ria Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 Hi!Husband and children are on British passports. Does that help with anything in Oz? I believe they do qualifyfor Medicare straight away? How about Centrelink? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Parsons Family Posted July 19, 2006 Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 Hi RiaAs far as I know it does not make getting into Aus any easier. It may even be more difficult as depending when last your husband lived in the UK he will need to get police clearance and believe it or not they take longer than our police .My Wife is british (actually scottish - best clear that up.. we know how they can get )and we have to get the clearance from Scotland Yard.Good luck... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annette Posted July 20, 2006 Report Share Posted July 20, 2006 Ria, the only thing that it does make a difference on is Medicare if you have a temporary (or provisional)visa. Now, that can be quite a significant difference if you're on a lowish income and can't really afford private medical insurance. Centrelink is dependent on the type of visa you have, not the passport. Also, the processing times of the visas are not supposed to depend on what type of passport you have, but from my research I have found that the region in which you applied for the visa must make a difference. If you look on Austimeline, you can see quite a significant difference. This, I believe is because different regions get processed by different divisions or sections of DIMA... Parsons family, we got our British clearance within 3 weeks, while we waited 6 weeks for our SA ones... probably depends on where you're applying from (and police clearances are a relatively new concept for the UK - before, this information would not have been accessible, even by yourself, due to the strict privacy and personal liberties laws). We had a LOT of trouble getting someone to take our fingerprints over there, as they are only allowed to do it if you are being charged with a crime Well, that's the Brits for you - pedantic and unyielding to the end! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madelein Posted July 20, 2006 Report Share Posted July 20, 2006 RiaA British passport means nil in Oz when you arrive. No benefits if you come over on 457 visa (as Annette explained). You have had to live in England for at least a year before arriving in Oz, then you will have the benefits of Medicare only. No Centrelink etc. My hubby is also a Citizen of the Netherelands, he did not get any benefits as he only stayed in Neth for a period of 6 months and they explained it to us. The only good thing of having a British passport is if you want to visit Europe, you do not have to apply for any visa. Although Oz has some connection with the Brits, you need to apply for a visa from any country to stay in Australia, even if you are from Europe. There is some countries that does get the benefits, as explained on the DIMIA site.Good luck!Madelein Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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