Last Cold Christmas

So, we've just had our last "cold Christmas" with my family and we really enjoyed it. Everyone was aware that we're going to be leaving in about a month, but we had a good time and nobody dwelt on the fact that this would be our last Christmas together, for a good while at least.

We had some nice presents including a photo album with pictures of all the family, and we made sure that we took lots of pictures during the days so that we have lots of memories to take with us, and to leave behind.

Taking Things for Granted

It's funny how we take things for granted. I regularly travel up to London to work and never really noticed anything, but the last few times I've been looking around and seeing things that have passed me by during previous trips.

I guess now that I've only a few weeks before I leave the UK, I'm tending to notice things that I will miss. Things like the cluster of red telephone boxes outside Charing Cross station, and the amount of things that happen in Trafalgar Square.

I remember the big screen that was erected during the Olympics and a couple of weeks ago there was an artistic installation where your shadow was replaced by moving images - very clever, and it's great to see this marvellous space being used.

I love wandering through the Victorian arcades, such as Burlington Arcade and Princes Arcade and, at the moment, they look their absolute best in their festive finery. Also, the Bond Street illuminations this year outdo (I think) those of its larger siblings, Oxford and Regent Streets.

I've a few more trips before the end of the year, so I shall have to remember to take my camera with me so I can capture a few memories of London at Christmas time.

Getting the Visa

I occurred to me while chatting to someone about my forthcoming move that I'd rather glossed over the visa process in my first blog entry. So I though I'd do a quick entry on what I had to do and the rough costs and timescales involved.

Initially we were going to do everything ourselves. However, after my wife had a conversation with someone who said that it had taken her over three years to get a spouse visa, we decided to find an agency to help us.

We visited the Toast Australia festival and met Dianne Perry of Advantage Migration. She gave us some useful information and when the time came to start the visa process we contacted her. 

She made sure that we had the latest forms to fill in and was there for us to answer questions when we weren't sure what to write. She also made sure that we supplied the correct documentation and checked everything that we sent before she sent them onto the Australian Immigration department.

Of course, this all costs money. Advantage Migration charge A$3000 for their services and the visa was about A$1500. On top of this was £10 for a police certificate that shows your criminal record (or lack of) and £250 for a medical.

We also had to get character references - preferably from Australians - saying what a fine fellow I was and show evidence that my wife and I had been together for a good while (bank statements, mortgage statements, insurances etc). 

One of the most surprising questions was that I had to supply a list of every time I had left the country in the last ten years. As I travel quite a bit with my job, that wasn't an easy task. However, with passport stamps, work invoices and, believe it or not, digital photo timestamps I managed to work out pretty much all of my trips - there were over fifty of them!

I applied for the visa around February/March time and I went for my medical in May. I finally heard in July that my visa had been granted and I have until May 2009 to validate it. 

Selling, Shipping and Scams

We've decided not to take too much with us as my wife still has a fair amount of stuff in storage in Australia. What we have decided to take is a few pieces of furniture, my guitars and amplifier, some books (mostly my cookery books) and personal effects.

The rest of our stuff, my CD's, LP's and various collections for example, will be looked after by my parents until we decide that we want to ship them over (the items, not my parents...) So I've arranged for a couple of companies, Robinsons International Removals and Excess Baggage to give us a quote.

Once of the things we're concerned about is shipping wooden items as we've heard that it can cost quite a lot to get them treated, so that is something that we will want to ask each of them, so at least we'll have an idea on costs.

Finally, my wife has been trying to sell her car on Autotrader. Within a day of the advert going online she had an email enquiry from someone allegedly in Spain who made a very good offer and said they would be sending a Certified Bank Draft for somewhat more than the offer and asking that we send the difference to the shipping company. Alarm bells started ringing and I began Googling to see what I could find out. From the number of people that had received almost identical emails, this appears to be a scam, possibly using stolen Bank Drafts that are cancelled after you have forwarded the money to the "shipping company" leaving you several thousand pounds out of pocket. So, be warned and if you are contacted this way, make sure you check it out thoroughly!

Jobs, Wills and Parties.

It took a little while, I guess the big corporate wheels turn quite slowly, but I have now had my job transfer to Sydney confirmed. The package isn't bad, although I lose some of my yearly holiday allowance which is a bit annoying. I sort of understand their reasoning as it would be a little unfair if I had more holiday than everyone else in the office, however I was led to believe initially that I would keep my current allowance. I can live with it though. However, I get some of it back due to the fact that Australia has more public holidays than the UK. It's not quite the same, but better than nothing.

I've sent my contract off to the people dealing with our finances to see if I qualify for any of the Living Away from Home benefits that Australia offer.

One of the things we've been meaning to do for a long time is to make a will. We did do one a year or so back with someone who was advertising in our local shopping mall. However, they made a real hash of it, getting names wrong etc so we demanded our money back. To avoid nasty things such as inheritance tax, we have to have a will made before leaving the UK. So, we thought we'd take advantage of Will Aid. This is a great idea where we can get a will made through a local participating solicitor and the money that we pay will go to charity. So, I booked up this morning for both of us to visit Thomson Snell & Passmore next week.

Finally, we decided that we'd have to have a party before we went, so that we could say goodbye to all our friends and family and this morning we booked a date at a pub/restaurant in Essex. It looks like a great place, and the person I spoke to on the phone was very friendly and helpful. We're going to pop up there sometime soon for lunch and to have a look around.

More Death & Taxes and more...

Having not been completely satisfied with the previous meeting I had about our financial stuff, I decided to go for a "second opinion". On the expat website forum I've been reading I came across the name of Montfort International so we booked an appointment to see them. They offer Saturday appointments which we found really handy.

Having arrived we sat and chatted to Geraint Davies, the owner who explained the various options and history of emigrating to Australia and then quizzed us about our affairs until he had a good understanding of our affairs and what we wanted to achieve. 

It's not just our pensions we need to take into consideration, but just about anything financial that we have interests in. But, as well as being told the nasty stuff there are also a few nice tax breaks that might be possible depending on various statuses of our situation.

After the meeting (which wasn't far off of four hours!) we both felt that we had a reasonable understanding of what we might be in for and that Geraint had a good understanding of what we want. So, we asked him to prepare some advice for us and to recommend a course of action for us to transfer our finances to Australia. 

Dates and Video Calls

My wife has given her notice in and leaves her job on 23rd January 2009. So, that seems like a good date for me to finish my UK job and then have a week in the UK to tie up any loose ends before we leave for Australia.

Once we arrive, we've decided that it makes sense to have a week to settle in which means that I'll be starting in the Sydney office on 9th February.

We're planning to stay in a hotel or serviced apartment when we arrive and then start looking for somewhere to rent once we arrive. We've been keeping an eye on the Sydney rental market and we've been told that it is a bit of a nightmare trying to find rented accommodation at the moment as the demand is outstripping supply. I guess we'll probably see what our options are nearer the time and see what happens.

We'll be looking at booking our flights and finding some temporary accommodation in the next week or so. I'm still waiting for the formal transfer to be completed by my firm, but it's all starting to become a reality.

My parents, after years of being anti-computer have decided that they are now going to get themselves online and have bought themselves a laptop. The main reason for this is to be able to keep in touch by email and video call when we're "down under".

Given that neither of them have really ever used a computer at all, they're not doing too bad. My Dad is really keen to master it and we've been making practice video calls over the last couple of weeks. I think he's pretty much got it now and is now trying to work out how to use Google Maps...

Death and Taxes...

Well, just taxes mostly.

The current issue I'm dealing with is trying to find out what to do with my pensions and investments. I've had a pension since I was 20 (I'm 44 now) and Australia has a thing they call Overseas Investments Tax, which means that any income I get from overseas investments will be taxed by the Australian government. I've been to see one financial advisor about it and have an appointment to see another in a week or so and then I'll have to decide whether to transfer my pensions and investments to Australia or leave them here. It all depends on how much growth they are likely to make weighed up (which you are taxed on) against how much they will actually pay out. It's something that the advisors will work out and then recommend a course of action.

I've also got to get in touch with the companies that run my life and critical illness insurances to see if I am still covered when I am in Australia. I suspect not, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

The Story So Far...

Back in 2001 an Australian girl came to work at my office. We got on very well and, by the end of the year we were seeing each other on a regular basis. Her original plan was to stay in the UK for a year and then return home to Australia.

However, she decided to stay in the UK and in 2005 we got married in Culzean Castle, in Scotland.

We decided that as she had been here for a while that I should give Australia a try so we began our preparations to begin our move to Australia.

We decided to sell our house and buy another one that we could rent out while we were in Australia. The process of selling and buying took a lot longer than we anticipated but eventually I was ready to apply for my visa.

I applied in February this year and I was granted a permanent Spouse Visa in July. Our plan is to emigrate in February 2009.

The firm that I work for has an office in Sydney and I have applied for a transfer there. I have been told that it is pretty much a formality and I am just waiting for the paperwork to arrive to confirm it. So, that is one rather large weight off of my mind and one less thing to have to worry about.

All we need to worry about now is finding a property (and that doesn't sound too easy either) and day to day living...