The Brand New PIO Parents Visa thread

[rogeliz]

Reading through the threads, we thought some of you might be interested in our experiences. We have now been in Australia as permanent residents with a 143 visa for a little over 2 years. We initially used a migration agent based in Perth, having met their representative in London the previous year. We sent the forms to them in January 2013 but they took what seemed to us to be an excessive amount of time checking our forms. Finally after many prompts by us, they said the forms had now all been changed by Immigration and would have to be re-done. However they offered to do this for us on our behalf, and just use the signature page we had submitted. They then told us the forms had been sent to the Parent Visa Section in July 2013.

 

Meanwhile we put the house on the market. In December 2013, we had a concrete offer which we accepted. You can imagine how we felt when we learnt only a few days later on the internet that the Migration Agent we had used had gone bankrupt. We immediately sent off an email and got a reply from the liquidators confirming the bankruptcy and furthermore stating there was no record of our application ever having been lodged. What a Christmas present! We phoned Immigration in London and they were also unable to find any application and stated we would have to start over again!

 

We decided not to lose the sale of the house, so moved into rented accommodation in January 2014. We completed all the new forms, and sent them by courier. No Agent this time, in January 2014. We didn’t want to stay in the UK rental for another 2 years while the new application went through so we applied for and got a 600 Visa allowing us to visit Australia for a maximum of 12 months in any 18, for a period of 3 years. We also took a very big gamble and applied for permission (as foreigners) to buy a house in Australia. We were told it had to be new or off plan, we could not buy anything ‘second hand’. We paid the deposit on an off-plan house which was going to be ready about November 2014. Unfortunately we could not ship any furniture, on a 600 Visa, so everything went into storage in the UK.

 

We travelled to Australia on the 600 visa in October 2014 with a view to having to ‘come and go’ until the 143 was granted. With a 600 for 3 years, we had a fair amount of leeway. We moved into the house at the beginning of November 2014. Incidentally, we sent 3 large suitcases by ship containing clothes, shoes, sports items but they took 3 months to arrive so if you are reading this, we suggest you use air freight as it is quicker.

 

About a month later, at the suggestion of the family in Australia, we phoned up Immigration to see if they could give us an update on the new application we had sent in January 2014. Imagine our horror again when we were told they had no record of an application from us Somewhat distraught at this, we contacted the family and our son, our sponsor, he told us he had just the very same day received an email from Immigration asking him to make the sponsorship payment etc for our application which was nearing completion!!

 

Wondering now what on earth was going on, it turned out that the Migration Agent HAD in fact sent off the application but when copying out our details on the new forms, had inadvertently put our email address --.com instead of --.co.uk , an address that happened to exist!  So, all the Immigration information that should have come to us had gone astray.  All this now meant we had 2 weeks to get the Health Checks done (which we did in Australia) and the UK Police Checks which we did via a courier. Just before Christmas 2014 we had confirmation that we would be given the visas once we had left Australia and they would be issued on our return. So in January 2015 we left the warmth of NSW for the freezing cold & snow of the UK to ship the stored possessions.

 

Our visa was confirmed when we came back in February 2015 and we have been here enjoying Australia ever since.

 

In conclusion, yes it was extremely stressful at the time but we don’t regret it. However we would not recommend using an Agent as all the forms are easily downloaded and if you are a native English speaker they are not difficult, just tedious to fill them all in.

[Paur]

Hi all, my mother-in-law has been looking at joining us in Oz and at her age (79), it looks like coming over on a visitor visa and applying for an 804 whilst here might be the best option. Can anyone tell me if she will need to do a medical before being granted a bridging visa? 

[NanaJan]

17 minutes ago, rogeliz said:

Reading through the threads, we thought some of you might be interested in our experiences. We have now been in Australia as permanent residents with a 143 visa for a little over 2 years. We initially used a migration agent based in Perth, having met their representative in London the previous year. We sent the forms to them in January 2013 but they took what seemed to us to be an excessive amount of time checking our forms. Finally after many prompts by us, they said the forms had now all been changed by Immigration and would have to be re-done. However they offered to do this for us on our behalf, and just use the signature page we had submitted. They then told us the forms had been sent to the Parent Visa Section in July 2013.

Meanwhile we put the house on the market. In December 2013, we had a concrete offer which we accepted. You can imagine how we felt when we learnt only a few days later on the internet that the Migration Agent we had used had gone bankrupt. We immediately sent off an email and got a reply from the liquidators confirming the bankruptcy and furthermore stating there was no record of our application ever having been lodged. What a Christmas present! We phoned Immigration in London and they were also unable to find any application and stated we would have to start over again!

We decided not to lose the sale of the house, so moved into rented accommodation in January 2014. We completed all the new forms, and sent them by courier. No Agent this time, in January 2014. We didn’t want to stay in the UK rental for another 2 years while the new application went through so we applied for and got a 600 Visa allowing us to visit Australia for a maximum of 12 months in any 18, for a period of 3 years. We also took a very big gamble and applied for permission (as foreigners) to buy a house in Australia. We were told it had to be new or off plan, we could not buy anything ‘second hand’. We paid the deposit on an off-plan house which was going to be ready about November 2014. Unfortunately we could not ship any furniture, on a 600 Visa, so everything went into storage in the UK.

We travelled to Australia on the 600 visa in October 2014 with a view to having to ‘come and go’ until the 143 was granted. With a 600 for 3 years, we had a fair amount of leeway. We moved into the house at the beginning of November 2014. Incidentally, we sent 3 large suitcases by ship containing clothes, shoes, sports items but they took 3 months to arrive so if you are reading this, we suggest you use air freight as it is quicker.

About a month later, at the suggestion of the family in Australia, we phoned up Immigration to see if they could give us an update on the new application we had sent in January 2014. Imagine our horror again when we were told they had no record of an application from us Somewhat distraught at this, we contacted the family and our son, our sponsor, he told us he had just the very same day received an email from Immigration asking him to make the sponsorship payment etc for our application which was nearing completion!!

Wondering now what on earth was going on, it turned out that the Migration Agent HAD in fact sent off the application but when copying out our details on the new forms, had inadvertently put our email address --.com instead of --.co.uk , an address that happened to exist!  So, all the Immigration information that should have come to us had gone astray.  All this now meant we had 2 weeks to get the Health Checks done (which we did in Australia) and the UK Police Checks which we did via a courier. Just before Christmas 2014 we had confirmation that we would be given the visas once we had left Australia and they would be issued on our return. So in January 2015 we left the warmth of NSW for the freezing cold & snow of the UK to ship the stored possessions.

Our visa was confirmed when we came back in February 2015 and we have been here enjoying Australia ever since.

In conclusion, yes it was extremely stressful at the time but we don’t regret it. However we would not recommend using an Agent as all the forms are easily downloaded and if you are a native English speaker they are not difficult, just tedious to fill them all in.

Oh my good grief. That is one dreadful experience. Thank you for sharing it with us and at least you are now with your family enjoying the Australian way of life in the sunshine.

The one thing that stands out is that the application was lodged in June 2013 and the visa was ready to be granted in December 2014.

It's a bit different now

[Catlady2014]

43 minutes ago, rogeliz said:

Reading through the threads, we thought some of you might be interested in our experiences. We have now been in Australia as permanent residents with a 143 visa for a little over 2 years. We initially used a migration agent based in Perth, having met their representative in London the previous year. We sent the forms to them in January 2013 but they took what seemed to us to be an excessive amount of time checking our forms. Finally after many prompts by us, they said the forms had now all been changed by Immigration and would have to be re-done. However they offered to do this for us on our behalf, and just use the signature page we had submitted. They then told us the forms had been sent to the Parent Visa Section in July 2013.

 

Meanwhile we put the house on the market. In December 2013, we had a concrete offer which we accepted. You can imagine how we felt when we learnt only a few days later on the internet that the Migration Agent we had used had gone bankrupt. We immediately sent off an email and got a reply from the liquidators confirming the bankruptcy and furthermore stating there was no record of our application ever having been lodged. What a Christmas present! We phoned Immigration in London and they were also unable to find any application and stated we would have to start over again!

 

We decided not to lose the sale of the house, so moved into rented accommodation in January 2014. We completed all the new forms, and sent them by courier. No Agent this time, in January 2014. We didn’t want to stay in the UK rental for another 2 years while the new application went through so we applied for and got a 600 Visa allowing us to visit Australia for a maximum of 12 months in any 18, for a period of 3 years. We also took a very big gamble and applied for permission (as foreigners) to buy a house in Australia. We were told it had to be new or off plan, we could not buy anything ‘second hand’. We paid the deposit on an off-plan house which was going to be ready about November 2014. Unfortunately we could not ship any furniture, on a 600 Visa, so everything went into storage in the UK.

 

We travelled to Australia on the 600 visa in October 2014 with a view to having to ‘come and go’ until the 143 was granted. With a 600 for 3 years, we had a fair amount of leeway. We moved into the house at the beginning of November 2014. Incidentally, we sent 3 large suitcases by ship containing clothes, shoes, sports items but they took 3 months to arrive so if you are reading this, we suggest you use air freight as it is quicker.

 

About a month later, at the suggestion of the family in Australia, we phoned up Immigration to see if they could give us an update on the new application we had sent in January 2014. Imagine our horror again when we were told they had no record of an application from us Somewhat distraught at this, we contacted the family and our son, our sponsor, he told us he had just the very same day received an email from Immigration asking him to make the sponsorship payment etc for our application which was nearing completion!!

 

Wondering now what on earth was going on, it turned out that the Migration Agent HAD in fact sent off the application but when copying out our details on the new forms, had inadvertently put our email address --.com instead of --.co.uk , an address that happened to exist!  So, all the Immigration information that should have come to us had gone astray.  All this now meant we had 2 weeks to get the Health Checks done (which we did in Australia) and the UK Police Checks which we did via a courier. Just before Christmas 2014 we had confirmation that we would be given the visas once we had left Australia and they would be issued on our return. So in January 2015 we left the warmth of NSW for the freezing cold & snow of the UK to ship the stored possessions.

 

Our visa was confirmed when we came back in February 2015 and we have been here enjoying Australia ever since.

 

In conclusion, yes it was extremely stressful at the time but we don’t regret it. However we would not recommend using an Agent as all the forms are easily downloaded and if you are a native English speaker they are not difficult, just tedious to fill them all in.

Incredible.  I have no idea how you managed to keep your sanity!  Well done.  

Edited May 28, 2017 by Catlady2014

[Catlady2014]

13 minutes ago, NanaJan said:

Oh my good grief. That is one dreadful experience. Thank you for sharing it with us and at least you are now with your family enjoying the Australian way of life in the sunshine.

The one thing that stands out is that the application was lodged in June 2013 and the visa was ready to be granted in December 2014.

It's a bit different now

Yes, the "18 months" processing time.  

[NanaJan]

35 minutes ago, Paur said:

Hi all, my mother-in-law has been looking at joining us in Oz and at her age (79), it looks like coming over on a visitor visa and applying for an 804 whilst here might be the best option. Can anyone tell me if she will need to do a medical before being granted a bridging visa? 

I have no idea as to the answer, but wow, hat's off to her for planning to move at that grand old age

[Suzyq]

40 minutes ago, rogeliz said:

Reading through the threads, we thought some of you might be interested in our experiences. We have now been in Australia as permanent residents with a 143 visa for a little over 2 years. We initially used a migration agent based in Perth, having met their representative in London the previous year. We sent the forms to them in January 2013 but they took what seemed to us to be an excessive amount of time checking our forms. Finally after many prompts by us, they said the forms had now all been changed by Immigration and would have to be re-done. However they offered to do this for us on our behalf, and just use the signature page we had submitted. They then told us the forms had been sent to the Parent Visa Section in July 2013.

 

Meanwhile we put the house on the market. In December 2013, we had a concrete offer which we accepted. You can imagine how we felt when we learnt only a few days later on the internet that the Migration Agent we had used had gone bankrupt. We immediately sent off an email and got a reply from the liquidators confirming the bankruptcy and furthermore stating there was no record of our application ever having been lodged. What a Christmas present! We phoned Immigration in London and they were also unable to find any application and stated we would have to start over again!

 

We decided not to lose the sale of the house, so moved into rented accommodation in January 2014. We completed all the new forms, and sent them by courier. No Agent this time, in January 2014. We didn’t want to stay in the UK rental for another 2 years while the new application went through so we applied for and got a 600 Visa allowing us to visit Australia for a maximum of 12 months in any 18, for a period of 3 years. We also took a very big gamble and applied for permission (as foreigners) to buy a house in Australia. We were told it had to be new or off plan, we could not buy anything ‘second hand’. We paid the deposit on an off-plan house which was going to be ready about November 2014. Unfortunately we could not ship any furniture, on a 600 Visa, so everything went into storage in the UK.

 

We travelled to Australia on the 600 visa in October 2014 with a view to having to ‘come and go’ until the 143 was granted. With a 600 for 3 years, we had a fair amount of leeway. We moved into the house at the beginning of November 2014. Incidentally, we sent 3 large suitcases by ship containing clothes, shoes, sports items but they took 3 months to arrive so if you are reading this, we suggest you use air freight as it is quicker.

 

About a month later, at the suggestion of the family in Australia, we phoned up Immigration to see if they could give us an update on the new application we had sent in January 2014. Imagine our horror again when we were told they had no record of an application from us Somewhat distraught at this, we contacted the family and our son, our sponsor, he told us he had just the very same day received an email from Immigration asking him to make the sponsorship payment etc for our application which was nearing completion!!

 

Wondering now what on earth was going on, it turned out that the Migration Agent HAD in fact sent off the application but when copying out our details on the new forms, had inadvertently put our email address --.com instead of --.co.uk , an address that happened to exist!  So, all the Immigration information that should have come to us had gone astray.  All this now meant we had 2 weeks to get the Health Checks done (which we did in Australia) and the UK Police Checks which we did via a courier. Just before Christmas 2014 we had confirmation that we would be given the visas once we had left Australia and they would be issued on our return. So in January 2015 we left the warmth of NSW for the freezing cold & snow of the UK to ship the stored possessions.

 

Our visa was confirmed when we came back in February 2015 and we have been here enjoying Australia ever since.

 

In conclusion, yes it was extremely stressful at the time but we don’t regret it. However we would not recommend using an Agent as all the forms are easily downloaded and if you are a native English speaker they are not difficult, just tedious to fill them all in.

Wow rogeliz!!! What a stressful time you've had! I'm so pleased to hear that it all came good for you though and you're there! And your overall queue time looks to be 2 years? We're looking at at 3 years now o:(

I'm interested to hear that you can't ship your belongings on a 600, this could be a show stopper for us so I'll look into that first thing Monday - unless some kind Pom in Oz knows anything different?!!

Thanks for sharing your story!

[Paur]

6 minutes ago, NanaJan said:

I have no idea as to the answer, but wow, hat's off to her for planning to move at that grand old age

I know, it's a massive move for her and the uncertainty of the visa would be hard but she's feeling so lonely and unhappy right now that I think it's worth the upheaval. If she leaves it any longer she just won't be fit enough but at least once she gets here we can take care of her.

[NanaJan]

2 minutes ago, Suzyq said:

Wow rogeliz!!! What a stressful time you've had! I'm so pleased to hear that it all came good for you though and you're there! And your overall queue time looks to be 2 years? We're looking at at 3 years now o:(

I'm interested to hear that you can't ship your belongings on a 600, this could be a show stopper for us so I'll look into that first thing Monday - unless some kind Pom in Oz knows anything different?!!

Thanks for sharing your story!

We are putting our stuff into storage here as the company we are using (PSS) won't ship without the 143 visa. I think there are import implications if you try to ship without a permanent visa.

I do remember someone on here shipped before their visa. Alan Steel, Steely or some such name if you scroll back and search for him on this thread.

[Ferrets]

10 minutes ago, Suzyq said:

Wow rogeliz!!! What a stressful time you've had! I'm so pleased to hear that it all came good for you though and you're there! And your overall queue time looks to be 2 years? We're looking at at 3 years now o:(

I'm interested to hear that you can't ship your belongings on a 600, this could be a show stopper for us so I'll look into that first thing Monday - unless some kind Pom in Oz knows anything different?!!

Thanks for sharing your story!

Hi Suzy,

Picked up on this too - you can't ship on a 600.  Your children can, but there are legal import documents they would need to sign.

I did bring a few boxes of my brother's old stuff, but all was about 15 years old with no resale value and we are both PR.

Personally I woulndn't try to import a full container of my parent's belongings whilst claiming to DIBP they were mine.

Tbh if you are going the 600/143 route would buy what you need when here on the 600 and ship as soon as 143 granted.

Good luck!

[bridgie]

We shipped goods across last December on a 600 visa. You have to be able to give the visa number to the shipper for Immigration. All no problems. 

 

All been very simple, renting a house, changing driving licences,bank accounts, buying car, white goods, etc etc. Just be aware you have to pay for everything up front as you will get no credit unless you have PR. 

We left Aus for a visit to NZ for most of April, all no problem they have your visa registered so it shows on the airline records and of course immigration. Very simple to enter NZ on a UK passport. Other than logistics and the expense it's been very easy.

 

 

 

[Ferrets]

8 minutes ago, Paur said:

I know, it's a massive move for her and the uncertainty of the visa would be hard but she's feeling so lonely and unhappy right now that I think it's worth the upheaval. If she leaves it any longer she just won't be fit enough but at least once she gets here we can take care of her.

Suggest you speak to a MARA agent on best options for an aged parent.

Good luck!

[Paur]

Just now, Ferrets said:

Suggest you speak to a MARA agent on best options for an aged parent.

Good luck!

Thanks Ferrets, I will do :-)

[Ferrets]

3 minutes ago, bridgie said:

We shipped goods across last December on a 600 visa. You have to be able to give the visa number to the shipper for Immigration. All no problems. 

 

All been very simple, renting a house, changing driving licences,bank accounts, buying car, white goods, etc etc. Just be aware you have to pay for everything up front as you will get no credit unless you have PR. 

We left Aus for a visit to NZ for most of April, all no problem they have your visa registered so it shows on the airline records and of course immigration. Very simple to enter NZ on a UK passport. Other than logistics and the expense it's been very easy.

 

 

 

Lol I stand corrected, really thought you needed a longer term visa to import personal items!!

[Suzyq]

Thanks all for you input, I will double check with a shipping agent, I'm sure they would have experience of this. Fingers and toes crossed! Thanks Bridgie....I hope your experience wasn't a lucky mistake!

[bridgie]

18 minutes ago, Suzyq said:

Thanks all for you input, I will double check with a shipping agent, I'm sure they would have experience of this. Fingers and toes crossed! Thanks Bridgie....I hope your experience wasn't a lucky mistake!

No , no lucky mistake. You will have to fill out an immigration form called, Unacompanied personal effects form, section one asks you why you are going to Australia. Number 1 box says "As a tourist" and beside it it asks for how long. We shipped over 37 boxes. Totalling 100 m3. Only nasty surprise we had was that the shipper told us the figure quoted was all we would pay but this magically grew as they said the quoted figure was based on my sizing of the load. I argued the case and got a reduction but it was still more than originally quoted.

suprise two was that Immigration will charge you to inspect your goods...another 200 for us, I was not going to argue.

nothing was impounded but it was thoroughly checked so be diligent and honest when labelling.

suprise three, the delivery company wanted another 110 to deliver....Oh didn't the shippers explain that!!!!!!...eh No.

we arrived in Oz 13 Dec and our goods got here 19th Dec. They do not go direct from UK to OZ but a very Ziggy Zaggy trip To suit  their manifesto. Once you have your container number you can check it travelling around the world.

HTH

Edited May 28, 2017 by bridgie

[Ferrets]

5 minutes ago, bridgie said:

No , no lucky mistake. You will have to fill out an immigration form called, Unacompanied personal effects form, section one asks you why you are going to Australia. Number 1 box says "As a tourist" and beside it it asks for how long. We shipped over 37 boxes. Totalling 100 m3. Only nasty surprise we had was that the shipper told us the figure quoted was all we would pay but this magically grew as they said the quoted figure was based on my sizing of the load. I argued the case and got a reduction but it was still more than originally quoted.

suprise two was that Immigration will charge you to inspect your goods...another 200 for us, I was not going to argue.

nothing was impounded but it was thoroughly checked so be diligent and honest when labelling.

suprise three, the delivery company wanted another 110 to deliver....Oh didn't the shippers explain that!!!!!!...eh No.

we arrived in Oz 13 Dec and our goods got here 19th Dec. They do not go direct from UK to OZ but a very Ziggy Zaggy trip as is eat for their manifesto. Once you have your container number you can check it travelling around the world.

HTH

The link to the form is here;

https://www.border.gov.au/Forms/Documents/B534e.pdf

The option to do as a tourist only is there so guess this is relatively common, but I would have assumed raised eyebrows at 100m3 as that's a 40' and a 20' container.  

I'd managed to blank this form out of my mind despite filling it in only 6 months ago!! 

 

[bridgie]

My apologies, that was cubic feet not metres, however there was no restriction on the amount we could bring in. The biggest thing is to label everything correctly with a correct inventory. The prettiest box was the one with our personal medicines in, these have to have a copy of prescription docket from your doctor, plus an itemised list of each medicine, plus address label for pick up and delivery addresses. The shippers will also check everything off on an inventory list. It all takes time.


Sent from my iPad using PomsinOz

[bry45]

Nice one Ferrets, That's another box ticked, we are doing the 600/143 route next June and never even crossed our minds whether we could ship stuff over or not.

Gotta love PomsinOz, best visa agent out there 

 

[Ferrets]

49 minutes ago, bridgie said:

My apologies, that was cubic feet not metres, however there was no restriction on the amount we could bring in. The biggest thing is to label everything correctly with a correct inventory. The prettiest box was the one with our personal medicines in, these have to have a copy of prescription docket from your doctor, plus an itemised list of each medicine, plus address label for pick up and delivery addresses. The shippers will also check everything off on an inventory list. It all takes time.


Sent from my iPad using PomsinOz

Hi there - I think this makes a material difference to the queries from some of the other posters as 100 ft3 is the equivalent of a double stacked pallet and actually makes sense as to no challenge from DIBP on a 12 month visa.

For some of the posters I get the feeling the intention was to bring significantly more that this which I assume would cause issues at customs.

Definitely worth a second check!

[Ferrets]

48 minutes ago, bry45 said:

Nice one Ferrets, That's another box ticked, we are doing the 600/143 route next June and never even crossed our minds whether we could ship stuff over or not.

Gotta love PomsinOz, best visa agent out there 

 

I am still a big fan of using good agents - the cost is immaterial in relation to the costs of relocating such that I think it should be considered.

For my parents (which is why I look on this thread) we have used an agent to ensure that we have professional advice bespoke to their case that could not be provided in a forum environment, and are very satisfied with that decision.

We don't quibble about paying our accountants for our tax returns or mechanics to do our car services yet somehow when selling houses and moving our possessions and family to the other side of the world there is an aversion to using agents, when the cost probably represents less than 2.5% of the total (CPV visas, shipping, etc.).

FWIW I have a feeling that if you tried to bring a whole container of belongings out you would simply be waving an unnecessary flag at DIBP, though I am in no position to offer advice on that one 

Good luck!!

[bridgie]

Hi there - I think this makes a material difference to the queries from some of the other posters as 100 ft3 is the equivalent of a double stacked pallet and actually makes sense as to no challenge from DIBP on a 12 month visa.
For some of the posters I get the feeling the intention was to bring significantly more that this which I assume would cause issues at customs.
Definitely worth a second check!

When you apply for a 600 visa no where does it say how many and how much are you bringing over to Oz, it's irrelevant to being granted the visa. After you are granted the visa, you have the choice to ship goods over on a tourist visa end of.

My advice is read as much information as possible on the subject speak to shippers and if you are not sure of your facts employ a specialist to the do the job.


Sent using Poms in Oz mobile app

[Sadge]

On 5/17/2017 at 14:49, Ferrets said:

There is no fumigation automatically.  Correctly label your items and then customs will have a good look.  They went through about 40% of ours. If they find something they don't like they will let you know - we had no issues, including old wooden furniture.

In terms of bringing everything - we have found that stuff we thought we didn't need we have bought again so there is method to bringing the lot.  Bringing vehicles I think has a separate thread.

Anybody know the position regarding "new goods" not owned for 12 months?  Given the price of white goods in Australia, I plan to buy and have shipped a fridge/freezer (50/50 split very difficult to find in Aus, not to mention expensive) and a front loader washing machine (also very expensive in Aus); together probably with two or three small items.  I reckon in total under £1,000-worth here, but converted to AUS$ and their prices considerably more.  If I converted the value to say AUS$2,000 to $2,500, any idea what I'd be looking at in terms of tax/duty?

[Kathss56]

5 minutes ago, Sadge said:

Anybody know the position regarding "new goods" not owned for 12 months?  Given the price of white goods in Australia, I plan to buy and have shipped a fridge/freezer (50/50 split very difficult to find in Aus, not to mention expensive) and a front loader washing machine (also very expensive in Aus); together probably with two or three small items.  I reckon in total under £1,000-worth here, but converted to AUS$ and their prices considerably more.  If I converted the value to say AUS$2,000 to $2,500, any idea what I'd be looking at in terms of tax/duty?

Strange I was told white goods cheaper there! Also,you have to add cost of shipping and as you say tax. You need to be able to change the plugs also,some have a mounded plug attached. 

Edited May 28, 2017 by Kathss56

[Ferrets]

2 minutes ago, Kathss56 said:

Strange I was told white goods cheaper there! Also,you have to add cost of shipping and as you say tax. You need to be able to change the plugs also,some have a mounded plug attached. 

They are more expensive here, but we have treated it a bit as a cost of moving.  Part of that has also been that we didn't know what our final home would end up as.

If you already own then bring, but I wouldn't go to the effort of buying new and importing if not already owned.  

That said we paid AUD $900 for a fridge, freezer and washing maching from Aldi.  Fridge and Freeer are ok, but washing machine is useless!