Ausvisitor

I'm not sure I understand, I always thought when a student visa was granted it aligned to course dates.

Have you taken time off of registered on further courses without telling immigration 

So we have a list of countries (where so long as you have the right to work) you can do this.

Each one has been assessed and the number of days/weeks differs for each based on taxation arrangements - it may well be that your company just set a "standard period" so that the admin was simpler 

As an Australian employee with PR and UK citizenship I am able to work in the UK for up to 8 weeks a year without tax implications so long as I am paid in Australia by an Australian employer and the whole trip is not longer than 12 weeks in the UK (can visit other countries on way there/back but can't work in them)

(Our company also doesn't allow you to use the local companies facilities - so working from home, Airbnb or hotel - due to insurance issues for the UK company)

We've spent hundreds of thousands stress testing this policy with immigration and tax authorities.

11 minutes ago, Tulip1 said:

I think from age 5 they do something called pre primary which is probably like the UK reception class.  I think the pre primary is free, just not anything before that.  Hopefully someone will come along to confirm that.  It probably catches many off guard as kids in the UK start school at four and a half.  

Kids in the UK can start school much earlier than that. Ours started at 3 - technically they called it kindergarten at the private school they went to but they did full days got taught maths, reading, french and Spanish so I'd call that school lessons myself

2 hours ago, can1983 said:

Yes it might take several years. I guess what I'm saying is I only want the money for retirement so its guaranteed to move enough both ways over the next 20 years

Guaranteed is a big word, but I'd agree on the term "likely" instead

17 hours ago, Nemesis said:

Wouldn't you also need to take into account housing costs, food, living expenses etc if taking the financial viewpoint? And the rules on paying back the loans would come into lay to - don't they have income levels at which one starts repayments, and that kind of thing? I was lucky enough to go to polytechnic in the days of full grants, but I worked with people in Aus who reckoned their HECS debts were crippling them, to the point of thinking about getting lower paid jobs!

The income levels are less relevant if you move abroad as the level at which you repay is set artificially lower than if you were employed in the Uk

21 hours ago, ramot said:

Do you still pay international fees as an International student at a Scottish University? A friend’s granddaughter is considering a degree at a Scottish University and strangely was asking me about the cost of International fees, 

Yes, the residency rules are the same, just the fact that if you qualify for home fees the Scottish home fees are zero.

Note this is all if your residence is in Scotland. If you are resident in England for the 3 years before uni and choose a Scottish university the fees are the same as if you chose an English home fees university course.

Agree on the Scotland point.

Also it's not really a simple choice. Whilst AUS allows anyone with citizenship or PR to attend as a "home student" (there are some differences around whether you can take loans or pay up front) the UK doesn't - the UK education system is based on residence for the 3 years directly preceding entry to the course.

If you aren't in the UK 3 years in advance (and live there for those 3 years) you won't qualify as home based and will pay international fees (even if you are born in the UK) and these are more like £25k a year 

So it's not just a choice of where is cheaper, it's also can you time it properly to even have that choice in the first place 

14 hours ago, rammygirl said:

You can definitely set up a super fund here without ever having paid employment. I did this and bump started it with contributions from taxed funds as a form of investment that I can take tax free later. You can also put earned income in over and above your employer contributions up to a cap. 
 

 

The cap next year is 30k.

Because super contributions are taxed on entry (not exit like they are in UK pensions) it generally isn't smart to go over the 30k if it's out of your own income as there are better investments to put fully taxed personal income into.

Of course it's not free. Education is a massive cost to the taxpayer and the family we are talking about entered Australia as tourists.

I'm frankly amazed at what people think is free from a country that you've just turned up in.

Most Australian families don't pay enough tax to cover the education their kids get. If they start giving it out to free to everyone the tax burden will get even greater.

(Note - I might be feeling a little sore as I just had a chat with my accountant and it appears after 2 years on a 190 visa I've already given the AUS taxman over 250k in tax and as my kids are still in the UK doing their uni over there I'm struggling to see what I got out of that 250k)

It's got to be easier to renew an existing UK visa than start an entirely new one for AUS.

Also housing gets easier to find when you are a little older than graduate employees and have "stable roles" like medics, so your wife's colleagues probably aren't seeing the roughness out there

10 hours ago, jimmyay1 said:

I took a pay cut to move to Aus.

…and even now I still get only paid about the same as I did when  I left the uk 12 years ago 

but yes corporate roles don’t pay as well generally here nor as plentiful.

but….at least i work my 37 hours and that’s it, I don’t work well into the evenings, I don’t work weekends, I don’t need to be constantly available whilst on holiday, don’t have toxic bosses  etc etc - all of which was the case at various times when I worked in london.

luckily my financial situation is such that I don’t need to chase max dollars  to maintain a good lifestyle ; no kids, homes owned outright, no mortgages or other debts, good savings and super and have always lived well below my means.  
 

I don’t engage in keep up with the Jones -  I have nothing to prove. 

horses for courses innit! 

Yes I'll almost certainly never catch my peers in the UK in terms of salary (unless I go back).

Still working long hours though, usually at desk by 7:15 am and leave about 6;30pm every weekend, thankfully though no weekend work in AUS (unlike Europe).

Can't comment on the toxic bosses, but maybe the people working for me might have a view

2 hours ago, Home and Happy said:

I am happy for anyone who made it work for them. Once a person knows they want to get back home to the UK, once the seed is already planted, it's just a matter as to when they leave.  After a short while of feeling stuck so far away out there we already decided we wouldn’t stay, only work and then the rapidly rising real estate market and plane loads of new immigrants piling in each week made us work on our exit strategy and stick it out until the conditions were right to move home.

I do think a UK migrant living in Australia probably shouldn't complain about plane loads of new immigrants - it's a bit pot calling the kettle black.

23 minutes ago, can1983 said:

That was the fee for GBP 25k but actually it was the last of several similar transfers this year so perhaps it changes 

They've just changed their fee structure, but the figures I quoted are what you would get today

51 minutes ago, can1983 said:

I'm using wise. essentially you get the exact international rate less 0.24% commission.

 

 

That's the feeling for Transfering 750k GBP (about 1.5m AUD)

If you are transferring a more modest sum i.e 100k GBP the fee is around 0.38%

Still better than anyone else though!

Quite a reduction in 189 visas there

Yeah the disparity is enormous. It's down to the size of the market though

23 hours ago, Marisawright said:

 

That is true for a lot of occupations, however it's worth noting that "Australians earn more money" is as much a myth as "Australia is more expensive". It depends what you do for a living.  Medical professions, teachers and tradies are all paid better, for instance.  However we've had members report that corporate jobs (other than IT) are lower paid, at least initially.  So doing your research is critical. 

Couldn't agree more, I'd earn about $70k more a year doing this job in the UK but I still earn more than enough so I prefer the lifestyle here (and I can always go back if I want the extra cash)

On 05/05/2024 at 19:49, welljock said:

I keep hearing that but it's really true, for example the cheapest Kia Sportage you can buy in the UK is GBP29,390 which is $55,750; the cheapest in Aus is only $37,000 on the road. New cars in general are cheaper, not so much with used

It depends what you want. European cars are expensive due to the logistics cost (distance). Asian built cars less than UK for the same reason.

UK cars depreciate quickly due to weather and the likelihood of rust from water and salt. AUS cars last longer in general so depreciate slower.

Unless you want a 5 year old car the difference (on a normal family car) between a brand new and a nearly new means you may as well have the "I bought a new car" feeling.

Then look on seek and apply for one, it's no different to any other country.

As I see it you have 2 options.

1. Employee an agent to see if they can pull off some magic to dig you out of this hole

2. Recall your application (by saying you no longer want it) and apply again with the right points total

You won't get a positive outcome by hoping this will fix itself, as Paul said they legally can't allow you to be granted a visa if you declared points are higher than your actual points no matter how innocent a mistake it is.

I dug out a post I wrote back after we had moved in 2022 where I lay out costs we incurred 

So for us (2 adults and one teen - who ended up staying behind initially for uni but still needed a visa)

$25k visa, agent, tests, medicals and police

$8k travel

$8k temp accom for 6 weeks

$6k accom deposit and first 4 weeks

$5.5k furniture and white goods

$34k car costs

$8k living costs for 2 months

Total until first pay day $93k (which was 7 weeks after arriving)

Now maybe you won't go and buy a brand new car straight away and so you won't spend that much but we spent $60k not including a car (which you will need at some point)

1 hour ago, Adam 005 said:

We would be in Joonjalup WA. 
I’m quite worried about the cost of housing as well. 

Where are you from in the UK? If you are currently in a major (and expensive) city (London, Manchester, Edinburgh etc) you'll be pleasantly surprised how cheap everything is, if you are from Burnley (no offence to Burnley it's just that it was announced as the most cost effective town to live in) you might have a heart attack when you see prices over here.

I think most of this is pretty common, we made the decision to move as far away as physically possible from them and yet we expect them to roll out the red carpet when we say "on I'm visiting in 3 months".

Have you considered that maybe your sister had already booked (or promised) to go on that trip before you made your announcement. Maybe she really wants to see you but can't disappoint the people who are there for her every day (rather than sis who breezes in once every 5 years - or whatever the time is)?

She might be gutted but doesn't want to admit it ...