Marisawright

Yes, commission only is allowed. You are not an employee, you're just an agent.

The good thing about Melbourne is that even on a very hot day, it's usually cool early in the morning and then it cools down again at the end of the day. What I used to hate about Sydney summers was that it was hot by 10am, and then it didn't cool down much till the early hours of the following morning, unless there was a thunderstorm.

This sounds like an interesting exercise for prospective or recent migrants, I'm sure you will find a few here

Yes it could be very risky, especially if you have so little evidence to prove your relationship is long-standing. How old are you? If you are young enough to get a WHV (Working Holiday Visa) then that's your solution. That will give you the right to live and work in Australia for a year, which will allow you to build up evidence of your relationship, and then you can apply towards the end of that visa. If not, I would get a migration agent's advice on how to put together your evidence to present it in the strongest possible light, and apply in London.

The OP will be on a bridging visa for a parent visa, so they are only covered by Medicare through the reciprocal agreement with the UK. That doesn't give them the full range of benefits, so I don't know if they would be eligible for the safety net.

Most of the members on PomsinOz are people who have migrated rather than people on a WHV, so you may not get many answers. It's looks like a commission-only job so beware of that. It means if you don't sell anything, you don't earn anything. https://au.indeed.com/cmp/Fantastic-Framing/reviews

That's what I was thinking. The median house price on that realestate.com.au website is a good way to get a rough idea of whether you can afford a suburb. The median house price for Hornsby is $1.2 million. That's more expensive than any of the suburbs to the South, which you were saying you couldn't afford. What it tells you is that anything cheap in Hornsby is going to be in an area you wouldn't want to live in!

As a temporary resident, you are free to rent your own place. However, as a tenant, you are probably not allowed to do so. Check your tenancy agreement - it probably prohibits you from sub-letting.

why not do it the other way, as Quoll suggested. Get your offshore application in now, then if it doesn't come through in time, get a three-month tourist visa to make up the gap. You still won't be able to work but it removes any risk of getting penalised by Immigration.

What made you boomerang back to Australia this time? You must be finding it hard having to leave your son behind, I'm guessing that's a big part of feeling unsettled.

Do you have children? If not, then it's not a problem - it's just an inconvenience. Yes, it would be nice to travel together, but it's not the end of the world if you have to spend a few months apart, is it? Yes, you could get a tourist visa but bear in mind, if you arrive with your wordly goods and don't have a return ticket, Immigration will pull you aside and grill you. It's not illegal to arrive on a tourist visa and then apply for a bridging visa - but Immigration has to decide what you might do if your partner visa is refused (which many are). Will you do the honest thing and go home, or will you be tempted to stay illegally? It's not their job to assess your case, it's just their job to assess whether you'd flout the law in order to stay with your partner. If they think that's a risk, then you'll be put back on the next plane and possibly get a three-year ban. As it all rests on the discretion of the officer on the day, I wouldn't risk your whole future for the sake of avoiding a short separation. If your relationship can't survive those few months apart, it's doomed anyway!

If that's the case, I would be putting Newcastle first on the list. It gets a bad rep from Australians because it used to be an awful industrial town, but it has changed enormously. It still has its crummy areas, like any big city, but I hardly recognise it now. https://www.domain.com.au/news/seven-things-i-love-about-living-in-newcastle-20160111-gm322g/ The thing that sticks in my mind is that I had two work colleagues who'd been transferred from the Newcastle office. They refused to move their families because they felt that Newcastle was so much better as a place to bring up children. Unfortunately they were in insurance and it wasn't easy to find a job with another company in Newcastle, so one of them was stuck with the two-hour each-way commute for a couple of years, from memory - but they still wouldn't budge! Sydney is still only two hours away. When I was working in Sydney, I drove up to our Newcastle office for the day fairly often, it's mostly motorway. Port Stephens was one of my favourite places for a weekend away at the time.

Do you mind if I ask what your jobs are? We've just been having this discussion on another thread and though lots of people do commute to Sydney from the central coast and Wollongong, it's an awful trek, and it's probably not realistic to imagine that you can move closer into Sydney once you're set up. You might want to talk to @aconcannon about their experience. If you are in professions where you can find work outside Sydney, I'd strongly recommend looking at Newcastle. It's the largest city outside Sydney, it has a good beach right next to the city centre and some gorgeous places within an hour's drive. http://www.newcastlediggers.com.au/best-beaches-in-newcastle-australia/ You could live on Lake Macquarie if you're craving waterside. If you lived in Newcastle itself, you'd be within an hour's drive of the Port Stephens area, which is just gorgeous - lots of dolphins, fresh oysters, sand dunes, surf on one side and safe bays for children on the other, lots of cafés etc. Easily gives Avalon a run for its money IMO.

It's nothing to do with the lump sum. If you sell your house now, it's none of the Australian government's business. The proceeds are just money in the bank. If you wait until you're living in Australia, you're now an Australian with a foreign investment. You're liable to pay tax on the profits from that foreign investment. I don't know all the ins and outs of how much you'd be taxed, which is why you need an expert to help you. It could still be worth it, because there are exemptions if you've lived in the house yourself (as opposed to a place that's always been rented out), so it might be fine - but I think you need to know for sure. Personally, unless it's going to cost a lot in tax, I think keeping the house could be a good idea. It sounds as though it will keep the in-laws on-side and make your transition much, much easier.

Because the rent on your British property is income. It's a general rule that whatever country you're resident in, that's where you pay your taxes. So once you're living in Australia, when you fill out your Australian tax return, you will declare ALL your income wherever it's earned, including the rent on your British house. Of course you also claim your expenses, but they are calculated differently in Australia to the way it's done in the UK, so you'll need someone who knows how to do that (as I said on another thread, most Australians who own property use a tax agent, it's normal). You will also have to lodge a British tax return, but only for the income you earn within the UK. That doesn't mean you pay tax twice, though. There's an agreement so the British tax gets offset against your Australian tax. But that's why you need a tax agent to make sure it's done properly, otherwise it gets confusing. If your home is quite new, then owning it can actually save you quite a bit in tax because of the way the Australian tax system works, but again, you need advice from an expert before you rent it out, to make sure you maximise your expense claims.

Most Australians who own an investment property will hire a tax agent to do their tax returns. It's not that expensive and you can claim the cost as an expense. In your shoes, I would strongly suggest you pay Alan Collett to do an analysis for you. He'll take all your details and should be able to give you an accurate picture because he knows both tax systems so well. It will be money well invested.

A British accountant won’t do, no matter how well trained they are. You need someone with good experience of the tax regime in both countries and how they interact. We’ve seen people getting in real trouble because they relied on their usual accountant’s advice. Alan Collett posts here on the forums and is very knowledgeable

When I say Australia is hot, I'm comparing it with the UK rather than other places in the world, because that's what most Brits are used to. If you flipped Australia over, so it was in the Northern Hemisphere, most if would be in Africa (see below). Of course, the climate isn't the same as Africa because there are so many other variables, like rain and winds and the proximity of the sea, plus the earth's tilt. But it does show that no one should be coming to Australia expecting a climate that is remotely like anything in Europe, even in their summer holiday spots in Spain or Cyprus. You'll notice that with a couple of exceptions, most of the comparisons on the map are not in Europe.

I'm not sure that's the right way to look at it. If you are enjoying Australia and feel good about the place, you'll stay even if you have a few hiccups. If you're unnerved enough to run back to the UK - which won't be a cheap option even if the house is sitting there - then maybe it's not the right place for you anyway. I love living here but it doesn't suit everyone. The important thing to do is to get an accountant to give you a professional opinion. If you keep the house, you'll need to keep submitting a UK tax return even once you're resident in Australia. You have to know whether you'll have any Capital Gains Tax liability in either country, depending how long you hold on to it (I think probably not, but you should check) . It can all get a bit complicated but it could be a good option if the numbers stack up.

I think you might have a solution. Let your in-laws take the cats FOR NOW. I do worry how well the cats will adapt to Australian life, BUT that has never been my big concern. My worry was that trying to find rental places (either in the UK or Australia) was made practically impossible because you have three animals. Whereas if you migrate with just the dog, and (secretly) plan to bring the cats over once you're finally settled, that would make your life an awful lot easier. The other thing is that by that time, you'll know where you'll be living and what the attitude to cats is locally. It varies a lot from place to place (though I do hope you'll still consider the wildlife - Australian small animals and birds don't move all that fast, so even a lazy cat can kill them just because they're being curious and want to play).

Are you their only child and you have no other family? I think there is something called a Last Remaining Relative visa which you could research.

You would certainly be allowed, but then you've made a commitment to that school. If you don't register them, then from the end of November you would have all of December and all of January to travel around, work out where your best location would be, and find a home. Then you could register them with a lot more confidence. Who knows, with nearly 9 weeks up his sleeve, your hubby might even find another job in a better location!

...and is it true that she didn't plan to go back?

Maybe true, but the OP is struggling to find somewhere affordable to live from a distance. They could end up anywhere on the outskirts of Sydney in any direction. I was suggesting it because it's going to add considerably to their stress if they commit to a school when they arrive, and then find they're struggling to afford a home in that area.

Sounds like none of them bothered.