About jwana

Status:

Expatriate  

Gender:

Female

Currently Lives:

London, United Kingdom

Citizen Of:

Australia

Some Forum Posts:

Australia: Is that easy ?:

Hi there - I think you need to repost in the Austria forum...not the Australian forum.

Ireland: Are we mad to contemplate retiring to Ireland:

Hi there - I don't think you're mad at all. I am Australian born but left there many years ago & have been living in various places around the globe since then, including the UK & hope to one day retire somewhere overseas. However, you mention that you are Australian citizens & are planning to live in Northern Ireland on a pension. I'm assuming that this means you will be in receipt of an Australian pension so have you made sure that you will be able to receive this overseas? UK nationals can receive their pension if they live outside the UK (at this stage anyway) but as far as I know the Aust. government has made it very difficult for Australian nationals to receive a govt. pension if they leave the country for more that 12 weeks. Of course if you will be receiving a private pension then all should be Ok. Good luck! J.

United Kingdom: HELP!:

Hi Agnese - I'm not 100% clear on this but you may be able to apply to bring your partner to an EU country (other than your own & not the UK) under the EU Directive 2004/38/EC which gives freedom of movement to EU citizens and their families, including partners. You would need to locate yourselves in an EU country and you would need to find a job or prove that you have a way of supporting yourself financially. After 3 months in that country your partner can register for a EU residency card & then he can travel with you freely to the UK etc. Have a look at this site http://eumovement.wordpress.com/directive-200438ec/. You could also ask for advice on the European section of Immigrations boards site http://www.immigrationboards.com/. Good luck! Joanne

United Kingdom: Possibly moving to London...lots of questions!:

Hi there - I'm an Aussie who lived in the UK for 5 years - nearly 3 in London. If you are moving there because of your husband's job then his employer may assist with re-location advice etc. However, when I arrived in London with my daughter although I had a job lined up I had no house & very little spare cash. I went on loads of residents' forums beforehand and looked at websites (like upmystreet.com although I think this is now closed) to get an idea of the different neighbourhoods etc. But I ended up spending all my time in London renting in the SE although many people still seem afraid of this part of London - lol. Food for us was WAY cheaper than in Australia but rent & transport a lot more & this is what took up most of my budget. A house in an area with good & varied transport options will make your life much easier & happier. I did without a car the whole time & found it no problem - we just used home delivery for big grocery shops. A TV licence costs very little but is mandatory. Internet/phone packages vary so shop around for these - you could even start looking online before you re-locate. Energy providers also often a variety of packages so shop around for these too - I changed providers several times while I lived there. Good heating is a must for winter months but this will push up your energy bills. In the UK (unlike Australia) tenants must pay Council tax & all water bills - the former is priced according to where you live & can be quite high. A UK bank account is really handy but I'm sure your husband's workplace can organise this. I had a great time in London but don't expect people to be that helpful or friendly - it's a big city & Londoners are notoriously reserved & like to stay in their cliques. But you will meet people through work & if you tone down your manner a little (as I had to!) you'll find you won't scare them away too much - lol! That's all I can think of off the top of my head for now- feel free to PM or post more questions. Good luck!

Date Joined:

11/28/2009

Total Posts:

9

Posts/Day:

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