WelcomeIf you are new to Poms In Oz and migrating to Australia or currently living in Australia feel free to say hi to all the other either in or moving to Oz.
Newbie!! Taking first steps towards new life in Oz!!!
Hello all!! I've just found this wonderful site, after a week of searching the internet trying to find something like it!! Yaaay!
Me and my husband have been thinking about emigrating to Oz for YEARS and we've finally decided to do it, as we're not getting any younger! (We're both 32)
I'm just about to send off my skills assessment to the Australian Institute of Chartered Accountants, they've said it should only take 1 - 2 weeks to process!!! Then we start on the visa aplication!!!!
I'd really love to know 2 things at this moment:
Should we use a migration agent? Is it worth it? I'm going on a skilled visa (a 136? I think) and hubby's going on a spouse visa... would it be something we could handle ourselves? Really can't decide, and obviously we're trying to keep costs down!!
And, most importantly - how on earth do we decide where to go? We have an uncle living in Melbourne and first obvious thought was to stay with him, I guess it'd be easier. But I'm not sure how much I like the sound of Melbourne... Adelaide sounds nicer, and cheaper, and warmer!!!
Thanks for listening. This is a fab board!!
PS When should we put the house up for sale... not yet presumably??
Re: Newbie!! Taking first steps towards new life in Oz!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by maladicta
...how on earth do we decide where to go?
For a chartered accountant it might come down to what you want to do... Big finance houses (DeLoitte, KPMG) and the like are in the major centres, but every reasonable sized town needs accountants for small business.
It is all a case of personal preference, I'm afraid... but there is no reason not to pick someplace, rent a house for a year while you explore..and settle down when you decide what and where you like best. 8)
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Geelong, Victoria's second largest City
We're going on a 136 visa. My hubby didn't need a different visa, we applied on my skills and put all the names (us & 2 children) onto the application form,
Ali
__________________ I am toopositive to be doubtful, too optimistic to be fearful and too determined to be defeated!
Fraser, I'm only used to small-town living - I think I might find Melbourne a bit overwhelming! I definitely won't be looking for big-firm work. Hubby's uncle lives in Frankston but I don't know how big a place that is, I don't know whether I'd have to travel into Melbourne.
But yes, there's nothing to stop us moving on atfer a year is there? And it would certainly be easier to arrive in Oz with somewhere to go :)
ali - thanks for letting me know! Until now I've only concentrated on my skills assessment, I need to start looking into the visa now. I didn't realise he'd just go on mine. Thanks!
xx
Hi - we applied for 136 skilled visa in April (my husband has the skill) I just tagged along on the application! We were granted our visa on 23 August.
We didn't use a agent did it all ourselves - the hard bit is the skills assessment, once you get that over and done with the actual visa application is easy. Just a hell of alot of waiting.
Thank you for that!!! I kinda thought, if we're both reasonably intelligent people, we should be able to do it ourselves? But then you read horror stories of people having visas refused (hmmm, usually on the migration agents' websites!) and it scares you into thinking you need one...
We didn't use an agent either as our application was pretty straight forward. I'm sure people must get turned down, but to be honest I've only ever 'heard about them' and never actually spoken/read a post from someone who has been refused.
Ali
__________________ I am toopositive to be doubtful, too optimistic to be fearful and too determined to be defeated!
Frankston has been just about swallowed by Greater Melbourne.
If you are a "Small-town girl" think regional rather than big city... and Regional doesn't mean small dusty towns. The trouble is taht most expectant migrants only know Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth & Adelaide
It is easier to get a visa for a Regional area, but you need to commit to two years in the regions. Ther are some really nice regional towns and cities
Fraser, thanks for that link! I'm really pretty clueless about most of Australia as you can tell!!!
I'd much prefer somewhere smaller, so I think the best thing would be to move out to Frankston first and then decide where to go from there...
Sounds like a fair call to me.
There are lots of really nice towns around Victoria...including lovely decent-sized coastal towns like Warrnambool and Portland... and even on the other side of the Mornington Peninsula there is Hastings.
No shortage of bustling inland towns and cities too, such as Bendigo, Ballarat, Shepparton, Wangarratta, Albury/Wodonga. ....and that's just Victoria...
Play with the internet... It's full of good stuff...and ask away on any subject in here. For the most part someone will be able to help.
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Geelong, Victoria's second largest City
