Julian927

No, we have no regrets except for the exchange rate, although we managed to do a forward order for 1.76 for most of our funds, we got about 1.7 for our visa charge - that looks positively great compared with what it is now. We are hoping for an increase in rate, just like all of British Expats readers in order to exchange our remaining moneys and OAP money building up at a vast 0.5% interest rate in the one bank account that one is allowed to leave open in the UK.
As far as the move is concerned and living over here - absolutely no regrets whatsoever. Last weekend our daughter arranged for us to travel to Tasmania with her for 5 days....our son, his wife and grandchildren came up to collect their dog which we looked after for a further few days. It is lovely to be part of family life once again.
It is quite fun shopping and trying out different brands. We make a conscious effort not to always look for English brands. I have heard people on here upset because things are more expensive....well....I think the meat over here is much better quality, the beef in particular. We had stopped being able to eat beef in the UK because of the price, here it is very reasonable and beautifully tender.
So no regrets other than the exchange rate!
Julie

fiz

That all sounds so positive..great! I am moving out to Sydney in September (following a quick 2 week validation trip in April). I'm looking forward to it enormously but I must confess to feelings of trepidation too-partly financial-but also because it's a big thing to do on your own-though of course my son and daughter and their families will be 10,000 miles closer than now.

Fiz

Les Avalook

You were badly informed by someone.

There is no rule that says you can only leave one bank account open in the UK.

It is easy to get almost 6 times the rate you are getting with internet access with UK banks.

I know that Nationwide offer that and many other high street banks allow that too.

Julian927

Whereabouts are you going to live? If you are anywhere near the Central Coast we are at Woongarrah and would be only too happy to help you settle in.
Julie

Julian927

You are correct. There is no "rule" as such but we are trying to prove our Australian domicile as quickly as possible and have been reliably informed that keeping more than one bank a/c each in the UK ( amongst several other things) would jeopardise that as far as HMRC is concerned.
We have other funds in the UK earning 2.75% but since it is not an instant access a/c we are keeping the equivalent of 10% of it in an instant access a/c in the hope that we can take advantage of any spike in the exchange rate and do a forward order with UKForex.

Ian & Julie

Les Avalook

Thanks for explaining that, I just felt anyone new to the thread might get the wrong idea.

Agree with your thinking.

jtct

I was expecting ours around September/October but could be any time from around June at this rate. (Our application was approved in early May 2010) .... and the $ has picked up a little, good news, as we were basing our calculations on 1.50 to the £1 after last year's plunge

jtct

The exchange rate seems rather volatile at present - is the situaltion in Japan causing the Far East markets to fluctuate more than normal and do you think this will effect the long term $ rate?

Good to here some positive feedback ('scuse the pun') regarding food prices. We found if you buy Aussie brands there is little difference in the weekly bill. (mind you, that was just for a few weeks when we were in Adelaide and touring SA during Jan and Feb) I'm happy to change the habits of a lifetime (even go without Marmite) and look forward to shopping for bargains as always.

Hopefully by this time next year we will be finding out for ourselves.

SteveDW

Forgive me if I'm being stupid but this has confused me. When you say 'expecting ours' I presume that you mean a Case Officer? I always thought that once your application had been approved, a CO would be assigned pretty quickly, not over a year later? Or have I misunderstood this completely?

Les Avalook

Yes.

jtct

'Fraid so!

When we applied we were told Case Officers were assigned about 15-18 months after your application had been acknowledged (around September in our case) That seems to be nearer 12-14 months now.

SteveDW

Thanks for the replies.

I've been informed by my lawyer that it takes around 15 months after the application has been made (i.e. lodged with the govt. dept. concerned) before a case officer is assigned. Then they make the decision whether or not to approve the application. But, if you say that the application has to be approved, then I wait 12-14 months before a CO is assigned, that is completely different. I shall have to check with him.

Les Avalook

Your application is not approved when you lodge it, it is just received and acknowledged with your first payment, then you wait ?????? for a CO then he checks your application and if that is OK he will then ask for Meds, Police check and Aos.

This then followed by payment of Aos bond and then if all passed the 2 Vac payment followed by the visa.

Why are you using a lawyer? Most of us on here have not even used an agent as with help on the web you can do it yourself.

fiz

How kind of you! I'm hoping to rent for 12 months in an area on the Northern Beaches: Avalon/Newport possibly or Freshwater if I can't find somewhere in my first choices. I'm not too sure how far the Central coast is..I know you can get the ferry from Palm Beach but that's the extent of my knowledge!

Fiz

SteveDW

What you say is exactly how I expected things to pan out, but I was confused by this post:

"I was expecting ours around September/October but could be any time from around June at this rate. (Our application was approved in early May 2010)"

I understood this to mean that the application was approved may 2010, CO expected anytime from june 2011.

I'm actually using an agent, not a lawyer. Some applications are different from the usual ones, and even with an agent I'm going to have problems. So far they've been absolutely invaluable. Believe me, I don't like spending this kind of money unless I really have to. Nothing about my circumstances has been on this forum, and I've read every page.