scmercer

Hi I’m in the same position as you although my RRV expired in August this year. There doesn’t appear to be an option for this to be extended, unfortunately you just have to reapply. I have put reapplying off until the situation with flights etc improves, however I know my chances of being granted another RRV are slim now!

Hi, yes you’re right. We have been back in the UK too long and we’re only entitled to a one year visa even though we do have substantial ties. It has been impossible for us to even consider travelling in the last year with our family. I just wondered if anyone had been in a similar position and had an extension applied rather than having to reapply.

We had our RRV issued last August and with Covid have not had a chance to travel to Australia. This has now expired. Has anyone managed to successfully renew a visa they couldn’t use due to Covid?

Hi I am from Liverpool, moved to Oz for a few years and then returned to Liverpool to live. It is a great city, very vibrant with lots to do. It has improved so much over recent years and has some lovely suburbs particularly along the coast towards Southport. It is certainly worth a visit, however the job situation still isn't great here, so I am not sure I would move for work unless there was plenty of opportunities in your line of work.

The blue skies, England is so grey compared to Australia!

Probably December to June in UK and the rest of the year in Oz. It is nice being in the UK for christmas and springtime.

I would opt for six months in each place.

Hi Been back a year and actually enjoying being back. I do miss a few things about Oz and if I ponder on it too long I wonder if we should have stayed but generally enjoy living in UK more than Australia. Really appreciate it here after being away, love my house here , having family around, the seasons, scenery etc but miss the beautiful blue skies and the beaches. Would never rule out going back, it is a great country which is why we moved out in the first place, but dont have any plans just yet. Would love to retire out there.

Hi Silverload We too returned from Adelaide to NW England a year ago. We used Wridgways and would highly recommend. It cost $6500 for full 20 ft container (inc insurance) and we had been previously quoted almost double this for a 40 ft container. They were great and managed to fit a massive amount in. It took about 6 weeks door to door and everything was in one piece. If you do contact them for a quote ask for Robert, he is very helpful.

It just never felt right. Had awful bouts of homesickness and even though I didn't hate it, I didn't love it either. I neve truly embraced Aussie life which I think you have to do to settle. You really need to give it 100% to settle and I just don't think we did or maybe we just didn't want to!

The only thing cheaper in Oz is the petrol. EVERYTHING else is more expensive.

We decided in April 2011 to move back. We never felt like we could stay in Australia forever and for that reason were never really settled. My oh got a job offer in the April and as my son would be starting school the following September in the UK, we decided to go asap. The job offer, exchange rate and the timing for my son's schooling spurred on our decision. Took about 6 weeks to sell the house. This was so hard as we had spent so much on it and we loved it . It felt wrong as we sold it at a loss, but we had to in order to return quickly. Unfortunately, after we signed on the sale of our house, the job offer my oh had fell through. I think after this we did have awful doubts, I remember being close to pulling out of the house sale, but this would have cost us a fortune and we felt like the decision had been made for us. The day the furniture went was horrible, I kept wanting to ask them to leave it but we had sold our house and handed our notices in and there was no going back. For me, this was worse than leaving the UK for Oz. We were so excited about moving to Oz and never doubted our decision(not until we got there anyway)!. Leaving Oz was so sad, I will never forgot our last night in a hotel in Glenelg, our journey to the airport and leaving our lovely Australian house. Coming back was a bit of a blur and nothing like arriving in Australia for the first time. Don't get me wrong we did want to come back (eventually) but we rushed back for a job which didn't happen and it all felt a bit too soon. We have been back a year now, I do love the UK and being back home, though things have been harder here and it has taken a while for things to get back to normal. I still do have days though when I dream about Oz and wonder if we did the right thing.

They are really good regarding vaccines in Australia. It is normally only the Hep B and the Varicella that they have in addition to the UK ones, but they always keep you up to date with what you need.

I would love to return to Oz in the future, not sure if I could live there again (well in Adelaide anyway) but I would certainly go back for holidays. I would like to show my children where we used to live as I am sure they will soon forget about their time in Oz which is quite sad.

Yes. I have completely messed up my career and my husband gave up a great , well paid job in the UK and is unlikely to be lucky enough to find anything like it. I am finding it so hard getting back into my previous area of work too. Constantly having doubts whether to come back to the UK when in Oz and now we are back, whether we should have stayed. Would have been so much easier if we had not have gone in the first place!