38 year old mechanic looking at moving over with family

Hi all

with the new year looming it has got me seriously thinking about a move over to Australia, I have worked at a Vauxhall dealership in the U.K. Since leaving school so have gained all relevent qualifications but have now got to the point of looking for a big change. I have a wife and 4 young children and at the moment just looking into the feasibility of moving. I have had a look online and there does seem to be quite a few mechanics jobs advertised around Australia but I am slightly concerned trying to work out if I did manage to make the move that a mechanics sallery over there would pay all the bills and look after my family, in the U.K. We do receive some working tax credits that help, is there anyone out there in a similar situation? I just really need to know if it will be a non starter or if it's something that could work. Adam.

The jobs are irrelevant, first question you need to ask is can you get a visa? With 4 kids, unless you are absolutely minted you don't want to be going on a 457 - temporary - visa because there are a whole load of benefits you won't get (like child care subsidies) and a load of things you might, depending on the state, have to pay for (like school fees @$5k pa per kid). You might need to be a bit more specific about where you plan to go too - I reckon a bog standard mechanic is going to struggle to be a sole breadwinner in any of the cities but you might scrape by in an out of the way place where the rents are low but it wouldn't be a comfortable life with lots of exotic holidays, so expect your wife to have to work as well so you would need to find somewhere she could get a job too.

First step is to check out the immigration website to see if your skills are in demand

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Motor or mechanic is an occupation eligible for a skilled permanent visa.

The he first step is lots of reading on border.gov.au at what is required.

Of course people work and live as motor mechanics in Australia with families. It is impossible to say though if it would be a better move for you financially or not as that varies for everyone. I would look at salaries being offered and then look at rents and things. You will probably have to start thinking about where in Australia you would be looking to live. It is a massive country and very varied. So wages and living costs will also vary. For example, a mechanic might earn more in Sydney, but rents are likely to be very high.

Hi all

 

with the new year looming it has got me seriously thinking about a move over to Australia, I have worked at a Vauxhall dealership in the U.K. Since leaving school so have gained all relevent qualifications but have now got to the point of looking for a big change. I have a wife and 4 young children and at the moment just looking into the feasibility of moving. I have had a look online and there does seem to be quite a few mechanics jobs advertised around Australia but I am slightly concerned trying to work out if I did manage to make the move that a mechanics sallery over there would pay all the bills and look after my family, in the U.K. We do receive some working tax credits that help, is there anyone out there in a similar situation? I just really need to know if it will be a non starter or if it's something that could work. Adam.

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.

Thank you all for your replies,

From what i can gather from the border.gov.au website i could possibly obtain a skilled independent 189 visa as according to the points scoring i would score over 60 points, i have emailed a the service manager at a garage dealership near Adelaide to try and gain some information on salaries and the demand for jobs within my skill set so hopefully i can start to build up an idea of what sort of financial position i would be in.

If you do decide to come over make sure you have the patience and get the 189 visa. Because that is a permanent visa your family will get the equivalent of child benefit etc and pay no school fees. It may be easy to be tempting to get here a bit quicker on a temporary visa but you will receive no assistance and live with the uncertainty of having to return home if the job does not work out.

Hi You need to apply for the 189 skilled visa, if you are trade qualified with Vauxhaul this shouldnt be a problem for you as you will have all the relative paperwork/ qulaifications.

UK mechanics do well here if they can walk the walk as well as talk the talk, it is quite common to be put on as a casual until you have prooved yourself too. Lots of main dealers have uk mechanics but their pay rates seem to be a bit less than independant garages , i guess the advtage of the skilled visa would be you can take a job and move on for more money should the opportunity arise.

On a skilled visa you would also qualify for family tax benefit and rent assistance, which really tops up your earnings. On a 457 visa these benefits are not availble.

Lots of luck with everything and i hope this helps

Cal x