Quoll

You’ve posted in the wrong thread and will likely get better responses if you start your own thread - this one is about citizenship and you’re a long way from that! In essence though - your visa will take in excess of a year to be issued. Once it is issued you have 12 months in which to activate it (pop over for a visit) and once that is done you’ll have 5 years from date of issue to make the move. Your chances of finding a job before you actually arrive are incredibly slim and if that is a criterion for your moving you’ll probably never move. You lose the visa after 5 years.

After Ballarat (the coldest place on earth!) Scotland in winter will seem like the balmy Med! I’ve had to buy more “winter woolies” in Ballarat on my trips there than anywhere else - ever! Me and Target have this thing going on!!!

Not sure that Thailand would be a good option. I have a friend living there and he daren’t leave because he says he wouldn’t get back in at the moment.

Might he be entitled to an Ancestry visa (at least one grandparent born in UK) - that’s the best. Otherwise you might have to sponsor him on a partner visa - you need To be earning £18500 and he won’t be entitled to any benefits whilst on the visa. I don’t know that any visa in particular is going to scream “I’m going for a long time”. I make the assumption that he’s not got one parent UK born because that would entitle him to citizenship by descent.

Quite right! I am very lucky that I have a wonderful husband who did more than his fair share of caring for my parents, aunt and uncle over the past 9 years. I am truly blessed too and I agree - someone has to step up when there is a job to do. I am just immensely grateful that my dad made his own decision that he needed more care than we could realistically offer and he chose to go into care and he loved it! It gave him back a much bigger social group than we could ever manage and he really thrived there. I was happy to leave him there because I knew he felt he belonged and they were wonderful to him, I know I was exceptionally fortunate to find a care home that was that good. I am just hoping that now at 71 we can reclaim something of our lives although this bloody virus thing is rather putting a dampener on most of what we want to do.

You can back pay NI from Australia for the some of years you have been away - lower rate I believe but I haven’t done it (should have but been here too long). You might want to do that before you go. We just went on holiday and did come back - it was remarkably easy to get started back there for us - I still have a UK bank account which certainly helped. We basically had what was in our backpacks and that was it. My DH found it more of a chore to get a new one but that may just have been him! From this end if you have private health you can ask for that to be suspended so that if you do decide to return at some point you won’t get stung with the age loading. Take a copy of any no claims bonus you may have on car insurance, the insurance companies can be a bit sticky about giving you a decent NCB. Take your name off the electoral roll otherwise you’ll be getting snotty messages if you fail to vote. Don’t cancel your Aussie bank accounts either, you may need one for money transfers at some point when you retire. Not sure how you go about changing your address to a UK one though - ask them. Cancel any insurance you may have on your accrued super and be in touch with the super fund at regular intervals or they will just hive it off to the ATO inactive super black hole. Try and get phone numbers you can call from overseas for anyone you think you might want to call. Get your phone unlocked if you plan to use it in UK with a UK provider. We had no trouble reestablishing with the NHS, essentially you are back for good- get in the electoral roll and show you have a job. And with luck you won’t need the NHS anyway for some time. Citizens return for good all the time. We were only there as carers for my parents and the NHS didn’t blink an eye at us. Good luck, it’ll all fall into place and I live by the mantra that “there’s nothing a passport and credit card won’t solve”

British birth certs are red, marriage are green and death certs are black.

I think you can use both names - I know women who use their professional name, usually maiden name in their professional sphere but then use their married name in a different sphere. The problem really only comes with booking a plane ticket - the ticket name must match whichever passport you are traveling on. Other things. You can only do once would be putting yourself on the electoral roll or signing up to Medicare but you can choose which name you use for whatever function.

Basically they havent finished processing it yet - it hasnt even been a year yet and spouse visas are taking 12 - 18 months. No point in applying for an exemption until they have processed it and you have the visa in hand. You arent going to spur them along to process it any quicker, things have slowed down with this virus thing and it was taking over 12 months anyway. Patience!

But these days you can be known by either name if you choose. You can be married for some things and use your maiden name for other things. You can still have your drivers licence in your maiden name if you want. I tend to agree though, if you are going to change it, wait until it needs renewing.

Marisa beat me to it - I was out walking but noted your first query and would have said exactly what Marisa has said, oh so eloquently. Another question, of course, would be - what about your relationship? Is this the person you want to grow old beside, maybe have a family with? Would they/could they go with you and how would that be for you? If it isnt the relationship you would walk over hot coals to perpetuate then maybe it'll be quite short anyway. I am the age of your parents and can come at this from a couple of directions - first, as a parent I would not expect either of my kids to be there for me in my dotage and I would be appalled if either of them changed what was working for them because they felt the need to look after me - must say my parents were the same, they never expected that I would make changes in my life for them. HOWEVER - my parents are the generation of your grandparents and when they really began to falter, being an only child, I could not leave them to their own devices in UK and my DH (bless him, he never wanted to live in England, ever again!) and I basically didn't return from our holiday in 2011. We cared for mum until she died in 2017 then this time last year my dad decided that he would be better off in a care home - and he was, he needed 24/7 care and after nearly 3 years that was taking its toll on us in our 70s. So, we left him in his care home in March and he died 4 weeks ago - funeral last week and I couldnt be there. If I had had a sibling in UK I have no idea whether I would have thought differently or not but I did what I had to do. I loved being back in UK, it made me whole again despite caring for a couple of nonagenarians. It was the colours, the variety, the history, the sense of humour, the friendliness of the people, the whole shebang really, oh and being there for my parents and my elderly childless aunt and uncle (aunt died at Christmas). Secondly, as one who had always thought we would do the 6 months here 6 months there thing at some point in our lives, just like my parents had done, I went way past the point of no return. I always knew that although I had a house in Australia it wasnt home but we went with the best opportunity at the time every time there was a decision point, the DH had a good career, I had a good career, the pensions were building, the kids were in school, not to be moved, the kids were in Uni, one kid had our grandkids - the stars never aligned. Then one kid went back to UK for a holiday (it runs in the family) and hasnt come back yet nor is likely to ever move back. I'd say, you are the age of my kids, the world is still very much your oyster, if Australia doesnt float your boat, put on your big girl panties and go to where you feel you belong! Do it for you not for your parents. But do it now, dont wait like muppets like me did, grab your chances while you are young. If it works, you win and if it doesnt work you can always use your other passport and return.

You dont have to use your married name at all, ever, if you dont want to. Just as long as you are consistent - if you book a ticket you should book it in the name on the passport. It's been a long time since married women were required to take the name of their husband.

What? The Ancestry visa? No brainer, it's one of the easier ones to get providing you can prove your heritage. Might need some birth and marriage certificates. It can easily lead to citizenship once the period of residence has been completed and, at the moment, it is not time constrained.

Yup we did the same and could not fault Seven Seas. We only needed a large move cube and had plenty of space left.

Good following this thread! We’ve been here since March and still not bought one yet - we’ve got the use of DS’ second car, a Magna wagon which is over 20 years old and rather beaten up but (fingers crossed) it’s going ok at the mo. He has another huge great ute which we can also use if we want. For me the most frustrating thing is the dearth of manuals. Ok so at my age I should be a good little old lady and embrace an automatic but the girl racer in me just loves to flick through a 6 speed box. We were a Volvo family for years and if the wallet would stretch that far I would get another. Subaru is also in my list of potentials. We might end up with a Hyundai i30 or i35 though. I really don’t know what I want and at this moment I can’t be bothered looking. Canberra has a lot of “cheap” cars at the moment which rather distort the market but they’re repairable write offs with hail damage and I’m not sure I want to head that way. At least you won’t have that problem in Perth! Must admit I’d never given much thought to a Lancer but we did have a nice little Fiesta at one stage and I was very fond of my UK Astra (15 years and doing well). It’s all too hard! Let us know how you go!

If you could buy it with cash you could do what you liked but if you want a mortgage you are going to struggle until you're on the ground and have a job and can prove your income - A UK bank isnt going to give you a mortgage on an Australian property. Getting a job can take you anywhere up to 6 months (state sponsored visas used to say you had to have a 6 month contingency fund) so you'd probably be better to rent for 6 -12 months at least. Personally I wouldnt touch anything with a barge pole unless I had seen it in person although I guess if you have family who can vet a place for you, it might be a bit safer. REAs are notorious for gilding the lily!

You missed the point - we are in the middle of an international situation and everyone is affected yet somehow the applicants for 143 visas see themselves as special and want the immigration minister to dance to their tune. It was a naive request. Sorry about your mum, yes I really do feel for you, However I am a little intolerant at this point - the virus is stopping lots of us doing lots of things we want to - like I can’t go to my dads funeral in UK on Thursday. It is what is is. But posting - please let the Immigration minister know that 143 visa applicants are suffering - Is a waste of time and energy, he has other priorities. All visa categories are affected, all departures and arrivals are affected and when the time comes there will have to be priorities and I doubt 143 will be a high priority in the rebuilding of the nation.

Why? What makes you all special? This is an international tragedy which has killed thousands and threatens to ruin the lives of millions. Immigration needs to look after its own citizens not the citizens of other countries who may want to move here. They’re not in the business of family reunion as a priority, nor should they be. With all due respects, elderly parents are not a bonus for Australia. I’d rather they got things sorted and working for Australians before they bother about others coming in - Sorry!

Make sure all your passports are up to date and you know where they are - do NOT allow them to get packed into the container (yes, that has happened to a friend of mine) Cancel (or suspend, all depending on whether there is a vague chance you might be back) your health insurance if you have it. If you should return to Australia it will help you avoid the age loading on premiums Try and get a no claims bonus record from your car insurer - some UK firms will accept them otherwise you start at the beginning again Are you selling your house, renting it out or ceasing a rental in which case you will need to take some action depending on the scenario Sort out what you need to take with you for immediate access - scan important documents which might be going by sea just in case If you have Super in Australia, you may be able to cancel any insurances that you pay through your Super fund - you probably should advise them of a change of address but that might be best dealt with through your financial advisor if you have one (super left untouched for any length of time might find its way into the Unclaimed Super black hole) so touch base with the super fund every year just so they know you are there Think about updating any Apple products if you use Apple stuff - duty free and Australian prices are better than UK prices so leaving the country is a good time to update your MacBook or similar. Not sure about other computer products but they may well be the same Cancel all other insurances you may have My DH, a much better organiser than me put up a long sheet of card in the kitchen for a time line, divided up into days to departure and he had several related categories like Our travel, house clearing, dad's stuff (we were living in my dad's house and had to clear it - but you can categorise your own things) etc then he put post it notes with tasks on the timeline (which could be moved if we didnt complete by that time) and wrote tasks completed on the time line. It was very impressive I must admit and it saved us a headache or two. He was a project manager in a previous life though and it may not be to everyone's taste! Alternatively just have a list of things to do on the kitchen wall or some other place where everyone can see them. If you dont have it already, get a record of the kids vaccinations they've had since being in Australia Be drastic about getting rid of stuff you havent used in 2 years and not likely to use ever again Make sure you have enough knitting/crochet projects to keep you going until your knitting supplies arrive in the container (ok, so that's a bit niche but you've probably got things that you would like immediate access to!)

Good Luck! Sounds like you’ve got it in the bag! Exciting times huh?!

My DH was slightly different in that he was a citizen by descent but because he was born well before the cut off date he had to go through the citizenship ceremony process and he applied in the December and had his ceremony in April. Well before the covid thing though and I would imagine there will be a significant backlog

Unfortunately he's left the country so his application has now ceased. He's not likely to get back in and really should talk to an agent.

The fact that my Dh said his pre-paid needed recharging and your enquiry got me thinking - so I changed today - I went with Telstra (much as it pains me to say) and for 6 months $150 - so $25 a month - I get something like 3000 minutes of international talk time to UK (which is important given that I am executing a will and have an elderly uncle in a care home) plus 60gb of data - so if the wifi goes belly up I should be fine and international texts (not everyone has an iPhone or WhatsApp) at 20c each but $50 worth of credit to cover them. The Dh renewed his today too and as we have been known to venture out to places quite far from civilisation it seemed like a good way to go. Saving myself $15 a month off the Vodafone I had been using. In different times I may have done differently but the international calls are important for me at the moment.

They’re generally more expensive than U.K. providers. It’ll be a good idea to check the coverage maps because there is quite a difference in who covers what areas so check where you will be living for the best coverage. Unfortunately Telstra does have the best coverage in general. Then it will depend on what you actually want from your phone in terms of data, talk minutes, international calls and texts etc. So it’s very much person specific. There are quite a few review sites out there which compare the offerings and you can input what’s important to you. The DH is with Telstra, I’m with Vodafone and the son is with Optus - we all wanted slightly different things. I think we are all sim only because we bought our iPhones outright.

You're too nice. Legally you have an obligation to advise Immigration, what they do with that information is then up to them. Your ex will have to stand on her own two feet. I assume you dont have kids to worry about - that could complicate the issue a lot!