The Brand New PIO Parents Visa thread

[Fisher1]

Yes Phoebe but when you are in a country where cost of living rises are applied, you are entitled (so I have read) to claim the full current pension for the period of your stay. Then when you leave it drops back to its former 'frozen' self. The pensioners group whose site I found were advocating making full use of this legal nonsense in order to cause as much inconvenience to the UK govt as possible ......

 

I have to say I dont see them changing their minds - if they can plan the introduction of a new flat rate pension for everyone who has contributed for a minimum of thirty years and then blithely exclude all the older (UK resident!) pensioners from their plans, thereby discriminating against people who have actually paid for forty four years in many cases, then fair play is the last thing we should expect.

[PhoebeW]

Yes Phoebe but when you are in a country where cost of living rises are applied, you are entitled (so I have read) to claim the full current pension for the period of your stay. Then when you leave it drops back to its former 'frozen' self. The pensioners group whose site I found were advocating making full use of this legal nonsense in order to cause as much inconvenience to the UK govt as possible ......

 

I have to say I dont see them changing their minds - if they can plan the introduction of a new flat rate pension for everyone who has contributed for a minimum of thirty years and then blithely exclude all the older (UK resident!) pensioners from their plans, thereby discriminating against people who have actually paid for forty four years in many cases, then fair play is the last thing we should expect.

 

And that's exactly why this country is going down the proverbial pan!!!

 

Phoebe

[Flathead]

And that's exactly why this country is going down the proverbial pan!!!

 

Phoebe

 

So what do you think about a country where the pension is means tested and where you can not even claim it unless you continue living there?.....is that country going down the pan as well?

[MikenSueNW3]

Hi all

 

I am filling in forms for 103 visa. They ask if I have ever had a visa before or have visited - do you have to list all visits or just the most recent?

 

Thanks if you can help

 

Kath

 

Yes, that's what we did - all visits - giving approximate dates when we couldn't remember exact ones.

 

Not sure how essential it is, but they do keep remarkably long-term records if they want to check. (Typical of civil servants, I guess!)

 

A friend of ours - a Pom in Oz, but not a member of PomsinOz - managed to prove that she was eligible for permanent residence through long-term residence in the 1960s and 70s by finding (in their records) her landing card from 1966!

 

Mike

[PhoebeW]

So what do you think about a country where the pension is means tested and where you can not even claim it unless you continue living there?.....is that country going down the pan as well?

 

 

I don't have any experience of living in another country so I can't comment.

 

I was simply meaning that given the response I had had following my enquiry 'the powers that be' never listen to us mere mortals. That's just my opinion of course and don't feel I should be judged on it.

 

Phoebe

[stevemalbec]

That's just my opinion of course and don't feel I should be judged on it.

 

Phoebe

 

So whatever our opinions are we can never be judged on them? And I'd dispute your comment "'the powers that be' never listen to us mere mortals". Not always, but I think the latest Tory onslaught on welfare recipients shows that they do listen to their supporters, maybe only when it suits them, but to say they never listen is just hyperbole.

[Sarah SA]

Hi there,

I'm new on here and need some help.

 

I'm from the uk living in SA a perm res and my parents wants to move to be with me and my family. I'm an only child and my parents have nothing to keep them in the uk.

Ive been trying to do some research on the parent visa but I'm just not sure on one part, my dad had a kidney transplant 10 years ago, would this hinder their chances on moving here on a perm basis?

 

I hope someone out there has experienced something similar to answer my question.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Sarah

[cathntone]

cathntone

 

I have just found this site, I think its the same one - they have a contact email on their website so you could ask for advice possibly?

 

http://pensionjustice.org/the-icbp/

 

Thank you for that, I will take a look and see how we get on. I just think that if it causes just a tiny bit of irritation it will be worth it. I didn't mean to open a can of worms and cause harsh words here but it seems to me that there's little point in comparing one country's pension arrangements with another and judging the unfairness of it. It's the UK's double standard which is hard to take, it should really be all expats are frozen or none. I understand that there is supposed to be some historical reasoning why this has occurred but the result is grossly unfair. It's fair to say we knew all of this when we came here but things looked a whole lot more rosy when we were receiving a dollar more for each pound than we are now lol!

[MikenSueNW3]

Hi there,

I'm new on here and need some help.

 

I'm from the uk living in SA a perm res and my parents wants to move to be with me and my family. I'm an only child and my parents have nothing to keep them in the uk.

Ive been trying to do some research on the parent visa but I'm just not sure on one part, my dad had a kidney transplant 10 years ago, would this hinder their chances on moving here on a perm basis?

 

I hope someone out there has experienced something similar to answer my question.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Sarah

 

G'day Sarah

 

I can't answer your specific query, but I think it comes down to his prognosis and the cost of any ongoing medical treatment.

 

One person who may very well be able to give you much more detailed advice is Gollywobbler, late of this parish; she gave us some very valuable information on the health front, re cancer. She does I think still post on the parallel site PomsinAdelaide under the same name, so why not post a query or a private message to her there.

 

Good luck, Mike

[Linday]

So what do you think about a country where the pension is means tested and where you can not even claim it unless you continue living there?.....is that country going down the pan as well?

 

I assume you are talking about Australia here. Australia has very sensibly long since introduced a superannuation system, whereby it is compulsory for everyone who works to have a private pension fund in the form of superannuation. And you don't even have to contribute to it yourself. Your employer has to contribute at least 9% of your salary (soon to be 12% I believe). This is what most Australians live off in their retirement So it is only those who are less fortunate who need to apply for the means tested aged pension which is actually a form of social security. It is not a 'state pension' as such.

Edited April 8, 2013 by Linday

[Flathead]

I assume you are talking about Australia here. Australia has very sensibly long since introduced a superannuation system, whereby it is compulsory for everyone who works to have a private pension fund in the form of superannuation. And you don't even have to contribute to it yourself. Your employer has to contribute at least 9% of your salary (soon to be 12% I believe). This is what most Australians live off in their retirement So it is only those who are less fortunate who need to apply for the means tested aged pension which is actually a form of social security. It is not a 'state pension' as such.

A couple of points.

 

Firstly no sensible person in the UK would rely on the state pension but ,at least, they will get it.

secondly, the amount of superannuation that a big percentage of Australians have accumulated will not be enough to live on especially if you consider how they have under performed recently....so they will also have to rely on social security to make up the difference.

if someone from the UK wants to live abroad they will still receive the pension....not so for Australians

[cathntone]

Well far from causing a minor irritation, having our pension index linked for the 7 weeks we are in the UK proved to be ridiculously easy. The proof will be in the increased payment of course. A phone call to the overseas pension office and it's done. If anyone would like the telephone number please message me. However it's fairly easy to find on the pension website. Now to see how blighty looks 2.5 years on!

[PhoebeW]

So whatever our opinions are we can never be judged on them? And I'd dispute your comment "'the powers that be' never listen to us mere mortals". Not always, but I think the latest Tory onslaught on welfare recipients shows that they do listen to their supporters, maybe only when it suits them, but to say they never listen is just hyperbole.

 

Everyone is entitled to there opinion and who is anyone to judge anyone else!

 

My comment was meant to be taken the way it was written....light hearted. This is not a political forum.

 

Is it have a go at Phoebe week? Please form an orderly Q!!

 

Phoebe

Edited April 8, 2013 by PhoebeW

[Linday]

A couple of points.

 

Firstly no sensible person in the UK would rely on the state pension but ,at least, they will get it.

secondly, the amount of superannuation that a big percentage of Australians have accumulated will not be enough to live on especially if you consider how they have under performed recently....so they will also have to rely on social security to make up the difference.

if someone from the UK wants to live abroad they will still receive the pension....not so for Australians

 

I understand however, from other threads that if they have already started to receive a Centrelink pension then this is portable. Although I don't think most people on this thread are unduly concerned but more worried about getting what they are entitled to in the way of a UK pension without it being frozen and whether they can afford to live in a country which is becoming increasingly expensive as the real value of a pension becomes eroded through being frozen and also with the falling exchange rate.

Edited April 8, 2013 by Linday

[Fisher1]

This is the reason the UK frozen state pensions are so unfair - they are pensions we have contributed to for, in some cases, forty odd years. I think its the unfairness of it all that hacks people off, but as I said earlier, the current government seem to have decided to take unfairness to a whole new level.

 

I think people cope much better when they are all treated (as far as is possible) equally.

[Fisher1]

P.S. Hi Phoebe

 

Of course you are entitled to your opinion and I agree with you. People cant resist a bit of an argument though so you just have to smile serenely, happy in the knowledge that you are, of course, right. :biggrin:

[Fisher1]

P.P.S. Flat head

 

Yes, you are right too. You've got your troubles, I've got mine ..... (wasnt there a song once ......)

[Flathead]

The way this is being viewed is very one sided. Until 2001 any person from the UK could count years spent working in the UK towards their Australian pension entitlements

 

When the agreement between the two counties ended this stopped....It also stopped for Australians living in he UK.

 

It is not only the UK government not updating pensions that needs to be considered. The Australian government also stopped recognising years in the UK as counting towards the Australian pension

 

It takes two to Tango so not all the blame can be laid at the Feet of the UK government.

 

No one forces anyone to live here...if you choose to then you know the rules before you go.

Edited April 8, 2013 by Flathead

[PhoebeW]

P.P.S. Flat head

 

Yes, you are right too. You've got your troubles, I've got mine ..... (wasnt there a song once ......)

 

Recorded by the Fortunes..there has to be a joke in there somewhere :biglaugh:

 

Phoebe

[stevemalbec]

This is not a political forum.

 

Phoebe

 

Then don't make political comments!

[Fisher1]

Dear Flathead

 

I've got a feeling you have misunderstood what was written. Nobody was talking about entitlement to Australian pensions. We were talking about the fact that when UK pensioners, having paid ALL the required contributions for a full pension. choose to live outside the UK, they no longer receive cost of living adjustments. This results in the pension being devalued by inflation.

 

This has nothing whatever to do with UK pensioners claiming Australian pensions, and is entirely at the feet of the UK government.

[Flathead]

Dear Flathead

 

I've got a feeling you have misunderstood what was written. Nobody was talking about entitlement to Australian pensions. We were talking about the fact that when UK pensioners, having paid ALL the required contributions for a full pension. choose to live outside the UK, they no longer receive cost of living adjustments. This results in the pension being devalued by inflation.

 

This has nothing whatever to do with UK pensioners claiming Australian pensions, and is entirely at the feet of the UK government.

The whole agreement was scrapped because of a spat between the two governments....I responded initially to a stupid post about the country 'going down the pan'.....I know perfectly well what was written. The Australian government is not blameless in this and I get fed up with people wanting to slag off the UK because they think they are going somewhere '.better'

i am affected just as much as anyone but I knew the rules before I left and no one forced me to move here

[Flathead]

And I will add...no o e, with any sense, would rely on the UK state pension to live on and certainly not in a country as expensive as Australia....whether it is uprated or not

[vava]

The whole agreement was scrapped because of a spat between the two governments....I responded initially to a stupid post about the country 'going down the pan'.....I know perfectly well what was written. The Australian government is not blameless in this and I get fed up with people wanting to slag off the UK because they think they are going somewhere '.better'

i am affected just as much as anyone but I knew the rules before I left and no one forced me to move here

 

 

Can we have a NOT LIKE button please?

[Flathead]

Can we have a NOT LIKE button please?

Why?......what have I said that is incorrect?