Bungo

So you meant that very really rude reply to everybody but VS? I don't get it. Firstly not everybody is a parent and the first several suggestions on your list relate to parents only, do you think only parents are willing or able to make friends? Infertile people are a pariah that do not deserve or require friendship or something? Secondly a number of people that are parents have already replied and stated their experiences anyway, so why do you know better, are they wrong? Your response shows an utter lack of empathy with anyone that has had a different experience to yourself and utterly disgusts me.

Why do you need to contact them to send paperwork? Just email it? Perhaps they are shut for NYE.

Hereford is nowhere near the M25 or Enfield.

You cannot know that there will be no issue in going from a 457 to a permanent visa, it is not automatic. You would be better off seeing if you can get a permanent visa straight away, that would sort your son out. As for your daughter, many twenty one year olds look after themselves, live in shared houses etc. She has also already travelled to the other side of the world on her own, gone to work, for this reason I believe you will not be able to argue she is dependent. But what are her timings, when did she leave education? how long has she been working (either in UK or Australia)? If it is less than six months then getting back into education might be an avenue. Returning to education after a long gap just before parents lodge a visa application, will be very obvious as to why and is unlikely to cut it.

Good luck, exciting times ahead. You are very fortunate to be able to pick and choose wherever you want to live. I am very happy here in the SE but we had no choice as London is the only option for the OH due to work and even for me it is the best option due to my industry (financial services). You have already ruled out huge swathes of the country, which is good as it needs to be narrowed down. I always thought Bath /Bristol were just as expensive as the SE though so that might be something to look into. I would also get onto getting the cats rabies ready, you only need 21 days (plus a bit more for contingencies) but might as well get it off your plate. We moved back with three cats and used Jetpets, we arranged for pick up from home in Sydney as we knew the car would have been sold and then we organised collection and delivery to our home in Hertfordshire as I knew I would find the airport pick up quite stressful. Anyway it more or less went to plan but I am not going to either recommend or not recommend them. The owner of the pets needs to travel within five days of the pet now, a new rule bought in around the time we moved back two years ago. I think there are only two things that any landlord cares about. Will the tenant pay and will the look after the house. I think if you focus on evidencing those two things you will be fine getting a rental and UK is not as competitive as Sydney for securing rentals anyway - tenants market generally. Anyway good luck again for the next chapter. ETA: oh if there was one thing I would have done differently, it is that I would have shipped the car back. We loved our car and wouldn't have upgraded it but moving back we bought newer and spent a small fortune!

I think these different experiences go back to the point that moving to Australia to better a social circle is a flawed piece of thinking. Some people will find a nice group, others won't, same as in UK. As to your own experience, well that is not good at all, no wonder you are fed up with it. I didn't experience anything like that, I just didn't make any friends. It was all me though, I didn't try and nobody tried with me. I think the age article posted earlier is more telling of my situation, being 40 when we moved.

What do you mean "surely on a 457"? When was this thread ever about getting a 457 visa? Anyway it is true that the assessment criteria for a 457 is not always as rigorous as for a permanent visa. However there is the small matter of satisfying an employer that you are the best person for a job and worth sponsoring. And as said, this could be hard for a diploma holder with no experience, no particular interest in children and somebody who just wants to flit about the world every six months in order to avoid winter!

Blimey talk about stereotyping! Not everybody in Sydney is even a Sydneysider, it is hugely multicultural and then everybody is different.

I think it would be useful to get at least a short version of the long story to understand what the last visa was and what happened to it and accordingly if there is a way of resuming it. As to any new visa and your daughter, no the WHV will effectively have ended her dependency on you. You will not be able to argue a 21 year old is wholly dependent upon you, she can get a job will be the response. Your son, yes he could go onto the 457 but if he is in university in UK it is somewhat moot? Now if you were about to get a permanent visa then it would make every sense to put him on that application, but whilst you might as well put him on the 457 it might not achieve anything. Have you looked into permanent visas?

I heard best fireworks in the world but not best city or best harbour before. I only went to the fireworks once, it has to be done, good but I have seen better displays. Alton Towers bonfire night 1994 was much better.

Indeed these people might be relatives or have known each other for many years. I have also seen groups at communal barbies but never felt the invitation to join them. Well we moved to Australia for the experience, we were financially worse off from the start however still financially well off. For us it was a great opportunity to live in and explore a different part of the world. I prefer the Australian climate on the whole because I prefer milder winters. But actually the Australian climate is quite extreme and I found much more limiting in being able to spend time outdoors. Spend far more time outdoors now as it is much easier to do so in the UK. Still as I say, I prefer the milder winters and so on balance I prefer the Australian climate and I think that is a reasonable "pro" on the pros and cons list,p for the move.

No it shouldn't. It should go to the local woth the appropriate qualifications to do the job. And in any case, with a diploma and no work experience you are never likely to be the best qualified person. Thank goodness somebody with personal experience to confirm what OP was told pages ago!

It is not for me to say whether you should move or not of course as I only know this one post about you. However I am firmly of the view that the lifestyle depends on you and your choices and not what country you are in. And ability to make friends and build a social circle is very much down to the individual and yes some people need to try a little harder than others. I hasten to add that you should not take that as any kind of a dig, I am very much in the "finding it harder than others" camp myself. Actually I am a little bit in the "I'm not particularly bothered" camp but that is possibly with age. However the point is that you will not be handled a social circle of likeminded people when you land in Australia. It will be no easier to build there than it is in UK. I can honestly say, I did not make one single friend in five years in Australia. I made acquaintances and had all the social interactions that I personally needed through work but no, Australia did not hand me a social circle - fortunately in my case I was not particularly looking for one and I certainly did not move hoping to get one. I would examine other reasons for moving, do the pros and cons list as I am sure most of us have at one time. But try to keep it to real things, climate, finances, even travel and adventure is real ... but improving social circle no, I don't think it is something you can bank on at all. Good luck.

It sounds like your nerves are of the perfectly normal type rather than the really deep reservations which we sometimes see and I personally don't think people should ignore. You have good reasons for wanting to try this out, your husband is on board, it all sounds promising to me so far. I strongly agree that it was unwise to tell a 10 year old that she can come back if she doesn't like it. I would try to back track from that if you can. Better to tell her you are going and any agreement about how long you should try things out should be between you and your husband only. That, by the way, is something that I always recommend a couple does. Finally no my house did not look like a tornado had been through it. It looked exactly the same as it always did, the the packers arrived and then it was empty. But we all do things differently. :wink:

If you have seen jobs advertised then did any of them have salaries included? Perhaps carry on looking where you are currently looking, I am sure some will give you a clue. The disparity in cost of living (housing specifcally) is as wide between various parts of Australia as it is between some parts of the UK, like London versus Scotland. So have a think about where you would like to live, I would probably advise to avoid Sydney and probably Melbourne too as youcould struggle in those places in what is not a typically high paying occupation. I would probably think about Brisbane or Adelaide. I would only take a quick look at thse type of things though at first, just to see if it might be feasible for you. But after a quick look, really the first thing to do is to look into visas not jobs.