Kurt

Out of interest, have you been in Oz longer than I've been on the planet? No matter, I'll answer that: most likely ?

I thought you were going to say "I didn't recognise him because after two years he looked 20 years older and he had to tell me who he is." ?

I chose Sydney for the opportunities in my field (which also exist in Melbourne) plus the good and stable weather and the beaches which I miss. I find it more relaxed than London although it's the least relaxed of Australian cities. "Diabolical" would be my description of my trials in dating in London ? I think dating can wait, though, I'd like to make friends and getting out on the outdoors will be my saviour too by the looks of it. I've met people who are new to Australia and trying to break the ice but we're all at different stages in life (some are students and some others have come here with families so they haven't got much time). At the moment I'm researching the market for private medical insurance and want to make good choices for my super fund investment and I don't seem to have much time to do either.

I've been in Sydney for almost three months now. Although I've been around to see a bit of the city, I haven't really done a lot of exploring as I was focusing to get a house and a job. In the meantime I spent the weekends seeing a different part of the city. During my time here I've met other British who have come here with spouses/children. The two big issues I find with coming over alone is that there's no friends/family who will rush to you during an emergency and that if you have a bad day there's no one you can offload your pains to. On top of that, all of my friends and family are on the other side of the planet and I really miss them. I'm sure a couple of years from now, if I'm still here, I'll still be wondering if I did the right thing moving here. But the place feels right to me. As for work, I was told that the IT market here is smaller than London's and as such I thought I can ruin my reputation very quickly if I fail the interview process in, say, 6-7 companies so I really took my time before I started looking, dusted off interview questions that may come up and doing coding exercises online. I've found work, but I'm not sure if I want to stay there long term; At the moment, I can't afford to get fired or quit as recruitment has began to die out for Christmas and New Year and I could stay out of work for about three months and I'd also like to take some time to establish a foot in the local market before I apply to companies I'd really like to work in. I think most software / IT markets in the world are the size of Sydney's, though, not that of London's. Socially, I'm noticing everyone's busy with their own thing and haven't been able to meet many people/swap phone details, go out etc. Similarly with dating, I've gone on a few dates with a couple of women (in my age, and theirs, I shouldn't be calling them "girls", now, should I) but it didn't pan out. Same problems I had in London, but definitely I feel I can approach people a lot more easily here and the pace of life is noticeably slower. All in all, it takes time. You have to work really hard at first before you can start enjoying life in Australia. It won't come to you soon after you land or in the first several months. At first there will be the excitement of the new environment but you must work hard to build a life you can enjoy long after the "honeymoon" phase has withered out.

Hi, I have over ten years of experience in software development in London. I understand that the software market hubs in Australia are in Melbourne and Sydney. Sydney is more expensive than Melbourne and I know that salaries in Sydney are higher but as a new migrant I suspect that even on a permanent residency visa and good prospects of advancement in the future I will not initially get a salary that is competitive for my experience (which would also allow me to live comfortably and save). What are your thoughts? I have worked years in London to be in the salary bracket that I am and I'm not sure I'll get an equivalent salary on my first job in Australia. If that is the case would I - Be better off in Melbourne where the cost of living is smaller while I work my way up salarywise? - Be earning a salary in the same ballpark as in Sydney (if new skilled migrants generally earn less at first?) Thanks

Thank you all for your great responses and the additional insights you have provided! I haven't, as of yet, made a decision. There are days I'm really keen and looking forward to going but other days I'm thinking that perhaps I should stay and get on the property ladder here, which I think it's high time I finally did. Also, more holiday destinations are readily accessible from the UK and I can also visit my hometown often to see my family. My dad is generally in good health and I'm hoping he'll be around for at least another 10 years and it would pain me to see him only 3 or 4 more times during his remaining lifespan. On the other hand I'm single with no significant possessions in the UK and have work skills that are in demand. In that regard, I'm ideally placed to make the move and I really don't want to get older and regret not going. I'm in need of good weather which I think makes people happier, more friendly and pleasant and I can see myself making a good life for myself there. I have some reservations that at 40 I may have to start from the bottom (low-paid work and a flatshare with 5 strangers) but I think I can ride the storm until I get established. Anyway, I'm meeting a couple of friends later this week who are both expats in London like me and when I met them a few months ago they were encouraging me to go. I'll talk to them about it again.

That's what I've found as well. It doesn't get easier with time as life progresses, parents get older or die and siblings make a life away from the house you grew up in and saying goodbye to go on the daily grind in a place where things are done differently.

You had a nice distraction from your problems for two years and probably some good stories to tell to your kids and grandkids. Would you have regretted staying in the UK and not going?

Well, doncha know the country has had enough of experts? :wink: It's becoming increasingly difficult to afford a deposit to buy a place in any of the areas of London I like, but aren't properties in Melbourne and Sydney too getting out of the regular folk's reach? At least your father urged you to go. Mine has a real problem with it and he's very disheartening. My brother, on the other hand, is like "I'd rather that you were closer but if this is what you want just go for it". I've been thinking about the career break, as well. What exactly is this? Do you ask your employer to take an unpaid year off and have a non-binding agreement that your job may be available when you get back?

I would, although I'm not sure how it stacks up against Sydney with regard to software jobs. I have no relatives in Australia, just a couple of acquaintances I made when I traveled there as well as Australians here in London who intend to return.

elderberry: Good luck with everything; as we're moving past the festive season the market will pick up.

My dad is pretty savvy with Skype/Viber/Facetime etc. This is what helps us keep contact while he lives in Greece and me, in the UK. It'll be the the same in Australia with the advantage that our time zones will be a couple of hours closer than the UK. True; my flat is rented and I'm going to vacate it in a few months anyway. It's also true that what suits you won't suit others. I know fellow Greeks who have been here for as long as I have if not longer and wouldn't think of living anywhere else. But, me, I decided it's no longer for me. Dublin certainly sounds like a good place for software professionals. If I were to return to the UK I'd move to Edinburgh or Bristol; smaller towns with tech activity. However we don't know what's gonna happen with the Brexit and Ireland has expressed interest in the UK tech pie when it brexits anyway. At 40 I'd say I can't count myself as 'young' anymore but, isn't it true that 40 is the new 30? I'd eventually like to buy a flat while my age still allows to get a mortgage and pay it back and this could set me back by a few thousand pounds. If there's one major thing I'm giving up it's this. The way I'm envisioning the move is to sell my furniture and some other expensive stuff and take a few suitcases with me so I don't think I'll need to use storage. I didn't use to see it as such a stark choice until my father attempted to talk me out of it; I have a feeling he won't stop even as I'll be saying goodbye to him at the airport. He thinks I'm running away from my problems and I can have a pretty good life in Europe but if he had his own way I'd now be married with a nice Greek girl having moved a few blocks down from where I grew up. This isn't what I wanted for myself; living someone else's idea of 'real' life; it's what I was thinking when I moved to the UK. I am running away from something: the idea of the 'proper' way of living my society has. In the next few months I'll be finding myself answering the same questions defensively but that's probably his way of processing this in his mind. I think he may worry that I'll find a nice Australian lady and stay there! I think there's got to be something more to life than working, paying taxes and bills and then dying.

Hi, I could use some advice or hear opinions. I have been granted and validated my 189 visa. However, I can't decide whether to go after all. My marital situation is a little bit different than most of what I've seen in this forum and others. I'm single, rapidly pushing 40, never married, so I have no other half or dependents to worry about if the move goes wrong. I applied thinking of the 'lifestyle' and the good weather and because after just over a decade in the UK, I think life in London didn't turn out to be all I hoped for (slow on the uptake but I get there). Good job and a nice (rented) flat but I've found most people I've come across are in a rush all the time and though I've made many acquaintances, as in the type I can go out for a drink with, I've made no real friends like the kind I have back in the 'old country'. If I move to Australia I would have to give my job and careerwise possibly start from the bottom. If the move doesn't work out I'd have to move back to London and start over finding a flatshare and a job. I will have lost a lot of money in the meantime which is going to set me back a lot from getting on the property ladder. Family-wise, I have a father soon to be 70 who lives on the other side of the continent whom I visit twice a year and he sometimes comes over for short visits too. I also have a brother who has a young family whom I see when I travel there. I hadn't told my father of my intent to move before I got my visa so as not to get discouraged as I was going through the process. But since then we talked a lot and he's never stopped attempting to talk me out of it. He's hyper active and mostly in good physical health but, although he never brought it up, I know that if neither of us gets hit by a bus in the near future, I'll see him eventually slowly lose his mental and physical faculties and if in Australia it would pain me to see him only once every 2-3 years. I'll also be completely on my own without a partner and it'll probably be lonely at first. But I get this here in London too. Then there's the work opportunities. I applied thinking that there's no way there won't be many jobs in my field in Melbourne and Sydney (I do software/web development). I get varying experiences in the forums about that, some find work within 1-2 months after landing, some takes them 6, others move back to their country of origin a year later having spend their life savings looking for work without success. I've also heard of the request for "local experience" before many consider you for a position. But, like in product reviews, you're more likely to report on something when you have a bad experience of it in order to inform others. There's always the positive possible outcome which is finding work relatively soon and settling in. I'll probably also have to take a pay cut for the first couple of years as a new migrant. On the other hand, I applied for the visa knowing that life is short and at nearly 40 I'm itching for an adventure. I'm tired of this weather and the stress of London and need a change of scenery. At a first glance it seems like I'm giving up a lot but here are no certainties in life. Additionally there's the upcoming Brexit which has affected my work directly as well as possibly the number of job opportunities in the UK. I don't want "what-ifs", to regret things I've not done. I have to do what I feel is right. I miss the laid back, "there's always tomorrow" lifestyle which I had before I came to London. I've been swaying between the two options for the past two weeks and I think it's not doing me any good thinking about it again and again especially after revving myself up for the better part of last year, but I think I have to follow my instinct. It's all very nice, safety and comfort, but sometimes you just have to live your life. What are your thoughts? TL;DR - I've been granted and validated my 189 visa but I can't decide whether to go. I'm a single man with a good job and a rented home in London and at nearly 40 it'd scare me to give all that up and start over on the other side of the planet. If the move doesn't work out I'd have to uproot again and move back to London looking for a home and work and in the meantime I'll be set back by thousands of pounds. I also have family I'm close with on the other side of the continent and it'd be scare to see my ageing dad once every 2-3 years. Workwise, as someone who wants to work in IT/Software in Melbourne or Sydney I' getting good and bad stories about job availability. However, I have little social life in London as everyone seems to be in a rush all the time. There are no certainties in life, even the good home and work could disappear, and if I don't go I'm afraid I'll look back at 50 and deeply regret it. I've got a scratch I need to itch and if it doesn't work out I'll have dragged no one else into this but myself and I can possibly absorb the monetary setback in a few years time.Do you think that small adjustments in life could significantly increase its quality instead of uprooting and leaving?

Hi, I'm in the process of applying for my 189 Skilled Independent Visa. A question is asking about your previous addresses in all the countries you've lived in. Does this go all the way back to your date of birth? I emigrated to the UK several years ago and I don't remember all the dates my family moved home when I was living in the old country (I only remember dates up to a couple of decades ago but not all the way to the 70s and 80s). Thanks Kurt

Thanks, I will do that. I can't even remember the exact dates I've started and graduated, only month and year.