The Brand New PIO Parents Visa thread

[MikenSueNW3]

They acknowledged our CPV143 on the 7th day after sending it! I was amazed (we used Royal Mail Special Delivery so we could track it online).

 

Make sure you get on sandch's tracker – we need as many people as possible below us on the list!!!

 

Mike and Sue

[Sue Ashforth]

What's your position just now? We just had our police checks done (returned 11 Aug), medicals done 10th Aug. My daughter's just arranging the AoS but has had to ask sister-in-law's help as an assurer as she's not earning enough (husband on Police training course and thus not earning this year). Happily, our CO has just given us a month's extension as my daughter's tax records and with her accountant. Altogether, it took about 457 days to get our CO which is a couple of months earlier than we expected.

 

It's all good fun, isn't it?

[donovandenese]

hi all - looking for some advice re my dads CPV application. Dad originally applied for s143 CPV in June 2009 as a single applicant. During the 14 months since his initial application Dad's situation has changed and he is now in a defacto relationship with his girlfriend. They would like to make the move to Australia together. I am wondering what options we have open to us now regarding dads application? We expect to get a case officer for him in the next couple of months so I am keen to clarify things before then.

 

 

 

1. from the reading I have done on the internet it seems that in the past he would have been able to sponsor his partner on a spouse visa as soon as he was granted his visa and became a permanent resident. am i correct in understanding that immigration have now stopped this from happening until 5 years from the date the applicant becomes a permanent resident? If we were to go along this route should we be notifying immigration now that dad is in a defacto relationship? Am I correct in thinking that immigration could change their policy on this again in the future and rule out CPV holders sponsoring spouses at any point? (eg its a risky path to take)
   
2. I guess the alternative would be to add dads partner to his application now. from a financial perspective am i correct that this would incur an additional 2nd instalment charge of approx $32k (the 2nd instalment charge at the date of dads original application) plus the assurance of support would increase from $10k to $14k? if this is the route we take, how would we go about adding dads partner to his application? Is it just a change of circumstances form or are their other forms to complete? Does it matter in any way that dads partner is not a family member of dads sponsor (my sister)?
   
3. can anyone offer any other possibilities??
   

 

Any advice anyone can offer would be gratefully received. I expect that this situation isnt unusual, given the length of time between lodgement of application and visa being granted, lots of peoples circumstances must change.

 

thanks

[DavidandGill]

Hi everyone,

We (that is, I) have been following the CPV thread for a while now and have found some of the shared info absolutely fantastic. We have applied for CPV visas and are now in the waiting game like so many of you - not sure how much preparation we can do at this end (selling stuff we don't want to take with us, deciding what to sell - our "fun car" is the current dilemma), getting finances in some sort of order and ready for transfer to Oz etc etc.

 

Our only daughter and her partner live in Torquay, Victoria. He is a citizen and she got her de facto PR last November. They both come from our village here in the UK. We sent our Visa apps off 21/1/10, received acknowledgement 21/2/10, now waiting for a CO to be assigned. We visit whenever we can which has been frequent since our first grandchild was born in Dec 08. Our second grandchild is expected in Jan 11. Without going into too much detail our granddaughter became critically ill at 4months which resulted in her having a heart transplant. We spent a total of 6 months in Oz during 09 and this changed our lives. Never thought we would move from our current house, let alone consider moving 12000 miles away to the other side of world at our age! But Aussie bound it is and reading this site is making the whole process a lot easier to cope with - just knowing we are not alone in experiencing all kinds of emotions and questions about it is quite a relief.

 

So enough waffle - here's my question. We have a current account and savings account set up in Australia, and we transfer money for our visits using Hi-Fx. We have started to transfer larger sums in readiness for our eventual move into the savings account where we are earning a reasonable rate of interest. However, we are taxed at 40% (of the interest) because we do not have a Tax Reference Number (TRN). Westpac Bank did warn us that this would be the case, but there seems to be conflicting information on the Australian Tax Website, which we showed the Bank but which has not made any difference. Can anyone tell me if it is possible to get a TRN prior to our Visas being granted and if so, are there any implications involved - ie: will we need to submit a tax return to Australian Tax Office each year?

 

Looking forward to getting to know some of you via this site - I think its great. Cheers for now. Gill

[donovandenese]

Hi everyone,

We (that is, I) have been following the CPV thread for a while now and have found some of the shared info absolutely fantastic. We have applied for CPV visas and are now in the waiting game like so many of you - not sure how much preparation we can do at this end (selling stuff we don't want to take with us, deciding what to sell - our "fun car" is the current dilemma), getting finances in some sort of order and ready for transfer to Oz etc etc.

 

Our only daughter and her partner live in Torquay, Victoria. He is a citizen and she got her de facto PR last November. They both come from our village here in the UK. We sent our Visa apps off 21/1/10, received acknowledgement 21/2/10, now waiting for a CO to be assigned. We visit whenever we can which has been frequent since our first grandchild was born in Dec 08. Our second grandchild is expected in Jan 11. Without going into too much detail our granddaughter became critically ill at 4months which resulted in her having a heart transplant. We spent a total of 6 months in Oz during 09 and this changed our lives. Never thought we would move from our current house, let alone consider moving 12000 miles away to the other side of world at our age! But Aussie bound it is and reading this site is making the whole process a lot easier to cope with - just knowing we are not alone in experiencing all kinds of emotions and questions about it is quite a relief.

 

So enough waffle - here's my question. We have a current account and savings account set up in Australia, and we transfer money for our visits using Hi-Fx. We have started to transfer larger sums in readiness for our eventual move into the savings account where we are earning a reasonable rate of interest. However, we are taxed at 40% (of the interest) because we do not have a Tax Reference Number (TRN). Westpac Bank did warn us that this would be the case, but there seems to be conflicting information on the Australian Tax Website, which we showed the Bank but which has not made any difference. Can anyone tell me if it is possible to get a TRN prior to our Visas being granted and if so, are there any implications involved - ie: will we need to submit a tax return to Australian Tax Office each year?

 

Looking forward to getting to know some of you via this site - I think its great. Cheers for now. Gill

 

what address do you have on your westpac accounts? my mum had accounts in Oz prior to getting her CPV (while living in the UK) and if the address is your uk address then they are treated as accounts of nonresidents. The banks are required to withold 10% tax on interest for non resident accounts (you will be able to deduct this from your uk tax return). If the address is an australian one eg a family member, then that may be causing the confusion as with no tax file number (TFN) the banks are required to withold approx 40% for people resident in australia. There is no way to get a TFN until you are australian resident. hope this helps.

[DavidandGill]

Hi

We have our UK address on the accounts. When we only had the current account we used our daughter's address in Australia, but changed to our UK address when we opened the savings account because we are not residents yet. Thanks for your help. Gill

[donovandenese]

Hi

We have our UK address on the accounts. When we only had the current account we used our daughter's address in Australia, but changed to our UK address when we opened the savings account because we are not residents yet. Thanks for your help. Gill

 

you definitely shouldnt be paying any more than 10% witholding tax

[PhoebeW]

To be fair the £20 is not the banks only charge, they also skim another 1% or 2% off the exchange rate. :biggrin::shocked:

 

I didn't know that :swoon:...never been good with currency :no: but if people are worried it may affect their sponsors income for tax it's always an option I suppose. I do know that after charging you the 'fee' they then charge you £1 for an overseas transaction as well :arghh: we can't win.............

 

Phoebe

[PhoebeW]

Hi Phoebe,

I dont think they give you a bank account to pay it into, mores the pity. On immi web site, I think they specify, cc details or bank draft I think . I dont know why they dont as you could just more the money across giving ref. details and all would be sorted.

Sandy

 

I paid monies straight into the companys bank account so in this case could it not be paid into the Centrelink account Rich had to open for the AoS then sent from there :wideeyed:

 

I do know in Australia everyone inclucing people who are employed have to complete their own Tax Return. My daughter & SIL have just done theirs, they were doing it themselves until someone told them to go to a professional, they did that this time and were able to claim more so the $200 it cost them was well worth it, so I would assume your Rich does the same thing, why not ask him to have a word with his Tax guy (or girl). To me a Tax Return is for your earnings so shouldnt interfere with Rich's income.

 

I will ask my daughter to have a word with their Tax guy as well and let you know :biggrin:

 

Phoebe

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Donovanandenise

 

Thanks for your query. I suspect that your situation is not that common, actually. (I thought with my own mother that surely there are thousands of widowed Parents who have one or more step-children? That is not particularly common amongst CPV applicants either, astonishingly.)

 

I think the main question is whether or not DIAC will be satisfied that the relationship between your Dad and his new Partner stands DIAC's own "test of time" and that they can prove that they are a genuine "couple" rather than simply being two people who are enjoying each other's company for the moment but their relationship might fizzle out over time.

 

You need to look at the sort of bumph that DIAC require when a Partner/spouse visa is sought because they want much the same sort of evidence in order to prove the relationship with every other type of visa as well.

 

It is not something that I know much about. I am not interested in Partner visas so I read as little as possible about them, don't follow the threads about them and so on. When people send me PMs asking about proving their relationships, I explain that I'm the least reliable person to ask because I only know snippets that I've picked up here and there, which is useless by way of offering anybody any real information about it.

 

I gather that DIAC like to see evidence that a couple have been living together for not less than 12 months. With a Parent, the evidence is often not easy to find. Usually both Partners have their own homes and they keep both homes. One merely tends to move in with the other but they don't put things like the gas, water and electricity - or the Title to the property - into joint names. If each of them is claiming a single person's discount of 25% on the Council Tax for his/her own home, usually they don't interfere with that either and so forth.

 

Apparently DIAC also expect evidence of a joint bank account. I'm not persuaded that this is something that middle aged couples would do easily or promptly. I reckon that they would probably wait for at least 5 years before they start mixing their money.

 

Apparently DIAC are also keen on receiving written statements (the easiest way is to use a Stat Dec, maybe, since DIAC seem to set more store by those than I would) from family and friends, confirming that the couple have been an item (and preferably living together) since mm/yyyy.

 

How much of a problem would Dad and his new Partner have with assembling the sort of evidence that would make DIAC happy?

 

In some ways, "Wait 5 years and then apply for a Partner visa if you are still together" is the best possible option for Dad and his new Partner. It wouldn't really be a money-saving device in their case because the probability iis that Dad's new Partner would be likely to use long stay Tourist visas in order to spend up to 12 months at a time with him in Oz. When the Tourist visa expires, they might both return to the UK and spend a summer in the UK, or they might go on a world cruise together or something. The possibilities cost money and the likelihood is that both of them would go jaunting together, so in real terms any financial savings would probably be nil.

 

I agree with you that there is a risk that the Minister might tighten up the law so as to say that a CPV holder can never sponsor a Partner for a Partner or Spouse visa. They might try to force a situation in which the only option is a CPV for the Partner as well but I think that this idea would be fraught with difficulties. The intention of the 5 year bar was to prevent long-established couples from exploiting a loophole in order to save money.

 

Your Dad's situation is the exact opposite of that which DIAC wish to prevent. They are equally keen to prevent people from getting PR in Australia if they are not satisfied that the relationship between the partners is likely to last in the long term. My mother was 84 when her CPV 143 visa was granted. It came with a solemn Condition, saying, "Holder must not marry before entering Australia." I howled with laughter. Mum is in a wheelchair. Is it seriously likely that she would cruise into the nearest Old Folks Home, nick an old boy, marry him within 6 months and then drag him out to Oz with her?! She was widowed in 1991 after 40 years of marriage. By 2006 it was pretty obvious that she does not want another life-partner, I would have thought! If a toy boy had started hanging around Mum, my sister and I would have told him to sod off - and so on.

 

In your Dad's case, I'd have thought that DIAC's principal and primary concern would be to satisfy themselves that the relationship meets all their requirements for proving a genuine, long-term, mutually exclusive partnership/relationship.

 

In your shoes, I think that I would be inclined to suggest discussing the situation with the Manager of the Parents Visa Centre. What sort of evidence would he want to see? If he said that there is not enough evidence to prove a genuine, long-term relationship, what would he suggest that Dad and his new partner ought to do instead? He might offer to put the CPV application on "hold" for 6 or 9 months so as to allow enough time to see whether or not the relationship is likely to 'gel.' I will PM you with his contact details because I suspect that this is a situation where the best option is likely to be to explain the whole thing to DIAC and to see how they feel about it.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest Cathwotherspoon]

Hi Cath

 

For the not-quite-so-wealthy (most British parents) spending up to 12 months in Oz on a subclass 676 Tourist Visa is an option - my own mother used these:

 

Tourist Visa (Subclass 676)

 

Beyond that, how old are you (and your OH if thete is one) and what is/are your occupation(s), please? If you are a 55 year old Nurse, it would certainly be possible to get you into Oz on a subclass 457 visa quite quickly, for example, but this idea does depend on your age and your occupation. Coulcl you tell us more about this bit, please?

 

Cheers

 

Gill

 

 

 

 

Hi Gill and thanks for your reply.

I am a divorced woman who has just turned 60. I was a document control manager in the construction industry and have just returned - 6 months ago - from working oversees. I currently have savings that would pay for my CPV right now but that will go down as I cannot live solely on the pension. Trying to get work again but you know how it is here!! The 676 sounds a good option but I would then have to rent somewhere to live (the family could not put me up for that length of time) and there goes another chunk of cash. If and when the time comes for moving to Oz I do have a property to sell. I feel I am between a rock and a hard place right now.

Cheers Cath

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Gill and thanks for your reply.

I am a divorced woman who has just turned 60. I was a document control manager in the construction industry and have just returned - 6 months ago - from working oversees. I currently have savings that would pay for my CPV right now but that will go down as I cannot live solely on the pension. Trying to get work again but you know how it is here!! The 676 sounds a good option but I would then have to rent somewhere to live (the family could not put me up for that length of time) and there goes another chunk of cash. If and when the time comes for moving to Oz I do have a property to sell. I feel I am between a rock and a hard place right now.

Cheers Cath

 

Hi Cath

 

Thanks for this. You are not wrong. You are between a rock and a hard place. The present Aussie Government has suddenly become extremely xenophobic as far as I can see. I strongly suspect that the only reason why they put up with Contributory Parent visa applications is because Contributory Parents are cash cows. Not even the British duo (Gillard and Evans) are stupid enough to want to try to kill a cash cow.

 

If you were 50, I'd suggest that a Student visa might be possible because those allow the Student to work for up to 20 hours a week, doing whatever sort of work the Student is able to get. However the tuition fees are extremely high for International Students - roughly about $26,000 AUD for a 2 year VET course and around $60,000 for a 3 year degree at a University, with NOTHING to guarantee that the "education" would be better than lousy. At 50, employer-sponsored skilled migration is a possibility, though, so it is sometimes a worthwhile idea if the Parent is no more than about 50-55, depending on his/her normal occupation etc. At 60, I don't think DIAC would grant PR on an employer sponsored skilled visa. It is too far outside what their Policy says.

 

Whereabouts in Oz does your daughter live? I'm thinking about Malaysia as a possible "waiting place" for you. Air Asia X is Malaysian owned and flights from KL to Sydney only take about 8 hours max. It is a typical budget airline. Dirt cheap and the aeronautical hardware is good but everything else is either very basic or very expensive on board. However, there is nothing to stop you from taking your own food & drink with you.....

 

Teaching English as a second language pays about $1, 000 Malaysian Ringgitt (RM) per month, which is about equal to the cost of a month's living expenses (including rent) in Malaysia. My mother (in Oz on a CPV) has been extolling the virtues of the idea to me. I've looked into it a bit. Apparently one goes to Malaysia on a tourist visa for 6 months but there is a way of extending the tourist visa, so I am told. You have to do the ESOL qualification in the UK first but that is reasonably cheap and shouldn't pose any problems.

 

You let your property in the UK to a reliable tenant so that it provides an extra source of income. You are not far from Oz if you want to visit family or they want to visit you and the cost of living in West Malaysia is not very high if one is prepared to "go native," particularly with food. Mum is keen on the idea for me because she and Dad lived in Malaysia from 1948 to 1976 and Mum has visited since then. I was born there in 1956 and it was home until Dad retired back to the UK in 1976. I visit as well as often as I can. Mum still speaks fluent Malay. I was bilingual when I was a child but I am pretty rusty now, though my Malay improves when I go back there - as one would expect and it is a very easy language to learn. Mostly, though, one doesn't need to speak Malay any more because everybody speaks English nowadays and the Malaysians are more keen to practice their English on me than I am keen to make a fool of myself in Malay!

 

I'm in two minds about the idea. There are several websites about it if you are interested enough to search on Google. Apparently ESOL teaching is encouraged by the Malaysian Government and who better to teach English than a native Briton, obviously?

 

I haven't looked into it hugely closely, so the above is as much as I have found out. Also, I've only ever been to West Malaysia. I am told that East Malaysia (Sarawak) is very much cheaper and if I wanted to be nostalgic for old days and old ways, I'd be more likely to find that in Sarawak than in West Malaysia. East Malaysia is closer to Oz but I don't know whether it is worth flying to KL first for the sake of Air Asia X.

 

The MM2H visa (Malaysia My Second Home) has proved to be hugely popular, as well, but you cannot work on an MM2H visa and I don't know how well the RM has been performing against the AUD. I think MM2H is a bit boring if one is on one's own. There is only so much that one can put up with by way of swanning around, doing nothing in particular, on your own I strongly suspect. Out of the two, I would prefer the ESOL idea myself.

 

Would something like that prove to be a worthwhile stop-gap for you?

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Les Avalook]

Hi everyone,

 

...........

So enough waffle - here's my question. We have a current account and savings account set up in Australia, and we transfer money for our visits using Hi-Fx. We have started to transfer larger sums in readiness for our eventual move into the savings account where we are earning a reasonable rate of interest. However, we are taxed at 40% (of the interest) because we do not have a Tax Reference Number (TRN). Westpac Bank did warn us that this would be the case, but there seems to be conflicting information on the Australian Tax Website, which we showed the Bank but which has not made any difference. Can anyone tell me if it is possible to get a TRN prior to our Visas being granted and if so, are there any implications involved - ie: will we need to submit a tax return to Australian Tax Office each year?

 

Looking forward to getting to know some of you via this site - I think its great. Cheers for now. Gill

 

As others have stated you should pay 10% in Oz (plus another 10% in the UK if you are a SRT payer).:policeman:

 

However a lot of the Oz banks are lazy and set up the account at the default 40% (ish) deduction if they do not have the TRN. They rely on you claiming the tax back at a later stage.

 

I would write/email to them stating that you are resident in the UK and you should only pay 10% tax on the interest. Tell them you require the interest now for your visa payment and do not want a refund at some later date.

[Guest Cathwotherspoon]

Hi Cath

 

 

Whereabouts in Oz does your daughter live? I'm thinking about Malaysia as a possible "waiting place" for you. Air Asia X is Malaysian owned and flights from KL to Sydney only take about 8 hours max. It is a typical budget airline. Dirt cheap and the aeronautical hardware is good but everything else is either very basic or very expensive on board. However, there is nothing to stop you from taking your own food & drink with you.....

 

Teaching English as a second language pays about $1, 000 Malaysian Ringgitt (RM) per month, which is about equal to the cost of a month's living expenses (including rent) in Malaysia. My mother (in Oz on a CPV) has been extolling the virtues of the idea to me. I've looked into it a bit. Apparently one goes to Malaysia on a tourist visa for 6 months but there is a way of extending the tourist visa, so I am told. You have to do the ESOL qualification in the UK first but that is reasonably cheap and shouldn't pose any problems.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

Hi Gill - many thanks for that - you are a terrific source of information. My daughter is in Brisbane. Had not given any thought to 'having a career change' at my age but I will certainly look and see what is out there. I was fortunate enough to work in the middle east for 18 months - that was a means to an end when the family left and I was able to visit 3 times in 18 months. I am also looking into going back there - if I am not too old!! the only down side of things like that is as you say being on my own - but I have to remember it is a means to an end and most of us will do whatever it takes just to be with our families. Circumstances may change for my daughter if she can find a sponsor but right now I will just have to 'go with the flow' because everything is out of my control. Hopefully I will be visiting over Xmas which is something to look forward to.

Cheers, Cath

[yomvard]

Have you tried chasing the Health Operations Centre to find out whether Colin's meds have cleared without any hassle? I suspect that they have cleared and that there is no hassle. You can use the on-line form to e-mail them and they reply within 3 working days (as DIAC require from all of their staff.)

 

About Health Operations Centre (HOC)

Hi Gill,

I think I must be a bit dense, but cant see an e-mail address....phone and address, yes but not e-mail. I am bound to be missing it. Guide me someone please before I phone to renew my glasses

Sandy

[Guest]

Hi Maxine

 

Some people are disabled - as is my own mother, as is yomvard. Somebody who is disabled might have trouble with their visa meds. In that situation, if you frontload the meds you can find out quickly whether or not the Medical Officer of the Commonwealth is likely to cause problems. If he is, thetr is plenty of time to consult specialists etc whilst nothing else is happening with the visa application.

 

For most applicants, though, getting the meds finalised just before a CO makes contact simply gives the CO and the applicant less work to do in the final stages of processing the application and saves maybe a month of time overall.

 

Does this answer your question adequately, please?

 

Cheers

 

Gill

 

Many thanks

 

Maxine

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Have you tried chasing the Health Operations Centre to find out whether Colin's meds have cleared without any hassle? I suspect that they have cleared and that there is no hassle. You can use the on-line form to e-mail them and they reply within 3 working days (as DIAC require from all of their staff.)

 

About Health Operations Centre (HOC)

Hi Gill,

I think I must be a bit dense, but cant see an e-mail address....phone and address, yes but not e-mail. I am bound to be missing it. Guide me someone please before I phone to renew my glasses

Sandy

 

Hi Sandy

 

I agree with you. I think that the e-mail address is lcu.processing@immi.gov.au but I am not 100% certain about this. LCU stands for Local Clearance Unit.

 

It used to be possible to use the search box on the DIAC website to get the "proper" page for the HOC instead of going to the village green via the moon with the Panel Doctors Gateway. On the "proper page" there was also a link to a dreadful on-line form but no phone number for the HOC.

 

I expect the scenario was that the HOC whinged about the volume of e-mail traffic via the form so the genius in IT took the HOC page off line, without considering that the phone number is on the PDG portal in any case..... That is the usual story with the civil service in the UK as well as in Oz.

 

Personally, I would phone them. When the world works out how to phone them up, DIAC will have to consider a New, Improved Method of Opacity for the HOC. In the meantime, secrecy is not on from a Government Department, so I would phone them instead.

 

I use Penny A Minute for phone calls to Oz. 0844 864 7878 - then follow the prompts that you receive over the phone. There are much cheaper methods - eg Skype - but I'm not into the wonders of cyber-gadgetry sufficiently to get clever with it, myself.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Les Avalook]

There is a prog on Channel 4 tonight at 9pm about the shippers Crown, could be worth watching so that you don't just have the exchange rate to worry about.

[PhoebeW]

There is a prog on Channel 4 tonight at 9pm about the shippers Crown, could be worth watching so that you don't just have the exchange rate to worry about.

 

I've got it in to tape as we speak my daughter used them without any hassle at all so I'm definatly watching :biggrin:

 

Phoebe

[PhoebeW]

Have you tried chasing the Health Operations Centre to find out whether Colin's meds have cleared without any hassle? I suspect that they have cleared and that there is no hassle. You can use the on-line form to e-mail them and they reply within 3 working days (as DIAC require from all of their staff.)

 

About Health Operations Centre (HOC)

Hi Gill,

I think I must be a bit dense, but cant see an e-mail address....phone and address, yes but not e-mail. I am bound to be missing it. Guide me someone please before I phone to renew my glasses

Sandy

 

 

Hi Sandy

 

This appears to be the contact form to email them :jiggy:

Health Operations Centre Feedback Form

 

Phoebe

[MikenSueNW3]

However, we are taxed at 40% (of the interest) because we do not have a Tax Reference Number (TRN). Westpac Bank did warn us that this would be the case, but there seems to be conflicting information on the Australian Tax Website, which we showed the Bank but which has not made any difference. Can anyone tell me if it is possible to get a TRN prior to our Visas being granted and if so, are there any implications involved - ie: will we need to submit a tax return to Australian Tax Office each year?

 

If you are non-residents (which I assume you must be as you are in the CPV queue), then the bank should only tax you at the rate of 10%, which is the Non-residents' Withholding Tax rate. But you will need to prove your status to Westpac. (We are in exactly the same situation with St George, which is now a Westpac subsidiary.) But, as Les Avalook says, you have to also declare your earnings to the UK tax inspector, who will tax you on the interest but deduct the Oz tax already paid. (I think it can be safely assumed that the Oz and UK tax authorities swap information on this kind of thing.)

 

I think that getting a Australian Tax File Number (TFN, not TRN) is a separate matter, and only arises if you have other earnings – from rentals, say – in Oz. We are in this category too, as we let our Sydney apartment when we're not occupying it, and as a result have to file a tax return in Oz as well as the UK. This is a pain, but is unavaoidable to stay within the law. (Its made worse by the Oz tax year ending on 30 June and the UK of course on 5 April.) (BTW, to get an TFN, you simply have to fill in a form that you can get from newsagents and post offices in Oz; at the moment you can't do it online.)

 

But despite this, we are still only taxed at 10% on bank interest (in fact, rounded down to the nearest dollar – every little helps!), and in fact do not have to include this in our Oz tax return, according to our accountant, as the bank accounts for it to the Tax Office.

 

Hope this is clear. Best, Mike

[sandch]

Hi Gill,

 

Problem with putting it in one of the boys account is that it is treated as income by the tax people so he has to declare it. ........

 

This sort of receipt is classified as a gift, a one off, and is not assessable, so doesn't have to be declared.

 

We paid our 2nd VAC by transferring funds to an HSBC account in Australia using HiFX, getting HSBC in Australia to issue a dollar draft which they would only send to us here in the UK (out home address), which we then couriered to Perth. Tortuous really.

[Sue Ashforth]

We had a potential problem as my daughter doesn't earn enough to assure both me and her stepdad (her husband hasn't earned since May as he's on a training course). Fortunately, her sister-in-law has agreed to act as assurer for mny husband. All we have done is complete a Form 956 to appoint my daughter as an 'authorised recipient' and she is taking this to Centrelink next week at her appointment.

[PhoebeW]

The courier has just collected the paperwork, will let you know when they arrive in Perth

 

Phoebe

[PhoebeW]

The courier has just collected the paperwork, will let you know when they arrive in Perth

 

Phoebe

 

 

Parcel delivered and signed for in Perth at 12.3pm on 23rd August......very impressed :jiggy:

 

So what is the next step:arghh:

 

Phoebe