General 7 things to do first

MysticRiver

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Below is a list of 7 important things that you should do as soon as possible after arriving in Australia.

1. Apply for a Tax File Number (TFN)

Do this first. To receive an income in Australia, you need a Tax File Number (TFN). Income includes wages or salary from a job, payments from the government, and money earned from investments including interest on savings accounts.

In Australia, you can telephone the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and have a TFN application form sent to you. Alternatively, you can apply for a TFN over the internet.
2. Register with Medicare

The Australian Government provides help with basic medical expenses through a scheme called Medicare. You may be eligible to join Medicare and gain immediate access to health care services and programs. These include free public hospital care, help with the cost of out-of-hospital care, and subsidised medicines.

To enroll in Medicare, you should go into a Medicare office 7 to 10 days after your arrival in Australia and bring your passport or travel documents. There are also many different private health insurance options you may wish to consider, as Medicare does not provide for all services.
Examples: Medicare does not cover dental care, most optical care or ambulance services.

Telephone: 13 2011
In person: Medicare Australia office locations
Homepage: Medicare Australia
Medicare Welcome Kit: Medicare Australia Welcome Kit - Choose your language

3. Open a bank account

In Australia, most income including salary or wages and government benefits are paid directly into a bank account.

You should open a bank account within six weeks of your arrival, as you usually need only your passport as identification. After six weeks you will need extra identification to open an account.

Further information: Smarter Banking

4. Register with Centrelink

Centrelink contributes to the social and economic outcomes set by government by delivering services to assist people to become self-sufficient and supporting those in need.

Centrelink can help you find a job, arrange for recognition of your skills and qualifications, and to access certain courses. Centrelink can also help you with Family Assistance payments to help with the cost of raising children.

As a newly arrived migrant, you are not immediately eligible for social security (unless you are a refugee or humanitarian entrant). You do not have access to the full range of government employment services. If you are a permanent resident, you may be eligible to access some services.

Homepage: Welcome to Centrelink
For newly arrived migrants: Have you recently moved to Australia to settle?
Information in other languages: : Centrelink assistance - we speak your language
How to contact Centrelink: Centrelink - contact details

5. Register for English Classes

Communicating in English is very important and the key to your successful settlement.

English languages courses for new arrivals in Australia are provided under the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP). As a new resident, you may be entitled to receive free English language tuition of up to 510 hours. Register as soon as possible or you could lose your entitlement.
See: Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP)

6. Enrol Your Children in School

Under Australian law, children must attend school until they are 15 years old. You should enrol your children in a school as soon as possible.
See: Education

7. Apply for a Driver's Licence

If you want to drive in Australia, you will need to have the appropriate driver's licence. In Australia, drivers' licences are issued by state and territory governments. You may be required to pass a knowledge test, a practical driving test, and an eyesight test.

If you are a permanent resident visa holder and have a current driver's licence from another country, in English or with an official translation, in most states and territories you are allowed to drive for your first three months after arrival.

In Tasmania, the three month period begins from when you are granted your permanent residency visa, not from when you arrive in Australia. If you were granted a permanent visa 3 months or more before your arrival in Australia you will have to apply for an Australian licence before you can drive in that state.

Below provides contact details for each state and territory licensing authority.

New South Wales (NSW): Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA)
Victoria (VIC): Vic roads
Queensland (QLD): Licensing & registration
South Australia (SA): Welcome to Transport SA
Western Australia (WA): Licensing services
Tasmania (TAS): Transport - TAS
Australian Capital Territory (ACT): Road transport information management
Northern Territory (NT): Driver licensing
 
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Timeline missing
Hey Mystic, I thought AMEP "free" english classes were supposed to be for dependants who paid the second installment during the PR visa application! As far I understood, any PR holder (primary or secondary) is eligible for it (under circunstances) then. Am I thinking right? I thought that would be not be allowed for any person who is at least functional english assessed! If so, this is awesome... even for "competent" holders.
 

MysticRiver

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DIBP said:
Am I eligible?

You may be eligible for the AMEP if you are a permanent resident of Australia or you hold an eligible temporary visa.

In addition, you must meet the following time frames from the date of your visa commencement or arrival in Australia to remain eligible:
  • register with an AMEP service provider within six months (or 12 months if you are under 18 years of age at the time of registration)
  • commence your tuition within 12 months
  • complete your tuition within five years.
This is all that is written. For further details, you can contact any AMEP service provider once you arrive.
 

SHAHID ALI

Commoner
Messages
60
Points
8
SC
189
EOI
2015-07-12
Inv.
2015-09-07
App.
2015-11-05
Grant
2016-04-14
Below is a list of 7 important things that you should do as soon as possible after arriving in Australia.

1. Apply for a Tax File Number (TFN)

Do this first. To receive an income in Australia, you need a Tax File Number (TFN). Income includes wages or salary from a job, payments from the government, and money earned from investments including interest on savings accounts.

In Australia, you can telephone the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and have a TFN application form sent to you. Alternatively, you can apply for a TFN over the internet.
2. Register with Medicare

The Australian Government provides help with basic medical expenses through a scheme called Medicare. You may be eligible to join Medicare and gain immediate access to health care services and programs. These include free public hospital care, help with the cost of out-of-hospital care, and subsidised medicines.

To enroll in Medicare, you should go into a Medicare office 7 to 10 days after your arrival in Australia and bring your passport or travel documents. There are also many different private health insurance options you may wish to consider, as Medicare does not provide for all services.
Examples: Medicare does not cover dental care, most optical care or ambulance services.

Telephone: 13 2011
In person: Medicare Australia office locations
Homepage: Medicare Australia
Medicare Welcome Kit: Medicare Australia Welcome Kit - Choose your language

3. Open a bank account

In Australia, most income including salary or wages and government benefits are paid directly into a bank account.

You should open a bank account within six weeks of your arrival, as you usually need only your passport as identification. After six weeks you will need extra identification to open an account.

Further information: Smarter Banking

4. Register with Centrelink

Centrelink contributes to the social and economic outcomes set by government by delivering services to assist people to become self-sufficient and supporting those in need.

Centrelink can help you find a job, arrange for recognition of your skills and qualifications, and to access certain courses. Centrelink can also help you with Family Assistance payments to help with the cost of raising children.

As a newly arrived migrant, you are not immediately eligible for social security (unless you are a refugee or humanitarian entrant). You do not have access to the full range of government employment services. If you are a permanent resident, you may be eligible to access some services.

Homepage: Welcome to Centrelink
For newly arrived migrants: Have you recently moved to Australia to settle?
Information in other languages: : Centrelink assistance - we speak your language
How to contact Centrelink: Centrelink - contact details

5. Register for English Classes

Communicating in English is very important and the key to your successful settlement.

English languages courses for new arrivals in Australia are provided under the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP). As a new resident, you may be entitled to receive free English language tuition of up to 510 hours. Register as soon as possible or you could lose your entitlement.
See: Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP)

6. Enrol Your Children in School

Under Australian law, children must attend school until they are 15 years old. You should enrol your children in a school as soon as possible.
See: Education

7. Apply for a Driver's Licence

If you want to drive in Australia, you will need to have the appropriate driver's licence. In Australia, drivers' licences are issued by state and territory governments. You may be required to pass a knowledge test, a practical driving test, and an eyesight test.

If you are a permanent resident visa holder and have a current driver's licence from another country, in English or with an official translation, in most states and territories you are allowed to drive for your first three months after arrival.

In Tasmania, the three month period begins from when you are granted your permanent residency visa, not from when you arrive in Australia. If you were granted a permanent visa 3 months or more before your arrival in Australia you will have to apply for an Australian licence before you can drive in that state.

Below provides contact details for each state and territory licensing authority.

New South Wales (NSW): Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA)
Victoria (VIC): Vic roads
Queensland (QLD): Licensing & registration
South Australia (SA): Welcome to Transport SA
Western Australia (WA): Licensing services
Tasmania (TAS): Transport - TAS
Australian Capital Territory (ACT): Road transport information management
Northern Territory (NT): Driver licensing
Hi.

Where can I find the latest DIBP information on these points?

Thanks and Best Regards,
Shahid Ali.
 

MysticRiver

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You will be advised of that date at the time your PR grant will be issued. There is no fixed time frame either. Most probably is loosely related with your health clearance validity. In my experience I have seen minimum of 1 week to maximum of 1 year.
 
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141
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Timeline missing
Mystic,

What do you understand about the following sentence (AMEP eligibility) ?
"you must meet the following time frames from the date of your visa commencement or arrival in Australia to remain eligible"

Is the date of the visa commencement same as the visa grant date ? Or, Is the date which person does activate the visa when entering Australia at the first time? If latter, I don't see any differences between the date of the visa commencement and the arrival date in Australia... Just got confused about the "OR" clause... I'm not sure if my wife needs to go to Australia by 18/9 (6 months from the grant date) in order to register for AMEP... or if it's the date that she arrives in the Down Under.

Thanks!
 

MysticRiver

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You are right, that is a bit confusing statement. In my opinion it should be the date of your first arrival (so the OR phrase is used for elaboration, not for alternative statement).

Still you better directly contact AMEP of your state and seek clarification

http://www.education.gov.au/adult-migrant-english-program-service-providers

Thanks. They replied me back:
"The time starts from the date your visa was granted or the date you arrived in Australia, whichever is later."
So, we should be ok.
 

MysticRiver

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Thanks. They replied me back:
"The time starts from the date your visa was granted or the date you arrived in Australia, whichever is later."
So, we should be ok.
Okay, so for you it is the date you arrived in Australia.

I guess they mention "the date your visa was granted" for those who apply for PR on-shore (within Australia). So for them grant date is later than the arrival date.
 

MysticRiver

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Mystic,

Any advices about opening the bank account when still offshore? Any advantage or drawbacks? I've seen a few Australian banks allow that...
Not much of any benefit that I can think. It takes hardly 30 mins to finish all the formalities of creating a bank account.

The ATM card will take around 1-2 weeks to be delivered, but you need an address for that anyway. Also several banks in Aus (Commonwealth Bank for sure) offer the ability to use your mobile phone to withdraw money from any ATM booth, so you don't need to worry about ATM card that much.

However, if you want to transfer money to Australia beforehand, you might want to open an account now.

Other than that, I can't think of any advantage/drawbacks (ofcourse make sure those banks won't charge anything extra for offshore account).
 

Dileep

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Hi @MysticRiver ,
Am also having a doubt regarding the opening an account and transferring money when you are still offshore.
Does this transferred money come under the tax-free category, and also will the cash we take with us while the initial entry stay tax-free although we've transferred an amount initially?
 
MSA
2017-04-27
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MysticRiver

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Initial bank transfer - definitely tax free

Carried cash- not sure, but likely to be cash free
 

watchsachin

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@MysticRiver - Thanks a lot, the information above helps. I got a grant yesterday, with a initial entry date of 21st Nov. I wondering is there any way to ask DIBP to increase the date to few months ( i know it doesn't happen usually and too much to ask). But any hook or crook way or request? Also can we register for centerlink and medicare before reaching australia? Or it needs to be only when we are physically present in Australia ? Or we are planning to visit for a week, in one week os ot possible to get it done (medicare and centerlink).
 

MysticRiver

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I got a grant yesterday, with a initial entry date of 21st Nov
Congratulations. Can you please update your timeline?

I wondering is there any way to ask DIBP to increase the date to few months ( i know it doesn't happen usually and too much to ask). But any hook or crook way or request?
They won't extend. But based on a recent conversation between a member and DIBP, IED is not enforced anymore. I still don't know whether or not to take that chance, but it is what the personnel at DIBP told @Trapme
https://www.migrationdesk.com/threads/ied-date.42690/
 
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