Marisawright

I thought this new visa was an offshore visa (i.e. you have to apply for it while you're still in your home country)?

To migrate to Australia you need a qualification and experience in an occupation that is on the Skilled lists. That's the fundamental essential for any permanent visa, AND the employer sponsored visas. If your occupation is not on any of the lists, it is impossible for you to migrate to Australia. In that case, your only hope is to fall in love with an Australian. Whatever the occupation, the qualification needed is usually an ordinary degree. Doing further study towards a Ph.D or Masters doesn't improve your chance of being successful. If Australia is such a huge priority for you, it's a pity someone didn't tell you that earlier.

The problem is that you can't sell your car. You have to pay off the loan BEFORE you sell it. If you don't tell the finance company, leave the car with a friend in Australia and just keep paying the loan, the finance company won't care where you are. The other option is to ring the finance company, tell them you're leaving the country and can't afford to pay out the loan, and see if they will accept the car back as settlement. https://www.positivelendingsolutions.com.au/resources/information-centre/selling-under-car-finance/

Jetblast is right. What matters is the name of the employer on your payslip. So if the agency is paying you, you can only stay with them for six months

I don't know of any rule that says that? I've been in that situation in the past and never had a problem. @Gembob, take your birth certificate, marriage certificate and both passports.

You are correct. Temporary residents can buy an established property, but as you are only visiting for a short period each year, you can't. You have to buy brand new. You will have to apply to the FIRB for permission to buy (and pay a fee). You will also be charged a substantial amount of extra duty on the purchase. A static park home won't get you around the rules, because although you're only leasing the land it stands on, the lease runs for more than 5 years (and that makes it subject to FIRB). The only way around it is to gift the money to your daughter and let her buy the home in her name. Of course, that may raise issues as legally, you then have no claim or control over the property. https://firb.gov.au/resources/guidance/gn03/

Excellent idea. There's still a myth in the UK (based on generations of aunts, uncles, great-aunts and great-uncles who migrated in earlier years), that Australia automatically offers "a better life" than the UK. Too many people abandon their comfortable lives to migrate on the strength of that myth, then discover it's not the "dream" they expected. Don't get me wrong - personally, I prefer Australia to the UK. But I know that is a purely a personal opinion and I've met plenty of people, on these forums alone, who prefer the UK to Australia. So I think you're taking exactly the right approach. Do look into getting your registration sorted, because that will take a lot longer than getting the visa approved. But also consider that you can do other kinds of work during your WHV.

No, of course they won't budge on it, it's the law. It's one of the many downsides of temporary visas and bridging visas, unfortunately. It should really be explained more clearly to people before they make the decision.

Just to clarify Ken's post. The double taxation agreement does not mean "if the UK has already taxed something, Australia won't tax it too" (or vice versa). It means that if you are living in Australia and you have overseas earnings, Australia will take into account the tax you've already paid in the UK. So, say, (as a fictional example), the UK taxed you $314 on some income. When you complete your Australian tax return, you declare the income. The Australian taxman works out how much tax you're due to pay on that income, then deducts the $314 you've already paid to the UK, and only charges you the balance.

You won't be able to arrive, apply, leave, and then return a few months later. You'll have to: arrive (on a tourist visa), apply for the visa, stay until your tourist visa expires, at which time your bridging visa will take effect apply for permission to leave Australia (and note, you must give a specific "good reason" for needing to travel) - called a BVB wait for the BVB to be approved make sure you return to Australia before the BVB expires (which is three months from the date it is granted, I believe) Would that work for you?

If you come on shore to lodge a visa application, you will then have to stay in Australia. If you want to leave Australia once your bridging visa is granted, you have to apply for special permission (a BVB) and you can only stay overseas for three months at a time. If you want to apply for a visa but stay in the UK, then you will need to apply for the visa while you are in the UK. You then don't get a bridging visa, you just wait for the full visa to be granted.

It's up to you to decide, depending on your circumstances. If you take it as a lump sum BEFORE you leave Australia, once it's sitting in your bank account it's just money. No one is going to tax it. However, once you transfer the money to the UK, you'll have to consider how you're going to invest it - and of course, you'll get taxed on the interest/profits like any other income from investments after that. If you decide to leave the money in superannuation, then it will just go on earning interest (just make sure you cancel all insurances, as they're not valid anyway, and are only costing you money). If you then decide to convert it to a pension (income stream), the Australian govt won't tax it. However, you will have to declare it as income on your UK tax return and it will be taxed (though it is classed as a pension and therefore taxed at a lower rate than ordinary salary). It really comes down to how much money you have in superannuation and how much you would get if you collected it as an income stream. You do get a tax-free threshold after all.

Tax free IF you withdraw it while you are still living in Australia. If you wait till you arrive in the UK, you’ll lose a big chunk to the British taxman

I've seen people think the same thing before. And frankly, if you based your understanding on Paul Hand's explanation, you'd think that was the case - because he's saying your old 189 is cancelled and you're entirely reliant on getting new 155's every five years for the rest of your life. I defer to Paul's superior knowledge and I'm sure his explanation is technically correct, but the practical effect is not what he describes.

I'm seeing more and more of those "close to the knuckle" slogans. My oh hates them. Not sure how I feel about them. BCF is a camping store and their slogan is, "It's BCF'ing fun" Nando's has a "WTF $11" offer. When you look at the detail, WTF stands for Wednesday Thursday Friday, but ... Grill'd has a campaign around variations on "Don't be a motherfaker. Eat like a motherlover".

I'm not one of the "approved", but having made an international move not long ago, here are my tips. Transferring money - Don't use your bank. With few exceptions, their fees are too high. If you join through PomsinOz, Moneycorp don't charge fees for international transactions. I liked them because I liked the personal service - there are other companies and you can shop around to get the best exchange rate on the day if you wish. Shipping or selling - Shipping always sounds horrendously expensive so people sell up, thinking it'll be cheaper to buy at the other end. If your current stuff is old and tired, that may be the best option, but do research it thoroughly before you decide. When we moved back to the UK, I was shocked at how much stuff I had to buy. Not only was it expensive, but I had to buy everything in such a short time - and at a time when I had an awful lot of other stuff to deal with, having just arrived in a new country. Particularly galling was the fact that with furniture, most shops didn't keep much in stock these days - it seemed like every sofa or dining table or bed that I liked, had a 6-week delivery time. So I ended up stuck with big furniture items that I didn't really like, because I had to settle for what was available. I suggest doing an online shop at PetersofKensington.com.au, the goodguys.com.au and domayne.com.au. Pretend that you've arrived and you're buying all the things you need. See how much there is and how much it comes to! Don't forget it's not just furniture, it's white goods, electrical, towels, sheets, pots and pans, crockery, cutlery. Good pots and pans are particularly expensive in Australia. Chances are you'll have some treasured possessions that won't fit in the luggage. In view of that, you might as well ship a few more things, even if you decide not to take furniture. Look at the Movecube from Seven Seas.

The point is, the person does not have to be a friend. They have to be someone who has been in contact with you. Someone you do business with, like your tax accountant, would be fine.

You can hit the "report" button and use that to send a message to the moderators. If you still want to look for answers here rather than speak to Alan, here's the extent of my knowledge (but remember I'm not an expert): The "correct" way to apply for a visa is to apply from your home country and wait for it to be granted. However, because of the long waiting times, many parents are choosing to "jump the queue" by getting a tourist visa on the pretence they're coming on holiday - then once they've arrived, applying onshore. A small snag is that if you arrive on a one-way ticket with all your worldly goods, you may be grilled about your intentions by Immigration on arrival. It is not illegal to come to Australia with the intention of applying for a permanent visa. It is illegal to arrive with the intention to remain permanently. It's up to the official who interviews you - if he feels you are determined to stay in Australia regardless of the outcome of any visa applications, he could deport you and impose a ban. I imagine it would be a distressing experience. For that reason, it's commonly suggested to arrive looking like a tourist, with an appropriate amount of luggage and a return ticket, so that you don't attract the attention of Immigration at all. However that is up to your own conscience! I may be wrong, but I suggest you check whether you are truly a "temporary resident" on a BVA. I think you are still classed as a "visitor", which means you are treated differently for things like tax, access to services and benefits, and buying property. You are effectively in limbo, because you are not legally resident in the UK, nor are you legally resident in Australia. Property - I do know that if you wish to buy property, you are classed as a "Foreign Investor" and subject to the FIRB regulations. That means you must apply for permission to buy the property (and pay a fee to do so). You also pay a higher stamp duty rate, and you cannot rent out the property unless it's brand new. Medicare - this is something you need to check with an agent. On most bridging visas, you are not entitled to Medicare. I don't know what the situation is for the bridging visa for the 864. As a UK resident, you are lucky, because as a "visitor", you are entitled to basic Medicare cover anyway, under the reciprocal agreement with the UK. That covers essential treatment only - not elective surgery, for instance. You will cease to be a UK resident, so you will lose access to the NHS. Being a UK citizen is irrelevant, and because you are not legally resident in Australia, you can't get access to the NHS on the basis if living in Australia either. So if you need elective treatment that isn't covered by Medicare, you can't pop back to the UK to have it done. So private health insurance would be advisable. Travel - I understand that your bridging visa does not take effect until your existing tourist visa expires. So you might have time for a quick trip back, IF your tourist isa is multiple-entry (be careful though, because some multiple-entry tourist visas have a "no further stay" condition, which means you can't apply for the 864 on those visas). Once the bridging visa takes effect, you are stuck in Australia until you are able to get a BVB. When you apply for a BVB, you must have a specific reason to justify the need to travel. The examples often given are a wedding, a funeral, business. I'm not sure whether "visiting family" would be regarded as specific enough. My concern would be that if you're applying two or three times a year, every year, they might start rejecting them, and then you'd be stuck. Again, an agent would know better than I. There are no emergency provisions and if you leave the country without a BVB in place, you will then have to wait in the UK for your 864 to come through before you can return. wait time Wait time for 864 - I have heard that the waiting time for the 864 is now being brought into line with the 143 visa. One more point to consider: when your visa application finally comes up for consideration, you will have to undergo a medical. With a 100-year-old mother, you may be one of those genetically blessed people who will still be hale and hearty when the time for the medical arrives. However, if you fail the medical, you will have to leave Australia and re-establish your life in the UK (though there is a Medical Treatment visa which might enable you to hang on for a while). It is a very big decision to uproot yourself from your established home in the UK and come to live in limbo in a foreign country, probably for several years, with the prospect of having to uproot yourself again at an advanced age if things don't work out. In the process, you'll incur substantial costs and significant inconvenience. You may feel it's all worth it, but I would repeat my advice to speak to an agent so you understand the implications thoroughly before proceeding.

No, that's the reference number for a RRV. Your original PR visa is still valid, the RRV is just a travel facility. When you applied to migrate, you were the principal applicant, BUT once you got the grant, each individual member of your family got their own, independent visa. Your wife could divorce you and she would still keep her visa, for instance. So your son is in the same position - he has his own PR visa, it's just that he didn't get a RRV. Because each one of you now has an independent permanent visa, each one of you needs to apply for your own separate RRV, including your wife and other child.

It depends what you mean by "property tax". When you buy a home, there is stamp duty to pay. When you own an apartment, all the owners pay into a common fund which pays for maintenance (that's called "strata levies). You also have to pay council rates. These are charged by the local council and are based on the size of your property. If your home is over a certain value, you may have to pay land tax.

My doctor signed mine. I don't know her except as a patient. She had no problems with it.

Gomatilda is a well regarded agency so I'd recommend you take up Alan's offer

I would strongly urge you to seek detailed advice from a reputable agent such as pinoyau.com There are so many restrictions on a bridging visa and the BVB provision is not intended for frequent use. You need to be absolutely sure of your facts score deciding whether to proceed

Unfortunately it's not a question of what's appropriate, it's a question of what the bureaucracy will allow. One poster has said "there is flexibility" but hasn't said what state they're in - every state is different - or what type of school they're talking about, or how long ago. I can understand why you are concerned, given that you are likely to be returning at some point and therefore want to keep continuity - the trouble is that you're unlikely to find anyone here on the forum who's been in the same situation. The active community here isn't large. Of those, only a percentage lives in NSW, and of those, most were planning to stay permanently and therefore were able to take the long view, i.e that the child being with its peers was more important. I think your only choice is to make contact with more schools until you find one that's willing to guarantee that they'll be flexible. Have you looked at the private school system?

Check the small print on Anglo Pacific. The customs fee can’t be accurately determined because it depends on what Customs decides to charge on the day, so many shipping companies simply don’t include it, they just have small print saying any customs charges will be passed on. And to be clear, there are always customs charges