New life in Oz

Hoggs · 26-01-2007, 06:09 PM

Hi everyone,

I have just in the last 48 hours submited for the very first time a request for a free assesment with ASA Consultants in Australia to see if we stand a chance of getting a visa before going full steam ahead with an application. We spent 5 weeks with some very good friends of ours that live in Brisbane and we just fell in love with the place. Now we want to go back there again but this time for good.

We have 3 children of 13, 9 and 6 years of age and we think they would have a much better way of life there than here in the UK. We also think their future prospects will be much better there too!

We are quite concerned that we will be rejected because although I have spent 20 years as an electrical automation engineer and have had my own successful business in this field for the last 7 years here in the UK, I don't possess any formal qualifications or a degree! My wife has a degree in psychology but has never worked in that field as she has been bringing up our three children but recently she has been diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic which (as diabetes go) is the best one to have as it can be easily controlled with tablets rather than injections.

Sorry for the long winded life story but has anyone out there had a similar experience to ours and been given a visa anyway? We are trying hard not to get excited about the prospect of a new life in OZ in case we fail in our application but it's hard as everyday here in the UK serves as a reminder that this is NOT the place to be for the rest of our lives.

Any help or useful information in this respect would be very much appreciated and might even help us from going completely crazy as we wait to hear from the experts.

J&M

ali · 26-01-2007, 11:29 PM

There are a few people on here who will probably respond to your post personally, whose partners didn't have formal qualifications and managed to get a successful TRA which allows them to proceed with the application. Do a search (blue bar under the pio logo) for TRA and there should be lots of posts to read

Ali

buffy · 26-01-2007, 11:43 PM

Hi there! We are also new to this and we have to say this is just the BIGGEST thing we have ever contemplated! I thought moving 20 miles from home was a big step!

I agree about not getting hopes up but every time you see the news it's all doom, gloom and lies! I'm sure there are problems in Oz but I get the feeling the sunshine and lower tax may help!

We'll keep an eye out for your posts and hopefully we shall all be down under before you can say kangaroo :D

Hoggs · 27-01-2007, 02:23 AM

Hi ali,

Thank you for your reply and kind words of encouragement. I am not sure what TRA stands for but I gather that it has something to do with getting my skills assessed? I have tried looking at other people’s postings but could not find anything specific to TRA’s etc other than people stating that they had either sent them or received confirmation of getting them approved! I guess that as I get more familiar with this PIO website that I will be able to find concise information better and quicker.

I also could not find any postings from anyone regarding diabetes type 2 but have found websites in Australia about diabetes and how much it is costing the country annually which may not be very good news for us! My poor wife is convinced that we will have our application refused because of it and that it will be all her fault which is of course silly! What will be, will be.

Hi buffy,

Thank you very much also for your kind words and good luck with your application too. We have moved from West Sussex to Devon four and a half years ago which was then a big thing for us to do but a move to Oz would have to definitely be our last big one for our children’s sake. We moved to Devon for a better way of life, but we didn’t count on the continued ignorant actions of our Labour government! I really wish I could live life without reading the papers or watching the news on TV but I can’t and it’s real hard! We were genuinely very impressed with the way of life in Oz and stunned at the dedication and investment that their government put back into their country. That’s what it’s all about, an investment for your future and the future of your kids. What else do we want?

Good luck to you all trying for a better life in Oz or indeed already having a better life in Oz. We will look out for all your kind postings and advice and thank you in advance for your open generosity.

J&M

silverstargazer38 · 27-01-2007, 03:07 AM

yes its scary, you only have one life lets go for it

leaving family behind,

friends !! but then again they have said if it works out for us they will follow

what life is there in england rising the education age to keep unemploment down, you cant get a dentist, the health service suffering housing way too high for future children to even get on the housing ladder, the time thebills are paid no living standards, what do we have doom and gloom darkdingy weather approx 7 months of the year rain seasonal disorders, depressing
why not a new life all for it

ali · 27-01-2007, 09:37 AM

Young australians are finding it hard to get on the property ladder too.

buffy · 27-01-2007, 11:59 PM

Hiya J&M perhaps we should keep one another posted on where we get to! We are thinking WA at the moment, but I Have been chatting with a colleague this morning who reckons that Queensland is a good bet! The colleague in question went to Oz in '67 but then came back to the UK and so far he has been nothing but encouraging :!: So keep in touch :)