Kerry and Kevin

We own a house in Cornwall, rent it as a longterm agreement and live in married quarters. We dont really want to sell it but have a small mortgage on the property, does anyone know if there are any restictions re emigrating with debt?
Thanks
kerry

paddyo

The oz don't give a monkeys fat clacker about your UK financial responsibilities. You start from scratch here.
You are on to a good thing by the way, own a house and let it out to cover the mortgage and use married quarters!!! I know Helston very well, was based there from 86-97 and used to own a house in Porthleven.
We live out here, rent an apartment in Manly, still keep our house in UK and rent it out via a managed service. All I do is transfer funds every month to cover difference between rent and mortgage and to also cover UK loan still going.
Just be aware that you will be strating from scratch here so won't get credit facilties straight away, you will also need proof of employment or job offer to get accomodation, unless you are going straight into Defence Housing.

paddyo

I am ex FAA CPO and know quite a few ex RN FAA people (mostly aircrew) and they like the base at Nowra (Albatross). Personally I think it sucks and the local town is boring, but, if you are happy with a quiet life and not bothered about lack of activities then you get a lot of house for your money if you are buying, not sure what the quarters there are like though.
Advance warning though, there is a large debate going on about the future of oz helo ops and where all training will be conducted. Nowra is a big consideration but the Army are pushing for all helo training to be conducted at Oakey so that may be an issue (not for a few years yet though).
As for dropping a rank, that is not strictly true. It is dependant upon several factors and if your hubby is in a shortage category trade, which a lot of them are these days, they may keep his current rate and, if desperate for that knowledge, even guarentee promotion to next up after probation period.
Transporting pets is easy but emotionally hard for some people because of the seperation ect. Your removals people will give you good guidance and the DIAC will have a section on bringing pets into Oz.
Hope it helps!

paddyo

Sorry, meant to add, whatever you do try and keep the UK property. If nothing else you have a fallback to go on in case things go pearshaped but it will act as a nice little pension when the mortgage is paid off and you will welcome the UK funds incoming to your Oz account! Thats our plan anyway, to live off my Armed Forces pension and UK house rental when I get too lazy to work!

Kerry and Kevin

Hi Paddyo,

thanks for replying. There is sooo much to consider, but I think we have decided to give it a go, your info has been real useful now we just have to go through the endless paperwork and pass the medicals etc! We arent bothered about Nowas being boring-as you know Helston is not exactly lively! it probably hasnt changed since you were here lol. As long as it has good schools and is near the coast it will do for us!

bit concerned about them possibly relocating cabs though, so we might have to look into that a bit more before we make the commitment.

Thanks again for your time,
Kerry

paddyo

Yes Nowra is by the coast and there are some nice beaches nearby, Jervis Bay is gawjus!!!
Yes, Helston always was an insular place but in a bizarre way you kind of got used to it!!.
As for relocating to Oakey, if you keep in touch with me I can always update you and will try and find a link to website which may give you a heads up, although I am only privy to this info cos of the particular job I am on at the moment.

Kerry and Kevin

Thanks Paddyo,

but I do have another question I'm afraid! I am studying a business degree part time with the Open University and have been told today that I cannot continue with my studies from Oz (every other country but!) Is there anything I could do from home that you know of? I am going to have to work after a couple of months so a full time course is no good for me-unless they are really cheap lol.

I am really enjoying working towards the degree, and would love to continue, so any info you have would be great

Thanks again, Kerry

paddyo

Kerry, When I did the OU a while back, one of the positive features was that you could do distance learning. I am extremely suprised that you cannot continue whilst in Oz. Who told you told and did it say you could not do anything at all or was there limitations on the tutoring or exam facilitation. They do have part time learning here at the TAFE centres (tertiary and further education) which may assist and you can transfer credits. But I would fully ensure that the OU give you the full story first, when I have dealt with them they have always been extremely helpful and positive.

Steve WEM

Hi,
I am thinking of applying to the RAN, and due to the fact that I wear glasses, I obtained a copy of the ADF eyesight standards. As stated in the Medical Requirements for Overseas Applicants, the ADF Minimum Vision Requirement (MVR) has three standards: MVR1, MVR2 and MVR3. (1 is the highest, 3 the lowest).

The following will probably only mean something to people who wear glasses, opticians, or both!
MVR3 states that the level of myopia cannot be greater than –1 dioptre, and the total refraction cannot be greater than –5 dioptres.

An eyesight prescription is made up of three parts; the sphere (a measure of the short- sightedness or myopia), the cylinder (a measure of the astigmatism), and the axis. The axis is not required for ADF standards.

For example, consider a prescription of –1.50, -3.25, x100.
The power of the myopia is –1.50 dioptres, and the astigmatism is –3.25 dioptres.
The x100 is not required.

The total refraction is calculated by adding the first two parts of the prescription (the sphere and the cylinder) together.
Therefore in this example, the total refraction would be –4.75.

I should like to ask three questions regarding this:

1. The myopia limit of -1 seems very low. Has anybody sent in an eye examination form with a myopia reading higher than –1, and if so, what happened?

2. Has anybody sent in a form stating that they were outside the MVR3 standard, and if so, what happened?

3. Has anybody had a waiver to the eyesight standards?

It is probably obvious now that I am outside the MVR3 standard!

I would be grateful for ANY advice or help with this, because at the moment I am considering Laser eye surgery so I can get myself to within the limits, but don’t really fancy it at all, due to the number of complications with the procedure.

Thanks for reading this, and possibly, somehow, hopefully, one day I’ll be Australia bound!

Steve

Kerry and Kevin

Hi Paddyo,

the OU were very helpful and said I can do it from Oz but it will cost at least twice as much and i would have to come back for certain exams and pay a £200 exam fee every time. Considering I have 5 years left that would be very expensive and they would only send them to a uk address so i would have to pay to send heavy books which would also prove costly. I think it would be less stressful to look in to tranfering credits and continuing in Australia, and now you have given me the name of the company that do it, I will start investigating!
Thanks once more for your help,
Kerry

paddyo

Kerry,
Just to avoid confusion, TAFE is like their version of a Polytechnic. Every town or city will have a TAFE or two!
But, I have looked at some online/part time stuff myself and it is very easy to look for. Your best bet is to look at the government website for the state you are going to, e.g. for New South Wales (Nowra) try nsw.gov.au and look at the education tab. I have found loads of stuff here and it will either be a TAFE or a Uni which has distance learning faculty!!
Credit transferral is easy as long as the course is recognised, just like all Uni's around the world.
Good luck!!

Kerry and Kevin

Thanks Paddyo, as long as i do one more course here I can still get a certificate in business studies so I will continue until we know for defo that we are emigrating.

Have you got any info that you could give me about Nowra? I have just brought up a webpage that says it has the highest crime rate in oz and the highest unemployment-this has started to get me worried! Ideally I would like to visit before we sign up but its going to cost about £6000, so you are probably the next best thing as you have lived there and where we live now.

The thing is, my husband is on the signal for po's I have just got a promotion and the kids are in a fantastic school, we have a very good life here but know that this is going to be our last chance to go as a family as Kev is due his half pension in May, and the kids are 7 and 6 so will benefit from the move and go willingly. If we get there and its not as nice as what we have I would be gutted and we would have to stay for 6 years and not be guaranteed a place in the british navy on our return. The place looks fine in pictures, but a little local knowledge from you would be sooooooooo helpful to help us decide.
sorry to keep asking you,
Kerry

paddyo

OK, here goes!! lol
I did not live in Nowra as such, I did a course here for 6 weeks back in 2003. I lived in the Senior Rates mess but obviously every night was spent out and about. I found Nowra dull, the crime and unemployment could be attributed to local itinerent populace (my PC skills refrains me from saying who they are, you will just have to make an educated guess..ahem...Walkabout). Whereas Helston has history, quaintness (yes really!!) and a friendly attitude I think Nowra is built on a necessity for it to exist rather than a willing for it to exist! People from Nowra will obviously disagree and say I have no concept of actually there, I mean, who is going to admit they chose to live in a shit hole!!! I spent every weekend in Sydney cos I could not bear to be in Southern Comfort territory with all those idiots!
On a positive note you are close to some lovely beaches, as a full time employed you will have a decent salary and so will enjoy some of the lifestyle. If defense housing is available then ok but if not then you will have a choice plus (I think) a allowance to rent/buy your own property locally. Wollongong up the coast is nice and more lively and with a student population more of a vibe about it.
OK, so lets just think Australia now....we have been here for 4 months and I think can make a relatively informed case for plus/minus so far. On the plus side is the weather (only just entered spring but when its not raining its lovely), the family centric lifestyle, the food and wine (oh the wine!!! mmmm), and the abundance of space and beautiful scenery to explore. On the minus;Public Transport is ok but no where near as efficient as UK, the politics over here is laughable (makes Helston Town Council look like the European Parliament), the cost of living is not cheaper than UK as people assume, its comparable. Cars can be expensive, especially 2nd hand bizarrely!, and if you are in a popular area the rents are high too (most things here are payable weekly, we pay $700 per week for our apartment in Manly but we are only here for 3 years so want to be in a decent place while we live here). Things you take for granted in UK are not so good here; internet and sat TV is expensive, online shopping is poor, tradesmen are good but quite laid back. Oh, and its BIG here!! People really have no comprehension of how huge Australia is, get a map of Uk and place it on a similar scale of Australia then you will realise how far apart the major cities (Melbourne/Sydney/Brisbane/Perth) are.
For my wife, 3 year old son and I it is good, I have a well paid job, my wife has a good laid back job (lucky cow!!) and our son is revelling in full time nursery (sorry son, I meant school!!). I am on a 3 year secondment from my office in UK and have a guarenteed job to go back to and as I am on a temporary business Visa I get good tax concessions for my food and accomodation. Plus I get to go home every night to our apartment by the beach!!
Your considerations have to be what is it about the UK that you DON'T like, apart from the weather you may find that all the others occur here just as much (youth crime, high fuel costs, high housing costs in good areas) and then compare that with what you DO like about UK (culture, family and friends, schools, careers).
It is by no means an easy decision but DO NOT use put on your rose tinted spectacles when making your decision. It IS nice here but at the moment we are quite happy to go back to UK in 2 1/2 years. As you are well aware, if you do decide to come over with hubby joining the RAN, you will have to complete a return of service and then there is no guarentee of return to RN, although in practicality I think it would be ok.
One other option, has he looked at exchange draft to RAN?? There are afew and even though people always fight hand and tooth for them a good bit of homework on his behalf and some serious plotting with drafty may bring dividends, always worked for me!! My ploy, and it always worked, was to spread the word around that I had got the billet and Drafty had nominated me, that way no one else bothered asking for it!! Machevilian I know!!
Kerry, keep doing your research and I will try and find soem decent websites for you to look at, keep bugging me cos I have an awful habit of forgetting things!!

touareg

Hi Steve

Tip Number 1 - DO NOT consider laser eye surgery as a means of meeting the requirements as this will almost certainly cause problems with the ADF medical later on.

Tip Number 2 - Get your application in and don't worry about the eyesight requirement at this stage.

I went through exactly what you're experiencing now ie. my eyesight fell short of the MVR. However, I passed the ADF medical on a waiver with no problems whatsoever. Bottom line - if the ADF wants you, there are mechanisms in place to ensure that it gets you. Happy to discuss further if required. Good luck!

Touareg

paddyo

Totally concur with Touareg, go the normal route first, then, and only then, if things don't go to plan look at your options!