Do we need to pay off our debts first?

Question

My husband and I want to move to Australia. We are both skilled professionals but we have some credit card debt and a loan. Do we need to pay these off before we go?

Answer 1

Yes. Definitely be debt free when you go.

Answer 2

If you don't pay them off it may adversely affect your ability to get a home loan or a personal loan. When I took out a car loan after I got to Australia the finance company checked my credit history in the UK to make sure I didn't have a history of defaulting on my debts. I expect they consider it a high risk to loan you money if you have already "skipped" one country while owing money, even if you still intend on paying it off.

Answer 3

Hi, it is not compulsory however is a factor and of course there are many other factors. I recommend you complete the on-line assessment from the Visa Bureau. You will receive a call and it will be discussed in detail. There is no charge for this. Best of luck http://www.visabureau.com/australia/

Answer 4

no but you need to leave new address details with credit card companies and loan company you also need £2000 in your bank account for six months before you apply for a visa ...good luck

Answer 5

Its hard to believe that you are "skilled professionals" if you need to ask a question of this nature on a site such as this.
I might also point out that just because you want to emigrate to Australia it does not mean that Australia will want to let you in.
Heed Peter F's words above.

Answer 6

No, what you need to do is leave a forwarding address with your creditors.

Answer 7

I am a public accountant and previously worked in the insolvency industry and it is my experience that people who develop financial problems did not normally foolishly spend, spend, spend. Usually things went wrong through marital, business or employment problems that resulted in them getting into some debt. Then the debt spiral started and gradually built up to a point where they can no longer meet their debts.
Most people owe the most money to huge organisations. It is little known by the general public that big organisations INSURE for bad debt. They will normally cover any eventual loss by a claim against their insurers. The insurers won’t pay out unless the debtor has died, become bankrupt or LEFT THE COUNTRY!
Just get up and leave. Have your mail returned to sender with the notation moved out of the UK (or even moved to Canada). LOL. Now they can quickly claim on their insurers without having to spend a lot of time and money hounding you into bankruptcy. They still get paid. The insurers lose a little money but that’s built into their charges to the banks. The debt between the debtor and the lender is a debt between them only. If the insurer pays out, they generally cannot recover from the debtor.
Immigration departments in most countries do not consider insolvency or debts owing when assessing cases unless the applicant is seeking a business visa. If you are off to Australia as a skilled worker then your debts won’t stop you. When you move to Australia (a wonderful place to live by the way) you will have a new start on your credit history - a completely clean slate. What happened in the UK, stays in the UK.
I don’t believe most lenders will check with the UK if you start with a mortgage as the loan is secured by the house. Then, later apply for a credit card. NOW that you have a house, a credit card check won’t go much beyond that fact.
Borrowing for a larger unsecured loan first (say for a new or late model car) will excite much more checking than a home loan. A small loan for a second hand loan won’t. So buy an older cheaper car, put down at least one third or better still, a half deposit. With a large deposit they won’t check much. Once you have developed a small but good credit rating no one will check back with the UK.
So, go get a new great life and start over, poorer but wiser, and use credit very carefully.
On the general subject of immigration let me just say the following
Get a good agent locally based in the UK to help you. Non UK based agents really don't understand the UK's lack of centralised systems and how to get those missing papers you desperately need when you have lost them. One agent even get you job's and you can arrive in 4 to 6 weeks (or later if you want)
Immigration department websites give you information on the visas that the department wants to promote. They don’t give you information on the lawful visas they don’t want to promote. They especially don’t tell you how to use more than one visa in co-ordination (which they don’t normally know about) so that you can get around the restrictions you are facing. By and large the most knowledge immigration officers are soon promoted to supervisory roles and cannot be accessed by members of the public. You will be getting poor counsel from junior staff. Is that what you really want? The advice you get will often by misleading and they certainly will not tell you how to use a combination of visas to sidestep restrictions that may be placed upon you.
There are a lot of visas open to most people. You will not know about them as you are not a full time professional. The question of which is best will depend upon your intentions when you get there. If someone tells you that you aren’t eligible talk to someone else!
There is no logic to immigration. Immigration policies have evolved in response to pressures placed upon politicians wanting to be re-elected. They are then modified and interpreted and applied by bureaucrats. Over time they are further changed by pressures to apply ever more controls ad conditions, especially by the immigration department. They recently removed an entire visa over which they had no real control, as 13% of applicants failed to meet the conditions of the visa over a 4 year period. They felt this made them look bad. I would have thought an 87% success rate was excellent! - but immigration didn’t and wiped out an excellent entry method for thousands of small business people……So, go figure?
There is no requirement as to capital, money in the bank etc and they are not worried about you being a drain on their welfare system as you are not eligible for welfare for 2 years.
It doesn’t matter what nationality or race you are. There is no special treatment for British nationals. In a practical sense it is helpful if you speak English but its not compulsory on many visa’s and on those where some level of English is compulsory (at a low vocational level only), you can study English after arrival, and its easier as you are using it every day.
It does get more difficult as you get older but there is no real age bar. I recently sent over a 78 year old lady and later an 82 year old gentleman (not a couple). There are a number of ways to migrate OTHER than just a points tested skilled visa.
Beware of migrating through a student visa. It’s a great visa IF you really, really know what you are doing. The rules for courses are deceptively simple even to most professionals, but the devil is in the detail. You can’t just attend any two year long course! There are probably over 250,000 trade courses available, but I know of only 21 in all of that are guaranteed to get you permanent residency.
In addition, the rules for student visas are evolving and changing all of the time. So even if you start a course, that appears to be eligible at the start IT WON’T BE 2 YEARS LATER when you graduate. Get a really good professional firm who will help you from day one and stay with you throughout the whole 2 to 3 years process until you get permanent residency. They will monitor changes and advise you and your college of any necessary changes to the process. Education agents dealing with Australian student courses ARE NOT FULL MIGRATION PROFESSIONALS and should not give advice on permanent residency. They cannot take a “whole of family” approach (regards relatives, dependents etc) and normally won’t deal with money, pensions and goods transferees where you can lose tens of thousands of pounds. Please note the potential impending work experience requirement that will change student visas. So, get a really good agent!
Some skills visas require skills assessment which is a paper war exercise. You can be approved without qualifications in a number of occupations, but not in others. In many occupations your work experience is taken into account and you don’t need a qualification. In many other occupations experience isn’t taken into account a suitable qualification is the only way in. If you are under 45 years of age you may need a skills assessment but after 45 you don’t, so sometimes its better to wait until you turn 45. Please note the new interpretations on TRA skills assessments for people without qualifications. Even professionals are failing in many cases. DIY immigration applicants will most often fail to achieve a positive skills assessment and this WILL end their ability to enter on a skills visa. So, get a really good agent!
There are a number of skills visas that don’t have a point count. The point test really only applies to one skills visa (the 136) and even then, not all the time. There are a lot of people, including less knowledgeable migration agents and people working at the Department of Immigration and Multicultural affairs (DIMA) (about to have the departs name changed to DIAC) would will tell you there are conditions, restrictions etc. Unfortunately they only know about the visas they personally handle and few handle all visas. They only tell you about the bits they deal with. So if someone tells you that skilled visas stop at 45, they aren’t dealing with visas like the RSMS which is a specialised skilled visa for people up to AGE 60.
Moving isn't just about a visa. What about that couple in last November that paid the furniture removalist and the furniture didn’t arrive! They couldn't get hold of the removalists, and so rang the sea freight agent in Southampton. He said the removalist hadn't paid him and nothing was going until he was paid by someone. The removalist had scarpered agent said he had 21 sea containers full of people furniture on the docks. The couple had top pay over £3600 TWICE! Ask the agent for this and lots of other really good info...
Get smart and use a really good agent! If you are moving money over, because the saving on the money alone will more than pay for the agent AND they make sure you, your furniture AND your pensions actually get there the right way (and lots of other practical stuff).
Use a really good agent! They can show you how to get up to 10% better deal on your exchange rate (yes, it’s possible!) - that is worth £1,000 in every £10,000 (or £10,000 in every £100,000) you are moving to Australia! If you are likely to obtain a UK based private pension in future years when you finally retire, absolutely talk to a good agent now! You really better know about this stuff or the Aust Tax Office will skin you alive on the pension when it starts. This alone could save you $100,000 in tax over your lifetime! There are a lot of other things a good agent can save you money and pain over.
What out for employers offering to “sponsor” you. Often sponsoring employers will pay you a lower wage to start with as this cover the cost of their sponsorship. So effectively you are actually paying the cost by working for less money. If you are in before applying for the job, then you will be able to negotiate a higher salary as they will now need you more than you need them! There a lot of extra money to be had in each of the early years of your arrival.
Oh yes, - get a really good agent! They can show you how to get up to 10% better deal on your exchange rate (yes, it’s possible!) - that is worth £1,000 in every £10,000 (or £10,000 in every £100,000) you are moving to Australia! If you are likely to obtain a UK based private pension in future years when you finally retire, absolutely talk to a good agent now! You really better know about this stuff or the Aust Tax Office will skin you alive on the pension when it starts. This alone could save you $100,000 in tax over your lifetime! There are a lot of other things a good agent can save you money and pain over.
If you aren’t making progress, then try [e-mail] They are registered Aussie lawyers and accountants AND registered migration agents and so really know more than the others. They deal with ALL visas and are one of the biggest in the business.
Talk to people but remember a lot of people really don't know much about the latest system for moving to Australia.
Imagine if someone from Australia asked you about migrating to the UK. How much would you really know to tell them about how to do it? Could you tell them how to get the best exchange rate, what removalist in Australia to use, what to do about their private and state pensions, could you even tell them there is no reciprocal health care available in their new country? So don’t listen to unqualified people in the Immigration department and especially not friends and acquaintances.
Most importantly, the system is gradually making it harder to get in. It is normally better economically to move earlier than later. If you do have to go later, you can still get your visa now while the rules are easier than later and then make your final move to Australia up to 10 to 13 years after visa grant. So why wait? Get it now whilst you can. What if your health deteriorates or you have a serious crippling accident. If you have the visa before the accident you can still migrate - but you can’t if you still need to apply!
Hope this is helpful... Good luck with your move. Oh yes, - get a really good agent! LOL