Polkey

Thanks for your sharing, I'm sorry to hear it's been so stressful for you. My husband and I tried a couple of years ago to settle in Queensland but just couldn't find work (I wasn't a law student then though) and we just had to call it quits. You go over all guns blazing having prepared to give it everything you have BUT sometimes it just doesn't work out . Thanks for telling me your experience, it really does help when you are armed with all the possibilities. I know it's going to be a good few years yet before we can contemplate making the move, and it might jog even be to Aus but just assessing the options. hope it all works out for you and your partner. Take deep breaths and go with the flow. You've lived and experienced more in the last 12 months than some will in a lifetime, it's all good

Thanks for telling me your experiences! It really does help when you have 1st hand information. I know it's a good few years away yet but better to have the long term plans/ideas in place so you know which line to take! I'll see what the other states have to offer in terms of routes for admittance and likelihood of self fund costing x

Thanks for your post! I realise it's going to be stiff competition, much as it is in the uk too. To be honest, when I was talking about sponsorship I was meaning for the retraining, not for the visa. I'm in a lucky position that my oh has a job/skill that will easily allow us a visa. I'm wanting to know the nitty gritty about how you go about the retraining and whether it's possible to work at the same time as doing it. I'm going to assess the options from this end first, we're not in any hurry and I was expecting to stay on in the uk for a wee while as PQE. thanks for you help and advice x

That's so helpful, thank you very much. We have been to Aus before so I understand the issue with applying from the uk, very difficult! I am going to make a start at looking at larger firms in Aus that May have offices in London etc and start putting the feelers out

thanks! That's all I needed to hear. Not too worried about the visa side of things was more concerned about there being a possibility that a firm would sponsor the studies where necessary. Thank you for your reply x

Hi there, I'm in the process of training to be a solicitor and was wondering if I could ask some probably rather stupid questions here?!!! Once I have completed my training contract in the uk (I know I will probs have to do some retraining and studying when we come over but...) can I apply for NQ positions in Aus and work unqualified? Do companies sponsor the conversion studies so I can work unqualified whilst I convert and register in Aus? any help or contact with those who have done this will be gratefully received! Thanks Julie x:biggrin:

I feel for you. My family and I have been back in the UK for nearly a year after spending 4 expensive and stressful months watching the money slowly disappear! I applied for about 250 jobs and had only one telephone interview for which the interviewer said at the end there had been hundreds of applications and I wan't successful even though I was a strong candidate. I was advised to de-UK my CV and apply for anything going, which I did, but to little avail. With a young family and only limited funds we had to make the difficult decision to cut our losses. You could try a different state (although the moving cost for us were just too much)? Good luck, it takes the shine off what should be an amazing experience! xx

Money, money, money! Don't think £10000-£20000 is going to be enough to keep you going for long unless you have a job to walk into or are lucky enough to find work with in a month or two which given how things are at the mo could well take longer than you imagine. I think if you don't have a considerable chunk of money then stay at home until you do and it will take some of the stress and pressure away when you get there. Its an emotional roller costa no mater how positive or strong you are and its easy to pretend some of the things we all post on here won't effect you because the desire to go is so strong (understandably) that you think "no, not me, I won't be or feel like that" . If your half expecting the emotional disruption then your half prepared and can recognize it for what it is and except it all part of the process. But again, the more money you have the easier it will be for you to settle in. O, and what ever you do do not buy and old banger because thats exactly what they are, we have been over twice and been stung with cars both times. Buy a decent car or rent one for a while until you find a good one. I know when we go back again we will be put a large chunk of money aside for a car. I know it all sounds negative but it just being realistic just as saying Oz is a wonderful, wonderful place because it is, its just not as easy as it was 10 or 20 years ago when you could go over with say £20000 in your back pocket, buy a house outright and find plenty of work.

Nothing wrong with the way you feel, its not black and white. The only thing you can do is take the steps to change your life to what you want it to be. You need a short term plan to change the immediate problems such as where you live and then a long term plan to get you back where you want to be. My wife and I are sadly back due to running out of money before we found work which we put down to a combination of poor exchange rates, crappy occupations and shitty economy. I know it feel like a life sentence but you have to see past it and be determined to succeed. My wife is applying to go back to uni and study something that we can use to reapply and make sure that one of us has a better chance of well paid work. Its a long way around it but its the most sensible for us. Things over here are not that bad you just have to rediscover the good bits and be grateful they are there. Its easy to focus on the bad, we have and still do it but you know its know good in the long run. Change is never easy, good or bad and you have to do the best you can but don't beat yourself up about the choices you have made, your not dead yet so march forward and conquer.

Oh no, I feel for you... We were in a very similar situation, although we have PR. We spent roughly £12000 over about 3 months just 'existing'. It's such a stress when you know you can turn your hand to anything but no-one will give you a chance. We were on the Gold Coast and all in I think I applied for over 200 jobs (clerical/PA/Exec assistant etc) and only had one provisional interview!! It is so demoralising I know. Unfortunately, we basically ran out of money and couldn't risk being homeless with a 3 yr old so made the difficult decision to come back to the UK. I'm devastated and feel like we've wasted such a huge amount of money, but all the research in the world won't tell you how much competition there are for jobs... one job I applied for (which I heard nothing from initially) I called to ask for feedback and they basically said there had been over 250 people apply for it!! This was just a bog standard clerical job! I know its scary, and stressful, and you doubt you've made the right choice... but at least you're doing it, you're making a change, you're taking a risk rather than sitting back and letting life pass you by. It'll work out, or it won't, but at least you tried. xxx

Sorry, I have absolutely no constructive advice to give you... I just wanted to say how much I feel for you and your horrendous situation. You must feel so confused and distressed. Sending you courage and strength and a big hug. I hope you and OH can come to some sort of agreement or compromise xxx

And No, I have no regrets about coming, I've loved every single day here, even through all the stress

Why is it seen as a failure if you return before 2 years? This is so ridiculous! We've been here 4 months and are heading back... Not because we hate it or haven't settled, it's because we were an a tight budget and work is scarce. I can, hand on my heart say I've given it 110% and have put the effort into meeting people etc but unfortunately things have conspired against us. I'll (very sadly) be going back to the UK next Monday with my head held very high because I know I did everything possible to make it work within our own parameters. Maybe the same can be said for the OP?? Why should they feel embarrassed about returning after 6 months, we have no idea what they've been through as a family and shouldn't make them feel worse by adding a "legitimate" timeframe!

We arrived with about £12000, but bought a car when we got here for about £3000... That blew up after a couple of months(god damn it). We've not splashed out, haven't been out for dinner etc. my husband and I lived here 4 years ago so had some idea on cost etc but managed to get work straight away... We have a child now so you look at things a little differently ( and have added costs). Im in clerical work and my husband is a hairdresser. He's managed to get very casual work Lin like 4 different salons... But on a 'we'll let u know at the beginning of the week basis' so it isn't necessarily a full week every week. It's just too much of a gamble when there's only a few weeks money left in the bank.

So, D-Day has arrived. The savings are past the point of no return and we have been forced to make the awful decision that it's fly back to the UK or risk being homeless, with a 3 yr old. It's a no brainer unfortunately. Needless to say we are gutted and I have cried on and off, randomly for the last few days. Thank you to everyone for all your comments above, we have literally tried everything... even contacted Centrelink. Flights have been changed and we leave in 2 weeks, flat broke. Au Revoir Australia, I will miss you. x