Moses2013

Being comfortable is one thing, being realistic is another. As others have said, you would need a visa.
Paper-based 600 Visitor Visa holders must conduct themselves according to the following rules:

• You must not work while in Australia;
  Note: Voluntary work may be permitted.
• You must not study for more than three months while in Australia;
  Note: if you intend to study for longer than four weeks, you may be required to pass a health examination before starting your course. Some countries are exempt from this examination.
• Your visa may be granted with a 'No further stay' condition. If this is the case, you will not be granted any other visa (except for a Protection visa) while you remain in Australia. This condition may be waived in exceptional circumstances; AND
• The holder must depart within the validity of the Visitor Visa.

Beoz

I don't think they are worried about money.

Moses2013

It's not about the money, but the No further stay condition. Before considering buying, I would sort that out first.
http://firb.gov.au/real-estate/
You can buy new dwellings (Investment) no problem, but actually living in it is the problem.

AandP

Hi thanks once again, It's a valid point, I may be naive or missing the point but why would they be suspicious when we would be fulfilling their own criteria and staying for just under 6 months when in theory we could have applied for a 12 month visa? From what I can see so far we are allowed to "live" there for 6 months of the year as tourists/visitors and visit friends are we not?
If they can give out tourist visa's for up to 12 months what would they like us to do apart from live there?

To answer your question what will we be doing, yes we would like to tour around, but as to any work, as far as I know that's not allowed with a tourist visa and we wouldn't want to anyhow. We don't work in the UK as we are now both retired. So I would imagine we would do much the same as we do here, enjoy life.

Do you or anyone else know of anyone who has been refused a tourist visa because they return for 6 months every year? Or any grounds you could imagine that they would refuse us a visa after the first one? Just in case maybe I'll put that question in the visa section of the forum.

On the homeaffairs web page under Visitor visa (subclass 600) there is no mention of how many times you are allowed to apply and return.

BritInParis

It's very unlikely that a British citizen would have a No Further Stay condition attached to their subclass 600 visa. British citizens can also use a SmartGate to enter and exit Australia. I would aim to spend a little less than six months a year in Australia both for immigration and tax purposes, say five to five and a half months, but I don't think the OP will have too many problems from an immigration perspective providing they are self-sufficient and have sufficient ties to the UK.

AandP

Hi, to stay up to 6 months we would opt for the Visitor visa (subclass 600) in which I can't see the section about no further stay but thanks will investigate further.

AandP

Phew, that's what I thought but with all these previous posts I was having my doubts.

BritInParis

No-one can you give you an absolute guarantee and you will need to prepare a good application but providing you do that and your visa is granted then I don't foresee you having a problem.

tomar

Not quite the same scenario, but here on the Sunshine Coast there are a few couples that I know of that winter here every year, from USA, Canada and U.K. They don't own property here as far as I know but have individually arranged long term house sits mostly for the same people every year. It certainly works for our friends from the USA, they join in playing golf, bridge etc. and enjoy being here every year.

AandP

Hi Tomar, Thanks for the reply. Do you happen to know how long they stay and what visa they apply for and lastly how many years they have done it for so far?

tomar

I assume a visitors visa, but our US friends have citizenship as one is Australian so can stay as long as they like. They house sit every year for the same people, here and also on the Gold Coast. The Canadians come every year and have done so for years, have got to know people and house sit by word of mouth.
My post was to suggest a possible alternative way to visit by house sitting while here.
There is a lot of house sitting here on the Coast, lots of people go away for quite long periods some have petsand prefer to use house sitters. We go to UK most years for 3 months and always have someone here.
We are on a long term retirement visa which stopped in 2005. When we bought 15 years ago, we could buy anything with FIRB approval, but could only rent out a new or self build property. We could also buy an investment property before we lived here.
Things have changed since then.
Talking to others on our visa I think as a non Australian you incurr extra costs when both buying and selling a property, you need to check this out before you commit.

AandP

Thanks for the info, will do.

verystormy

Sorry, I generally consider you by far the best amateur visa helpers I have come across. But this is incorrect. I am a mod on one of the large Australian visa forums (you can probably guess which) and we have seen a number of no further stay conditions on 600 visas. In fact my next door neighbour did. Brit parents whose kids and grand kids lived a few doors away. Did 600 for a couple of years then got a sudden no further stay.

To the OP, what you are proposing is a big gamble. If you get a no further stay, then what?

Beoz

There must have been a reason behind it. What rules did they break?

BritInParis

That is probably why. It's not something that is given to British citizens as a matter of course unless they have an adverse Australian immigration history.