lizg Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Following my fourth visit to Oz last month I finally got a reality check. It's not for me! All along I've let my heart rule my head but just in time the reality sunk in. Please do not let this post put any of you off your dream - it is not meant to be negative and relates only to my personal experience and my situation. I was following the Contributary Parent Visa route which requires a first instalment of £700 then a balance of thousands which I would have had to raise from the sale of my house. I've already paid the Australian Government £700 for the first instalment of my visa which I will lose but if I had kept going I believe I would have lost much more. I will miss not seeing my grandchildren as often as I would like but in 8 years time I will be retired and be able to spend 6 months of every year with them on a temp visa. My reasons for staying? Here are a few: I will own my house outrigt in 4 years but in Oz I would have had to rent for the rest of my life. If I stay I will have a decent pension but if I left now I wouldn't If I was able to find a job at my age (55) I would be lucky to get a third of my current salary If I go I will need to take any money from the sale of house and use it to cover living expenses and my son and grandchildren will lose their inheritance I would have been very lonely on my own without my friends around me It took me 5 days to pluck up the courage to tell my son I wouldn't be joining them but luckily he listened to my arguments and agreed - maybe it was the inheritance bit that did it! Anyway, back on British soil I am much more content now that I have reached my decision. While waiting on the visa I was in limbo. Couldn't make any long term plans. Now I'm redesigning the kitchen and garden and even buying new winter clothes! Hope I haven't put anyone off, especially the CPV's still going through the process. I just thought I would give you an update on my situation. Good luck to all of you pursuing your dream - it just isn't mine anymore. Liz x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest donovan Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Good thread Liz, at least you have been and seen for your self, and I am sure you will be visiting your son again. Good luck for the future Sarah x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest earlswood Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Good honest post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheArmChairDetective Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Following my fourth visit to Oz last month I finally got a reality check. It's not for me!All along I've let my heart rule my head but just in time the reality sunk in. Please do not let this post put any of you off your dream - it is not meant to be negative and relates only to my personal experience and my situation. I was following the Contributary Parent Visa route which requires a first instalment of £700 then a balance of thousands which I would have had to raise from the sale of my house. I've already paid the Australian Government £700 for the first instalment of my visa which I will lose but if I had kept going I believe I would have lost much more. I will miss not seeing my grandchildren as often as I would like but in 8 years time I will be retired and be able to spend 6 months of every year with them on a temp visa. My reasons for staying? Here are a few: I will own my house outrigt in 4 years but in Oz I would have had to rent for the rest of my life. If I stay I will have a decent pension but if I left now I wouldn't If I was able to find a job at my age (55) I would be lucky to get a third of my current salary If I go I will need to take any money from the sale of house and use it to cover living expenses and my son and grandchildren will lose their inheritance I would have been very lonely on my own without my friends around me It took me 5 days to pluck up the courage to tell my son I wouldn't be joining them but luckily he listened to my arguments and agreed - maybe it was the inheritance bit that did it! Anyway, back on British soil I am much more content now that I have reached my decision. While waiting on the visa I was in limbo. Couldn't make any long term plans. Now I'm redesigning the kitchen and garden and even buying new winter clothes! Hope I haven't put anyone off, especially the CPV's still going through the process. I just thought I would give you an update on my situation. Good luck to all of you pursuing your dream - it just isn't mine anymore. Liz x Your the only one that can decide Liz. I do hope however that you will remain as part of our community and continue to visit us and post. tacd x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawny Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Thank you Liz for your update im sure you have made the right decision, At least you still have some great holidays in oz to look forward to, But please continue to pop your head into Pio and come and chat, as it would be good to hear about your next holiday, Take care and all the best x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynnes Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 well done on having the courage and the insight to follow your instincts, it cant have been easy. Yes you will miss your son and grandchildren but as you say in a few years you can have the best of both worlds and visit for 6 months at a time and still have your network of friends where you are now. good luck to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ozcans Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Hi lizg Sounds like a good decision. Enjoy it and good luck. Sue x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Shell Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 well done on having the courage and the insight to follow your instincts, it cant have been easy. Yes you will miss your son and grandchildren but as you say in a few years you can have the best of both worlds and visit for 6 months at a time and still have your network of friends where you are now. good luck to you. I totally agree and think your very brave to have made such a hard decision.:wubclub: xx Shell xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Hi Lizg OK - your need to live in Oz is not so great that you are prepared to make immense sacrifices in order to get it. You say that it will be 8 years before you can retire? I would suggest that you withdraw your CPV application and apply for the non-contributory Parent subclass 103 visa instead. That will take 8 or 9 years to process in total if you start now. At today's figures, the total costs would be: $1,420 - 1st Instalment, payable now. $1,235 - 2nd Instalment, payable shortly before the visa is granted. $5,000 - Single Parent Bond of $5,000 which is held for 2 years, not 10. Once you have the Parent 103 visa you will be able to spend as little or as much time as you choose in Oz every year. Your capital would remain completely intact. This would be the smart way to organise the long term, hon. Relying on repeated tourist visas would be silly and ultimately it would be stressful after the first few. Apply for PR now, whilst you don't mind how long it takes and you don't mind whether or not you succeed. Once you have the Parent visa, you will be firmly in the driving seat about what you do after that. You might choose to use your PR status simply as a means of dividing your time 50/50 each year. Doing that would give you enough time in Oz during the first 5 years of the Parent visa to enable you to get a 5 year Resident Return visa later with no difficulty. Then once you get to say 75 or beyond and don't want to continue to travel but do want to settle in Oz, hey presto - you have the right to pack your bags and head out there the following week. When you arrive at the Aussie airport, all that DIAC can say is, "Welcome home, Ma'am." I would urge you to get the Parent 103 visa as an insurance policy for your old age, even if for no other reason, so that once you are very elderly you will have a choice about where to live and on whose terms. Doing it the way I suggest will make those terms your own terms, not DIAC's terms & conditions. I think it isn't your dream which has died. I think the realisation of the crippling price has killed it. No worries. You have ricocheted from one extreme to the other without considering the middle course that is also available to you here, I suspect. I went all round this block of houses with my Mum. Because of her great age it was impractical to do anything but the CPV route for Mum but she has not had to sell her house in the UK in order to do it because in Oz, she lives with my sister which is what she wants. Mum wants to be with her grandcubs every day. This option makes that possible. I had a job to get her to understand that the idea was to get DIAC out of her hair once and for all because in effect they and their wretched visas were ruling Mum's life. That is no good. Mum needed to rule her own life. We had known that for years but we had to wait for over a decade for the Law to change enough so as to make the Balance of Family Test come right for my mother, because of her stepchild. You don't have a Balance of Family problem, therefore you have an option that was not possible with my Mum whilst she was young enough to choose the inexpensive visa. Do not waste that choice, hon. It is too useful for you in the long run. Hugz Gill xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest proud2beaussie Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 The CPV visa is a very big outlay and if you are not 100% sure that it's the right thing to do ,so I think you should be congraulated for thinking with your head and making a decision which must have been very hard. I wish you all the very best of luck and thanks for an honest,no nonsense post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Being much of your age, Liz, I really can see where you are coming from. I dont think young people quite grasp the significance of the potential isolation of older folk moving over. Apart from the fact that personally I dont think Australia is particularly kind to its elderly people it isnt easy to chuck up a network of friends and supports and start all over again when you hit retirement. It is a whole lot easier when you are 20 something believe me. I think the perpetual summer idea is ideal - my parents did it for 15 years and by the time they jacked it in as being too hard to fly regularly the grandsons were old enough to be doing the trips in reverse and one has based himself at their place for the past 7 years anyway so they havent missed much. The gt grandchild, her parents and I are heading off to see them next week (first time they will have seen the GGD!) Good luck with your future - personally I think you are wise and I know that were I in that situation it is what I would be doing - all of the benefits of UK/Europe and financial security against an isolated old age in Aus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest snow white Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 fantastic honest post to read liz i wish you all the best for your life in the uk and im pleased that you came to a decision you were happy with please keep us updated on how things are going with you and im sure you will enjoy visiting family in oz too. lesley x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Shell Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Thats a good option Gill for just over £3500 Lizg can have the best of both worlds xx Shell xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 I agree with you entirely. I am older than you and retired now. I would not follow my children wherever they decided to live. My pond is here where my friends are and I feel familiar. Love my family but they do not have the same memories. I have seen it here in Aus people move to Queensland when they retire to be near children or thinking it will be great and then they are lonely. Children do not replace our friends and familiar things. A couple who lived near my friend in Qld moved from Sydney to be near their family. Ok for a while then the marriage of the child faltered and they moved back to Sydney leaving the older ones in QLD. We have to look after no 1 despite our love for our children. My mil used to come out and visit us and then go over to NZ to visit her other son and she loved it but she stayed in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest earlswood Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 I agree with you entirely. I am older than you and retired now. I would not follow my children wherever they decided to live. My pond is here where my friends are and I feel familiar. Love my family but they do not have the same memories. I have seen it here in Aus people move to Queensland when they retire to be near children or thinking it will be great and then they are lonely. Children do not replace our friends and familiar things. A couple who lived near my friend in Qld moved from Sydney to be near their family. Ok for a while then the marriage of the child faltered and they moved back to Sydney leaving the older ones in QLD. We have to look after no 1 despite our love for our children. My mil used to come out and visit us and then go over to NZ to visit her other son and she loved it but she stayed in the UK. Older folk to be near your children might work for some but for other young families out there having your parents out there might be a problem, all they have to fall back if they fall ill or have problems is you, back in the UK they would have freinds and relatives and probably other children to fall back on but in Oz all they have is you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizg Posted March 18, 2009 Author Share Posted March 18, 2009 Thank you all for your support and of course I will be on here to follow your progress and keep in touch with such a great little (not so little) community - in fact probably for the next 9 years while I wait for the 103 visa!! Thanks Gill, as always . I was going to send you a private post to say thanks for all your help and support and to seek your advice re the 103 but you've already given me all I need. Once again, many thanks for all your lovely posts - I feel much better now and even more confident that I'm doing the right thing, Liz x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest snow white Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Thank you all for your support and of course I will be on here to follow your progress and keep in touch with such a great little (not so little) community - in fact probably for the next 9 years while I wait for the 103 visa!! Thanks Gill, as always . I was going to send you a private post to say thanks for all your help and support and to seek your advice re the 103 but you've already given me all I need. Once again, many thanks for all your lovely posts - I feel much better now and even more confident that I'm doing the right thing, Liz x hi liz the main thing is your happy with your decision and that means a lot enjoy your life and all it has to offer lesley xxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaniaColin Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 All the very best Liz with your decision and all your NEW plans Tania X Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanky Lad Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Following my fourth visit to Oz last month I finally got a reality check. It's not for me!All along I've let my heart rule my head but just in time the reality sunk in. Please do not let this post put any of you off your dream - it is not meant to be negative and relates only to my personal experience and my situation. I was following the Contributary Parent Visa route which requires a first instalment of £700 then a balance of thousands which I would have had to raise from the sale of my house. I've already paid the Australian Government £700 for the first instalment of my visa which I will lose but if I had kept going I believe I would have lost much more. I will miss not seeing my grandchildren as often as I would like but in 8 years time I will be retired and be able to spend 6 months of every year with them on a temp visa. My reasons for staying? Here are a few: I will own my house outrigt in 4 years but in Oz I would have had to rent for the rest of my life. If I stay I will have a decent pension but if I left now I wouldn't If I was able to find a job at my age (55) I would be lucky to get a third of my current salary If I go I will need to take any money from the sale of house and use it to cover living expenses and my son and grandchildren will lose their inheritance I would have been very lonely on my own without my friends around me It took me 5 days to pluck up the courage to tell my son I wouldn't be joining them but luckily he listened to my arguments and agreed - maybe it was the inheritance bit that did it! Anyway, back on British soil I am much more content now that I have reached my decision. While waiting on the visa I was in limbo. Couldn't make any long term plans. Now I'm redesigning the kitchen and garden and even buying new winter clothes! Hope I haven't put anyone off, especially the CPV's still going through the process. I just thought I would give you an update on my situation. Good luck to all of you pursuing your dream - it just isn't mine anymore. Liz x Ignoring all the financial issues..... do you enjoy being and living in Australia? Do you enjoy being with your family and grandchildren? Do you REALLY want to live in Australia? Is there anything other than money holding you in the UK? Admittedly, its a bad for selling houses in the UK - we "lost" £45000 o fte original valuation. BUT its a great time for first tim ebuyers in Aussie. Our builder knocked $10,000 off the advertised price and the government refunded us $24,000. You say you will own your house in 4 years. Which means you still have a mortgage of some size..... not much different fron renting in Aus. Who says you have to rent? House prices here have fallen and there are some bargains to be had. You could come over, offset any "losses" on selling your house by buying at a low price here, in a coupel of years prices will rise again..sell and move on. As for working and big wages.. my OH worked for the local authority Education Department on a very decent high salary for her banding and qualifications. An email todayfrom a friend still there advised that new re-banding assessment haev knowcked £5000 PA minimum of wage levels...and more to follow unless things get better AND reduced hours and job sharing may be introduced. Last year they were all saying . not me . I will be OK local authority cannot jsut lower your banding levels !!! Yes they can! For a strart you will save hunks of cash oncentral heating, Glasgow is not the warmest place I ever visited. Pensions both private and government can be sorted out easily enough, and who is to say your penion in teh UK will be as sound as you think it is.... get more advice on living costs here, you could buy a new house for about the equivelent of £155,000 or less. we looked at a new single story building, 4 beds, about £110,000. if you kidz live in or near a main city house prices will be high. Our daughter is in Sydney, we are about 100klm north on teh central coast, we drive down nearly every week and it takes about 1.5 hours....most of it on the non freeway leg into the city. Do some more checking and things before you give up. Best Wishes PS, Our daughter - on the subject of inheritance - said ...dont worry about us, we are working and can afford our life....Spend yor money and enjoy Australia. maybe your kids woul dsooned have a mum and grandmum now and not wait for money later!!! Next Day Edit.....sorry for all the typo's Friday night in Oz - after a couple of bottles with teh poms next door!!! is not the best time for sending posts on PIO! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackboots Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 all the best , xxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongrel Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 all the best , xxx hi ther hillbillys , hows life in them thar hillls mally Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackboots Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 lo mr yorks its grand in hicksville xxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizg Posted March 20, 2009 Author Share Posted March 20, 2009 Ignoring all the financial issues..... do you enjoy being and living in Australia?Do you enjoy being with your family and grandchildren? Do you REALLY want to live in Australia? Is there anything other than money holding you in the UK? Admittedly, its a bad for selling houses in the UK - we "lost" £45000 o fte original valuation. BUT its a great time for first tim ebuyers in Aussie. Our builder knocked $10,000 off the advertised price and the government refunded us $24,000. You say you will own your house in 4 years. Which means you still have a mortgage of some size..... not much different fron renting in Aus. Who says you have to rent? House prices here have fallen and there are some bargains to be had. You could come over, offset any "losses" on selling your house by buying at a low price here, in a coupel of years prices will rise again..sell and move on. As for working and big wages.. my OH worked for the local authority Education Department on a very decent high salary for her banding and qualifications. An email todayfrom a friend still there advised that new re-banding assessment haev knowcked £5000 PA minimum of wage levels...and more to follow unless things get better AND reduced hours and job sharing may be introduced. Last year they were all saying . not me . I will be OK local authority cannot jsut lower your banding levels !!! Yes they can! For a strart you will save hunks of cash oncentral heating, Glasgow is not the warmest place I ever visited. Pensions both private and government can be sorted out easily enough, and who is to say your penion in teh UK will be as sound as you think it is.... get more advice on living costs here, you could buy a new house for about the equivelent of £155,000 or less. we looked at a new single story building, 4 beds, about £110,000. if you kidz live in or near a main city house prices will be high. Our daughter is in Sydney, we are about 100klm north on teh central coast, we drive down nearly every week and it takes about 1.5 hours....most of it on the non freeway leg into the city. Do some more checking and things before you give up. Best Wishes PS, Our daughter - on the subject of inheritance - said ...dont worry about us, we are working and can afford our life....Spend yor money and enjoy Australia. maybe your kids woul dsooned have a mum and grandmum now and not wait for money later!!! Hi Lanky Lad I appreciate the time you have taken to list issues to make sure I'm doing the right thing and have taken on board all the points you've mentioned but please believe me I have considered all these things and didn't make this decision lightly. There are other factors that I didn't go into in original post that helped me decide, one of which you touched on. Yes I enjoy seing and being with the family but I do not want to live on top of them and I fear I could become too reliant on them if I was there on my own. I thought I wanted to live in Oz but all the heat could become oppresive! Yes there is a hold here that I thought I could walk away from but following a bit of a medical scare I realised just what they meant to me. I won't even have that much cash in hand from resale of my home to purchase a new house! Reduced hours on a higher salary is not that bad! Might not have to pay central heating but I'd still have to pay for air con. My pension may not be as sound as it is now but it's a public sector one and as good as they come! I will get there one day but it's just that now is not the right time. Liz x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Hi LIz You might try a PM to Badger Brock? http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/members/badger-brock.html If you click on the link and then read all her various posts, although her Parent 103 visa took a long time (about 8 years in total) she has it all mapped out. You replied to her thread when she said her Parent Visa had been granted. I didn't have time to reply to the thread but I exchanged some PMs with Badger Brock. Very interesting they were, too. She has now moved to Oz but she was on line on 5th Feb 2009 so she must have given teh forum an e-mail addy that works in Oz. There is MUCH to be said in favour of the Parent 103 visa rather than a CPV. The wait does actually pay off very handsomely in the end. The disadvantages are that it is a long wait and if your health collapses then it would be very difficult to get the visa and might be impossible. However you are aware of both of these factors and because you say it would not be the end of the world if you did not get the visa, there is no problem for you with the long wait and the risk. On the plus side: It is as cheap as chips If you want to go 50/50 on dividing your time between the UK and Oz then you would not necessarily have to sell up in the UK unless you decide you can manage with a smaller bolt hole in the UK in order to buy yourself a bolt hole in Oz as well. The exclusion from Benefits is only 2 years, as with the CPV However the Assurance of Support only lasts for 2 years, not 10, which is a MAJOR plus. It is the best insurance policy that you could possibly have for the future because it would give you the best of both worlds by giving you absolute freedom to choose for the rest of your life. Because my mother was so old by the time my half-sister was out of the Balance of Family Test following a change in the Law in 2004 we had no choice but to get Mum a CPV 143. However when the Parent is much younger, as you are, then the Parent 103 visa is a sure-fire winner. Now that Mum has been in Oz for over 2 years we have obtained a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card for her: Commonwealth Seniors Health Card For us the important feature is the cost of Mum's drugs because she rattles with pills for a whole variety of minor ailments all associated with her great age and she cannot claim any of the other benefits that it provides because she lives with my sister & family. For younger parents the benefits would work in reverse, with the benefit being in the discount from utility bills etc. Lanky Lad is no fool. He would be the first to spot that this Card is not a "perk" for Mum because in effect she paid $27,850 for it and LL has paid even more. However the Parent who has only paid $1,235 by way of the 2nd Instalment absolutely cannot lose where this card is concerned. Some Parent and CPV holders are too wealthy for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card but the majority do seem to be able to claim it. There is also a different Card called Seniors Card, which LL calls "the bus pass." Welcome to Seniors Card Seniors Card is available immediately so Mum has had hers for a while now. Seniors Card is a genuine perk, too, even for a CPV holder. The perks vary from State to State but since Mum is in WA I have examined the WA one in detail. In WA Seniors Card by itself would give a Parent or CPV holder 25% discounts on utility bills (rates, water rates etc.) Combined with the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card the discounts are 50% in WA, which is not to be sniffed at. Seniors Card: Business discounts and Queensland Government concessions, Department of Communities, Queensland Government It looks like it is a 2 stage Card in QLD and I have not read the details. However the people in charge of the scheme in QLD are very pragmatic! They more or less say, "Produce the card and start haggling with every supplier." The QLD Govt obviously chucks in some perks of its own in the same way as the WA Government does. There is no qualifying period for Seniors Card and no means testing with it. It seems to me that you would be barmy to rely on tourist visas (which would be tricky once you become old) when for very little money you could get ALL of the perks of PR without having to live in Oz full time if you don't want to. Cheers Gill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Mighalls Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 apply for the non-contributory Parent subclass 103 visa instead. That will take 8 or 9 years to process in total At the moment a 103 is taking 15 to 20 years. If the OP does change her mind, then depending on her circumstances there are ways around the wait without going for a CPV. However, moving countries is not for everyone and staying put in the UK is much better than moving for the wrong reasons or, even worse, if one is not entirely sure or committed to the move as evidenced by a sizeable minority of people returning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.