6 months in Australia and 6 months in the UK
 

We are considering splitting our time between both destinations, as we have two children and a grandson in both countries!
Probably better known as 'chasing the sun'.
October to March in Australia, then April to September back in the UK to try and make the most of the weather!
We are wondering if there is anyone registered who already does this or is considering something similar.
I assume the visa side of things is pretty straight forward, as I'm led to believe that if 50% or more of your children are Australian residents, you can pretty much come and go as you please.
Any help/pointers on the above would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Richard and Sarah

Re: 6 months in Australia and 6 months in the UK
 

Not that simple....a contributory parent visa will cost around $50000 each and will take a couple of years to process......

There is a non contributory visa but that can take many years to process....you would also need to meet health and character requirements for either visa.

There is talk of a temporary Visa available but that is still in the pipeline.

Probably easier to go as a tourist.....but you can not live there except on a resident visa.

Re: 6 months in Australia and 6 months in the UK
 

You will need to offset your time slightly, consistently living in one country and visiting the other, otherwise your tax and healthcare situation will become a mess.

If you're British and at the moment primarily live in the UK then I would suggest sticking with 6.5 months in the UK and then 5.5 months in Australia.

Re: 6 months in Australia and 6 months in the UK
 

Many thanks Guys for the quick replies and further info. Plenty to consider. Hopefully we may get more that will be helpful as well.

Re: 6 months in Australia and 6 months in the UK
 

Have edited my original post.

I was confusing the non contributory parent visa with the non contributory aged parent visa.

You can apply for a non contributory parent visa under the age of 65 but the waiting time is quoted in decades.

Having half of your children in Australia means that you can pass the 'balance of family' test and would be eligible to apply for a parent visa.

You could apply for a tourist visa but could not enter and leave the country indefinitely on this as it is time limited.

You can not simply 'come and go as you please'.

Re: 6 months in Australia and 6 months in the UK
 

My parents did that for 15 years - I think things have changed a bit with respect to health since then but if it's slightly more in UK than Australia then a tourist visa is still an option. They built a granny flat on our block, had a car there and joined the golf club so it was all good. They gave up about 12 years ago as the trip was getting a bit much and their health began to make travel insurance prohibitive but they were 81 by then so not too bad. I would like to do it but we will have to see how things work out.

Re: 6 months in Australia and 6 months in the UK
 

Up until a couple of years ago (she is no longer able to travel), one of my aunts spent 2-5 months/year visiting her child & grandchildren in Australia from the UK. On (a) tourist visa(s). It didn't/doesn't seem terribly complicated, & from what she told me, is quite common & accepted.

IIRC, she set a personal limit of ~5 months to avoid the possible knotty problems Pulaski mentions.

Another aunt & uncle do a similar yearly trip from the UK, splitting the time between their offspring in AU & NZ. Again, no problems (so far ;) ).

Re: 6 months in Australia and 6 months in the UK
 

Sort of. Few months overseas. Majortity in oz due to business. In reverse to you, its mainly to get the hell out of aus summer, far too harsh a climate ime. will increase time overseas as commitments lessen.

Re: 6 months in Australia and 6 months in the UK
 

You would also face a long term issue. Notably, the expiry of travel rights. The travel rights of PR visas expire after 5 years. For most, not an issue as citizenship is available after 4 years. But, you would not be eligible as it requires an applicant has not been out of Australia for more than a total of 12 months in the preceding 4 years and no more than 90 days in the preceding 12 months.

You would probably get a resident return visa, but that will expire eventually as well.

Re: 6 months in Australia and 6 months in the UK
 

I am not quite sure what the OP is looking for here?:confused:

They have raised the issue of balance of family in relation to visas but a tourist visa is available to anyone regardless of numbers of children.

If they are asking about a more permanent arrangement then they will need a resident visa and that will more complicated.:confused:

Re: 6 months in Australia and 6 months in the UK
 

It all depends on your personal circumstances. Will you live with family in both countries or be independent?
I lived between Brunei an U.K. For 10 years, as my husband worked there and our children were in UK.
It was doable but disruptive, and I went back and forward rather than 6 months in each.
When my husband retired we were going to do 6 months between Australia and UK but I decided I needed to call one place home I was fed up living between 2 lives.
We go to UK every year for about 3 months as our only grandchildren are there. We still own property in UK, but we don't get tenants to leave, we just rent somewhere. We were discussing this recently with others in a similar situation and we all agreed it's not worth the hassle of giving good tenants notice, and then finding new tenants.
If you are going to own property in both countries, these are the practical problems you might face. Will you own a car in each country, if so will you have someone in both places to either drive it or look after it for you, could be costly.
We are temporary long term residents in Australia, we pay all our tax in UK as all our income comes from UK so even though we live full time in Australia we don't pay tax here.
It's complicated and I might say the wrong thing, but it's down to being ordinary resident? So someone cleverer than me will have to explain.
So from my experience And many other expats I know, we prefer to properly live somewhere and visit the other one.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

I can't help with health queries as we aren't entitled to Medicare or NHS so always have insurance.

Re: 6 months in Australia and 6 months in the UK
 

I think the OP may be confusing different visa types, which has in turn confused some of us :(.

I read the OP as intending to *visit* for some months each year, which is entirely possible on a tourist visa, bearing in mind some of the provisos mentioned above about how much time spent in-country, insurance, etc.

I see others are reading it as the OP asking about visas that grant some sort of right of residency in Australia.

It would be helpful if the OP would come back & clarify.

Re: 6 months in Australia and 6 months in the UK
 

Indeed

However, all this is likely to change if, or when, the proposed temporary 5 year parent visa is implemented. This will, no doubt, involve various fees and assurances so may well affect current tourist visa arrangements for parents.

https://www.border.gov.au/Reportsand...sa-parents.pdf