DIG85

21 hours ago, Tulip1 said:

It is a tax that is largely avoidable with the right planning.  There are many wealthy people who won’t pay a small fee to see a financial advisor to look at options to avoid it.  They then go on to die and their estate ends up paying hundreds of thousands to HMRC.  Some people have little sense and can’t be told.   

The problem is that, for most middle class people, the family home is by far their most substantial asset. There is very little you can do to avoid IHT on that. A seriously wealthy person will have assets that can be gifted into trust and in that case a small fee to a tax advisor is worth it. 

On 26/09/2021 at 15:13, Ken said:

I don't know about indefinitely but mine is still open more than 5 years after getting citizenship (but I have used the account since to apply for visitor visas for relatives which may be what has extended it).

You are allowed to delete your ImmiAccount entirely. I did so as soon as I got my citizenship certificate. I'm no longer an "Immi", so I wanted nothing more to do with DIPB at all.

17 hours ago, Athens07 said:

That’s not correct ! Doesn’t matter if it’s through centrelink or DHA office . And sometimes is taking much longer than 8 weeks . Mine is already on 10th week through Adelaide DHA office and still waiting for approval. So the up to 8 weeks is not confirmed. Also not all of the application processed through DHA Offices will be approved on the same day. Note that in my application is not any problem non further documentation asked , so it’s a normal progress taking longer than usual. And if you read here you can find other people’s application took longer than 8 weeks 

I sat my test on 10 May at DHA near Sydney Central station and was approved on 2 July.

I think this thing about Centrelink being slower than DHA is a bit of a myth.

10 hours ago, HappyHeart said:

My daughter just booked her vaccination. 20th September. She works in the aged care industry. 

Good grief, a key worker still the best part of 3 months away from getting her vaccine.

What a disgrace this vaccine rollout has been.

2 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

However, it's going to be a complete waste of time because, as an agent just pointed out, the priority list only applies to employer sponsored visas.  If he has to wait in the same queue as everyone else under the same conditions, he doesn't stand a snowball's chance with only 85 points. 

Sounds like it's irrelevant whether he uses an agent then.

On 24/06/2021 at 13:18, Mcguinnessp1968 said:

I have no idea why someone would want to commit to the sums of money involved in applying for a pr visa without engaging an agent

You don’t want to risk a refusal for the sake of a few thousand bucks

If you're already in Australia, it's pretty low risk. Especially if you submit an Expression of Interest (at no cost) and they subsequently invite you to apply - it's essentially zero risk, unless you really are a dolt.

Hi - I live in City of Sydney. I applied on January 2 2021. Got invited to interview, showed my docs and passed the test on 10 May 2021. Haven't heard a word since, still showing "Received" on Immi. I have no reason to suspect why my application is anything other than routine: all the required docs were uploaded.

Is this length of time between interview and approval unusual? Is there any prospect of approval whilst Sydney remains locked down? Does DOHA still work from home in lockdown on approvals? Or is everything closed?