The Brand New PIO Parents Visa thread

[vava]

Hi Val and Happy New Year to you and Dave! Glad to hear you're home safe and sound - we did think of you on New Year's Eve - that flight is an endurance test at the best of times!

 

We also really enjoyed our afternoons with yourselves and Angie and Ted and hope its not too long before we have another! Fran - do contact one of us if you or anyone else is in the Bayside area and we'll arrange a meet-up!

 

 

 

Val, I hope you are able to return to Oz permanently very soon and look forward to seeing you again.

 

All the very best for 2013.

 

Val and Matt x

 

 

Hi Val & Matt, Happy New Year to you both! You're right - that flight is an endurance test. We're still suffering from jet lag and have been up before 5 am each day! Fingers crossed for a speedy house sale in the spring and we'll soon be back at the RSL with you both and Angie and Ted too.

Keep us posted with your news,

Love Val & Dave x

[ariomart]

Hello Moira, just seen your post and not sure if your meaning me with your query on my sons accounts, but if is me i think i will just make getting my AOS done in time before my final extension deadline of the 18th Jan this month, it's been nothing short of a complete nightmare moira, my sons end of year taxes were taking forever and still not done so i have to say this is were Agents come into their own and are well worth using, Alan Collette my agent was my saviour here and informed me of another way of doing the AOS with a PTY Limited which my son already has, you do not need your assurers end of year financials for proof of earnings but the draw back is you have to give centrelink $20,000 instead of the $10,000, we sent the forms off to centrelink middle of December but unfortunately being xmas and new year it slowed things up, my son contacted centrelink in canerra today he was told a letter would be sent from Adelaide so hopefully he will recieve that Tuesday my son takes the letter to the commonwealth bank in Perth to open the account for the AOS and then immigration is informed, so hopefully this can be completed before the 18th jan, my anxiety was so bad i had to visit my GP who prescribed me Beta blockers, never been so stressed in my life, after 2yrs of going through all this and seeing it slip away was just to awful to comprehend. Anyway fingers crossed all will be sorted next week and i will be joining you all in celebrating getting the precious visa. It's so unpredictable the visa process as just when you are confident all is going to plan.... Wollop.... you hit a problem that can snooker your plans. I have never been so glad to hand over my life savings.:twitcy:

My Grandson was born in Septemer and i haven't seen him yet so it will be so great to finaly meet him.

 

Congrats all went great with you Moira, absolutely great news....... get the tracker updated you deserve it. Lets hope i will be doing the same soon. I really can't thank Go Matilda enough otherwise i would never have known i could do the AOS this way. Ann

So pleased for you Ann. It does make handing over all that money seem like a relief.

Best wishes to you Ann

Moira

[tabitha10]

Happy New Year to all, i know its a tad late really but ive been soooooo busy, my daughter has been over for Crimbo from Brisbane and it has been the best.... she goes back soon...wish i was going too.

looking at flights for later on this year, the prices are changing on a daily basis would like to meet up with others if possible, who ever is in the Redlands area in November/December 2013.

 

I hope everyone had such a great time as me and my family did (i cooked for 14) its been nearly 5 years since she went and the the 1st time shes been back....

 

again Happy New Year to you all.

Tab x

[whitemarsh]

Hi everyone,

 

In reply to one or two queries -

 

Credit Cards (UK) I used to work for a Bank in their credit card operation and knew my way around the "best deals" at that time. The Post Office credit card has never (to my knowledge) charged the foreign exchange fee and I have had one for years which I only used when abroad. How it works is that credit card companies usually charge a FE fee on top of the normal foreign exchange rate (it can be as much as 2.5% which is a heavy loading on top of the transaction value). It may be that more cards are issued now without the FE fee - I think someone mentioned Saga, but I have found personally that the PO Card has always given a very reasonable exchange rate and I have never been charged any additional fees. Obviously paying it off each month means no interest charge either (I don't actually know what the interest rate is, again having worked in the business one of the first things you learn is never pay interest!)

 

Super - My husband is over 65 and therefore, unless he could prove he works for something like 30 hours a month he cannot contribute to Super. However, being a mere young slip of a thing at 60 I can contribute, so we put as much of our surplus savings into Super in my name and because I am over "preservation age" (generally 55years,) I could make the lump sum contribution and go immediately into "pension phase" meaning I get a monthly payment from the Super. It is really just withdrawing our own money each month but what remains in the super is obviously invested and the hope is it might grow at at least an equal rate to what is being withdrawn. The majority of our money is invested in term deposits at interest rates around the 5.5% mark. We investigated a number of routes into Super but finally decided to go with the NAB which we have been pleased with so far. Certainly the personal service is better than we found in the UK and we can contact our adviser very easily for advice when things get sticky like the Greek situation at the moment which is affecting Australian investments.

 

Commonwealth Seniors Health Card - I must recommend anyone arriving in Australia to apply for a Seniors Card. We get some amazing discounts using it - particularly rail travel into Melbourne at only $12 return for two of us, and discounted entry into places like Melbourne Aquarium etc. But, do not confuse this with the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card sometimes also called a Seniors Card. This is extremely confusing because the two entities are completely different.

The CSHC is issued by Centrelink and to assist with Prescription costs and health services for pensioners. Below is the link to the relevant webpages for Centrelink. It is available to Australian residents who are not newly arrived in the country (hence the two year waiting period) and do not qualify for an aged pension. It may not be relevant to everyone but I would recommend reading the Centrelink pages below for full details.

 

http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/payments/conc_cards_cshc.htm

 

I think that has covered the main queries - except for wicker. I don't know about furniture with wicker elements, we were certainly advised by our removers (Pickfords) NOT to even take anything wicker, I sold all my lovely baskets and units before leaving the UK. They said that anything wicker would result in Australian Customs going through the entire container. We did bring an Elephants Foot Table (gross I know!). My husband acquired it in the early 70's before animal parts were embargoed and he got the appropriate CITES certification for it. We were expecting that to be trouble with Customs but they let it through with no hassle at all, probably because we had the correct paperwork for it and Pickfords made sure it was packed in the container so that when they inspected, it would be the first available box for them to open. They also opened a couple of boxes containing shoes/hiking boots which David scrubbed clean and disinfected with Jeyes Fluid and then wrapped and sealed in plastic after they were completely dry. The plastic had been ripped open but you could still smell the Jeyes slightly so they were happy with that. We ended up paying $96 duty on three bottles of champagne that we were given just prior to leaving the country and we had no additional customs charges other than the regular inspection fee (so we were happy with the $96 in the end!) Speak to your removers about wicker/cane etc., it is a very sticky subject although I think furniture would be treated more tolerantly than say, cane baskets etc.

 

Thanks everyone for your best wishes and although I don't contribute so often now to this site, I still read it and wish and hope everyone gets to live their dream.

 

Gill[/QUOT

Hi Gill

we have just arrived in Aus. And already have a Post Office credit card and noticed that you use one too.Would you mind telling me how you receive your statements do they mail them to you in Aus? There doesn,t seem to be a way to change your address on line. We have also opened a bank account with NAB who will give us a debit card but not a credit card as we have no income here but are in the process of setting up a super fund to provide us with some income was this how you managed to get a credit card? Any info you can give us would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Carol

[DavidandGill]

Hi everyone,

 

In reply to one or two queries -

 

Credit Cards (UK) I used to work for a Bank in their credit card operation and knew my way around the "best deals" at that time. The Post Office credit card has never (to my knowledge) charged the foreign exchange fee and I have had one for years which I only used when abroad. How it works is that credit card companies usually charge a FE fee on top of the normal foreign exchange rate (it can be as much as 2.5% which is a heavy loading on top of the transaction value). It may be that more cards are issued now without the FE fee - I think someone mentioned Saga, but I have found personally that the PO Card has always given a very reasonable exchange rate and I have never been charged any additional fees. Obviously paying it off each month means no interest charge either (I don't actually know what the interest rate is, again having worked in the business one of the first things you learn is never pay interest!)

 

Super - My husband is over 65 and therefore, unless he could prove he works for something like 30 hours a month he cannot contribute to Super. However, being a mere young slip of a thing at 60 I can contribute, so we put as much of our surplus savings into Super in my name and because I am over "preservation age" (generally 55years,) I could make the lump sum contribution and go immediately into "pension phase" meaning I get a monthly payment from the Super. It is really just withdrawing our own money each month but what remains in the super is obviously invested and the hope is it might grow at at least an equal rate to what is being withdrawn. The majority of our money is invested in term deposits at interest rates around the 5.5% mark. We investigated a number of routes into Super but finally decided to go with the NAB which we have been pleased with so far. Certainly the personal service is better than we found in the UK and we can contact our adviser very easily for advice when things get sticky like the Greek situation at the moment which is affecting Australian investments.

 

Commonwealth Seniors Health Card - I must recommend anyone arriving in Australia to apply for a Seniors Card. We get some amazing discounts using it - particularly rail travel into Melbourne at only $12 return for two of us, and discounted entry into places like Melbourne Aquarium etc. But, do not confuse this with the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card sometimes also called a Seniors Card. This is extremely confusing because the two entities are completely different.

The CSHC is issued by Centrelink and to assist with Prescription costs and health services for pensioners. Below is the link to the relevant webpages for Centrelink. It is available to Australian residents who are not newly arrived in the country (hence the two year waiting period) and do not qualify for an aged pension. It may not be relevant to everyone but I would recommend reading the Centrelink pages below for full details.

 

http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/payments/conc_cards_cshc.htm

 

I think that has covered the main queries - except for wicker. I don't know about furniture with wicker elements, we were certainly advised by our removers (Pickfords) NOT to even take anything wicker, I sold all my lovely baskets and units before leaving the UK. They said that anything wicker would result in Australian Customs going through the entire container. We did bring an Elephants Foot Table (gross I know!). My husband acquired it in the early 70's before animal parts were embargoed and he got the appropriate CITES certification for it. We were expecting that to be trouble with Customs but they let it through with no hassle at all, probably because we had the correct paperwork for it and Pickfords made sure it was packed in the container so that when they inspected, it would be the first available box for them to open. They also opened a couple of boxes containing shoes/hiking boots which David scrubbed clean and disinfected with Jeyes Fluid and then wrapped and sealed in plastic after they were completely dry. The plastic had been ripped open but you could still smell the Jeyes slightly so they were happy with that. We ended up paying $96 duty on three bottles of champagne that we were given just prior to leaving the country and we had no additional customs charges other than the regular inspection fee (so we were happy with the $96 in the end!) Speak to your removers about wicker/cane etc., it is a very sticky subject although I think furniture would be treated more tolerantly than say, cane baskets etc.

 

Thanks everyone for your best wishes and although I don't contribute so often now to this site, I still read it and wish and hope everyone gets to live their dream.

 

Gill[/QUOT

Hi Gill

we have just arrived in Aus. And already have a Post Office credit card and noticed that you use one too.Would you mind telling me how you receive your statements do they mail them to you in Aus? There doesn,t seem to be a way to change your address on line. We have also opened a bank account with NAB who will give us a debit card but not a credit card as we have no income here but are in the process of setting up a super fund to provide us with some income was this how you managed to get a credit card? Any info you can give us would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Carol

 

Hi Carol, I changed my PO Credit Card address to my daughter's address before we moved out here, and just recently changed it to our now permanent address. You can write to advise them of the new address - they do stop sending statements until you receive a letter from them and confirm your instructions - or, if you use their online system, you can phone and change the address over the phone once you have satisfied all their identity questions, which will include parts of your online access code. We use Skype credit to make these kinds of calls to the UK - we bought 10 pounds of credit about 15 months ago and still have around 3 pounds worth left - it doesn't expire and makes the odd phone call to the UK relatively cheap. They will certainly send the statements to you in Australia - however, the postage will be very erratic and its best to keep an eye on the balance online and set up your payment even if you have not received your statement yet. I have had one occasion when a statement took 4 months to arrive, but usually they get here within a couple of days of the payment due date. The only failing of the PO Credit Card online system is their online statements. Their web page will only show 1 page of transactions and my statements are routinely 2 pages - this means I have to wait for the paper copy to arrive before I can check all my transactions but on the one occasion when I was double-charged, I wrote to the PO and it was refunded by the end of the next month.

 

As to the NAB credit card - they were doing a promotion after Christmas last year, where if you had a Current Account and an ISaver account you could apply for a credit card and receive a $50 dollar cashback. We applied on the basis of our UK income (converted to a $ amount) and were given the cards. I am not certain you have to have your income derived only from Australia to apply - if you need to prove your income, you could probably use your UK income a evidence. We had only had a bank account with NAB for a few months at that time but we did have a substantial balance because we had not yet set up a super so that may have influenced their decision.

 

We have used the PO credit card for 18 months and this has worked quite well for us. I am just about to start receiving my UK state pension which I have elected to have paid directly into the NAB and we are considering changing my husband's state pension over from the UK bank to NAB so then we will probably use the NAB credit card for daily expenses more but like many people will always be tied to a UK bank account as our private pensions have to be paid into the UK bank and cannot be paid into an Australian bank so we will probably retain the UK credit card. It's also handy when I make purchases on Ebay/Amazon and pay in sterling.

 

Hope this helps, good luck with it all! Regards Gill

[whitemarsh]

Hi Gill

 

Thanks for your reply.Will write to Post Office with new address now we know they send statements over here.

We already have the two accounts with NAB with a substantial balance in but they probably will not give us a credit card as we have only been here a few weeks so will ask again later, we have a debit card so it is not a problem.

your help was much appreciated.

Regards Carol.

[liverpoolloo]

I got sorted with centrelink today can anyone please tell me from their experience how long they waited after that for immigration to ask for payment.

Thanks Ann

[Guest]

My friend's Parents are still waiting for the request for final payment. The Assurance of Support was sorted with Centrelink at least 6 weeks ago. Don't hold your breath Ann!

[ariomart]

I got sorted with centrelink today can anyone please tell me from their experience how long they waited after that for immigration to ask for payment.

Thanks Ann

I think I waited 6-8weeks but I was waiting for the medicals

Good Luck

Moira

Oh I have just heard that they buyer for my flat has withdrawn. I have booked my flight for 21 March. Think I might rent it for a while

[Stag]

Can anyone answer some questions please?

 

If my parents have 3 children, one in the UK, one a citizen in Australia and myself only been in Australia for 6 months on a 457 but expecting to get my pr in the next month or so. Will we meet the balance of family test as I am not a settled resident or is it only the sponsor that has to be settled? Aslo my brother who is a citizen will sponsor and lives in Melbourne but my parents want to come to Perth and live with me. Are they allowed to live in a different state to the sponsor?

[Flathead]

Can anyone answer some questions please?

 

If my parents have 3 children, one in the UK, one a citizen in Australia and myself only been in Australia for 6 months on a 457 but expecting to get my pr in the next month or so. Will we meet the balance of family test as I am not a settled resident or is it only the sponsor that has to be settled? Aslo my brother who is a citizen will sponsor and lives in Melbourne but my parents want to come to Perth and live with me. Are they allowed to live in a different state to the sponsor?

I think you would need to be a permanent resident before your parents would meet the BOF test...After you get PR then it would be OK? Your parents could live where they want once they have the visa.

[PhoebeW]

All the best for 2013 everyone.:jiggy:

 

It seems as though things are moving in the right direction for a lot of people ATM :biggrin:

 

After the health nightmare I've been having the past 18 months (and more recently hubby too which was clear thankfully) I have another MRI tomorrow and back to see the Neuro Surgeon on Monday, hopefully the MRI and CT Scans will show him what is causing these problems in my throat preventing me from eating (Pureed Xmas dinner was fab :swoon:) and what can be done.....then I can finally think about getting over to see my daughter and Grand children...............missed them sooooooooooo much :cry:

 

We are still planning to hire a Motor home to have a good look around, hubbby seems to be getting more keen and we will deffinatly have to meet up with some PIO's.

 

Once I get Monday out of the way I can see where I am re health and hopefully start making plans :yes:

 

Phoebe x

[Fisher1]

Happy new year Phoebe and the very best of luck on Monday

 

Kath

[Stellathedog]

Phoebe,

 

Exactly as Kath said, Happy New Year and happy new health to you!

 

Will be looking out for the good news to be posted on Monday (hows that for positive thinking?)

 

Cheers Pam

[brummiebabies]

All the best for Monday Phoebe.

Lets hope you can get over here real soon. We hired a motorhome the first time we came to Oz in 2002 and loved every minute. Great way to see this beautiful country! :cool:

 

Angie

[Fisher1]

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

[ariomart]

Phoebe

Good to hear your news is good. It must be frustrating not to know what is causing the problem. I hope your future news is good.

 

Does anyone know a good site about paying tax from Australia

 

Best wishes

Moira

[PhoebeW]

That's the MRI done thank the lord (hate those things:swoon:) that's all the tests done so the Jury is out back to see Neuro Surgeon on Monday for the verdict :err:

 

Phoebe x

[vava]

Fingers crossed for you Phoebe.....good luck, Val x:hug:

[Zoe Nguyen]

Hello All,

 

Sorry in advance if I ask something that have already discussed previously. I will look into these posts later when having more time.

 

I want to bring my mom over under Offshore Contributory Parent Visa. My mom is 61 turning to 62, has two children (me - Australian citizenship and my sister - student studying in Australia) with my dad. My dad has another two children from previous marriage. The first one is married and live in Vietnam, the second one live with my mom and dad in Vietnam, over 18 years old. They divorced just few months ago, however they still live in the same house (with my step sister as well).

 

Does the divorce count if she still lives in the same house with my dad and my step sister only from couple months; because if they still marry, my mom wont meet the balance of family test; however they now divorce my mom will be able to meet the test (1 of the 2 children in Australia) ? And how do we submit the balance of family test to the immigration department?

 

 

Thanks

[Zoe Nguyen]

She has the option to register her home address to the second house however we dont want to wait for 12 months if this is the requirement( I guess have to be at least 12 months to count as you have already moved out)???

 

Thanks

[Markrobbo]

Just looking for as much info as possible for my parents to be able to work on 804 visa,We have the forms to apply to work but I was wondering the likelihood of them being allowed

 

Thanks Mark

[Ginnyfrank]

Hello All,

 

Sorry in advance if I ask something that have already discussed previously. I will look into these posts later when having more time.

 

I want to bring my mom over under Offshore Contributory Parent Visa. My mom is 61 turning to 62, has two children (me - Australian citizenship and my sister - student studying in Australia) with my dad. My dad has another two children from previous marriage. The first one is married and live in Vietnam, the second one live with my mom and dad in Vietnam, over 18 years old. They divorced just few months ago, however they still live in the same house (with my step sister as well).

 

Does the divorce count if she still lives in the same house with my dad and my step sister only from couple months; because if they still marry, my mom wont meet the balance of family test; however they now divorce my mom will be able to meet the test (1 of the 2 children in Australia) ? And how do we submit the balance of family test to the immigration department?

 

 

Thanks

 

 

Hi,

 

Refer to:

http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/booklets/1129.pdf

Go to page 24,25,26

 

In pg.24, it says:

 

Which children are counted?

The following children are counted in the BoF test:

• children of both parents, including children of previous marriages or de facto relationships of either

parent, including adopted and step-children, and children in institutions;

• children of both parents, whether they are dependent or self-supporting, single, married or divorced;

and

• children whose whereabouts are unknown, or cannot be verified, are counted as being in their

parents’ country of usual residence.

[Linday]

Hi,

 

Refer to:

http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/booklets/1129.pdf

Go to page 24,25,26

 

In pg.24, it says:

 

Which children are counted?

The following children are counted in the BoF test:

• children of both parents, including children of previous marriages or de facto relationships of either

parent, including adopted and step-children, and children in institutions;

• children of both parents, whether they are dependent or self-supporting, single, married or divorced;

and

• children whose whereabouts are unknown, or cannot be verified, are counted as being in their

parents’ country of usual residence.

 

It also says stepchildren are only counted if they are the child of a parent's current partner.

[Linday]

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

 

 

We just listed all the visas as e-visitor visas wih dates.