Thisforumisalifesaver

Just read on the news that "Emirates to resume flights to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane less than a week after cancelling services during coronavirus".

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-22/emirates-resumes-flights-to-australia/13080484

Phew!!

10 hours ago, SusieRoo said:

"Moody's dramatically downgrades its forecasts for house prices"

I just noticed this article in todays SMH (link - https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/imf-and-ratings-agencies-warn-of-more-financial-pain-for-australian-economy-20190409-p51cdh.html)

"In January, Moody's forecast Sydney house prices would drop by 3.3 per cent through 2019. It now believes the drop will be 9.3 per cent. Melbourne's drop-off is even more acute, with the agency now predicting an 11.4 per cent fall in the city's house prices."

Interesting article, their outlook is gloomy not just for Aus but for rest of the developed economies ... One thing I won't do is jump the gun and buy straight away in Melb.

Yes indeed, there's an element of risk when buying in a falling market.. also depends how long you are planning on living in that property (short/long term) etc.

Many thanks @Marisawright for your feedback! Yes tax implications and hassle is a big factor. Quite alot to think about and factor in indeed  (amongst other important things like finding a job, settling in etc).

Yes Melbourne is likely to be on the up again very soon and depends on the amount of influx on each suburb as well.

Thanks @SusieRoo Option D is indeed also worth considering. I'm aware of the Aus housing market price drop but hadn't realised how much it's falling until after reading other posts who pointed to CoreLogic property values index.

Am just mindful that I don't want to sell up my UK home immediately whilst we are in this Brexit turmoil until I absolutely have to. In the meantime exploring other options like using savings or releasing equity..

HI all,

Has anyone here ever released some equity in their UK property to buy a property in the UK? I just want to gauge everyone's opinion/experience on this whether it is an option worth considering or not for me.

I recently was granted the PR (100), and intend to keep my property in the UK whilst gearing up to buy a property in Australia in the near future (once my wife & I are settled there with job/life etc, in the interim will be staying with the "outlaws" ).

I'm keen to keep my property in UK for quite some time and have a fairly low LTV (Loan-to-value), and can scrape just about enough UK savings for say a 20% deposit in Melbourne. I just want to lay out all the options in case I have missed any, and pros and cons of each one:

Option A: Rent out UK property; no equity release; use UK cash savings for a 20% deposit in Australia
Option B: Rent out UK property; release some equity; use UK cash savings and cash from equity release for a bigger deposit in Australia
Option C: Sell UK property; use cash from UK home sale for a outright purchase or large deposit in Australia

The factors I've been thinking out loud are FX risk, tax implications, hassle (time and effort), interest rates UK vs Aus, Brexit ... etc. 

Thanks in advance for your valuable feedback!

26 minutes ago, LottyC said:

I can't believe it - just logged into my emails and have the golden ticket for my 100 visa!

Hopefully this means that they are starting to process more and I hope everyone else's follows soon! Wanted to update you all immediately to give everyone a bit of hope.

Amazing news, congrats @lottyc!!!  Hope the rest of the approvals start coming in for everyone who are still waiting, fingers crossed.

14 hours ago, CEP said:

Congratulations @Katiebobbles and @Thisforumisalifesaver!!

 

@GemTrae don’t panic you’re in good company. Xx

Thanks @CEP! your spreadsheet is awesome! and best of luck with the rest of you all , as it seems like the UK/London applications are starting to get approved thick n fast.

Just now, LouFerg said:

Congratulations! Must be such a good feeling! 

When did you make your application? 

Thanks @LouFerg!

I applied mi-June '18 (front-loaded). Did medical in early July. They requested further info mid-Nov.

Hey guys, just want to update to you all that I received the golden email received today woohoo 

The only slightly weird thing I found on my grant notification was that they granted me 100 straight away, i.e. what about the 2 year temporary 309 visa?

Here are the dates FYI:

Partner (subclass 100): Granted
Date of grant                           16 January 2019
For first entry, arrive by          03 July 2019
Must not arrive after              16 January 2024
Length of stay                         Indefinite from the date of each arrival
Travel Unlimited until            16 January 2024. For travel after this date, apply for a Resident Return visa

9 hours ago, eurokaz said:

OMG, just got the golden email!! I thought I would be more relieved but it just feels surreal after all the waiting. Interestingly we got it from another case officer Zacharenia), so I wonder if our other case officer left or is off sick so that has been the hold up?! 

You guys have kept me sane, thank you!

Congrats @eurokaz such fantastic news!!!

On 11/01/2019 at 23:32, ATE said:

Hi all, notified yesterday to leave Australia to grant 309/100 visa. 241 days after applying...now hopefully it comes in quickly next week. At last! Good luck to anyone else still waiting. 

Such good news! Congrats @ATE!! Let's hope the rest of us gets some good news too!

On 12/01/2019 at 15:48, ATE said:

Will be in Melbourne  moving to Fairfield. 

I'm planning to move to Melbourne too  (Kew) Hope your move goes well!

1 hour ago, TanC7 said:

OMG!!!!!!! Exciting News everyone. My husbands 309/100 just came through minutes ago. I cannot put into words how I feel. Entry is by end of April so have to get skates on and get the house on the market, dogs booked etc etc. Thank goodness we had our clearout last year!

my timeline again ..... applied 12th April 2018, more info requested 26th Oct 2018

and grated 309/100 today, 10th January 

The champagne will definitely be getting opened tonight.

Thank you to everyone on this forum for updates and good luck to everyone waiting, I’m sure your emails will be through very soon.

Tania

Amazing news - congratulations @TanC7!! 

6 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

Happy New Year all!

I have just booked my flights for validation trip after failing to convince my boss it was worth a work trip to Sydney.  So I am £1300 out of pocket today, but good to have it booked in, and as I can work from the Sydney office i don't lose a weeks holiday.

@Jon the Hat which airline are you booked with and when are you flying? I just saw a deal today UK to various Australian cities on Jack's Flights between £500-£600 rtn with Cathay Pacific / China Southern (Feb-Nov excl July/Aug).. 

also, does anyone know once the 309/100 is granted what is the deadline that one has before last entry to activate/validate visa?

16 hours ago, CEP said:

I couldnt figure out how to edit the previous post so here's an updated list:

So by my reckoning we've got the following outstanding:

CEP - Lodged w/c 28/05/18 - Request for Info w/c 5/11/18

@GemTrae Lodged w/c 28/05/18 - Request for Info  w/c 12/11/18

@Katiebobbles Lodged w/c 11/06/18 - Request for Info w/c 29/10/18

@Heather Kennedy Lodged w/c 07/05/18 - Request for Info w/c 05/11/18

@ZoeHoulding Lodged w/c 30/07/18 - Request for Info w/c 26/11/18

@ATE Lodged w/c 07/0518 - Request for Info w/c 05/11/18

@SydneyBound Lodged w/c 04/06/18 - Request for Info w/c 12/11/18

@Ausgirl42 Lodged w/c 20/08/18 - Request for Info w/c 03/12/18

@Kylied Lodged w/c 23/04/2018 - Request for Info w/c 29/10/18

@Thisforumisalifesaver lodged w/c 11/07/18 - Request for Info 19/11/18

@TanC7 Lodged w/c 09/04/18 - Request for Info w/c 22/10/18

 

Happy 2019 to everyone and thanks @CEP for putting this together - amazing! I just got back to chilly London after a month holidaying in Australia, definitely have a holiday blues and eagerly awaiting the golden email !

@CEP: just a minor correction for my lodgement date, it's 17-Jun (not 11-Jul)

10 minutes ago, BacktoOz83 said:

Maybe it will also move your application to the top of the pile somehow too? Just approve it and be done with It? Fingers crossed! 

Thank you  I'm hoping they can approve it before year end. Not sure what the stats are in terms of time between further assessment date and grant date. Fingers crossed!

2 hours ago, ZoeHoulding said:

Did you speak to anybody about this? Ive got my fingers crossed that your grant email is on its way xx

Spoke to the Aus High Commisson on Friday...  apparently my profile on their system they've somehow incorrectly marked me as an Aussie citizen. They said it's a system issue at their end and sent a request to their processing team to correct my profile (back to UK citizen). What a howler! Anyways I'm hoping for them to drop me a call today/tomorrow so this is sorted out before my morning flight to Melbourne on 28th Nov. The chap on the phone said he's only ever seen this happen once before.. 

On 22/11/2018 at 11:53, samie97 said:

Hi

It's a strange one because I have applied for a visitor Visa in the past and it got approved almost instantly. Although this time is different for obvious reasons as I have submitted my application for Partner Visa.

I would advise maybe doing it before the day before your flight though just to safeguard yourself because mine still hasn't been approved and its been 3 working days now.

Let us know what you decide and good luck with the Visa

Hi,

...so I decided to be on the cautious side and tried to apply for the eVisitor 651 today (while I wait for the 309/100 decision) as I'm planning to visit Oz next week for a month...

For some reason it would not let me proceed after I've entered all my details, instead came up with an error message..

"Australian citizens are not eligible to use this service. You are unable to make an application for an eVisitor."

...What?!? Is this error message showing because they have flagged in the system that I'm applying for a 309/100 somehow? I'm definitely not an Australian citizen (although it would be nice!). 

Does anyone know what I should do next as I obviously been granted the 309/100 yet (still in "Further assessment" stage), but they won't let me apply for this eVisitor? Should I try another tourist visa i.e. ETA 601 instead? I'm anxious as my flight is coming Wednesday. 

 (I'm in British Citizen and had this previously had an eVisitor approved in the past years ago without issue)

Thanks.

9 minutes ago, samie97 said:

Does anyone have any experience of applying for a tourist Visa while waiting for the partner Visa to get approved?

I applied for a tourist Visa about 3 days ago so my partner and I can travel back to Sydney over Christmas and New Years to visit her family and return to the UK after about 3 weeks, but the application is still just saying 'received'. It's been 3 days and I'm starting to worry because on Immi it says it should take 1 day to approve it.

I have applied for a tourist visa before and it got approved instantly so not sure what the hold up is...

Hi Samie97,

I'm in a similar situation. (Long time lurker here posting for the first time..hello everyone :))

I'm flying to Australia next week mid-week, and since I heard back from Case Officer yesterday requesting more info (which I uploaded same day 21st Nov), I was planning on waiting until the day before my flight before I have to apply for the eVisa 651 in a vain hope that it gets approved in between. But after reading your post I'm a little anxious now as to whether I should just apply for the eVisa ASAP or not!

Question: If I travel to Australia on tourist eVisa 651 and I get the 309/100 approval over there, will I be able to activate it if I book a same day flight out/in e.g. to NZ? i.e. If I do that, will the border control activate it when I do my trip back from NZ and ignore my eVisa?

DoL: 17th June 2018 (Front Loaded)
Medical check completed: July 2018
Request for further information by Case Officer: 21st Nov 2018