AliQ

6 hours ago, Lee Blowers said:

Can anyone help with a good shipping company around the Brisbane area please. 

We are moving forward to the uk in 3 half months time.

Are belongings are all in local storage ready for shipping 

We were going with Overseas Packers & Shippers but haven't replied after 4 phone calls !!

Also someone who is competitive on price 

Much appreciate any help

Thank you

Hi Lee,

We moved back this year and used OSS World Wide Shippers (based in Brisbane) and we're also used KENT in the past, they were also very good.

2 hours ago, calNgary said:

I personally found time lessons the 'guilt' (for want of a better word) of leaving family behind as over time you start to make your own life here and their lives move on too.

I experienced the opposite. Lived in Australia for nearly thirty years, never got over the "guilt" really.

18 minutes ago, DanO said:

Thanks for the response AliQ. I forgot there was such a thing as writing to people lol!

I'll give it a go.

There is also an email form you can use which is on their website too. 

12 minutes ago, DanO said:

Man, what an exercise in frustration!

Background - Pom with Oz citizenship. I arrived in 1995 after being born in, and working for about 9 years, in the UK. I'm considering returning to retire in the UK with my Australian wife, in the next year or two.

I'm trying to find out about my NI contributions, and how much I could contribute in credits to qualify for however a minimal UK pension I might be able to claim (eventually). I tried to register for a Gov.UK account...went through providing my NI number and the various phone/email confirmations only to reach a page which requires me to provide two pieces of information so they can verify my identity.

I have my UK passport but they also require either a Northern Ireland driving license (not relevant) or details of UK credit cards/phone contracts etc. Obviously having been in Australia for 25+ years I don't have the ability to provide any of this information.

Am I missing something, because it seems virtually IMPOSSIBLE to satisfy these requirements....

 

Any advice appreciated!

Hi DanO,

Just write to them, it's so much easier, the address is on the GOV UK website.

Good luck with your move.

5 hours ago, LifeBeginsAt said:

Hi folks,

We're leaving Sydney after nearly 4 years and moving back to UK in early November (we were on temporary 457/482 for duration - COVID busted our 190 chances so home we go).

We still have 2 UK bank accounts active which we kept open while away so at least that removes one complication for sending our money home.  I have already transferred some of our money back to the UK however for unavoidable reasons there will still be a fairly sizeable chunk of money to transfer after we leave (including DASP refund when it eventually arrives). 

My question is about how to set up things up before I leave to avoid problems transferring the rest of our funds when out of the country.  

While I'm in Australia, it's pretty easy to send money to the UK - the steps are:

1. I use XE/Transferwise/whoever is best/etc. to book the rate
2. I then use online banking to request my AU Bank transfer the money to from my AU bank account to XE/etc's local account
3. The bank sends me a code via text to my AU mobile number.
4. I confirm and off the money goes.

The specific problem I foresee once I leave is that my current mobile phone provider in AU does not permit international roaming so I need to set up an alternative phone number that can receive texts from CommBank when I wish to transfer the money (which could be several months after we leave). 

Has anyone advice on the best way to solve this?  The best I've come up with currently:

Option A: We have neighbours here who are very good friends and I trust them.  I could keep paying my AU mobile phone bill for as long as needed and leave my SIM card with them.  At the point I need to make a transfer, I forewarn them, they plug my SIM into their phone, send me the verification code, and off the money goes.  I then cancel my AU mobile phone account (it's a monthly rolling setup, so not an issue with contract).

Option B: Order a free UK pay-as-you-go SIM now and have it sent to in-laws house in UK.  They post it to us here in Sydney, and then (sometime before leaving) I update my contact details with Commbank here in Sydney, using my UK number as the contact.  For future transfers, I pop the free SIM into my UK phone and can receive CommBank's verification code.  This option doesn't cost any money as the SIM is free and also has the benefit of me being able to test it works before I leave.  Apparently 3's free sim offers free roaming in Australia so could use here for the last few days if absolutely necessary once I've cancelled my own AU number.

Option B seems to be the best but would love to hear if anyone has any advice/better options from their own experience or if you think I've missed anything that might cause issues.

Thanks!

Gerry

Hi Gerry,

We are in the same position. My mobile is on a pre paid plan with NO international roaming, but, since arriving back here in the UK,  those codes from the bank are still coming through, and other texts as well.

As for transferring some funds, we use OFX and I set them up in my list of BPAY recipients before we left Australia, so I can do regular transfers / payments here in the UK without the need for a code.

The network token Marisa talks about is a great idea, but that was not an option with my Australian bank.

Good luck with your move.

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

You're right, there used to be a sentence advising not to book and pay for a flight until your travel exemption was granted - looks like that has gone now. 

I'm not sure that an itinerary is the same thing as a paid-for booking in this context.  

We applied for our exemption only two weeks ago, and it did say do not book flights. I think it said that though when one the actual application page.

On 10/06/2021 at 09:25, Marisawright said:

One question I can't answer - I'm assuming the exemption will be linked to your passport, so I don't know whether it would confuse matters if you applied for the exemption before you renew your Australian passport. Might be better to do the passport first?

I think you are right Marisawright. Our exemption letter states both our full names and both passport numbers, so it probably is.

25 minutes ago, Wanderer Returns said:

Hi @AliQ, if you have anything you wish to sell rather than ship back then please PM me. We've bought in Caloundra and moved into yesterday!

Very sorry, nothing to sell. We included all our white goods in the sale of the property and everything else will be shipped.

Hope your move went well and hope you enjoy your new home

Just now, Toots said:

@AliQ   .........................  you really are a pingponger.  Not that long since you returned to Australia.

All the best with the move back to the UK next month.   

Thanks Toots, much appreciated.

2 hours ago, Lee Blowers said:

Hi Guy's 

We are moving our belongings back to the uk in November  !!

We live in Redcliffe North Brisbane 

We have one quote from $7700 for 30 cubic metres container 

And $10,740 for a 38 cubic metres & this is probably the size we need !!

This quotation was from a company called overseas packers & Shippers !!

We want one more quote so can anyone recommend another competitive company please  !!

Hi Lee, try KENT if you want another quote.

We move back to the UK next month, and our goods are being shipped back by OSS.

Based on our experience, both companies are good.

5 hours ago, Clair said:

Thank you so much both of you. I did feel that renewing both during this time with covid was the best way and you have both confirmed it for me. Thank you!!

Sorry to ask but how do I apply for an exception to leave?

Cheers, Clair.x

Hi Clair, go to website - covid19.homeaffairs.gov.au

Here you will find all the criteria, form, and how to apply.

2 hours ago, Marisawright said:

Strictly speaking, you should leave Australia on your Australian passport and enter the UK on your British one.   However, we've had many members who've never bothered renewing their British passport and have travelled back and forth repeatedly with no problems over the years..

However, with Covid, and never knowing when borders are going to be closed or restricted to citizens or who knows what,  I would just bite the bullet and renew both to be on the safe side.  Once you've got them, you'll have one less thing to stress about.  

You dont need any visa to enter the UK, just show your passport.  You will need to apply to Australia for a travel exemption of course, and be sure to supply plenty of proof that you're moving permanently.

Hi Clair,

Take Marisawright's advice and re new both. 

When applying for your exemption, make sure you send a STAT DEC. We now have our's, after a refusal. We fly back to the UK this July.

Good luck with your planning

1 hour ago, bicek said:

We have an EU King (160cm x 200cm) bed frame and mattress. The mattress is fairly new and expensive - we wanted to hold onto it. We love the base too but it's going to be a bit difficult to package/transport carefully without damage so we have reluctantly decided to leave it behind. Is it possible to get a bed frame/base in Australia that would fit the mattress??

I have tried to find online if you can get this size of frame or mattress in Australia but it's not clear, even from IKEA (the usual stockists). They seem to have one frame possibly available but no mattresses that fit it. Is it worth bringing? Can you get this size of mattress or frame in Australia? Did you bring yours?

Just wondering if we need to try and sell them both now and change to a size that is more typically available in Australia. 

If this was me, I'd bring both, shipping costs would be way cheaper than buying new over here. I often regret not shipping over my lovely bed frame and mattress.

11 minutes ago, Wanderer Returns said:

Hi @AliQ, I'm surprised as you've only just returned to Australia. I hope all is well?

I'm sure you're aware that if you can hang on until you're 60 you can get all you super tax-free, whereas if you return to the UK then I think it will be taxable over there.

Hi WW, thank you for your reply and hope all well with you. I don't want to get involved into living in Australia V living in UK discussions on this forum, they never end well !

11 minutes ago, Ken said:

I suspect it all comes down to cost and convenience of the Super fund. Sending payments to international bank accounts takes the Super fund more time and effort even if the bank fees are passed on to you.

If you have a Debit Card account with Wise they'll give you your own BSB and sort code just like any bank account which you can have the Super fund pay to and you can convert to pounds and transfer to your UK bank account. When you come to draw your super there'll probably be other providers to choose from that'll do the same.

Many thanks Ken. I did not know that a service like that existed, I'll read up about this. 

7 minutes ago, Andrew from Vista Financial said:

Hi AliQ

I have never actually looked into whether they can or can't previously so do not have an immediate answer for you I am afraid. Have you asked your Superannuation provider?

Regards

Andy

Hi Andy,

Thank you, yes I have. They say it's " the legal rules " and all payments have to go into an Australian bank account.

Just seems very odd to me when GOV pensions can be paid into any bank account in the world !

Would love to know the reason why, does not make sense to me.

Can you please tell me why retirement income stream payments can not be paid into UK bank accounts ?

When I come to draw my super, I'll be back in the UK.

Thank you.

4 hours ago, talktosi said:

Im an Advanced Nurse Practitioner, working in a GP surgery. Moving to to Australia next year and have been looking at job market - there seem to be lots of jobs for Practice Nurses but dont really want to take a step down in my career and the pay rate doesnt seem to be particularly good. Is there many jobs for prescribing nurse practitioners in primary care in the UK ? I get the impression that primary care hasnt progressed to this much in Australia.  Likewise there doesnt seem to be equivalent positions to a UK school nurse - Ie they are community based, do a lot of social care and not based in a school. Thanks

Have a look at the Australian nurse practitioners website, it is www.acnp.org.au

I've been nursing over here for a very long time, and only ever personally knew one NP in that time.

Good luck.

19 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

Having an agent will NOT stop you being bumped.  From what I've seen, you know in advance.

Marisawright is correct.

We did use an agent when we returned last year, but only because of all the hassles  involved in re booking due to covid. I left it with them to make to all the calls and search for new flights etc, I had enough to do !  

We booked Premium Economy, our dates still got changed three times. 

3 hours ago, Egorfester said:

Hi we are thinking of moving back to the Uk from Australia and would like to take our 2yo dog with us. We are in Sydney and want to go to Manchester or London.

our dog is very nervous of people he doesn’t know so please if anyone ha recommendations for companies who are good at dealing with this and do you think less stops would be better for him? Ie if we flew out of Perth? 

We used JetPets in the past. No issues at all.

Use an experienced International Animal Transport company as they know all the best routes and airlines etc. No way would I attempt to organise this myself, there is a lot to do.

Good luck with your move.

21 minutes ago, Nemesis said:

Still correct. you are required to quarantine in the State in which your international flight lands.  Cannot transit straight to a domestic flight. 

We arrived back in Australia last August. Our flight was booked Singapore to Brisbane. But, our plane landed in Sydney first, we got off and were led to another departure gate, we then boarded another plane and flew onto Brisbane, where we did our quarantine. 

However, that flight was an international flight ( it was flying back to Singapore) and was not a domestic flight. 

3 hours ago, Loopylu said:

I'm currently visiting from Wales from Qld as I got an exemption to leave as my father is very ill.  I have been like a kid in a sweet shop in the supermarkets.  I just wander round gawping at the choice of products available compared to Woolies, Coles, Aldi or IGA.  I suppose the larger population can justify the variety... And the prices are so much cheaper for fresh produce. 

So glad I am here when purple sprouting (one of my favourite vegetables not available in Australia) is in season!

I saved 6 quid just on a bottle of rhubarb and ginger gin at Tesco by using my parents' Club Card that I loaded to my Stocard App.

I'm feeling very jealous !

In my opinion, UK supermarkets are far far superior to those over here. 

Enjoy whilst you are there

20 minutes ago, Cup Final 1973 said:

We have 3 months to leave.  If we are still here on the date specified ( June 30 for my husband, July 2 for me) we have to reapply.

Thanks for the reply. Good luck and safe travels

5 hours ago, Cup Final 1973 said:

Success!  Re-applied immediately and Jason came up trumps this morning (!) at 7.09.  Interestingly, in the 24 hours between my 2 applications my reference number had gone up by over 1700.  Either there are a lot of people applying to leave the country or Lisa is working overtime rejecting people and they are all re-applying!

Can I please ask, how long is the exemption issued for to leave the country ?

Does it give you a couple of months ? or longer to get organised ? or it not dated, just gives permission to leave ?

7 hours ago, carly baker said:

Hi all, it’s my first time posting. My family and I have been granted our 491 visa February 21, we are hoping to make the move to Australia towards the end of this year depending on covid restrictions. Our mobile phone contracts are uP for renewal in the uk and most providers only offer a 24 month contract. We use our phones a great deal for business and pleasure, would you recommend getting a new contract in Australia or here in the uk, we both use iPhones and not sure what’s available and prices on Australia compared to uk? Any help greatly appreciated

Have a look at GiffGaff.  I use them when in the UK. Easy to use website / app and good choice of monthly "plans" to pick from.