Advice on First Visit - what to do
 

Hi all

Just making a mental checklist fo things to do when we do our first entry next week.... anything else we should think of?

-- Medical Cards - apply for
-- Open Bank account.

What docs should we take with us for this? What will we need?

What else would be logical for us to do when we get there?

Thanks
T

Re: Advice on First Visit - what to do
 

Hi

Bank account: Take a statement from your old bank not more than 3 months old. ID; Passports with stamped visa in of course, an old utility bill from your old address, or take as much ID as poss just in case. Credit cards for further ID.

We opened an account with The Commonwealth bank of Oz in Uk and they only wanted the above but needed our solicitor to evidence our passports. No probs.

Medical cards, straight onto that.

Tax numbers so you can work (don't know where you will get these but I presume a tax office)

A job!!

A place to live!!

Go to the beach

A surf board

Sun block

Anti depressant tablets for home sickness, if you feel it coming on

The list goes on.................

Good luck with it, we will be 2 months behind you, so I'm glad I made this list!!!

Walla

Re: Advice on First Visit - what to do
 

TFN is available from your local ATO office or apply online once you've entered at www.ato.com.au

Open a bank account within 6 weeks, then your passport counts for 100 points rather than 60.

Medicare cards; If you go into any medicare office about a fortnight after you arrive with your passport, they'll provide you with the right form and also a temp card till yours arrives in the post.


This may help you also :)
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...light=mlbonner

Re: Advice on First Visit - what to do
 

Hi mlbonner

That's an interesting point: We have opened an account in UK.

In order to get the 100 points will it just be a case of me activating my account within 6 weeks once there?

Do you have any links to Oz credit scoring system or advice?

Thanks

Walla

Re: Advice on First Visit - what to do
 

WHat is this about points? Huh?

We have our PR but no idea about points for the bank... I am blonde... sort of... HELP!

Re: Advice on First Visit - what to do
 

You need 100 points to identify yoursef to the bank, to open an account.

The passport is normally worth 60, but if you do it early then it is classed as 100.

Credity Cards are classed as 25 points, I think.

This Link shows the full points lists.

Passports are normally 70 points.

Re: Advice on First Visit - what to do
 

Ah, I see, so I've opened my account and I already have my 100 points my wife tells me as we had to send our passports off, right got it now.

I wrongly thought it was for credit rating, sorry

Walla

ID Reference Documents

Under the Financial Transactions Reporting Act we are required to obtain suitable identification from you before we can open an account. The 100 point Check is based on allocating points between 25 and 100 to certain identification documents. For you to be sufficiently identified you must present documents with a minimum total value of 100 points.

To obtain the 100 points, there must be at least one form of identification from Category A (see table below) and if 100 points not achieved, further documents from Category A and/or Category B until 100 points has been achieved.

Note:

* Original documents must be sighted. Photocopies are not acceptable.
* Only one of Passport, Birth Certificate, NSW Birth Card or Citizenship Certificate is acceptable. E.g. can not accept both a Passport and a Birth Certificate.
* Unless otherwise indicated, only current identification is acceptable. Document with an expiry date must be current at the time of presentation.
* Banks reserves the right to request additional identification to satisfy the opening of an account.

The table below shows examples of the type of identification that may be accepted in each category.

Points Category A Documents
100 Under 18 - Birth Certificate (Full or extract is acceptable)
100 Under 18 - Passport (Current or Expired within 2 years)
100 Under 18 - Citizenship Certificate
70 Passport - Current or expired within 2 years (Note: Only one of Passport, Birth Certificate, NSW Birth Card or Citizenship Certificate is acceptable).
70 Valid NSW Birth Card
40 Australian Driver's Licence - Current with photo and signature
40 Education ID card - photo or signature (Issued by a Tertiary Institution)
40 Proof of Age 18+ card - photo and signature
40 Government Card with photo or signature as evidence of financial benefit e.g. Pension card
40 Public Employee ID card - photo or signature
35 Letter from current Employer - On letterhead and signed by customer and employer
35 Council Rates Notice - Rates notice must contain the full name of the signatory, ie: John Smith as opposed to J Smith. For a rates notice to be worth 35 points it must state that the signatory is the owner or occupier of the property to which the notice was sent and the document is current.

Points Category B Documents
70 Birth Certificate (Full or extract is acceptable) Note: Only one of Passport, Birth Certificate, NSW Birth Card or Citizenship Certificate is acceptable. Eg: can not accept both Passport and Birth Certificate.
70 Citizenship Certificate
35 Mortgage documents (Suncorp or another Financial Institution)
25 Credit/Debit ATM Cards - only 1 identification document per financial institution can be accepted.
25 Medicare Card
25 Marriage Certificate
25 Phone, electricity or gas account
25 Other Financial Institution Records e.g. bank statements - only 1 identification document per financial institution can be accepted; e.g: cannot accept a Westpac card and a Westpac statement.

Re: Advice on First Visit - what to do
 

Sorry for the confusion! :D

(been at the gym which is why I hadn't replied, but ABC did a better explanation than I could have anyway :))

Previous posters have said it all!

The critical thing seems to be the first bank account. Once you have that - and in our case the minute we had set it up, literally - that bank will write a short letter of introduction:

"to whom it may concern: this is to introduce one of our customers... etc"

This then provides an awful lot of leverage and identification for everyone else.

You do need an address for the bank account, but a temporary one seems to do and you can change it when you get settled.

We applied for Medicare cards and found our details already on the system from working there 15 years ago! So they doled them out on day 3.

A mobile phone is a godsend - we bought a Nokia from a Virging shop, PAYG, for $120 inc. $50 worth of calls.

Credit cards are also worth setting up ASAP as the initial limits are apparently very low and you need to buy a lot of things at the beginning.

A local library card is helpful if you need to use the internet nd are not plugged in.

Your drivers licence is probably best done ASAP as well - the computer test is straightforward and you can walk out with a pretty new licence in an hour or less!

Just get the bank letter of intro and all the above will accept that as ident.