TBD

What a wonderful, accurate tour of Scots accents - thank you! A friend took her elderly mother for a special dinner to Gleneagles. The mother had grown up in the Highlands and had that lovely soft accent. On being asked (by a rather hammily posh waiter) if she would like capers, as a dressing on her smoked salmon starter, she replied "no thank you, I have my salmon" - to her the acute "a" in capers sounded like the "i" in "kippers".

While Edinburgh and Glasgow are different, there isn't even a single "Edinburgh accent" or a single "Glasgow accent". Scottish cities have very distinct accents within them - a Morningside accent ('wealthy Edinburgh') is profoundly different to the accent (and vocabulary) of somewhere like Pilton or Craigmillar ('working class' areas of Edinburgh). It's the same in Glasgow between Bearsden or Milngavie on the one hand, and Maryhill or Govan, on the other; even in a smaller city like Dundee, between 'the Ferry' and the Hilltown. However, it isn't just one "wealthy" Scots accent and one "working class" Scots accent - a Milngavie accent is different to a Morningside accent (both affluent, Glasgow and Edinburgh respectively).

I don't know how you are now getting on with your application but we found these websites helpful: https://halftheclothes.com/travel-tips/australian-partner-visa-application-tips/ https://brookearoundtown.com/uploading-evidence-to-our-820-801-australian-partner-visa-application On photos, we scanned them as combined pages, with labels/ commentaries including dates under each one. You can also find online tools to compress/reduce the size of PDF files. We treated everything as mandatory. Like Vongole I put in a supporting statement (which I verified with a Statement of Truth and had notarised in the UK) addressing all of the questions you can see in the application form (as headings - "How, when and where you met"; "How the relationship developed"; "What you do together"; "Time you spent apart"; "Significant events in the relationship"; "Your plans for the future") - Vongole said they had 2-4 pages of detail per question; my overall document was 16 typed pages (just over 6,000 words), just written as a chronological narrative, divided into paragraphs. That was almost certainly more than needed (certainly more than I have seen others doing) but I didn't get an RFI - just straight to grant of my 309.

Do I understand right - you have two wills, one in Australia and one in the UK? So will have (or try to have) two separate estates, one in each jurisdiction?

Marisa - yes, it's really the second transaction that I was speculating about (residue of SIPP to some Super fund - I might actually use the 25% for other purposes and not put that into a fund). It will also depend on what the withdrawal of initial funds from the SIPP does to its status (the status of the residue). I am at very early stages at present (still in UK, still undoubtedly UK resident for all purposes, beginning to plan move once the World emerges from Covid-19). Your comments about moving from a Super to SMSF are very helpful as well. Thank you.

Marisa - many thanks. My query wasn't so much about the money withdrawn (which I see would become "ordinary" cash) as to whether it would be possible to transfer the balance of the SIPP from the UK to an Australian fund without tax consequences. Is there a view as to how what sort of fund becomes viable for a SMSF?

I appreciate the need for detailed advice as to pension transfer arrangements. However, does anyone know if it would be possible to: (1) take 25% of an UK SIPP tax free in the UK before becoming tax-resident in Australia; (2) transfer the balance to an Australian QROPS/SMSF without crystallising a tax charge in the UK; and then (3) make further payments into the fund in Australia (getting whatever tax benefits are available for such payments from time to time in Australia). I am 55 but anticipate working for 10+ years still.

I am not an immigration agent but I am a lawyer (English) so deal with evidence. Six people all saying the same thing is no more useful than one person doing so - so Mother, Father, Granny and Grandpa, brother and brother all saying exactly the same thing - maybe that you visited at Christmas and stayed for 10 days - really doesn't add anything to the first person who says it. Six people all giving different evidence is different, as it paints a much wider, more detailed picture of everything. So (just assuming facts): (1) a Mother evidencing her knowledge of the relationship and the fact that her son had talked to her by phone and in emails about this girl who he was in a relationship with who he then brought home on holiday; then (2) a mutual friend giving evidence about how they introduced the pair of you and suddenly you were a couple; then (3) a flat mate evidencing your living together in a shared flat in London; then (4) a work colleague talking about that side of things and how the relationship was apparent, then (5) a travel companion talking about you being together as a couple when you went around Europe in a group - at that point your witnesses are evidencing so much about your relationship that it is convincing and compelling.

309 granted on 31 January. Applied 25 May 2019 - 8 months and one week. "Front loaded" initially; police checks (self and sponsor) uploaded in June '19; updated details in August '19 and mid-January '20; medical done in late August '19. No RFI. First entry by 31 January 2021. Planning to be in Australia this month anyway so no problem with that.

I'm about to go to Australia on a tourist visa but applied for my 309 last May, so it might be getting imminent on recent timelines if I don't get an RFI (I will be there at the 9 month mark). Can I check I don't need specifically to tell the authorities I am in Australia in case I am lucky enough to get to that stage while I am there?

Can I ask what they asked for in the RFI, please? We applied in May 19 so would like to be ready if we can predict anything (police checks and medical already done and loaded).

Following up what Paul says, as I recall a solicitor will charge about £10- to witness a signature, maybe slightly less. You can generally walk into any high street solicitors and get it done there and then or on the same day. You can also use a Notary Public (referred to in the list in Paul's post), who can be found here (has a helpful search facility against town/ postcode): https://www.thenotariessociety.org.uk/ Slightly more expensive than a solicitor but they certify documents for a living (usually commercial/ financial) and are good at checking with you what you are signing - they then sign and attach an embossed seal that copies well, so there is no doubt the document has been witnessed in accordance with English law (I am not sure about Notaries in Scotland). I wrote a statement for my application, following the headings in one of the forms (I can't now recall which one, maybe Form 80 - how and where we met; moving in, getting engaged and married; etc.) which I had notarised, along with a supporting statement from my wife that we also had notarised. We submitted six Forms 888, two from friends in Australia and four from overseas, witnessed by professionals on the list in accordance with the directions on the 888 (one solicitor in the UK, on in Aus, one Doctor, can't recall the others). (For completeness only, the most formal process to certify a document for use overseas is called "appostilization". We had to have our Marriage Certificate appostilized for another reason, so we uploaded a copy as we had it anyway. However, I have not seen anyone here being asked to do so; it is a more expensive and complex process than witnessing or certification by someone like a solicitor.)

Can't you turn this into a wider statement/ affidavit from your Father about your relationship (knows our husband, met him, attended the wedding, etc. as appropriate) in which a bit about your mobile phone would just be a part?

I'm applying for 309/100 and haven't been asked for biometrics, nor seen other UK applicants being asked (for example in timelines). Reading the link (including the list of countries at the bottom of the link) it looks cumulative (so you are applying (1) for one of the visas concerned, and (2) from one of the relevant countries) otherwise all 309/100 applications would need it, from any country, which isn't consistent with the list of countries. Also, there's no "and" or "or" on the IMMI site, which suggests it's both. If you haven't yet applied, you will see you will be asked for a passport style photograph (in addition to your passport details page) so the only thing not asked for in effect is fingerprints (and you are allowed to "self-supply" your photo). I got my photo from SnappySnaps for about £20 as you're budgeting.

I am afraid, as AS says, first priority should be to see his GP, work out what his BP actually is and get that addressed. If your husband's medical was like mine in central London (arrive, do paperwork, do urine sample, get chest X-ray and only then see the Doctor) his BP should probably have come down, even from rushing to get there. Again, to agree with AS, 175/85 is high (for both figures but especially the first). Best wishes - I very much hope your husband can get this attended to really quickly and it doesn't affect your application.