Re: Medicare - Proofs Required
 

If you have paperwork / documentation about renting out your UK property then that should be as good as proof that you are selling it I would think....

Re: Medicare - Proofs Required
 

I feel for you... in fact we had exactly the same problem. We hadn't registered for Medicare when we validated either. Even though it was 6 months ago for us, it still makes me feel stressed thinking about it. Ha - I've found my blog post about it (cut and pasted below)!!

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We finally managed to enrol with Medicare today – only our 4th visit to Medicare since we got to Australia. Wow it’s not as easy as it seems. Here’s the story:

Visit 1: 29/12/08 Get to Medicare desk in S*****d, wait for 10 mins whilst the lady at the desk finishes arranging her weekend party on the telephone, Get given form to fill in, Go fill in form and come back to desk, Lady not there, Wait another 5 mins before she reappears, She says “oops I forgot that the systems are down today and I should have told you just now”. WTF, we were only standing about 3m away filling in the forms – she could have just told us instead of making us stand there filling in forms with the baby crying away.

Visit 2: 31/12/08 Get to Medicare in the City, Take a machine generated ticket, Wait 45 mins till our number comes up, Go to desk allocated, Lady 1 there looks at our passports and does something on her system, After 5 mins then makes us move to the desk/booth to the right with another colleague, Lady 2 takes our passports and does something on her system, Gets up and goes somewhere, Comes back 5 mins later and says that because it has been over 12 months since our visa grant we need to fill in return resident forms which need similar, but critically different set of documentary evidence as well as a statutory declaration that she can’t witness! Hmm, slink away feeling crap after having waited so long.

Visit 3: 06/01/09 Medicare in S*****d again as we’re in the vicinity. Go to desk, noone there. A lady finally appears and we start palming off all the evidence and extra documents we’ve filled in. Have brought along email from citibank proving that the account is open, house sale doc from UK and hubby’s employment contract. Nope – not accepted. The email is not sufficient and we need a letter, but citibank did not send a letter as it’s all done online. Hmmmm. Still need to prove residency – wait a mo’ we have our NSW drivers’ license now. Nope that’s on the list for proving residency for the Medicare enrolment, but not for the returning resident list. Grrr.

Visit 4: 06/01/09 Medicare in S******d (1hr after visit 3). Same lady is at the desk. Go straight up to the desk and dump 2 A4 files worth of documents on there. We have citibank cards attached to letters (that arrived in the post between visits), house sale doc, employment contract, P45s from UK, docs from the removalists, statutory declarations (explaining why we had validated instead of moving straight to Oz and witnessed by a dentist), birth certificates for all of us, marriage certificate, Uni degree certs, UK bank closing statements, Random grad ball photo that somehow got into the folder, Dog import docs. I just said – here take your pick. She took some of it and went off to photocopy it. After that it was so straight forward. She did a little bit of data entry and we had our medicare numbers printed out within 5 mins.

So finally 14 days after entering the country and 4 attempts we have been enrolled. Well, at least they’re quite stringent in making sure those getting medicare are entitled to it but it was pretty ridiculous that each time we went it was like the bloody Krypton Factor of hurdles.
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Re: Medicare - Proofs Required
 

4 family members, arrived in two groups: took a number, was seen within 5 minutes on both visits. 10 minutes of form-filling, job done.

Medicare cards arrived in the post Friday.

My experience so far of red tape is reassuring - people are doing the background checks that need to be done in order to confirm you are who you say you are. And red tape means the agencies have to stick to the rules, which can be a good thing if you know what you are entitled to...;)

Getting docs certified round here is a doddle - most MP offices have someone able to certify e.g. JP.

Re: Medicare - Proofs Required
 

don't disagree with you twinset, my original post says I can see where they are coming from,

the reasons i posted were to
(a)check it had happened to someone else and so were the rules, Both GracieK and movingaway confirmed this, although it also sounds like the rules do vary from office to office, and
(b) let people know that if you have validated your visa a while earlier you require more docs at medicare, even if you never registered when you validated your visa. To help people be prepared with the right documents.

Would I be correct to assume that as yours were straighforward you hadn't validated your visa a while ago?

thanks

Re: Medicare - Proofs Required
 

Hi Hopalong,

Fair comment! Was mainly responding to Gracie Ks experience - should have quoted it - and the reason I came fully prepared with the conversation I needed to have and bits to support was because of forums like this.

It is a lot easier if you are not already validated, however, main point stands - if you have a little knowledge of the system, approach the desk with a fairly detailed ask for the clerk and all should go well. Definitely worth seeking a second opinion from another office or clerk......

Guess the 100 point issue would have to be addressed though, as your 6 weeks grace would be well expired.....:)

Pies

Re: Medicare - Proofs Required
 

For some reason the 100 point issue seems to count from when you move here permanently not when you validate your visa, for banks that is the case anyhow, so far it only seems to be medicare that looks at the date your visa is granted.....but there may be others i have yet to come across.
agree, forum has proved invaluable, which I guess is why i (& presumably you) am trying to give a bit back by letting others know about medicare....

Re: Medicare - Proofs Required
 

The more information that is out in the open, the more prepared people can be....does seem odd that everyone else seems to be in step over the 100 points issue except Medicare.....although, in saying that, I had to go through all the hoops again with my new employer and their credit card supplier, and do Oz police checks, although I have only been in the country for 3 weeks.... sometimes, it's just easier to ask them all how high they want me to jump....glad I had all the documentation I needed, except qualifications which are in a container somewhere....BUT the agency I used had scanned all the docs some time ago, and they had back-ups - worthwhile checking with your agency if you need critical documents but can't find them.

But now I am well off-topic.......hope all goes well for you on attempt 2....:thumbup:

Re: Medicare - Proofs Required
 

I also had to deal with a jobsworth at the Brisbane CBD office. I'm here on a 457 but she needed proof that I'd been living in the UK.

She didn't wouldn't accept a copy of my tax return copies or our last utility bills. Instead she insisted on copies of my bank statements (what the hell does that prove?) and references from my previous employer (wtf!). It was a severe case of tongue biting for me.

When we received the card she had spelled my O.H.'s name wrongly.

Re: Medicare - Proofs Required
 

That is in fact compliance with the rules for reciprocal Medicare. There is an abiding myth its based on citizenship - not true.

Re: Medicare - Proofs Required
 

I completely understand the rules for reciprocal medicare. Citizenship doesn't come into it at all on a 457 visa. It was the jobsworth's attitude that I was referring to!

Re: Medicare - Proofs Required
 

When we got our reciprocal cards the clerk was a lovely lady who apologised for asking for proof that we were entitled to health care in the UK. Our passports weren't enough proof - however as it had said on the information we'd looked at online that we may need such a document, we had taken our NHS Cards with us.

They didn't even look at the proof of residence stuff we had for Australia!

Re: Medicare - Proofs Required
 

An Update.......

I went into the same medicare office and as suspected the lady had got it wrong and the man said I didn't need any of the documentation I had been told to get. He just did it all from my passport and application form. He said I had PR and that was indefinite and that was all I needed.

He was extremely frustrated at his colleagues who keep not learning the rules despite regular training / updates, I got the impression this was a regular frustration of his. I was pretty relaxed, as not having a job yet time is something I have so I didn't mind the wasted time getting the extra paperwork. I did suggest that if they had weekly team meetings he may want to raise it, poor guy just looked exasperated and said it is raised daily, but they just don't learn.

I'd love to recommend him, but then that wouldn't be fair on him to go public after his comments on his colleagues.

Anyhow he had a great attitude as well, really helpful, really apologetic, whereas the first one was rather short, rude and defensive and I had to work hard to try to understand what the problem was and what exactly I needed to prove.

As I say, I didn't mind getting the extra paperwork, but I'd recommend that people go straight back to the queue, pick another number and just see another person at the same office straight away, that is if you feel that asking the first person that you want a second opinion is too confrontational.

Anyhow, I thought it was very interesting to hear that I was not the only one asked to get the extra paperwork, and good to confirm for those yet to come, that it was not needed.

Good luck.

Re: Medicare - Proofs Required
 

Delighted all went well - as a rule, most of the people I have dealt with around admin here have been polite, courteous and keen to ensure that we were fully informed.

Some examples: our bank manager took the time to register us for internet banking citing jetlag as a reason for doing it onsite, then explained all the key places to go for various admin tasks.

The ARB 4wd accessories guy gave me a tour of his depot, including hard hat and hi-vis jacket(!)

Medicare polite and courteous to a fault.

Auspost explained the cheapest and most efficient way to get a mailbox (not in the city, select email notification).

It has been a revelation to come to a new country and to experience a sustained high level of customer service......:thumbup:

Re: Medicare - Proofs Required
 

We are Australian citizens living in Ireland for the past 9 years. Late last year we returned to Oz with the intention of getting work and eventually selling our home in Ireland and buying one in Australia.....to retire there. We were staying in a friends apartment and with no permanent address of our own were refused a medicare card. We were dumbfounded to say the least. As it happened my husband in IT all his working career and previously employed in banking in Sydney could not get a job. I too in banking could not secure work. We had to return to Ireland. We were told in the medicare office that lots of Australian citizens were coming back to Australia and using medicare to have operations etc. and then leaving the country after they had their procedures done. That is why the government put a cancellation on medicare cards if one is out of the country for more than two years. Just thought I would add this to the discussion as it is not just new arrivals to Oz that have these problems. We worked in Oz for 20 years plus and have never received any benefit for all those years paying tax at the highest rate. We never received child benefit as our earnings were regarded as too high. We paid our medicare levi in terms of tax and also insured ourselves privately. Australia is no longer the fair country it once was it seems. Will still visit from time to time but we will spend our hard earned cash saved for retirement (when it arrives) on this side of the world me thinks.

Re: Medicare - Proofs Required
 

It is perfectly reasonable to require that only those living in Australia are eligible for Medicare.

Had you remained in Australia, obtained driving licences, put children in school, etc, you would have been eligible for your cards. But you say you returned to Ireland for work reasons, not Medicare.