Thinking of emigrating, need a lot of advice

Hi guys,

I'm Dan, I'm new here and wanted to join because I'm dying to move down under in about 2-3 years (*hopefully*). I wanted to ask a few questions if that's OK, apologies if they've already been asked 100 times or if I'm posting in the wrong section.

Basically, I'm 24 years old and I went to Australia for a holiday about 3 years ago and I fell in love with the country. My family used to live over there in the 80's and my sis was even born over there, so naturally I feel that I too would like to live in Australia too, but I am VERY wet behind the ears and know nothing about emigrating at all, so I wanted to ask you guys;

1) Is there a minimum amount of money that I need to have to move over there?

2) I am a trained sound engineer, but I noticed it's been removed from the SOL list. Does this mean that I can't move over unless it get's put back on the SOL?

3) What is the cost of living like in Australia?

4) How much does it cost to move out to Australia?

5) Even with the skill behind me, can I still do other jobs if I choose?

I'm not looking to move right now as I simply don't have the money yet, and from what I already know, it'll be better for me points system wise if I waited a year or 2 anyway, but I think I'd like to get the ball rolling now so to speak.

Thanks in advance for any answers, it would be much appreciated,

Dan

Hi Dan,

I don't know a lot about your questions, but just a note to say 'Hi' and I'm going through the Visa process now (Partner Visa) and I am new this year to e group. I live in Somerset, not far from you.

Cheers MT.

Cheers MT:cool: Which part of Somerset are you from?

Hi guys,

 

I'm Dan, I'm new here and wanted to join because I'm dying to move down under in about 2-3 years (*hopefully*). I wanted to ask a few questions if that's OK, apologies if they've already been asked 100 times or if I'm posting in the wrong section.

 

Basically, I'm 24 years old and I went to Australia for a holiday about 3 years ago and I fell in love with the country. My family used to live over there in the 80's and my sis was even born over there, so naturally I feel that I too would like to live in Australia too, but I am VERY wet behind the ears and know nothing about emigrating at all, so I wanted to ask you guys;

 

1) Is there a minimum amount of money that I need to have to move over there?

 

2) I am a trained sound engineer, but I noticed it's been removed from the SOL list. Does this mean that I can't move over unless it get's put back on the SOL?

 

3) What is the cost of living like in Australia?

 

4) How much does it cost to move out to Australia?

 

5) Even with the skill behind me, can I still do other jobs if I choose?

 

I'm not looking to move right now as I simply don't have the money yet, and from what I already know, it'll be better for me points system wise if I waited a year or 2 anyway, but I think I'd like to get the ball rolling now so to speak.

 

Thanks in advance for any answers, it would be much appreciated,

 

Dan

Bit of an Avon and Somerset love in going on here lol. I live in wells but work in and around Bristol and bath. Just moved out here to wookey hole as we progressively get further and further away from bristol.moved to emersons green 3 years ago, then went to paulton and now we're in wookey hole. Anyway enough about me I'll have a go at a few of your questions.

1) Is there a minimum amount of money that I need to have to move over there?

No but you'll need a lot because the whole process including moving is costing me around £12k and then on top of that it's advisable to have a good chunk saved for when you move to make sure you don't end up homeless and hungryz

2) I am a trained sound engineer, but I noticed it's been removed from the SOL list. Does this mean that I can't move over unless it get's put back on the SOL?

If it's not on the SOL then it's hard luck unless it's on the CSOL which means you'll need a state sponsor. As you're only 24 the best route would be a working holiday visa, do a few months in the strawberry fields to get your extension to 2 years and try and find a job that will sponsor you.

3) What is the cost of living like in Australia?

It depends where you live, someone living there would be better to answer this but we did a recon trip and for Us shopping in aldi it was much of a muchness between English aldi and Aussie aldi, some things cost more some things cost less so it evens out. Rent seems more expensive and average house prices but when you look at what you get for your money it's a bargain IMO.

4) How much does it cost to move out to Australia?

Lots as I said above

5) Even with the skill behind me, can I still do other jobs if I choose?

yup, once you get a PR it doesn't matter what you do for work

hope this has helped, like I said best/cheapest/easiest way for someone of your age and situation to get out there is definitely the working holiday route, you'll meet people and find it a ugh quicker route. I grew up in Cornwall before moving to Bristol as I'd say 25% of my old friends live in Bristol and about 25/30% live somewhere in aus mostly in manly and they all did the working holiday and getting sponsored paths. Some learnt a trade became self employed and sponsored themselves somehow

Another Bristolian here, I'm going to echo above what Skyba has said, although I will add you are still young so could potentially retrain or skill up, but obviously the risk is the new skill could also come off the SOL in the future too. Others have done it though and a lot older than yourself so maybe look into it.

Costs are higher:

Complaining about the NHS is a national pastime in the UK, like the cliche you don't appreciate it until it's gone.

There is a partial state system here but you pay for a lot. Others may have more experience of costs, I am fortunate that I don't see doctors any more, not just because of cost but also the lack of any useful help. Dr Google and inhousepharmacy does it for me now.

The many layers of 'government' and the vast army of public servants (who don't serve the public) means taxes on taxes on taxes, and it will get worse much worse, elections here are more like a public auction, who will offer the most money for your vote, thing is I never see any benefit from these promises and the public money spent.

High council rates, land tax. I haven't had kids at school here, but there are also school fees.

Low population and geographical isolation means the cost of most goods are higher, when I watch renovation shows on TV and see what building materials cost over there I can spend 3 - 4 times that here. The Internet has helped of course.

Some things depend on where you live, small town costs more of course, there is an ongoing campaign in our local rag about the price of petrol, which can cost 30% more than in Melbourne.

There are many incidentals that we take for granted in the UK which here you pay for, to give an example....I had an investation of rabbits, the whole area was overrun and it was causing damage, so I did what I would do in the UK and contacted the council assuming they would send pest control...... no reply....so I contact the Department of self-serving public servants (DEPI) all they do is have a useless web site, Facebook page, Twitter feed etc..... actually coming out and doing some work, forget it. Fortunately I was able to pay for someone to add fencing under my property and buy bait, if you can't do that hard luck....

No matter what the problem you are on your own here and you will pay.

Another Bristolian here, I'm going to echo above what Skyba has said, although I will add you are still young so could potentially retrain or skill up, but obviously the risk is the new skill could also come off the SOL in the future too. Others have done it though and a lot older than yourself so maybe look into it.

Yep this is definitely an option as this is what I did. Rules changing also makes things easier/harder with this option. for example, I was a project manager for a drilling company in the Middle East, health problems meant I had to return home but I knew I didn't want to settle in England so I used my time to retrain as an electrician and go. In the time since I made that decision in 2009 the rules have changed several time.

Initially you you could do your level 3 NVQ and then as soon as you had qualified you could apply to go and get your qualifications just swapped over. Then it changed to having at least 2 years post qualification experience to get a skills test up until about last October when they decided that if you have an NVQ you just need 2 years experience including your training so you can now go straight after you get your NVQ again. But the biggest change has been that you're no longer able to get your qualifications just swapped over, I am having to sit an OTSA (offshore technical skills assessment) which will provide me with a provisional licence to work in Australia, I then have to do gap training which means I have to work supervised until I get me A grade licence which can take up to a year. finding an employer who will allow me to do this and take the time off is going to be tough. But good things in life don't come easy.

the only thing you can do is get the advice and work out what works best for you, also on this site you'll probably get some very negative advise which can happen, I've had people telling me not to go and it's crap and all a myth that life is better. Thing is one mans rubbish is another mans treasure and ultimately if it's something you want to do then you owe it to yourself to try because you don't a a to turn 50 and wonder what could have been.

Comments in red.

Hi guys,

 

I'm Dan, I'm new here and wanted to join because I'm dying to move down under in about 2-3 years (*hopefully*). I wanted to ask a few questions if that's OK, apologies if they've already been asked 100 times or if I'm posting in the wrong section.

 

Basically, I'm 24 years old and I went to Australia for a holiday about 3 years ago and I fell in love with the country. My family used to live over there in the 80's and my sis was even born over there, so naturally I feel that I too would like to live in Australia too, but I am VERY wet behind the ears and know nothing about emigrating at all, so I wanted to ask you guys;

 

1) Is there a minimum amount of money that I need to have to move over there? Not officially. But obviously moving with no money is not a good idea, so you need to weigh up how you will live whilst you look for work and what you need.

 

2) I am a trained sound engineer, but I noticed it's been removed from the SOL list. Does this mean that I can't move over unless it get's put back on the SOL? I found Sound Technician on the CSOL, which means the occupation is eligible for employer or state sponsorship, unfortunately looks like only SA is sponsoring that occupation at the moment and that is with special conditions which will be hard to achieve.

3) What is the cost of living like in Australia? How long is a piece of string! People live on a wide range of different income levels and all have our own cost of living. More generally, it is not usually considered a cheap place to live. Personally, I found it swings and roundabouts for most day to day expenses, but found cost of accommodation extremely high in Sydney and ultimately that is why we returned.

4) How much does it cost to move out to Australia? You need to work out what it will cost for you, different people spend different sums. We spent £30k but I would never claim that is what it costs to move to Australia. Just take out a notebook, add up things like: visa, flights, shipping, temporary accommodation, a few months living expenses.

5) Even with the skill behind me, can I still do other jobs if I choose? Yes.

 

I'm not looking to move right now as I simply don't have the money yet, and from what I already know, it'll be better for me points system wise if I waited a year or 2 anyway, but I think I'd like to get the ball rolling now so to speak. I honestly don't think there is a lot you can do to get the ball rolling right now.

Thanks in advance for any answers, it would be much appreciated,

 

Dan

Wow, thanks for the great answers everyone, much appreciated. Nice to see a few West Country people here too!

It seems that I'll have to have a good think about exactly what my needs are.

Thanks again guys

@Bungo - Just picking up on the cost of living thing you mentioned, yes, I was talking generally. My fault, I wans't clear enough. I'm also looking into Melbourne/Frankston area

Wow, thanks for the great answers everyone, much appreciated. Nice to see a few West Country people here too!

 

It seems that I'll have to have a good think about exactly what my needs are.

 

Thanks again guys

@Bungo - Just picking up on the cost of living thing you mentioned, yes, I was talking generally. My fault, I wans't clear enough. I'm also looking into Melbourne/Frankston area

@CitricBean can I ask why you are looking at Frankston?

Whats wrong with Frankganistan???

It's a place I visited when I was on holiday a few years ago and I really liked the area. Nice vibe about the area, got a nice beach and decent views too. Not only that, my parents used to live relatively close to Frankston when they lived over there. Why, isn't it a nice place to be?

:wink:

It's a place I visited when I was on holiday a few years ago and I really liked the area. Nice vibe about the area, got a nice beach and decent views too. Not only that, my parents used to live relatively close to Frankston when they lived over there. Why, isn't it a nice place to be?

 

:wink:

i live and work about ten minutes away.

I wouldnt wander around the station at night, but the whole place is fine during the day.

And the beach is fantastic for little kids, of which we have two.

Frankganistan is the local Melbourne name. But its from decades ago, some just have long memories.

Oh ok. Nice to know that

Cheers MT:cool: Which part of Somerset are you from?

Hi Dan,

We are from South Petherton in Somerset, we visit Bristol a lot, because of sons treatments at Bristol Children's Hospital.

Also, I was looking at Mt Waverley area, which is not far from Frankston.

Keep in touch with your progress, as we are hoping we are going early next year.

Cheers MT

Hi MT,

Nice! Sorry to hear your son is in hospital though

I'm not familiar with Mt Waverley (or at least I don't remember the place).

As for moving out, I doubt I'll be doing it for a good couple of years yet, but I'm thinking of getting a working holiday visa and then renewing at the end. I don't have much in the way of money, so I'm trying to do it as cheaply as possible. The one upside is that I'm currently living at home so I don't have much stuff to ship out there

Good luck with your move!