The Brand New PIO Parents Visa thread

[Zaki]

6 minutes ago, MikenC said:

We are currently assessing applications lodged up to and including 26 February 2015.

I woke up this morning feeling slightly frustrated having read this! Seems to be going in the wrong direction, any ideas why?

It's 05th March 2015. Refresh your Browser 

[qizt]

It's 05th March 2015. Refresh your Browser 

No it’s 26 feb2015[emoji25]

[Ian Ireland]

Yes. It must be an erroneous response. It is hardly likely to go backwards. Looks like it just hasn’t moved forwards. It’s shut for 3 weeks after next week too. Susie’s excellent chart for working out likely times of visa grant is the nearest we are going to get. 

[Kathss56]

They have a system shutdown for maintenance that took longer than expected. Maybe this caused a glitch in the emails. We do know some March parents have had requests for next stage. It said 5 March the other day. 

All will be quiet on the western front as the saying goes (as in Perth WA) lol

[Ian Ireland]

However did you find that out? It’s good to know anyway. The three week holiday will not make that much difference as the world seems to shut down till New Year these days. Nothing can get done generally. Things do seem to be rolling along nicely. 

[Nemesis]

7 hours ago, Sharad Guru said:

Hy brett 31,
Department will remain close from 15 dec to 6 January.

Why 15th December?

They will be closed for the bank holidays, and for the bit between Christmas and New Year but most staff will be working up till Christmas, as usual.

[Sharad Guru]

Why 15th December?
They will be closed for the bank holidays, and for the bit between Christmas and New Year but most staff will be working up till Christmas, as usual.

Actually I remembered the last year email from immigration that they were remain closed from 15 dec to 6 jan ,for summer vacation

[MaggieMay24]

1 hour ago, Sharad Guru said:

Actually I remembered the last year email from immigration that they were remain closed from 15 dec to 6 jan ,for summer vacation

AFAIK, they don't actually close other than the public holidays, but many DIBP employees may be taking their annual leave over the Christmas/New Year holidays.

[LindaH27]

Dates almost look like school holidays?

[Nemesis]

7 hours ago, Sharad Guru said:

Actually I remembered the last year email from immigration that they were remain closed from 15 dec to 6 jan ,for summer vacation

DIBP do not have a 'summer vacation'. Many case workers will take a summer holiday during the school holidays, which run from around now (depending on the State) until the end of January. 

Australian Government offices close totally on public holidays,and the majority are closed for the period between Christmas and New Year .

[Fisher1]

On 7 December 2017 at 03:48, Sadge said:

Thanks for all the personal experiences and links re money transfers - think I will make more of an effort to compare rates in future.  Don't think I've done too badly so far but it's obvious that a little more time spent online/on the phone could yield an extra cent or two in the pound, which is never a bad thing.

 

On 8 December 2017 at 07:24, SusieRoo said:

The exchange rate is up again today to just over au$1.79 to the Pound and I wonder if we will see go above 1.80 in the next few days?

 

[Fisher1]

On 8 December 2017 at 07:24, SusieRoo said:

The exchange rate is up again today to just over au$1.79 to the Pound and I wonder if we will see go above 1.80 in the next few days?

Hi all,

Ive been watching the exchange rate with great interest too.  Reading some of the posts on here it seems transfer wise offers a slightly better rate than most others, so I decided to sign up with them. However, half way through the process they asked me to upload ID call me an old coward but I couldn't bring myself to upload a photo of my passport and send a colour version of it off to a company which I know very little about - it was bad enough doing it for police clearance for the Visa!   

They will also accept a copy of a drivers licence (am now prompted to get on with swapping mine to an Ozzie one) but I feel uneasy about unleashing my personal data ...

Opinions anyone?

[David Leask]

Hi all,
Ive been watching the exchange rate with great interest too.  Reading some of the posts on here it seems transfer wise offers a slightly better rate than most others, so I decided to sign up with them. However, half way through the process they asked me to upload ID call me an old coward but I couldn't bring myself to upload a photo of my passport and send a colour version of it off to a company which I know very little about - it was bad enough doing it for police clearance for the Visa!   
They will also accept a copy of a drivers licence (am now prompted to get on with swapping mine to an Ozzie one) but I feel uneasy about unleashing my personal data ...
Opinions anyone?

I’ve used Transferwise for a few transfers over the last year. Before that I used UKForex. I believe TW is among the best in terms of costs. Two things are important to me - how much I get at the far end for my £’s and how safe my money is. TW ticks both boxes for me. When I registered with them I didn’t need to provide ID. My transfers so far have been small - £2000 at a time, but many of them. The reason I chose £2k was that this was the limit for using a debit card to pay them. They now charge for using a debit card for all transfers so I have recently set up a bank transfer (which is free) and this works great. At some point my transfers will get bigger and I believe I will be asked for ID then. I won’t have any concerns about providing what they need.

[Kathss56]

20 hours ago, Ian Ireland said:

However did you find that out? It’s good to know anyway. The three week holiday will not make that much difference as the world seems to shut down till New Year these days. Nothing can get done generally. Things do seem to be rolling along nicely. 

Australian Border /IMMI have a Facebook page ?

[Ian Ireland]

Ah!  I see. Ta. 

[Fisher1]

1 hour ago, David Leask said:

 

I’ve used Transferwise for a few transfers over the last year. Before that I used UKForex. I believe TW is among the best in terms of costs. Two things are important to me - how much I get at the far end for my £’s and how safe my money is. TW ticks both boxes for me. When I registered with them I didn’t need to provide ID. My transfers so far have been small - £2000 at a time, but many of them. The reason I chose £2k was that this was the limit for using a debit card to pay them. They now charge for using a debit card for all transfers so I have recently set up a bank transfer (which is free) and this works great. At some point my transfers will get bigger and I believe I will be asked for ID then. I won’t have any concerns about providing what they need.

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Food for thought. I prefer bank transfers myself because as I'm sure you've found, it saves constantly typing in the same information. 

[ramot]

Just checked our records have used Transferwise 30 times in the last 18 months, can't fault the speed and service.

As I was used as an example of giving advice when I shouldn't for a post in a different thread in which I merely mentioned what we did about something, please don't let our experience influence you!!! That should cover me.

 

[Fisher1]

28 minutes ago, ramot said:

Just checked our records have used Transferwise 30 times in the last 18 months, can't fault the speed and service.

As I was used as an example of giving advice when I shouldn't for a post in a different thread in which I merely mentioned what we did about something, please don't let our experience influence you!!! That should cover me.

 

Thanks Ramot.  I asked for opinions, so you were not giving uninvited advice you were expressing an opinion that TW couldn't be faulted for their speed and service and I am very grateful for your opinion. .  

[SusieRoo]

5 hours ago, Fisher1 said:

Hi all,

Ive been watching the exchange rate with great interest too.  Reading some of the posts on here it seems transfer wise offers a slightly better rate than most others, so I decided to sign up with them. However, half way through the process they asked me to upload ID call me an old coward but I couldn't bring myself to upload a photo of my passport and send a colour version of it off to a company which I know very little about - it was bad enough doing it for police clearance for the Visa!   

They will also accept a copy of a drivers licence (am now prompted to get on with swapping mine to an Ozzie one) but I feel uneasy about unleashing my personal data ...

Opinions anyone?

Hi Fisher1 I hope you are settling well into your new life.

I do understand how you feel about your personal data, but the way I see it, I would expect any reputable company to be doing due diligence. When we have to trust a faceless internet company with our money, it's good to see some level of professionalism.

But I also think I only needed to send photo id when setting up a virtual Australian account (which we haven't used this yet) and I don't think the id was required to send money directly to a regular Australian account.

Exchange rate has passed the 1.80 mark today.

Edited December 9, 2017 by SusieRoo

[Wishfull]

4 hours ago, SusieRoo said:

Exchange rate has passed the 1.80 mark today.

Hi where did you get this rate from? I have not seen it go much above 1.78 in the last 24 hours.

[AMP]

On 07/12/2017 at 19:30, Kathss56 said:

@AMP. @Catlady2014

Hope you all have a great “meet up” tomorrow!

post a group photo!!  ?

 

Many thanks.  We did have a good meet up in Brisbane and it was really lovely not just being able to meet other PiO parents but also having the opportunity to  share experiences and advice.  It was also great to share Tony and Lorraine’s excitement at having been contacted for their medicals and police checks.  We were all full of praise for the support which this blog gives us all, so thanks again to whoever set I think up and to all the contributors. ??

[suelear]

17 hours ago, David Leask said:

 

I’ve used Transferwise for a few transfers over the last year. Before that I used UKForex. I believe TW is among the best in terms of costs. Two things are important to me - how much I get at the far end for my £’s and how safe my money is. TW ticks both boxes for me. When I registered with them I didn’t need to provide ID. My transfers so far have been small - £2000 at a time, but many of them. The reason I chose £2k was that this was the limit for using a debit card to pay them. They now charge for using a debit card for all transfers so I have recently set up a bank transfer (which is free) and this works great. At some point my transfers will get bigger and I believe I will be asked for ID then. I won’t have any concerns about providing what they need.

 

I did a small 'practice' transfer with Transferwise which I was very happy with. Fees were sensible & the money was in my daughter's Oz bank account the same day. I also received emails updating me on the progress of the transfer. Does anyone know if there's a way to 'hold' funds in a Transferwise account until I'm ready to move them? I couldn't see an obvious way to do it, so any guidance gratefully received. 

[Ray and Geri]

On 9 December 2017 at 06:22, Fisher1 said:

Hi all,

Ive been watching the exchange rate with great interest too.  Reading some of the posts on here it seems transfer wise offers a slightly better rate than most others, so I decided to sign up with them. However, half way through the process they asked me to upload ID call me an old coward but I couldn't bring myself to upload a photo of my passport and send a colour version of it off to a company which I know very little about - it was bad enough doing it for police clearance for the Visa!   

They will also accept a copy of a drivers licence (am now prompted to get on with swapping mine to an Ozzie one) but I feel uneasy about unleashing my personal data ...

Opinions anyone?

I think this info is required due to money laundering regulations... I opened an account and have sent money to Oz, once I got the a/c number wrong but the next day they contacted me, I checked and supplied the correct a/c number and funds arrived safely ... all done on line very easily. I know what you mean though about supplying personnel details.. I suppose you just got to go with what you are happy with, it's still a great site for checking exchange rates though even if you haven't got an account. 

[suelear]

37 minutes ago, Ray and Geri said:

I think this info is required due to money laundering regulations... I opened an account and have sent money to Oz, once I got the a/c number wrong but the next day they contacted me, I checked and supplied the correct a/c number and funds arrived safely ... all done on line very easily. I know what you mean though about supplying personnel details.. I suppose you just got to go with what you are happy with, it's still a great site for checking exchange rates though even if you haven't got an account. 

I was also asked for ID when I made my first transfer ( I did a small trial transfer to check the system worked and my money got transferred safely) I decided to use my driver's license. Although it said it would take 1-2 days for my ID to be verified and the transaction to go ahead, the funds were actually in my daughter's Oz bank account the same day. Not sure whether any person was involved in the check, suspect it was all done electronically. As far as I can tell this is a well known site which many people on this forum have used successfully and with any type of financial account it is always a requirement to supply ID. As previously stated, I think this is for money laundering purposes, and to ensure you are who you say you are.

[SusieRoo]

8 hours ago, suelear said:

I did a small 'practice' transfer with Transferwise which I was very happy with. Fees were sensible & the money was in my daughter's Oz bank account the same day. I also received emails updating me on the progress of the transfer. Does anyone know if there's a way to 'hold' funds in a Transferwise account until I'm ready to move them? I couldn't see an obvious way to do it, so any guidance gratefully received. 

I'm no expert, but I think you can open a free 'Borderless Account' with Transferwise and hold money in UK Pounds or AU$ (or other currency). You can then exchange money whenever you wish and you can also make electronic transfers in and out of these borderless accounts in the UK or Australia, just like any normal bank account.

You do get 24h to make payment after you have setup a transfer (with the rate fixed) but if you repeatedly don't make the payment you loose this option.

I think it's always best to try a few small payments to see how everything works in the first instance.

For anyone without an Australian bank account, we opened one with Westpac by just walking into their branch/office in London. It was all very easy and we now get 3.5% interest on savings.