Quoll

The only advice I gave my son was to get his pictures taken at Mr Snappy or one of the other high street photographers because they are different sizes from UK PP photos. When I renewed mine in 2019 I arrived early and of the dozen people who were served while I waited, it was just me and one other guy who had the right size pictures. Everyone else had to go and get them taken professionally.

They say that you can't but I'm guessing that if you don't get someone who is assiduous at searching you might slip through the crack. If they're not going until next year they've got plenty of time to renew their passports. My son let his passport lapse in about 2010 and recently he renewed it without any hassle - it was much quicker than he thought it would be. As for a trip to the High Commission (not embassy) - inconvenient and expensive but make a trip of it and enjoy London if you can't get one of the outreach appointments. Much the easiest solution even if it is unpalatable.

Would they have needed disability support in childhood???

Yes and no. Under a certain age and I'd suggest the kids in this case are still under that age, parents make the decisions. Once the kids have finished school education then they can make their own decisions about where they want to be, and it's a 50/50: they may choose Australia or they may choose UK. I think parents who make the big move should expect that their kids might well end up on the other side of the world from where they are and, as parents, we should be proud that we've given them the wings and the confidence to fly solo no matter how uncomfortable it is for us as parents. However, adults need to make decisions based on their adult lives and living somewhere you don't being doesn't make for happy parents and good models of happy adults. If the thought of ending your days in Australia fills you with dread then moving on is probably done sooner rather than later because the older you are, the harder it becomes to get yourself organised ready for retirement. As always, being a parent isn't easy.

I'm not on top of GCSEs but going by my grandson's age, I think they may start studying for GCSEs when they are 14 (going into year 10) so a move back to UK should be sorted before a child gets on the GCSE merry go round otherwise they are going to be behind the 8 ball so the window of opportunity might not be quite as large. I agree with everything else that has been said though!!! Basically, if you dont go now you will never find the right time to go.

General rule of thumb is that if a child has a disability which is significant enough to attract disability support then they wont get a visa and vice versa, if you get a visa you are unlikely to get any additional support

Yup, my husband just got his notice.

Ah, ok, he will be the right age to go into year 10 when you move mid 2024. Ignore any thing you may have got from the UK system either year level names or qualifications, they'll mean nothing here.

16 is the key age here - be prepared for them to be placed with a cohort which could be 12-18 months younger than they are, or look at alternatives to school, like TAFE but whatever you do do not enrol them half way through either years 11 or 12. If you can leave them in UK until they have finished A levels all the better.

Sounds something like my son who left Aus in 2002 "for a year" - he wont be coming home. Like you he's on a good whack, has a nice house, growing son and whereas once he thought he would like his kids to have the same childhood he had, he has chosen to continue with the career he loves and it is unlikely he will ever come back - hasnt been back since 2010 and though he thought he might like to come back for Christmas his job will be changing so that wont be possible. His wife is unlikely to want to leave TBH although at the start of their relationship she was all for it and couldnt wait (yeah right, she never was! anything outside the M25 is too far away for her) If what you have is working then dont try and fix it - the area you are living in is beautiful and it sounds like you have it better than most tbh. Nothing much here worth coming over for and my impression of Canberra education gets worse by the day, unfortunately so I wouldnt say that it offered much of a better future for a child - different probably but not better from my observations. Contrary to what you think might be better - ie living near your rellies I would suggest quite the opposite. We lived 12 hour drive from my husband's folk and 24 hour flight away from mine - that worked out well. I think if I were closer to his family the resentment that he had it all and I had none of mine would have set in and where we were, we were a family unit doing it together. I see you are close to your in-laws - is it that you resent them having it all (even if they arent making good use of it) and your folk missing out? I know what it is to have the goal posts changed on you though - I never imagined the rest of my life in Canberra and if you had told me that back at the start I would have been on the next plane home and there is a certain resentment that I am stuck here so I hope that doesnt happen to you. We just went with the flow until we, unfortunately, went past the point of no return. So if you really feel duped and that your goalposts have been changed then either you need to address that and make changes or, like me, you work out your least worst position and live with it. As far as your time frame goes - could be any time really. Your kids will be citizens by descent so they may decide to move once you have retired, that would still be OK.

Lots of people do it in reverse! Get the job first because you don't want the granddaddy of commutes then look at the suburbs that are going to be so within commute range then narrow it down with the odd eyeball test (check out the neighbourhood - hoons in cars, boarded up shops, less than lovely folk littering the streets etc) then see what rentals are within your budget. You'll find that the schools sort of slot into place - if you dont want to live in a suburb you really don't want your kids to go to school in that suburb. The schools tend to reflect the SES of the suburb and if you dont find the government option appealing you can try the parallel Catholic system. TBH nobody gives a toss if a kid is out of school for 2-3 months while you get sorted.

Welcome to the club, we did the same back in 2011 and, for us, it was 9 years!!!! As to moving stuff, I can't say enough good things about Move Cube. They come in different sizes and we found them really easy to deal with. We got ours when we returned to Australia but you can get them in the reverse direction. It'd be easier than sending a few odd things which is what we did when we stayed in UK - for us that was a real pain because it was such a small shipment we were at the bottom of their priority list. As it happens, much of the stuff we sent over never got used anyway! I assume you have someone here who can do the packing and sending for you. I also assume you have citizenship which makes variable time frames a while lot easier to manage. Good luck!!!!!!!

Nope sure as hell does not.

And the problems of moving with teenage kids could seriously disadvantage them academically. Australian school results don't travel quite as easily back to UK as you may think if that is the path you take. Then there are international student fees for kids who haven't lived in UK for the 3 years before uni (assumimg their ATAR are adequate for the course they want). If there are teenagers involved I would consider leaving them behind and boarding with someone.

LOL I was teasing my niece that she needs to learn to knit her own socks to occupy her ramping time in Launceston, I dont think she took me up on it, but I am sure she would appreciate les ramping time.

LOL, anything elective in Canberra takes years.

My 92 year old aunt was exactly the same, once the care home had called the ambulance and it had arrived, the hip replacement was pretty much the next day. She did recover (to a point) and was essentially ambulant again but died within 6 months anyway.

Ah yes, the dreaded Point of No Return!!! Excellent advice there!

Recently applied for the Seniors Health Card - it was a bloody nightmare because I had to try and negotiate MyGov (the app that results in more laptops being hoiked through windows than any other!). It was all to do with digital identity and I couldnt strengthen mine so I printed off the application form and refused to send them original documents so went to the local Centrelink office with application and passports etc etc in hand where it took mere minutes to verify that we were who we said we were. I cant see that it is going to make much difference - I believe our doctor gives $10 off a consultation and I gave the card to our local discount chemist - where the cost of prescriptions is astonishingly low anyway - and saw little difference, maybe a dollar per item. Was it worth the angst I went through that weekend, probably not but you never know. The low income card really is for low incomes and they take into account all your financial assets - super, investments etc etc and they go through the deeming process. We certainly didn't qualify but it is a tick the box on the Seniors application form - then they ask you to go into huge detail, as you would expect from an assets based benefit.

Great update @bug family I am so glad to hear that you are finally "home" - hope you've been practising your Welsh!!!! I think what you are going through is like what anyone with a broken marriage goes through - that feeling of swimming around in a big pond of confusion especially if you still have feelings for the one you once loved. Have no guilt about moving on (she doesnt!), there will be a nice young Welsh lass out there somewhere (think Steven Stills "Love the one you're with") Hopefully it wont be too long before your kids can be home for a holiday though then you can show them their heritage and have a great time.

Why would you go that route instead of a PMV? Seems to me that would be the logical way to do it. I have a friend who did that, they decided to get married about half way through the 9 months and did it without ceremony then followed up quite a bit later with a church blessing back in UK for all family and friends. They're coming up for about 45 years married now. Much easier than jumping through all the skilled visa hoops. Hope your LDR is as successful as ours - 50 years married in July after 3 years LDR - we didn't have it as easy as you, LOL, flimsy little aero grammes and £1 a minute phone calls! But it all works out in the end.

Assume you mean soccer? Be careful, "football" means different things in different states. Soccer not quite as important here but it looks like Darwin has a few clubs https://www.clubsofaustralia.com.au/files/soccer---football/clubs-in-northern-territory/0/0.html?s_type=s?s_type=s

Scopolomine patches work well for me (you can buy the in UK but not Aus) and, failing that, avomine (otc). That and lots of knitting for when I'm awake.

Do you have a postgraduate teaching qualification and can you teach other sciences? You'll first need a visa of course.

Deleted, you sort of answered my question. Personally I wouldnt move to an opportunity which was less than I had in hand but if you are up for the adventure, all you have to lose is your money - you could take a sabbatical which might give you a bit more security, your OH - well, he runs a risk winding up his own business but perhaps he could put it under management?