onceinalifetime

Hello all, we are desperately in need of some advice. We have been in Northern NSW for 18 months now, and are seriously thinking of returning back to the UK. I am a nurse cognitive therapist, wife is a general nurse. 2 kids one in yr 6 other in yr2.

We are eligible for citizenship in Nov 2008. Our dilemma is do we wait for citizenship? This wouldn't be such an urgent issue if the eldest daughter wasn't about to go into secondary school. As we see it there are three possible scenarios:

1. Return to UK in July so that we can organise housing in catchment area for school (already applied, just need to have an address to bump us up the list), and forget about the whole thing (PR visa expires July 2011)

2. Stay in Aus, apply for citizenship and then bring kids back once we have obtained this. This of course means she starts mid year/beginning of year 8.

3. One of us stays in Aus, applies for citizenship, while other returns to UK with kids in time to start school in September.

Citizenship is really an insurance policy and something for the kids (possibly) in the long term, don't envisage returning to Aus to work, but you just never know. We didn't really think we'd be returning to the UK!

Would be really interested in the opinions of others (which is the most likely explanation for my decision to post on a discussion forum). If I'm honest I don't really want to be leaving in July, but I don't really want to stay another couple of years either..... Oh the joys of making decisions...

travelbug

I think i would try and hold out for citizenship if it were me.... but then i'm not in the position where i have to make a choice between the two and i guess it all depends on the circumstances behind your decision to come back to the UK...

helen roberts

Hi, don't know if this is any help with your decision making process, but your daughter will not (in my opinion) be educationally disadvantaged from missing year 7 in the UK. Kids are pushed so hard for their SATs at the end of primary school, that a lot of year 7 is spent working out where they're actually up to and teaching them things they would have learnt before if they weren't cramming for SATs. From what I can gather about the Australian educations system, it teaches kids to be well rounded, sociable people and not just how to pass exams. Your daughter will fit in just fine in year 8, I'm sure.

Good luck.

Helen (high school teacher.)

quoll

If you can stand it, you have already done the hard yards so hang around and get citizenship - you never know if it might come in handy one day. I doubt that missing the first year of HS for your daughter is going to be that much of a problem - but you may find that she hasnt covered some of the year 7 content so I would be checking what the UK year 7 syllabus covers so you can be prepared for a bit of additional work. This would be most obvious in maths where there is obvious continuous building on work previously done. Perhaps also science. Most of the other subject areas are more stand alone. Kids are generally resilient and I am sure she would fit into a year 8 group without too much hassle.

Stuey26

I would having done the hard bit hang on get the citizenship it'll give more options for you and family in future. The first year at senior school won't be that much of a disaster to miss and it could only be a few months

Machiavelli

3. One of us stays in Aus, applies for citizenship, while other returns to UK with kids in time to start school in September.

Citizenship is really an insurance policy and something for the kids (possibly) in the long term, don't envisage returning to Aus to work, but you just never know. We didn't really think we'd be returning to the UK!


Not sure, but fairly certain, that if only one of you applies for citizenship then only that one of you will be able to return to Australia when the other family members PR visas expire in July 2011. The one who remains here will not be able to apply for citizenship for children who are not living in Australia.

If, in the future, you decide that you'd like to come back here, the one who is a citizen would have to return to Australia to live and sponsor the rest of the family through the whole PR visa process again. Not sure what visa you'd be applying for though, maybe Spouse?

If it were me I'd just stick it out until your whole family can become citizens.

We also found out, (luckily because we had already booked a holiday), that once we became citizens we had to apply for Australian passports so that we could leave and re-enter Australia. When you become a citizen your PR visa automatically expires.

I think I've heard of someone who did leave/return on British passport after gaining citizenship, but they had a carry on at the airport when they returned.

Cost us $200 for each adult passport, and $100 for each child.

Good luck with your decision, and I hope this helps in some way.

M

NKSK version 2

Stay and get it.

She's only just going in to secondary. If she was about to start year 10 or above it would be a more tricky decision but at this stage it's a no-brainer.

Gems

I would stay and get the citizenship to be honest. If the kids want to come back in the future it will be so much easier for them.

We have kids and moved the eldest when he was in high school. It doesnt really effect anything in Year 7 or 8. He fitted in fine at this age and it didnt make any difference.

Only age I would be careful is when they start GCSE work around 15/16 age.

Hubby is a teacher, and we have lived in other foreign countries. So know about moving kids about.

Gems

Centurion

one thing to remember that even if you are eligible to apply for citizenship :

1. It will take at least 6 months from your becoming eligible to taking the test, getting to a ceremony and getting a passport. You personally have to stay to take the test and attend the ceremony. Long trips from the UK..

2. Is it really worth it if you have no intention of living here ?

Rosscarbery

Get your citizenship. As you said you didn't expect to be returning to the UK, you never know what might happen in a few years you might want to come back.

Re. your daughter, if it were me I would try and ensure that she goes to a high school here where she can do French or German (a lot of them favour the Asian languages which obviously make very good sense if you are going to live here, but it would probably be harder to find a UK school where she can continue). I would also have a look at the Y7 UK history curriculum and maybe get some books for home as the high school history here seems to be very much about Australian history (fair enough). My eldest started here half way through Y8 last year and history was the one subject he found very different.

donna

Is that true about the passport?do we have to apply for Aussie ones once we are citizens?My uk one has years left on it so i wasnt going to renew it with an aussie one until then?
donna

Machiavelli

There was a thread last month.

Don't know how to do the link to thread thing, sorry

Search for "citizenship and passport"

M

NickyC

Yes you do have to apply for Australian passports if you want to enter Australia after you become an Australian citizen.

Your visa is automatically cancelled once you become a citizen - so you won't be able to enter Australia on your British passport (not without a lot of hassle anyway). You can still use your British passport to enter Britain.

You don't HAVE to get an Australian passport - if you never intend to leave the country to go overseas (for any reason) you won't have any need for one.

JenJen

i'm pretty sure my husbands aunt has both her Uk and Aussie passports running together?

And the who knows what happens in the future and wanting to have the option for your kids to choose what country they and you live in, in a few years isn't uncommon I don't think, but that being said and working from the little info you've given, surely if you want citizenship to potentially give you and your children more options for the future then the decision shouldn't be too difficult?
Most kids i've found make a fuss of any new children starting part way through a school year and i'd be shocked if the school didn't have a settling in policy that being the case.

If you decide you dont want to do that and lose citizenship then I feel your stay of 18 months there has been little more than a brief interlude in a different place.

However thats just my opinion and you need to make your decision based on whats right for you all ?

Good Luck

donna

Oh bugger,not really intending to leave the country but you never know what comes up unexpected.
thx donna