Farida

Hi, Our existing independent skilled visa expires in January 2017 and due to numerous problems we've not been able to take up our residency and now face the prospect of our visa expiring before we can now realistically move next year. We've been out and activated our visa on a holiday, but not taken up residency. Does anyone know if it's possible to extend the visa or is it likely we have to go through the whole process and expense again ? We know we could move ahead or by this date, but we know we'd struggle to get a RR visa if we had to come back to close some things off - house sale etc et which is why we'd now rather extend (if we can) and then move so we're not chasing our tails. All comments would be appreciated.

Hi, We are new to this forum so would appreciate some comments on where we could settle in Australia. We are applying for a 189 Visa so we can effectively choose a location where to live versus being nominated by a state. We are both accountants (yawn) and are moving for a better life for our daughter, but also to get us away from the long hours and pressure that we endure in London. We will be moving and fortunately through the rise in house prices in the UK and FX rate we will be able to live without a mortgage which is a great plus for us. We still want to work, but not in such pressured jobs and jobs where we can enjoy a good work life balance versus work work balance. We've already been to Australia and have visited Sydney, Melbourne and Perth and while we like Sydney it is out of our budget and are looking at Melbourne, Perth and possibly Adelaide. I'd be interested to hear from people on the ground the views of these locations and where having already settled in Australia are they most happy or would prefer to live if they had a choice. I know everyones view is personal, but for us we don't just want to live on the beach for the sake of living near a beach. We want to live in a nice family orientated area where we can enjoy more of an outside lifestyle versus here in the UK and feel safe at home. I look forward to some interesting posts.

Hello, We are probably like many other people that are planning to move to Australia are lured by the better lifestyle, weather, jobs and many more. But I wonder how many feel that the problems that we experience in society, unemployment, drugs, crime are as prevalent in Australia as they are UK and are these countered by the positives of moving to Australia? I know most of this will be subjective and based upon where you live. But for us we know if we go to our local town of a Thursday, Friday or Saturday evening it's not somewhere that we're happy to walk around and feel safe because of the teenage drinking, smoking and loutish behaviour. We're planning to make this move mainly for our daughter as we feel that she will flourish more educationally and personally versus if we stayed in the UK. Yes, we will be financially secure if we move which is one less worry for us versus living in the UK, but it still worries us that we will still encounter the same problems in society when we move and that where we want to protect our only daughter from that as much as we can. I know that peoples views will be different and maybe the coverage in the UK on Sky over glorifies what is in fact not too bad, but it really would be good to get a view from people in the ground in Australia to see what it really is like. I look forward to some useful posts. Thanks, Farida.