Expat Life

ASK THE EXPERT | I have some outstanding tax issues. Will this influence my application for my British citizenship?

BRON IN THE DON | Champagne, oil, photos and Saatchi! Our London adventurer gets the VIP treatment as she ticks #90 of her London Top 100 list and explores the fabled Saatchi Gallery.

ASK THE EXPERT | My brother-in-law has Dutch citizenship. Will this enable him to live and work in the UK?

An Anzac day message from Australian High Commissioner His Excellency Mr John Dauth AO LVO, to Australians living in the UK.

There’s bountiful markets in London but our resident adventurer may have just stumbled on the most relaxed one yet — Spitalfields Markets. Ticking off #47 on her London Top 100 list, she also came across a curious little lane that may just serve the best curries in the world.

ASK THE EXPERT | I am in the UK on a student visa and interested to find out more about the new immigration route for graduate entrepreneurs.

BACK in Oz, before heading to London, I hired a black London cab to chauffeur my dad, my bridesmaids and me to my wedding.

RIGHT SAID ED | Forget Kony. Forget the Mayan prophecies. Forget Bieber, One Direction, Charlie Sheen (and any other headline grabbing celebs). Forget the Arab Spring and the US Elections. Forget everything! Because in 2012, London is all you need to know.

One of London’s hidden gems (and now a very popular tourist site) is the former fruit and veggie market, Covent Garden. Our resident adventurer headed down to see what the fuss was all about and tick off #76 on her London Top 100 list.

ASK THE EXPERT | Apparently the resident labour market test needs to be fulfilled before I can receive a UK Tier 2 Visa. Can you please tell me what this is?

BRON IN THE DON | There is no denying it any longer — spring has sprung in London and with every sunny day people flock to the green spaces across the capital to revel in the fresh(ish) air and sunshine. One green space that our London adventurer hadn’t checked out...

ASK THE EXPERT | Do you have any news on when this change is set to take place, as it might affect me?

BRON IN THE DON | It may be surprising to find a specific British high street store on London’s Top 100 list instead of ‘Shopping on Oxford Street’ or something similar. However there it is at #29 — Topshop. And more specifically, the flagship store right at Oxford Circus.

Speedos have hit the headlines again this month thanks to Australia’s ‘Olympic swimwear war’. So in keeping with the theme, MARK REDDIE investigates the ‘Sunga’ and asks - if women have managed to move from the one-piece to the bikini, then is it not about time men caught onto the...

American engineers and tradies struggling to find work at home are being encouraged to fill skills shortages in Australia's booming resources sector.

ASK THE EXPERT | How will the new UK Tier 2 Visa rules limit leave in this category?

LIFE AFTER LONDON | Albury, you’ve outdone London. I never thought I’d utter these words. But surprisingly it’s true.

London newspapers love a good pun! Heck, even at Australian Times we dine out occasionally. However, one paper takes punning to all new heights - I am speaking, of course, of The Sun.

ASK THE EXPERT | I am currently on a UK Tier 2 Visa; please give me a summary of the rule changes.

BRON IN THE DON | Our London adventurer adopts a regal air this week and heads to Fortnum & Mason in Piccadilly to tick #41 off her London Top 100 list.

ASK THE EXPERT | Are there any alternatives to the UK Tier 1 Visa, post-study work route?

The technology we have at the moment is awe-inspiringly impressive. But what if all this power were handed to a nine year old child? How would they use it?

ASK THE EXPERT | Will there changes in the annual limit imposed on the Tier 2 worker category?

BRON IN THE DON | Our London adventurer decided to transport herself back to the fabled days of William Shakespeare and tick a legendary experience of her London Top 100 list - #61 London’s Globe Theatre.

ASK THE EXPERT | How will the new rules affect Tier 2 Visa workers who plan on settling in the UK?

BRON IN THE DON | Our London adventurer fell in love with this grand old city all over again when she ticked number 33 off her London Top 100 list and visited the Museum of London.

LIFE AFTER LONDON | It's suddenly dawned on me is that I'm an uneducated Australian who spent two years drowning out her Australian knowledge with beer and long flights on the other side of the world.

When REBEKKA HODGES heard about the Starfish Chairty 24-hour ‘Spinathon’ event in Putney - she felt a familiar dread but so too, that excitable lure of the bike and the spin.

BRON IN THE DON | Exploring Trafalgar Square may seem like a bit of a no brainer but it still features as #82 on London’s Top 100 list. So our London adventurer got creative, visited the famous square and threw in an iconic London bus ride.

THE HARD WORD | This is not about nanny-state living, nor is it a scare campaign driven by the global-warming doomsdayers. It’s merely recognition of the fact that water isn’t always of endless supply.

ASK THE EXPERT | Is it within the limitations of an ancestral visa to start a business in the UK?

RIGHT SAID ED | Is it just me or is Twitter all the rage at the moment?

CHRIS'S KITCHEN | The main man behind the hot plate, Aussie chef Chris Ark, tells us if you haven’t had some UK scallops, well, you basically haven’t lived.

BRON IN THE DON | London is host to many gorgeous parks, gardens, squares, heaths and commons but the Chelsea Physic Garden is what they call the “secret garden of London”. It’s also #11 on London’s Top 100 list and our resident adventurer had a peek.

Aussiepreneurs will be hosting London Drinks for entrepreneurial Australians and those who wish to help them.

Almost six weeks ago I arrived in Surrey to a so called 'mild' English winter. Despite constant assurances about my luck to be enjoying toasty five degree days, I was freezing, not to mention bewildered at how shy the sun was. And then came the snow!

When I woke up on the morning of Sunday, 5 February, I looked out of my bedroom window, saw an amazing backdrop of brilliant white snow and was instantly transported back to my childhood.

Excited like a schoolgirl doesn’t even come close to explaining the feeling I experienced after seeing snow for the first time, and the fact it was in London, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, made it even better.

After I first moved to London almost two years ago, I mused to my friends about the difficulties of finding a job in this town. Now, many months on, the scene still hasn’t changed. I have changed though. I’m now a beaten down, sorrowful and ego-less version of myself.

Forget the state of the European Union. Don’t even bother about last weekend’s football scores. Disregard Bieber. Fashion Week. TfL... Well, maybe not TfL. Because if there’s one thing you’re guaranteed to get a response to, it’s the statement that ‘apparently it’s meant to snow today’.

BRON IN THE DON | There is one thing that you’re certain to find in almost any capital city across the world - a Chinatown. London is no different and our resident explorer headed down to the ‘English version’ of Chinatown to tick #25 off her London’s Top 100 list.

CHRIS'S KITCHEN | One of the joys of being an Aussie chef in London is the ability to travel easily to Europe and pick up some fabulous culinary tips. Chris Ark gets us in the mood for some French flair with his bouillabaisse.

Has the probationary period for spouses increased on the UK Spouse Visa?

LIFE AFTER LONDON | I was only in London for two years, but that was long enough for most of my friends to learn some or all of the following grown-up words: mortgage, children and marriage.

BRON IN THE DON | Need some colour to spruce up the house or impress a would-be partner? Our London adventurer finds an opportunity on her London Top 100 list to stop and smell the flowers! Enjoy number 97.

RIGHT SAID ED | What happens in London, the capital of rain, when a bit of drizzle falls on the tracks? Pandemonium! That's what happens.

CHRIS'S KITCHEN | Our Aussie main man from Claridge’s Restaurant, Chris Ark, gets in the winter mood with some tasty (and warming) soups.

2012 will be my sixth consecutive year that I’ve been in the northern hemisphere in January, but the first year that I’ve not boarded the 24-hour flight to be home by the 26th.

Australia Day, that holiest of days for Aussies, is one huge celebration of everything Australian. And I can’t think of anything better to celebrate than the fact that I am, you are, we are — Australian.

Not one to waste opportunities, our London adventurer saw the chance to knock two off her London Top 100 list when she travelled out to the quaint area of Greenwich.