Info need on paperwork after arrival

[alsgal]

Hi all,

We will be arriving in Adelaide on the 28th of July to activate our visas and to find a place to settle our son. Only our 18 year old son will initially remain in Australia but we would like to sort ourselves out whilst we are over activating the visas.

I know that we need to get tax numbers and register for medicare. Can anyone tell me whether we would be able to do this with no physical residential address? We are hoping to get a post box for any mail and could give a family members home address in Queensland if needed but would prefer not to do that.

Also what documents do you have to submit to get registered for tax & medicare?? Also want to exchange our UK drivers licence - do you need a residential address for this??

On another note I am trying to find accomodation for when we arrive. Looking for something that is not expensive as we are a family of 5 and will need 2 rooms if it's a hotel. Any ideas or recommendations??

Thanks everyone - looking forward to reading all your replies

Cheers,

Paula

[Dreamcatcher]

Hi alsgal,

As far as I know, you have to have a residential address, and you have to be able to prove it by means of a rental receipt, or similar document. As you say that your son is staying behind, why not use the place that he will be staying at/in, as your residential address? I suppose you will have to rent him a room or unit somewhere? Motel addresses are sometimes accepted as residential if you can prove it is long term.

Can't help you on the accomodation side though - sorry!

Greetings,

Dreamy

[Mara]

Hi Alsgal

I agree with Dreamy, you have to have a physical address and be able to prove that you live there!

With regard to accommodation, if you book just before you come you can use the following website. You can only book 14 days in advance.

www.needitnow.com.au

[Riekie]

This is how we did it:

Hubby came over for his interview and while here, opened a bank account, using the address of a friend he stayed with during that time. (He did not have to have "proof of address" for the bank account - they simply asked him for his address and he gave it to them - they did not ask for any supporting document). Within a day or so, they mailed him some bank documents to that address. That was enough proof of address we required for everything else. You can apply for your tax number online and they will mail your number to the address you provide at the time, so in that case we did not have to prove our address by submitting any document. We are not on Medicare, so I would not know about that one.

Can't help you with accommodation in Adelaide, but I suppose it would be much cheaper than Sydney. We rented a 2 bedroom serviced apartment in the Saville for $235 (or $325) per day, which is very expensive - to give you an idea what serviced apartments go for. I would suggest booking yourself into a hotel for a few days and once you get here, start looking for a house to rent. Even WITH renting furniture, it works out WAY cheaper than a hotel or serviced apartments. Then there's also the backpacker hostel option - some are actually very good and have rooms with en-suite, but you still have to share the kitchen and other common areas. If you are an easy going adventurous family, it might be fun (and cheap! $120 on average per week). Last minute bookings for hotels: www.wotif.com.au (we used them before). Also, if you log onto www.realestate.com.au and www.domain.com.au there is an option for furnished rentals. You can search for your specific area etc.

Good luck with everything!!