Ausvisitor

On 14/11/2023 at 22:03, InnerVoice said:

I totally agree, that's what I'd do - but I wouldn't advise someone else to go ahead and do anything that might result in tax evasion.

If I had complex financial affairs involving double taxation scenarios then I'd be happy to pay the small amount of money for professional advice rather than trying to wing it.

If it was a small amount I'd agree with you, but often it's vastly over values for generally sub-par information that most could get from a simple read of the documents. Almost always this advice is caveated to the moon and back so even after paying you are still the one on the hook for it actually being the correct course of action

It will be classed as taxable income, whether they tax you on it will depend on if it takes you over the tax threshold for income.

A forces pension is just a "better entitlement" UK governmental pension so it counts as income in the same way the state pension does

On the landlord insurance question, directline are perfectly happy providing landlord insurance for a UK property to an overseas landlord (so long as they have the right to reside in the UK)

Thanks!

Is there a web tool anywhere that you can type in (for instance) your grant number and it will tell you how many days you've been in country over the last 5 years?

The arrival is the biggest anti climax ever, just slot your passport in an e reader and that's the culmination of many months effort and waiting completed 

8 minutes ago, Ken said:

I think it did take a while for the first transfer, but every transfer I've done since has been instant even though they've given onscreen warnings that it may take longer.

Depends when you do it, if it's over a UK weekend or public holiday it pauses until they are back in the office because of the potential for a big movement in exchange rates. But otherwise it's pretty quick

21 hours ago, Cheery Thistle said:

Vic is out. I don’t want to see another winter. 41 Scottish ones has done it for me, I hate it sooooo much! 
We fly into Sydney and staying there for 6 nights (that’s where hubby’s cousins are), then driving up to Brisbane with a couple of overnight stop offs so never say never. We are not really big city people (could never ever live in London for example, no way no chance lol) so I don’t think Sydney would be for us really. Plus property is too pricey. We can afford a nice house in Brisbane and there are decent job opportunities. If I don’t want to return to teaching then my best work opportunities are in or near a major city.  I’d be trying to get a hybrid working arrangement. I will let you know what we think when we are back. 

The jury is out on hybrid and total WFH at the moment, it's certainly still common but if I look now at offices in Jan this year to Oct, they are getting close to older occupancy.

Lots of companies have responded to surveys saying they expect hybrid and WFH permanently to be a thing of the past by 2026.

Of course that might just be what the newspaper owners want us to read...

Personally I'm not a great fan of either although I can see why many love them. The weather is a bit too "guaranteed hot".

I'm a Sydney/Melbourne cheerleader they just have so much more culture and heritage, but I can see Brisbane is making huge leaps and bounds in catching up. 

That said I'd take Brisbane over some of the dreary places I used to reside in the UK any day.

Have you totally ruled out NSW and VIC as options for settling down? If not you should definitely give them a look before you say no!

On 11/10/2023 at 18:35, Cheery Thistle said:

So I was going to tag this on to the end of another thread, but really felt it deserved to be a stand alone. 
Got the call from Jenny at Down Under Centre this morning that our 189 has been granted. 
Timeline as follows: 

Secondary Teacher, 65 points 

First contact DUC - 6/3/2023

PTE Academic Passed Superior 2/5/2023 

Skills Assessment Successful - 19/5/2023

EOI submitted 189 (and 190 for SA and NSW) - 22/5/2023

Invited to apply 189 - 25/5/2023

Medicals passed and submitted - 28/6/2023

Visa Lodged - 29/6/2023

Acro received and submitted - 9/8/2023

Visa granted - 11th Oct 2023

We fly out on 24th Feb 2024 for 3 weeks for a look around and plan to move with our 10 year old (will then be 11) and 2 dogs in October 2024. 

Really happy for you, where abouts are you planning to head in OZ, with a 189 the continent is your oyster

On 06/04/2022 at 11:36, Marisawright said:

They would, if they checked visa status, but it's not on their checklist, so there's no reason why they would. 

They don't check the visa status directly that's true, but the documentation they use for proof of residency all need a valid AUS visa or citizenship to obtain (Medicare / full bank account etc). The only exception is the utility bill but that would require switching your kids utility bill to your name (and many of them do ID checks too).

That said they won't switch it without the original or a letter (sent directly to them) from the DVLA

(I do a lot of work for Vic Roads so asked their chief of registrations this directly)

Have great trip though, I'm going the other way at the same time $2,300 return for 3 weeks taking in the week before XMAS and coming back after new year

On 12/08/2023 at 17:43, FirstWorldProblems said:

very helpful indeed - thank you

It's proving much harder to find 5 seats on the same plane than I imagined and for some reason several airlines online multi-city booking facilities won't actually let you book (Swiss, Qantas, Lufthansa), crashing at the final stage.  Asiana (who I have never flown) is an option.  Stopping at Seoul in January.......brrrrr

@Blue Flu mentioned that flights are predicted to reduce in 2024 - Easter is showing as 2/3rds the price of Christmas, so it's looking positive.  

Easter has always been about 60-70% of the cost of a XMAS flight so it would seem that nothing has changed just the base cost has risen across the board

I thought to be a police officer you needed to be a citizen in Australia? 

Actually just checked and in SA that's not required, but it is in VIC and NSW

I got my grant (190 not 189) before covid. Minimum points.

Applied at 44years and 3 months. So I'd say give it a try

On 31/08/2023 at 17:41, Marisawright said:

Goodness, that must be a real hassle for the police having to track back 9 years.

It's no effort wahtsoever - despite charging a veritable fortune for the service it is all automated and barely even needs any human input into it

Maybe we ought to change the title of this thread as it certainly isn't a good week to transfer money back to the UK right now at basically 2 dollars per pound

(It is a phenomenal time to go the other way though)

Sydney wise, the only places a 20-29 yr old wants to be seen are

Kings Cross

Darling Hurst

Surry Hills

Newtown

Marrickville

Quite possibly the trendiest places in all Australia and with price tags to match.

A two bed house in Newtown is going to set you back $2.2 million on average, a 4 bed with off street parking and a postage stamp garden will be north of $4m

But then everywhere else is just suburbia and you don't move half way round the world to live in a slightly worse Milton Keynes street.

On 14/08/2023 at 19:42, FirstWorldProblems said:

Well that's it.  No, no and thrice no.   I'm going to need a plan B.  I can't stand cockroaches and don't want to be dealing with them all the time

You can't really live in Sydney without having at least a monthly visit from the cockroach family that lives in your house but generally stays out of the way. 

If you live in Sydney and say you haven't got cockroaches what you really mean is you haven't seen them yet

On 14/08/2023 at 11:08, Jon the Hat said:

Double glazing is treated like a newfangled modern invention!

According to most glaziers in Sydney it doesn't exist - it's a science fiction that might see sometime in the future

On 13/08/2023 at 17:58, FirstWorldProblems said:

I had not come across this - that's very helpful, thank you.  I did not think a car could be covered by 2 policies at once, so perhaps I assumed wrong.  It doesn't mention foreign licence holders, but worth a call.

These policies operate in a grey area of the law around dual policies.

Firstly there always needs to be a "proper policy" in place on the vehicle so when it is parked etc. It is covered.

Now when a person not on the policy drives a vehicle with the owners permission (except when expressly allowed by the insurer) the policy becomes void for that journey, so whilst that uninsured driver is driving there is no policy in place, so they can therefore be covered by one of these "overlay policies"

Marmalade is the biggest temporary insurer in the market and is commonly used so parents don't lose their no claims when teaching kids to drive

I can only talk for NSW and VIC but in those states you do not have to surrender a foreign licence when you use it as a credential for getting a local licence (whereas if you swap interstate you do surrender the licence).

Whether that foreign licence is still valid is another question though...

On 10/08/2023 at 08:12, Marisawright said:

Yes, all over Australia you'll find that the coast is always the coolest.  The further inland you go, the hotter it gets, unless you can get up a mountain.  Having said that, you don't have to go far inland for it to get hot -- it's the sea breezes that cool things down, and they don't go far.  For instance, in Sydney, when it's 30 degrees in Bondi, it can be over 40 degrees in Parramatta (further inland, but still part of Sydney).  Penrith (another Sydney suburb) was the hottest place on earth on one day back in January, at 49.8 degrees.  

I'm sure others will drop in to reassure you that the really hot temperatures only last for two or three months, and that's true.  The winters are gorgeous on the NSW coast, sunny and mild.  Whereas Victoria is cold in winter!   When I moved from Sydney to Melbourne, I had to go out and buy gloves, scarves and woolly hats again.  I'm just one of those people who turns into a wet rag in high humidity so I couldn't handle the warm humid weather in Sydney all the way from November to March. 

Melbourne winters are terrible. Not cold enough to be enjoyable if you are a cold weather lover l, but chilly enough that coats and sometimes gloves are desirable (if not strictly necessary).

Syndey on the other hand never really goes below 12c and then only for a few hours.

Melbourne does get hot in the summer but only for a day or two at a time

On 09/08/2023 at 16:20, Marisawright said:

That's a shame.  The good news is that pre-Covid, 70 points wouldn't have been enough -- however teachers have been invited at that level this year so that's good news.

I just checked your old posts. I thought when you mentioned two email addresses, that you and your partner were both eligible to apply as the main applicant so you'd each put one in.  I now realise it's just you. That means even if you used different email addresses, you'd still have the same name and address on both so it wouldn't take them long to work it out.  Definitely a bad idea IMO, in that case. 

TBH with low points, I would hire an agent, or at least get one to check over your application before you submit (you can ask them to quote for just a check-over, some will, some won't).   A good agent might also have an idea which state is hiring more teachers.

 

Pre COVID 70 points or even 65 points was enough to get a 190 visa, I'm living proof of it ...

I haven't heard anyone ever saying that they do contact referees, but I'm certain they could...

So don't include a reference unless you are sure the person who you named would actually backup what you have submitted