Phil & Vikki

From what we hear it is a great deal and it is getting more expensive. Do not wish to put you off, but have heard that it is very expensive in WA at the moment.

Initially we used Pickford's to bring our things over in a half a container. We also brought over a car with us, a few scratches, but nothing major. We then sent over a few boxes after our Christmas break back to the UK. This was only 2 boxes and for this we used Seven Seas.

Reading this post makes us realize that more pople feel like us at the moment. we have had mixed feelings recently and are unsure as to the best course of action to take. we really wish the people good luck, who have decided to move back to the UK? t the end of the day you need to do what is best for you and what will make you feel better. we wish you the very best nand hope that it all works out for you.

Hi, I moved back to Tipperary in July 2012 and I'm lovin it. Having said that its not easy, but then I'm in a rural area, I'm sure more opportunities would exist in Dublin or any other city for that matter.

 

The only difficulty I see is work -Ii kept my house here when I went to Perth, only stayed there 10 months. If you can get work back here, you will be grand. I love being home and have a new appreciation for everything.

 

I actually wonder what the hell I was thinking going back to Perth in the first place, must have been mad.

(I had previously lived in oz for over 20 years, but back in Ireland almost 20 years).

We are currently thinking about moving back to you UK and after reading your post, that is something that we said. We would be going back with 'a new appreciation for everything'. That is what we think we would have if we did decide to go back.

It is all about swings and roundabouts.

Hi All

 

This is a question for those British Asians (Indians / Pakistanis) who have moved out to oz.

 

What were your experiences?

How have you settled in?

 

 

Regards

 

Ali

Why limit your possible replies to a specific group? True the group that you have listed may know more about the certain issue, but that does that mean that any other minorities/group cannot give valuable insight to the question you have posed or areas around it? By hearing others views, you may have a far greater overall picture and understanding of a situation and be able to make a decision based on all variables within the equation.

Just because someone is not from the same group does not mean that they have not experienced issues along the way and that they do not have valuable advice. If you were to hear more than one side/view/experience you may realize that others have come up against issues, which we all can learn from and go past.

Hi there, wow reading your post reminds us of out current situation, without the bit of moving back to the UK.

It is fair to say that for whatever reason the move to Australia has not quite worked out how we wanted it too. We have also found it hard to make friends. We have tried, but it always seems like you are having to work hard at it and you miss the few good friends that you now know you had back in the UK. Not too sure about you, but we are glad that we have made the move and think it is something that we had to do at the time. It was an adventure that we needed in our life at the time. However, on looking back on things we did not have it that bad in the UK. With the illness of a family member we have realised that the generation above us (our parents) may not have as long as we would want them to have left. We feel that it may be better to spend what time we do have with them in the UK, rather than staying somewhere where we may not want to be and missing out on the time we have got left. At the end of the day if you have the passport you can come back later if you decide it is for you. We were thinking that if we did end up moving back to the UK we would move to another place, but from what you say and from what we were thinking, it may be best to go back to where you know.

We are glad that you are where you want to be and hope that when you move back in the summer, it is where you want to be.

Hi,

No you definitely need to have been here for the full 2 years to get a 5 year RRV. We were only a few weeks away from our 2 years here before we went on our recent holiday and were only allowed a 1 year RRV. You will need to go for an interview and submit all the substantial ties evidence in order to get the 1 year RRV. Hope that helps.

Vikki

Hi Sharon,

Sorry for the long delay, only just got back off holiday. Your visa will last for 5 years in which time you can come and go as you please. However if you want to leave the country after the visa has expired then you have to apply for a resident return visa where you have to prove that you have lived in the country for 2 out of the last 5 years. If you have lived here for over 2 years then you just apply for another 5 year resident return visa, job done. However if you haven't (which was the case for us with our recent trip overseas) you have to apply for a resident return visa where you have to go to the immigration office with loads of paperwork to show that you have 'substantial ties' to OZ (the immigration web site will list all the paperwork, but basically, job offer letters, pay slips, children's school enrollment etc). If you have not spent the 2 out of 5 years in oz then you will only be granted another visa for 1 year, and then have to apply again when that expires if you want to leave the country and come come back. If you come of oz and never intend setting foot out of the country (which is unlikely i'd guess) then you won't need to get another visa at all. I hope all that make sense. Are we happy we moved??? Erm, i think so, its very very very hard work, don't underestimate just how difficult it is rebuilding your life again, and don't expect it to happen over night. We are 'ok' at the moment and prepared to stick it out for a few more years yet, i think once we are able to buy a house of our own we will be able to put our roots down and truly settle in to life here. I hope all goes well with your plans. Vikki

Hi Sharon,

Your visa will last for 5 years which means you can come and go as you please in this time (as long as you are in Oz before it expires), but you must validate it before your july date. Going on hols for a few weeks to validate your visa and returning a few years later to live is what we did. We had our visa's granted in June 2007 and validated them in November the same year but didn't move to Sydney to live until Feb 2011.

Hope that helps

Vikki

We have brought too many things during our Christmas break in the UK and need to get them back to Australia. We think it will go in a tea chest or two size box. We were thinking of either Pickfords or someone like that. Does anyone know of any good shipping companies and how much it would cost?

Sounds like it is a great time for you to give it a go. Like they say 'suck it and see'. If you do not go now when like you say, you have no baggage, you may regret it for the rest of your life. Always thinking what if? That is the way we looked at it. We heard something on the tv last night and thought it was a good saying, it seems to apply here. It is better to fail trying then to fail to try.

Give it a go, we are sure you will like it. When you are on the beach in the sun, thinking of the cold and wet UK ask yourself if you have done the right thing We wish you all the best.

We have brought over all our family photos with us, including the negatives. Now is the time to get them converted to digital format, so that we can keep them safe on the hard drive.

We have been looking at two scanners from Office Works and wondered if anyone has experience of them? They are the QPix FS989 Film & Print Scanner and the QPix FS970 Film & Print Scanner. There is only $10 or so difference between then but the FS989 has a scanner of 14MP, so that is the one we are thinking of.

Has anyone got any experience of using either of these? We went and had some pictures scanner before, but the quality was not that good, so we are looking to get a better result with this purchase. Any words of wisdom would be great as we need to get it the weekend.

When we got here we had a look around and one of the best value plans at the time was with Optus, on their $30 pre pay plan. However, as time has gone on we have discovered that this no longer is the best plan, well at the moment far from it.If you are bringing your own mobile, we would have to say have a look at people like TPG. They do what looks like a great SIM only plan for around $18 a month. From memory it gives you something like 1.5gb of data and $550 worth of text and calls. If you use skyp or something like that the data allowance would be great for calling the UK.

We are going to try them when we come back as we are just being taken for fools on the plan that we are on now. TPG use the same network as Optus, so service should not be much different.

Hi there,We were lucky when we came out here as we never had this kind of thought in our mine. We were both of the same mind set as you and not too bothered about being close to either of our family's. However, we can understand how your wife feels and this is something you hear quite often on here.

One thing that we found good overall was to set small goals. In your situation, something like give it a go for a year or two and then see how you both feel. We have a goal to get the passport and then see where and what we want to do. It gives you something to work towards and it may be more of a bit size for your wife, rather than lets go for ever.

With regards to being close and in contact with family and friends in the UK, things like skype, viber, emails and such like help to break this gap down. Gone are the days when Australia was the other side of the world and contact took ages via a letter coming by boat. You can talk to your family and friends instantly and with something like viber on your phone it is just like sending a text to them, if you were just down the road. That is as long as the other people are a awake.:biggrin:

One thing you make also find is that as you and your family/friends life take different courses, contact may naturally slow down. Not saying this is a bad thing, just that people lives go on, just because you are not there. You and your wife will make new friends and start sharing experiences with them and therefore have more to talk about. We were going to talk to our friends and family a fair bit, but now after nearly two years, there are only a few hardcore ones we really keep in contact with. Not for anything nasty, just the way things turn out.

Also not wishing to be the bringer of doom and gloom, but it will be hard at the start. We have found certain aspects really hard here, but worth it. Lots of people come out here fed by all the 'Australian life' programs thinking it will be a walk in the park and have a really bad shock. On the whole though it is something that we are glad that we have done. If it does not work out, you can at least say that you gave it your best shot. Good luck, we wish you all the best.

I think Phil and Vikki have hit the nail on the head, the demand is relentless and the supply short. They could insult every parent who arrives each morning and slash their tyres and they would still have to keep coming back. Some areas have a two year waiting list to get kids in - my colleague at work tried to book in his daughter into day care before she was born!

 

i know i'm blunt but I just think everyones better of having one parent at home

Thanks for that Can1983 and it is true what you say. As soon as the supply is greater than the demand, places will have to realize that the customer (paying their bills customer) has rights and that if they treat them bad, they can and will go to another place just waiting for their $'s. They may then start to realize that you do not bite the hand that feeds you.

I worked with a lady who was literally scared of her child care. One day she told me that she was about 10 minutes late for picking up her kid, due to train issues. She called them to let them know where she was and when she would be there. When she got there apparently the owner had a real bad go at her and said if it happened again, she would have to find another place. Knowing there was nothing available in the area. If that had happened in the UK we/she could of said OK stuff you and get her kid into another daycare within the next few days with ease. As we all know, that is not the case here and customer service skills seem to be slightly lower here

When we got here nearly 2 years ago we put our daughter on a few waiting lists. A few months ago 1 called and asked if we still wanted the place. Some of the others could not even be bothered to follow up our initial inquiry. Just goes to show how much they care. One parent at home is great if you can and if we could we would.

To tell you the truth we would and we would actively encourage it. When I was 16/17 (long time ago now) I took a flight from the UK to Perth with a great stopover. Spent two months in Perth and then got on a plane back to the UK. It was a great thing to do and one hell of an adventure.

With that in mind, we would want our kids to do that kind of thing as soon as they can and will help them as much as we can to do it. Being able to get n the flight, sort out where they are going and get there all OK, will help with confidence for sure.

We also have to also pay for these type of days, when our little one does not go to daycare due to them being closed, but we do get the make-up day and they can be of great help on certain days. Our childcare center are good though and do try to work around things like this to help the parents out. Still think that three year old's are a bit too young to wear make up lol.

It can be a bit of a shock coming from the UK where the customer has the upper hand to a place like Australia where there is more demand than supply, so organisations/companies can virtually treat you how they want. As they know there is not much you can do about it. As things grow and more competition comes into the marketplace (not just in childcare), this can only be good for the customer.

Sure did

Sorry if this has been mentioned before, but we thought that we would mention it, to make sure everyone was aware of it. We have just found a very nice app for the smartphones that can be used to help you keep in contact with your family and friends back in the UK. Viber is really good and it works via your phone to allow you to make calls and send texts. We have used it for a week or so now and have found it to be really good. Also like skype, it is free, so it cannot be too bad. It does need the person you are calling to have Viber, but once they have it, away you go. We have not found any cam facility yet (like skype) but as it goes through your phone it is easier for us.

We do not work for Viber, but think it may be of use to others on here to help you contact people in the UK and keep the costs down. It uses your wi-fi or you can find a free connection to call or send text.

Enjoy.

Hi,

As far as i am aware is doesn't have to be consecutive (but i might be wrong). We had our visa's (sub class 138) granted in June 2007 (ran out in june this year) but didn't move to Oz until February 2011. We are returning home at xmas so haven't spent a total of 2 years in oz. In this case we have to have an interview with immigration this friday and take all our paperwork to show that we have ties with oz. We have been advised to bring what ever we can, in our case - job offer letters, bank statement, letter from our letting agent, letter from my son's school, pay slips etc. We will only be able to get a 1 year visa because we haven't spend 2 years in oz. Without the 2 years spent in oz you can not get another 5 year visa only a 1 year until the 2 years is complete.

Hope that helps

Vikki

The problem is that this will continue to be the case everywhere. The price of fuel is going to carry on going up and up. Well at the end of the day, someone has got to pay for all the new developments in Dubai

That is a good one as at the end of the day, like you say you do not want to appear tight. However, if they were going to say Spain, you would not be paying for things. I think a happy medium would be best. Say pay for food and drink and some family days out, but within reason. If they are anything like my parents, they will not want you to pay for anything, so you may not have the worry

Hi there, from reading your post, it feels like you are answering your own question really. The simple fact that you have been thinking about it for a year now and do not see much of a future in the UK for you, is a good sign that you should give it a go. We took the opinion that we would rather give it a go and if we need to come back after a few years, rather than not doing it and thinking ten years down the line, what if. At the end of the day you can give it a go and if it is not for you, come back to the UK with some really good experiences with you.

However, please do not think that you are going to get out of the things that you are currently doing in the UK. You still have to save for a mortgage and work to pay the rent and bills. True the weather is far nicer here, but you still have to do the same things here that you do in the UK to live. Too many people come over thinking that you will not and have a shock when it hits home. Not trying to put you of in the slightest, as like we said you should do it. You just need to know all the facts when making such a big move. if you do not give it a go you never will know if you can get the satisfaction and fulfillment you are looking for.

We are glad that we did it. Like we said above, if we do go home after getting the passport, we will be going back with some great memories. Far more that what we would of done if we had of stayed in the UK two years ago.

Hi there, it is quite possible to do the paperwork yourself and we know people that have successfully in the past. Yes the agents are slightly expensive, but at the end of the day what price limit are you prepared to put on your dream? We went with an agent and we are glad that we did. Yes they did cost a bit, but we got what we wanted and did not have all the issues associated with doing it yourself. We filled in forms and provided documents when needed. Overall a relatively easy process. The other thing you have to consider is that if and when you have any questions/issues the agent will more than likely know what to do, as they have the experience. This in itself could save you a great deal of time, effort and worry. By the time it is all over and what you have got from it, you will see that it was not that expensive in the end.