Marisawright

I just thought of something, as it’s a public sector pension it might even be better to leave it, I remember seeing a post from someone else. Make sure you get professional advice

I believe you will save tax by transferring within six months of arriving in Australia but you do have that window. One of the big things I'd be checking is housing affordability, depending on which city you're moving to. House prices have surged to a ridiculous degree in the last couple of years in the Eastern states.

TBH I think worrying about transferring the pension should be a low priority. He won't lose the money if he doesn't transfer it, it will still be sitting in his UK pension fund earning interest until you're ready. Then you can transfer it once you're settled. The new QROPS fund isn't up and running yet anyway.

I'm pretty sure that is out of date, they all got suspended. There is a new one coming out but like I said, don't assume it's going to be an easy process and you just transfer the money. It would be worth hiring someone like Andrew to guide you through the process.

As "over it" says, the snag for electricians is that they have to serve a full year as an assistant (on lower wages) before they are allowed to work unsupervised in Australia. That's a big hit to the budget if you have a family to support.

Until very, very recently, there were no QROPS registered funds in Australia. I believe one has just been, or is about to be, approved at long last. However, it's very important to get professional advice because he could get hammered for tax if you go about it the wrong way.

There will be a fee to bank the cheque. You'd be better off opening an account with Moneycorp (or a similar company) and transferring it through them. If you join Moneycorp through these forums, they don't charge a fee. You must declare it on your tax return (and you also need to declare the tax you paid in the UK) but I have no idea whether it will be taxed and if so, how much

I don't think you need to mention it at all. In the olden days, people didn't sleep together until marriage, so the date of intimacy was important. These days, people sleep together while dating, so it's not a significant event. In Australia, when you say you are "de facto", it means you are living as if you were married, you just haven't had a legal marriage ceremony. At what date would you say that happened? That's your starting date.

I think you mean important?

If you leave Australia, and while you are abroad your travel facility expires, you will need to apply for a RRV to get back in - no matter where you are.

I can understand that, but take a look at how much a course will cost you here, compared to how much it will cost you in the UK, then decide whether that works for you.

Yes, that's what I meant

Yes, but that means they joined the queue in 2007, doesn't it? How long did people wait for the Contributory Visa when they applied in 2007? The processing times have increased dramatically so I think it's irresponsible to tell people about historical successes without making it clear what's happening today.

Probably not, because it's all political! If you need citizenship to go on holiday, it's probably wise to think about getting a RRV to cover the short-term.

I doubt the onshore visa is quicker - most onshore visas take longer to process than their offshore equivalents. Anyhow, 2003 was 15 years ago, a lot has changed since then (though I know at my age, I'm inclined to think of 2003 as being about five minutes ago!). I can't speak for the OP but I'd have thought if his parents could afford $11,000+ a year for private health insurance then they would have gone for the Contributory Parent Visa.

You’re mad. A student visa is not a sensible pathway to PR. You will get there faster and with far less expense if you retrain in your home country. There are too many unscrupulous agencies out there trying to sell their courses on the pretext of getting you into Australia but they are a con

Pomsinoz is as good as any. It’s not just for people who are applying, you’ll find people at all stages here

There are other problems with being on a bridging visa which I hope you are aware of? The waiting time for that visa is 30 years, which means they'll probably never get it (if they are still alive they will likely fail the medical!). That means they will have to live out their days in Australia on a bridging visa, which means they are permanently classed as "non-residents" - even if they buy a property! That means they get no access to benefits or aged care. Their UK pensions will be frozen at whatever rate it is now. If they get old enough to need access to aged care or home support (which they won't be entitled to in Australia), they won't be able to return to the UK and get assistance there, because they'll have lost their rights to access the NHS and other benefits. They'll have to re-establish residency before they can get anything. Being a citizen doesn't give you any extra rights. There may be other downsides but those are the ones that spring to mind.

Every year. That's why we often say, be careful about retraining just so you can migrate - because there's always a chance that by the time you qualify, the list has changed and you can't migrate anyway. And meanwhile you've put your life on hold and cost yourself money your family could have used elsewhere. You will need the savings as migrating to Australia is very expensive.

I suggest you need to look into the ILR thing more thoroughly. I don't know why they call it "Indefinite" when it's not! I may be wrong, but I believe ILR is the same as Australian PR (permanent residence) - if you leave the country for too long, you lose it. With Australian PR, if you cease to be resident for more than 5 years, you lose it (but there's a pathway to apply for renewal). With British ILR, if you cease to be resident for more than 2 years, you lose it (and it looks like you have to start again from scratch). That's why we always suggest getting citizenship. You may think you'll never want to return to live in the UK, but if you have a blended Aussie/British family, you can never say never!

Just to expand on my answer: yes, there is legislation that says agents can't refuse to allow a pet, but that's unlikely to help you much. When you apply to rent a property, if it's a nice property then there will be other couples who want it. You'll all submit your applications, and the real estate agent decides which applicant gets the property. The reality is they're always going to pick the couple without the dogs. You can try to take them to the tribunal to claim you were discriminated against, but try proving it - the agent will just say the other couple had better references or were more established in their jobs. So as Amber says, you'll end up having to settle for a rundown property that no one else wants, in a less desirable area. Also please note that you can't fail to mention the dogs when you get the rental - even under the new legislation, you must have the landlord's written consent before you bring the animal on the premises. If you don't get it, you'll be in breach of your lease. I know it's very difficult to part with beloved pets but I'd be thinking carefully about whether to bring both dogs, especially as life for dogs is more restrictive in Australia.

No, it wasn't a dig at your comment. I made the statement because the OP's post was a bit contradictory (as you point out), so I was not sure whether I'd understood it correctly or not.

As Amber says, the age cutoff for a visa is 45 so there is absolutely no way you can move to Australia permanently, unless you have children living in Australia (in which case you might be able to apply for a parent visa eventually).

They are entitled to reciprocal cover. They can buy a house under the rules for foreign investors.

Actually he says “accepting that a permanent move may not be possible”