2015, was happy & settled there, had a wonderful Christmas with Carol singers, a party, gifts, Christmas dinner in a trimmed up dining room and then died in January 2016. 2014/15 were probably the worst 2 years of our lives and what would have happened to Dad if we hadn't been there to fight for the care he needed? Experiences like that do make you wonder about your own situation.

15 hours ago, LindaH27 said:

Oh yes - I’m not sure I would have started my journey if I’d known the truth. At time of applying immi website was saying 18-24 months !! I’m 3.5 years in already snd still have another few years to go. Plus they have progressively reduced the number of parent visa grants available from over 7000 a couple of years ago to just 4500 now - and they haven’t met those figures for quite some time. In 2019  the ceiling  was 6000 - they only granted 4300

So frustrating for you. We made friends with a Welsh couple when we were all in Spain in December 2016, they had submitted their Parent visa application and moved to Adelaide in October 2018, I think it took just over 2 years from start to finish 

On 01/01/2021 at 04:03, Quoll said:

That is exactly what my parents did for 15 years from 65 - they built a granny flat on our block, arrived in October, played golf and toured the country until March then they went home where they played golf and toured around.  They, too, looked at emigration (I'm an only) but dad had a sister who he didnt want to leave even though she was happily married and it would have been very expensive for them.  They didnt regret it in the least, they had great holidays without the stress.  They had travel insurance for the duration and brought their own medications with them for the period.  They had very little need to access the reciprocal agreement but dad did have a mini stroke one year and was very well treated by the system.  Once they were in their eighties it became more of a chore but talking to them about it while we were caring for them until early this year, they were very happy with the decisions they made - they had a good social network which stood by them to the end and they never regretted not ending their days in Australia.  Of course, it worked out well for them that when they got to nearly 90 we were in a position to be able to retire and look after them in UK, squatting in their back bedroom!

Thanks for your reply, great to have different perspectives. My dream for the past few years is that they would buy somewhere where we could build a granny flat. Sadly, they like city living so that dream is over and, as you have said, it's what happens when you can no longer fly? 

20 hours ago, LindaH27 said:

@Gemini Also a couple of years or so after applying for 804 and getting a bridging visa you will both have to have Medicals. If you pass you are given a later queue date which is always going to add time to the length of wait! That queue date is the one that determines when they will look at your application - not the date you applied for the visa. It’s heading towards 30 years for 804 grants so you need to be self supporting for all that time. As temporary residents it will cost you more to purchase property.  As other have said you will get Reciprocal health care through Medicare but not full. No cover for aged care costs, ambulance, dentists etc  and legally it’s only for essential and urgent treatment but some have had more than that. Something like - you can have a new hip if you fall and break it but no new hip if it’s just wear and tear and painful. 
Also remember the reciprocal health agreements are simply that. They are not the Law - they are only agreements between Australia and various other countries - and could therefore be terminated at any time. It’s not likely but Australia does not like 804 visas and their corresponding bridging visas. It costs them too much money and as had been previously said - they tried to get rid of it once before. There’s also been talk in Australia recently about the fact that they consider they have too many people on bridging visas - even from the Shadow immigration minister not just the current govt immigration monster. That post has  just had a new man appointed - no idea what he’s like or his opinion on parent immigration yet. 
 

Only just over 600 804s were granted last year too. Most of the 4000 annual parent  grant allowance will be given to those prepared to pay a substantial sum! 

How interesting, sounds like you're really keeping an eye on developments.

19 hours ago, LindaH27 said:

@Gemini Also a couple of years or so after applying for 804 and getting a bridging visa you will both have to have Medicals. If you pass you are given a later queue date which is always going to add time to the length of wait! That queue date is the one that determines when they will look at your application - not the date you applied for the visa. It’s heading towards 30 years for 804 grants so you need to be self supporting for all that time. As temporary residents it will cost you more to purchase property.  As other have said you will get Reciprocal health care through Medicare but not full. No cover for aged care costs, ambulance, dentists etc  and legally it’s only for essential and urgent treatment but some have had more than that. Something like - you can have a new hip if you fall and break it but no new hip if it’s just wear and tear and painful. 
Also remember the reciprocal health agreements are simply that. They are not the Law - they are only agreements between Australia and various other countries - and could therefore be terminated at any time. It’s not likely but Australia does not like 804 visas and their corresponding bridging visas. It costs them too much money and as had been previously said - they tried to get rid of it once before. There’s also been talk in Australia recently about the fact that they consider they have too many people on bridging visas - even from the Shadow immigration minister not just the current govt immigration monster. That post has  just had a new man appointed - no idea what he’s like or his opinion on parent immigration yet. 
 

Only just over 600 804s were granted last year too. Most of the 4000 annual parent  grant allowance will be given to those prepared to pay a substantial sum! 

Just wondering how the Parent 870 visa might fit into this? Sitting out the waiting period while on this visa? Is this even possible?