Vickie78

I'm not elderly but have been here in Australia 26 years, almost 27 now. Marissa is right, I'm one of those never felt settled/happy here. Which is why we are off soon. I was only ever homesick the first year or two after arriving, the rest of the time has been me trying to fit in, and never really getting anywhere, (that's a really simple explanation) then I met someone and we had kids, and then after 13 years that went to you know what, and that was the nail in the coffin for me. We have no reason to stay here anymore, he has given his permission to take our kids. If I hadn't of met someone and had children I would have gone home a long time ago, but life happens and here we are. Will we be happy in the UK who knows? I hope so, but if we don't go now, it will never happen and I couldn't live with myself wondering what if, when my pull to go home is so strong. I certainly don't want to die in Australia I know that much, nor do I want to continue along the depressing life I currently have here. Life is too short, and I've always put everyone and everything before ME. It's time for that to change. I'm one of those people who obviously can't settle in places that are not 'home' despite trying. No one really understands when I try and explain it either. Some UK friends are even like why would you want to come back? Australia looks and sounds amazing, it is to some, but not to me. What else can I say? LOL I don't hate Australia either, it's just not me. It's an experience and I'll leave it at that. /shrug.

Australia and Europe use the same standards and tuners for TV. American would be no. Obviously you'd need either a plug adpater or purchase a new cord with UK plug on the end, but that's all, just factory reset TV and then when you use it in the UK tune it /update firmware if required and off you go. I'm not bothering with mine simply because it's an older smart TV and need an upgrade anyway

I was thinking more the other way around, when in the past you have said I would need to open a UK bank account asap, but to do that you need an address, which is fine, as you said just get aus bank address changed and a statement sent to said address(for us this will be a temporary accommodation initially) , but upon emailing a few Real Estates over there, they said they would need a bank account, proof of employment etc blah, now obviously I may not have those bar an Aussie account/HSBC Global account in the mean time, I did reply questioning this for those coming from overseas, but never got a response) so was just getting in a flap about it all I guess. I am well aware I will need to pay upfront but if Landlord/R.E whatever can accept Aussie account in the interim I guess that will do then? I think I'm just reading peoples responses and getting myself stressed out to be fair. My brain right now is all over the place with stress and anxiety, Worried about arriving and everything going wrong.

So how on earth do you get a rental without a british bank account and a bank account without a rental? Seems like we'll be going around in circles then?

My ToR has been approved! 5 days Wow! /Happydance Eta: All I sent was a cover letter explaining my stuff was all used, had no receipts because it's all over 2 years old. A homemade excel sheet with a list of boxes, not too specfic, eg 20 dvds, towels x 3, linen, assorted ornaments etc, a copy of my current lease and my passport copy. So nothing fancy Oh I did value some of it as required, but those were just guesses aside from my PC which I did look up the value to replace over there. I did also explain had been in Aus since 93 and wasn't sure if I had a NI number and that I would look for work on arrival. Hope that helps someone else in the future.

That sucks! Glad you found a work around though. I just happened to read about mail box etc. On another forum as luck would have it. P.S You would think they would make the requirements a little different for new arrivals. We are not all in the same bucket.

We have decided to postpone until February, Mum had a week in Hospital nothing too serious, but needs to recover plus the Xmas Rush, things closing etc it was getting a bit to stressful, so we decided to give ourselves another month, rather than rushing. We have also decided on an area finally, which will be Newcastle to start with. I'm also going to start applying for Jobs just after Xmas, and contact some agencies, hopefully I can secure something before we go, or at least get my name out there etc and maybe something will come from it, as I don't want to be out of work too long if it can be helped. Oh and found out I can get an 'address' before moving via a company called Mail Boxes etc. Can use that to open a Bank account/get a rental as it reads as a proper address rather than a P.O box, and of course get my actual mail sent there in the interim, Mum can too as it allows for two personal names. pretty cool One less headache! Oh and I applied for ToR a few days ago, so fingers crossed that gets accepted. So yeah that's us for now

Yes you are right, forgot to add that.

According to this site http://www.yourdrivinglicence.co.uk/what-happens-if-driving-licence-has-expired.html you can renew it for 20 pounds if in the UK, unless it has expired by more than 2 years then you may be required to sit a test again especially due to age or medical reasons if in the UK. If overseas and it expires well you can't renew it and it won't be valid anywhere.

Thanks Amber and Marisa.

Out of curiosity, what credit card did you manage to get? I will have to do the same once home.

Wow, that would have been stress city for me. LOL

Woo hoo! Kids Australian Passports approved. I can stop stressing now /Happydance

Gah stop you're making me want to be there right now! I cannot wait for next Christmas...

I'm similar to s713, Mum brought us here because her Sister was here, who brought their mum here, Mum didn't want to particulary come but she had to be where her mum was. Her Sister is a bit of a controlling type. Anyhoo, We both don't hate Australia, but we both have never felt it is home, and hell if we still don't feel like that after 26 years, well it's time to go 'Home' and that's what we are doing. Her Mum, My grandma passed in 2016, my ex pushed myself and the kids away in 2018. No reason to stay here anymore. I know we haven't gone back just yet(soon), but I can tell you we won't regret it, not even one bit.

Well I have not had any calls or emails related to the Kids Applications, So fingers crossed that means they are ok. Well they should be right? They were checked off by Australia Post interviewer. I can't check progress as Kids applications only have two statuses. Created/Passport issued. To say I'm anxious is understatement, what if they don't get approved? Does that mean we can't leave Australia? I have read if there were an issue they would contact me and that it would be within a week of lodging /shrug. I have also read it is quite common especially for migrant folk to have a westernised name in use but birth name on BC, Which is 'fixed' by the infamous B11 form. So I guess my situation is somewhat similar Vickie vs Victoria. Why is this so stressful I also still can't work out when to sell stuff(the things we are still using for now), when to tell Real Estate, paid until 18th Jan(renting paid a year up front), When to book move cube, when to sell car (still need it right now) I have started packing and itemising/list for ToR so that's something I guess. I did also throw out a heap of stuff in Hard rubbish last week, but will have beds/couch and one table to get rid off. Everything else will hopefully be sold. Might have to hire a skip except I'm not sure if it will fit here, it's a block owned by a Body corp that has "private" roads which are ridiculously narrow with tiny strips of nature strips. Gah.... Hmm maybe there is someone who can collect such items, will have to google. I keep waking up in the stupid hours thinking about random stuff, this is my brain right now a rambled mess.

So I lodged the kids Australian Passport applications today. Remembering back to the photo saga pre British Application lodgEment and the APO Staff members "Gee you British make things difficult" Oh the Irony.. Well I make an appointment online, get there at my allocated time 9am. Wait 5 mins and I didn't get either of the grumble butt females who dealt with me last time. Hooray! Today is going to be a good day! But is it? I got a lovely Gentleman instead. Anyhoo, I hand over the forms and he starts checking them, all good until section 13, My FIRST name on Birth certificates for the kids doesn't match my actual name. (I was already prepared for this as per British application who advised me to do a Stat Dec explaining I inadvertently used abbreviated name- all good, basically way back then I used Vickie which I call myself daily, instead of Victoria, why? Who knows, habit/baby brain dunno TBH I can't even remember that far back and filling in forms) anyhoo fully prepared I had a Stat dec in hand, not the same one for British, obviously a new one addressed to APO. Oh no, can't use that and APO won't accept that, you will have to get a name change (Me thinking FFS Seriously) .. I'm like but It's not a different name per se, just the short version of my actual name. Off he goes to check with one of the grumpy butt ladies.. She's says no need for name change that's fine, but we can't use Stat Dec, you will have to fill in a B11 Form..(Me thinking what the hell is that) Off he goes again, prints them out, comes back. Just write what you did in your stat dec, one for each application... Yep, I had to fill in two pieces of paper, which stated exactly what my Stat Dec did, which by the way was certified by a JP. Which was then signed by Mr Post Office. Stat Decs are legal documents, and that just seems awfully nit picky? Brits make things hard/complicated? /shrug LOL But they are lodged, so fingers crossed.

Yes, certainly not good over there right now

I too am returning with an 11 and 12 year old in Jan next year. All I can say is, stop stressing, Schools over there are very good at helping kids catch up, and generally the education is better than the Australian system, it seems daunting and if you over think it, it will freak you out. They will be fine. Both my kids are bored at their current school as the school work is too easy for them, they get frustrated easily and off the charts for NAPLAN. The only thing my 11 year old struggles with is Math. Probably gets that from me (doh!) but he's not super behind, he just doesn't grasp some concepts well, and as for their homework I have often commented it is Prep level even at Year 5/6 O.o ETA: Sorry forgot to also write when my 12 year old started School here the general consensus was to hold him back as he is "a boy". Huge mistake! He is a March baby and his brother is July.

Kids are British by decent if Mum is and born from 2000+ , so can get British passports, no drama there. (Check my link below, if they are older or what not, slight different rules depending on birth dates) The Aussie Born kids the following applies "Following changes to Australian citizenship laws on 20 August 1986 (responsibility of the Department for Home Affairs), the evidence you need to show that you are an Australian citizen depends on whether you were born in Australia before or on or after 20 August 1986, or if you were born overseas. If you were born in Australia before 20 August 1986, your full birth certificate issued by an Australian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (RBDM) will suffice to confirm your citizenship, provided your parents were not in Australia as foreign diplomats or consular officers at the time of your birth. If you were born in Australia on or after 20 August 1986 and have previously held an Australian passport issued on or after 1 January 2000 that was valid for at least two years, you can present that document to confirm your citizenship. If you were born in Australia on or after 20 August 1986 and one of your parents was an Australian citizen, you can provide: your parent's full birth certificate issued by an Australian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (RBDM)(link is external), showing your parent was born in Australia before 20 August 1986, or your parent's Australian passport issued on or after 20 August 1986 that was valid for at least two years and issued before your birth, or your parent's Australian citizenship certificate detailing their acquisition of citizenship before your birth. If your parent was also born in Australia on or after 20 August 1986, you will need to provide their full birth certificate issued by an Australian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (RBDM) plus a grandparent's Australian birth certificate issued by an Australian RBDM(link is external) or their Australian citizenship certificate" Husband if both parents are British citizens at the time of his birth, should also be British by decent either via Mum or Dad depending when he was born you can check here, just choose which scenario relates to him at top of page. https://www.gov.uk/check-british-citizenship/born-outside-the-uk-or-stateless If not then, it would be a applying for a Spouse/Partner Visa.

I'm pretty patient by nature, it takes a lot to piss me off, BUT simple things that shouldn't be complicated do my head in.

Passport Application notes and the information line both say only need their BC and Their Dads as he is an Aussie citizen, I'm seriously about to throw something. ETA; No option online as she said because the original application wasn't done online back in 1992 the record is there but I can't link my passport. I printed Visa status anyway has that option, so that will do it's proof no? as is Mums old Passport with my bloody name in it and on her Visa Label. I'm very tempted to say fuck it soon, they can just haul me over the coals when we leave, and i'll turn around and say well I keep getting told conflicting information from your supposed experts.

Oh cool. Thank you

Called Immigration as couldn't find a way to link old PR Visa to my new Passport (thought you needed proof as how you are here when leaving?) as mentioned on website via Immi acc. Don't need too as leaving, only an issue if returning, then I would need to link via form emailed and of course get an RRV. I did mention still had old PP with label in it, so said I would take that just in case, and she said that's fine. I'm currently banging my head on the desk as I also asked bout kids passports I said they are 11 and 12 so are they not automatically citizens (the 10 year rule) ,yes but need to apply for certificate. I said APO said I just need their Dads BC (as he was born before 86) she then says yes that's by decent so that's fine... Do they even know what they are doing?