Red_V_Roger

So we have been here a year today!

I called in to the local Medicare office to ask if they could renew our Recprocal Health Care Cards (we are on 4 year 457 visa) and they only gave us one year Medicare Cards when we arrived, so they run our tomorrow.

They said that we had to go through the whole process again of bring down our passports etc...and because me and the wife are on the same card, we really need to go and do it at the same office and time. That means I will need to take half a day off work to go to meet the wife somewhere in Sydney CBD as she cannot get time off.

Does anyone know if there is any easier way...its a bit silly that they would not have given us 4 year cards in the first place or that they could not just look up the passports etc from last year and see that they were still valid.

But if there is one thing we have learnt in the first year in Oz, they do like to over complicate things and especially like filling in forms and scoring points (but we love it).

Anyone any ideas...?

northernbird

Our local Medicare office is open on Saturday mornings. It is located in a shopping centre. You may find one close to you that has Saturday opening. We had to do exactly the same thing. On renewal after the first year they gave us one for the duration of the our visa. Mention it when you renew.

http://www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/...ms/offices.jsp

Red_V_Roger

Thanks, yes weekend could be an option - only we are going away this weekend..but still may be could find a Medicare office near where we are going.

paddyo

This is just another example of how the departments here are completely out of touch with process and structure. The amount of times in my short duration here that I have had to replicate my forms and have countless copies of my documents doen is unbelieveable.
I mean, you have a medicare card, therefore you have shown all that is required. Why in the bloody name of Hades can it not just be renewed annually (prefer the long term version till your 457 expiry date myself) with simple attendance at the medicare centre locally? It makes them look really really stupid, and I know they are not, but nearly as bad as americans!

Cant rain all the time2

We renewed ours last week and told them we did not know when we were going back ( if ), and asked them to issue the card to the end of our visa and they did no problem.

Red_V_Roger

We went to Sydney CBD office and the snotty cow would only give us another year. What we found unbelievable was that we had to fill all the forms in again and she had to manually re-type it as a new application, plus check our passports, visas, etc even though they were exactly the same as last year.

The software people obviously forget the 'issue new card, details unchanged button'.

Katherined0

We only got another year on ours as well (457 visa) and we had to show our old medicare cards, our passports, NHS cards all over again. A real pain! I agree.

I dont understand why they cant date it until the end of our visa.....

paddyo

I repeat...cos they are F#ckwits!!! !!!!!

Gems

Thats odd, our medicare cards were issued with 3 year on, this was for the 457 visa. Issued in Perth centre medicare.

We should get PR before they run out(have to wait 2years before employer does PR) and then apply for the other card. Although I have found this card covers most things anyway.

Gems