chiara

Thanks ladies. Yes they tried the six months rent in advance with us, but considering they wanted two months deposit and one month's rent in advance anyway meant more like 8 months in advance. Shall try to get a holiday rental for a few weeks and see how we go. Not sure entirely if it feels right, but Australia definitely felt wrong from day one, but a job was a job, so just glad to get back to the northern hemisphere and a bit of cold (we live in the outback, bleedin' roasting all year round!). Good luck to you too!

Thanks all, some very good advice on here. Yes organising stuff from here is ambitious, I was just anxious to get a rental so I could therefore get schools for the kids. As for cars, yes blimey just had a look, can get a decent 7 seater for around 3k which is really good. That solves that issue! As for the electoral roll, we're Irish so that's not possible. And there's no going back, job quit on a 457 visa and flights booked. Australia is beautiful and diverse and crazy but definitely not where I want to spend the rest of my days and I'm not the sort to spend years or months wishing I were somewhere else. Decision made, rightly or wrongly!

Thanks Snifter, it's a head wreck. Would it be easier to get a car loan then I wonder? That's just madness! What gets me is that you can have bad credit and still qualify!

So we decided, after a sudden job offer, to move to the UK. Things have moved speedily since then but we're now running into problems as we prepare to leave Australia. Namely that we don't exist! I've been trying to organise a house rental and the lack of UK addresses has sent everyone into a tizzy, been waiting two weeks to hear back about a rental because they've had to run all sorts of checks on us (paid by us), but fingers crossed. Leasing a car long term is proving to be massively problematic, having not been resident in the country over the past three years means that even the dodgy bad credit history companies won't touch us. Has anyone else faced this and what did they do? Am beginning to feel I rushed into this. Flights are booked for next Tuesday and I'm panicking. And I don't have anyone over there to go guarantor for me so not an option. Help!

Wow, what do you do? Hubby is a senior construction manager, can't imagine they're so stuck for choice over in the uk that they'd do that unfortunately...still,, good to know..

Good to know, thanks guys!

I think I already know the answer to this, but just out of curiosity I'll ask. Has anyone had a job offer in the UK which includes a relocation package? The last two countries we moved to (here and the UAE) we had flights and shipping costs covered, as well as being put up for a time until we found somewhere to live. One of the biggest fears about moving to the UK is the cost of setting ourselves up, and opting for an expat posting somewhere else seems a more attractive option on that front, but we are keen to move to the UK so will most likely have to suck it up.

Not everyone gets PR, and it is expensive. On the one hand we're being told that the country can't afford us, on the other hand we're being told 'go for PR' which will make us even more expensive. For our family the cost of the PR visa has tripled in the past three months. We will be trying to go for it - if hubby's employer is willing to sponsor us - but there's no guarantee of success. And yes, I will homeschool if I have to face these fees, and I'll be busily applying for Canada in the meantime...

Ronan20, couldn't agree more, very surprised by the vitriolic reaction to this. What is everyone so afraid of? And littlesarah I'm sorry but they ARE denying them an education! By saying you have to pay for it they're putting it out of reach for many families and many are facing some very tough choices.

You're wrong actually, we have several politicians involved. An education is a right as laid out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Australia is a signatory. Every child has the right to a free education and the WA government have completely ignored this through some clever legal sidestepping. What they are doing is wrong. Despite the very negative reaction on here, we are gaining a lot of support and are planning a rally at parliament house in a couple of weeks. Thanks to anyone who does support us.

The facebook group is not mine! Crikey, I just mentioned it because that's where the idea grew....so there was no 'shameless' plug, I joined it in the same way I joined this group. OK so nobody supports this, fine, thought I'd give it a whirl.

Well no, it has been a constant worry for us, and we are constantly trying to ensure the kids learn enough from us (through lots of books and educational stuff) to make up for it. But when they present us with a $20k bill next year, I will have a problem with it....

We may have considered staying, but now we're under pressure to get PR or leave so we're considering our options. I still fail to see how we cost more on 457s than on PR visas.... the fact that it costs us more to live here than PRs or citizens already seems to make no difference to you...and the fact that the kids' school is pretty poor is beside the point...

We lived in the UAE for three years, and paid the equivalent there for schooling. Difference was that we paid no tax at all...that was the agreement! Here we paid $50k last year. I fail to understand how when we get PR (which we'll have to now) makes us suddenly affordable? They recruited us from Ireland, they clearly 'needed' my husband's skills, but half way through it they are now saying 'whoops, we've changed our minds, sorry but now you must pay us 16k!' very stormy that is bullshit!!

And by the way, the biggest groups of 457 holders are the Indians, English and Irish....and last time I checked my English is pretty good...