Julesricardo

I left England at age 20 & ran away from my family. I have lived in various regions of Australia ever since, visiting my parents & friends in England on 3 occasions, the last being 2006. After 20 years on anti-depressants, last September, I finally got so ill on them that I had to stop taking them. Since this time, it's as if I have come out of a very long, winding & dark tunnel. For the first time in my life I feel truly alive. In April I booked a single flight to the UK, in the belief that I could spend up to 26 weeks away from Australia, & receive disability income support, until I was settled & could establish myself in my small jewellery design business. I have now discovered that, in January 2013, Julia Gillard cut this entitlement down to just 6 weeks. Not a good move: forcing people who may already be unhappy (such as myself) are now forced to stay because of this. After years of undiagnosed Lyme disease, but finally starting to recover through complimentary medicine, I find myself unable to return to live in the UK unless I can financially support myself for the 3-6 months needed to pass/fail the Habitual Residence Test. I have no family ties, as both my parents have passed away, I am an only child, the rest of my family is either deceased, unknown to me, or have never been interested in me as an individual. I am 57. Can anyone offer me any hope, please?

Pollyana

Hi and welcome to BE

As another expat in Aus, not totally happy with her lot, you really do have my sympathy - one reason I am still here is because I can't afford to go home. There are a lot of others on here in a similar position to yourself, in various places across the world, and we have a lot of posters who have dug up really good resources back home to help returnees

One thread running at present is about someone returning from Japan, and there are some links in it which might proof useful to you - have a look, adn good luck
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...php?p=10797913

Julesricardo

Hi & thank you for your support.
I have been following the person in Japan.
Like them, it's the initial few weeks/months, until the results of the HRT are determined, that I'm mostly concerned about.
I've already looked at the Shelter website, but it doesn't seem to give much insight to someone already outside the UK.
I believe that the Citizens Advice Bureau are also a brilliant resource, but again for those already inside Britain.

BristolUK

There is no qualifying period. However, some staff do try to impose one.

That "waiting time" in the other thread is more about establishing a link with a local authority for housing purposes - although HRT is something that comes into it.

It is entirely possible to qualify quickly and without processing delays and there are examples in several other threads where people have accomplished this.

Unfortunately if you can't get them to accept you as being habitually resident from when you apply then that's when you'll hit problems if you cannot fund yourself.

If you can show the logical steps you have taken to move back, you have a chance.

This would include things like arranging accommodation - I appreciate that might be a bit of a catch 22.

Showing how you severed ties with Australia can also help. Stuff like ending a lease for where you lived. Closing a bank account there. Obviously a one-way ticket too.

Then there's your belongings. Did you bring them with you or are they on the way?

Opening a UK bank account helps, as does registering with a doctor. Contacting appropriate companies regarding your jewellery talents?

I wonder - do you have a part of the UK you're aiming for and why?

The best I can think of right now is the Australian money you mention. They'll pay for 6 weeks? How's it paid? How long could you stretch it out for?

It always helps to not claim benefit too soon after arrival.

Can you save a bit of money before going? Is there someone who will put you up?

Let's say that if you could do that and maybe get by for a few weeks your chances would be so much better.

Maybe you could even do something in the jewellery line. P/T work? If you make it can you sell some somewhere- if only a flea market...at least that way you are attempting to establish an income/contacts etc.

All would help indicating you are taking up residency and it might even provide a bit more cash.

There are no guarantees but maybe it gives food for thought?

Julesricardo

Hello & many thanks for your help with my dilemma.
I was hoping to secure accommodation upon arrival, once recovered from jetlag, & have been in contact with real estate agents, one of whom is willing to line up a bulk listing of rental properties for when I arrive.
I have yet to find an affordable freight company who does not need a door-to-door address, so my personal effects have not gone anywhere.
I would be cancelling my rental property lease, & vacating my house.
I would not be closing any Australian bank accounts for the time being as I believe that obtaining a new one in Britain is notoriously difficult.
I was aiming for south Devon, as I know the area well, from many years of holidays when growing up, & because the climate is milder.
Naturally I would register with a GP.
In regard to the 6 weeks of income I'd be entitled to, this would not stretch very far with rent etc.
If there was someone who could put me up I wouldn't be looking at renting upon arrival.
Basically I have pretty much given up on the idea of returning in late September, which is now only 8 weeks away.
I will be writing to Professor Peter Shergold, who is the new Chancellor at the University of Western Sydney, about the changes to the welfare system that impact so drastically on the situation.
He is currently working as a government advisor on welfare reform & would urge anyone else who is similarly disadvantaged by the current legal restriction, to which I referred in my first post here, to also do the same.
The last thing I wish to do is to return to the UK with a begging bowl.
What I did not include in my initial post was the fact that I live in Canberra, which is (in my opinion) very expensive & isolated.
Whilst I have managed to sell most of my best furniture, it has been to friends, simply because people here don't seem to want to buy perfectly good, reuseable items, so the level of waste is astounding, compared to most other places.
My other main issue is a dramatically reduced public transport service, in a very sprawled urban environment.
It is with these thoughts in mind that I have resigned myself to cancelling my flight, which will lose me half the fare, in favour of relocating to the fringes of the Central Coast where I will no longer be isolated (only 1 hour from Sydney) & can easily access local markets, where I can sell my jewellery, & where the transport services leave Canberra well & truly in the shade.
Naturally this has not been an easy decision to make.
I do still hope, in the absence of any reversion back to the former financial entitlement status, to generate enough income to sustain me for a later return to Britain in the coming few years.
Thanks for all the support!

BristolUK

Probably a good idea to delay a return just to be on the safe side.

I used to work in a UK homeless centre and people falling foul of the HRT had terrible problems.

Just a thought about Devon. If it was the end of the holiday season, that might make accommodation a little easier and cheaper?