Bob Jones

I once filled up my car with petrol in QLD. I was the only one standing there who wasn't barefoot.

it's been some time since i went...that sounds great.

What i do....Exit and Enter Australia on Australian passprt, as you're meant to. Arrive at UK...look at queues. Choose quickest passport to enter, which you then also use to leave. Holiday to Vietnam? Enter with UK passport, no VISA required for up to 45 days.

under the threshold, just want to avoid hassle and UK delay. My Uncle died in UK in June last year, they've only just granted probate for something very straightforward.

thanks Ken

We have my Dad staying with us on a 5yr parent VISA so temporary resident, he was bereaved in Covid and left on his own. He sold his hime, brought over his money because he's entitled to no state support, so if he goes into care or needs treatments above health insurance levels, he will self-fund. No assets left in the UK and he now has a will in Australia. If he should unexpectantly die here, will he need to go through probate in the UK or Australia?

have you got your name on any utility bills, or an NBN account, or a contract mobile phone? One of the reasons could be a lack of credit history. When we came here my wife went straight into work while i got the house and set up all the services and accounts. I could get anything, she could get approved for nothing, not even a phone....despite being the sole wage earner.

Maybe i had to do it with the card reader to activate, can't remember. I will wait until it inevitably locks me out one day !

my mantra is never go to the UK in May.....you could get sunburn or frostbite. If anything we'd push it back to trips between June and early Oct as September can be much better than i remember it from years gone by, and once the kids have gone back to school you can often have a great month before the Autumn storms kick in when it's time to get back on the plane.

the dream would be to lease yours out for 6-7 months, then rent somewhere furnished in the UK for 5-6 months and try different places each year. You're getting majority of income in Australia and pretty easy for tax residency.

I wish they'd shut mine. I closed down both Nationwide and Halifax 12 years ago, cleared balances and handed everything back. They still email me and ask me to log on and check details...which i can no longer do. I thought they had been forced to close these dormant accounts, as British banks were inflating their value by retaining dormant accounts in the customer figures

You can use the Barclays app for authentication instead of the card reader. I cant remember if i had to use the card reader to authenticate the Barclays app the first time i used it, but i havent used the card reader for a few years now and bank every month; been over here 12 years and not had a letter or message.