grannygook Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 Hi everyone I've just joined this forum and hope to find it useful in my 'quest' to emigrate to Adelaide to join my daughter and her family !!! We are on the visa queue ( parent (migrant) subclass 103) we were put on it after sending our application off in 2010 ! we moved slowly every month but for the last 2 month have not moved any at all !!!! is anyone else on this forum in this queue and are you having the same problems!!! also the new charges for the visa came out 1st July and I cannot make any sense of them !!can anyone advise????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freesia Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 To be honest, this one is so slow that you're just going to torture yourself if you look for progress every month! I have just put my own application in, but just to get in the queue- when I know that I can actually make a move ( sell house etc ) I'll probably swap to the 143. Are you planning the same? or going to sit out the long wait? As for the charges, I believe your visa cost is set at the time of acknowledgement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisher1 Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Hi both Yes Fresia we put our application in for a 103 just to get in the queue, as we have commitments in the UK and can't leave now. As soon as we are in a position to leave we are probably going to swap to a 143. We only just got our queue date, so can't even find our name on the list for another 5-6 weeks. I find the costs of the 143 absolutely terrifying, particularly when you consider the 'frozen' pension situation we will get for our pains! Rather than checking the list every five minutes I am going to try to occupy my mind with finding ways of acquiring more dosh! Current idea is to buy a flat (remortgage house?) near Sydney and rent it out to create an ozzie income. I believe we can do this as long as we buy something new. Any more 103's out there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grannygook Posted September 11, 2013 Author Share Posted September 11, 2013 Hi Freesia thanks for the reply I also am planning on changing to the 143 but unfortunately don't have a house to sell therefore I am saving very very hard to raise the funds to pay for a 143 I am having car boots cake stalls on working my socks off to 'get it together' to be honest all I do is work and sleep and am very mean to myself !!!but WILL do it!!! when you say you think the visa cost is set a the time of acknowledgement do you mean when they received the application cash your cheque then put you in the queue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grannygook Posted September 11, 2013 Author Share Posted September 11, 2013 Hi Fisher 1 we have been in the queue since 2011 and have moved up 5,210 places but we intend to change to a 143 asap do you know if it is complicated to change from 103 to 143 and would we have to go to the bottom of the 143 queue or would they take the years we have been sitting on the 103 into consideration? lots of questions and as you have asked are there any more 103 out there ? lets hear from you if so and lets support each other throught the minefield of the visa applications Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freesia Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 my laptop's almost frozen so can't follow easily atm... but will be following everyone's progress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisher1 Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Hi Grannygook I have read on this forum that if you swap to a 143 the visa process moves more quickly but no real evidence to back that up, just anecdotal. Yes it's an absolute nightmare process. We could afford (reluctantly) to pay the 'contribution' tomorrow but can't leave my 92 year old mum. Everytime the visa goes up I have a 'rabbit in the headlights' moment when I jus cringe with frustration. Then common sense reasserts itself and I absorb the horrendous new total. Have you got an Oz bank account? One point of view is that if you change money into dollars at regular intervals you even out the fluctuations in the exchange rate. Again, opinions vary but it's something to consider. I have found this site invaluable for information and moral support from other parents. Welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grannygook Posted September 14, 2013 Author Share Posted September 14, 2013 Hi Fisher1 thanks for the reply we too have a elderly father of 88 and it would be out of the question to leave him - we don't have the funds to pay for the 143 YET but we are saving incredibly hard and are slowly getting there! but it will take us 3/4 years to raise the visa amounts ( not taking into account the yearly increases) the idea of opening an Aussie bank account is tempting ! do you know if it is do able and is it difficult to set up ???? and can anyone recommend any ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisher1 Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 Hi grannygook We set up our account with Westpac last year (although I have heard on here that others are better). I think I emailed them and they rang me. I explained that I had no intention of emigrating at the mo, but wanted an account to build up some ozzie funds for holidays etc and they emailed me the forms, which I filled in and posted back (I think to Australia) We had to produce ID within six months, but they have a branch in London so we went there. We made an appointment in advance and were able to choose passwords for our new account once we had verified our identities. They sent ATM cards to our UK address which arrived after about a week. We were able to open an Esaver as well so we get a little bit of interest, and we can access the whole thing online. I am currently trying to find out if you can take out term deposits as a non-resident. One other thing - I opened an account with an online currency trader and move funds myself because you get a better rate of exchange that way. I can move money from my UK bank direct to Westpac and check online that it has arrived. VERY scary at first but am more used to it now. PIO has a connection with moneycorps I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisher1 Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 PS GG if you look on the forum for banking and finance there are a few discussions about this topic and the merits of various banks. We are happy with Westpac - bog standard banking which is all we want. BTW there's a flat charge of five dollars a month Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freesia Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 Hi Fisher 1 we have been in the queue since 2011 and have moved up 5,210 places but we intend to change to a 143 asap do you know if it is complicated to change from 103 to 143 and would we have to go to the bottom of the 143 queue or would they take the years we have been sitting on the 103 into consideration? lots of questions and as you have asked are there any more 103 out there ? lets hear from you if so and lets support each other throught the minefield of the visa applications hi gg- I did certainly read somewhere that they would take the time you already sat in the 103 queue into account ...so given that you've "served" 2 years already, & the 143 waiting time is only around 14 months, then once you apply should get it quite quickly I think. What are the numbers of people in the 103 queue atm do you know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carob Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 PS GG if you look on the forum for banking and finance there are a few discussions about this topic and the merits of various banks. We are happy with Westpac - bog standard banking which is all we want. BTW there's a flat charge of five dollars a month Hello Fisher1, I've just popped into this forum, probably looking for something else. However, we opened an account with ANZ ( same as daughters bank) in the UK earlier this year. Then when we were in Perth we went into the branch to prove who we were etc. We are NOT being charged the $5 each month as we are pensioners. This age thing may not apply to you, as you are probably younger!! Also, we have very successfully transferred funds over using Halo (foreign exchange company). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisher1 Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 Haha thanks Carob, we arent that much younger - will be pensioners both by 2015. Scary thought! So I might investigate ANZ. Funnily enough, our daughter changed from Westpac to ANZ because she thinks they offer a better deal - but I couldnt cope with starting the process all over again until it really matters (i.e. huge sums of money being shovelled about) Thanks for the tip though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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