scmercer

Hi I’m in the same position as you although my RRV expired in August this year. There doesn’t appear to be an option for this to be extended, unfortunately you just have to reapply. I have put reapplying off until the situation with flights etc improves, however I know my chances of being granted another RRV are slim now!

Hi, yes you’re right. We have been back in the UK too long and we’re only entitled to a one year visa even though we do have substantial ties. It has been impossible for us to even consider travelling in the last year with our family. I just wondered if anyone had been in a similar position and had an extension applied rather than having to reapply.

We had our RRV issued last August and with Covid have not had a chance to travel to Australia. This has now expired. Has anyone managed to successfully renew a visa they couldn’t use due to Covid?

Hi I am from Liverpool, moved to Oz for a few years and then returned to Liverpool to live. It is a great city, very vibrant with lots to do. It has improved so much over recent years and has some lovely suburbs particularly along the coast towards Southport. It is certainly worth a visit, however the job situation still isn't great here, so I am not sure I would move for work unless there was plenty of opportunities in your line of work.

The blue skies, England is so grey compared to Australia!

Probably December to June in UK and the rest of the year in Oz. It is nice being in the UK for christmas and springtime.

I would opt for six months in each place.

Hi Been back a year and actually enjoying being back. I do miss a few things about Oz and if I ponder on it too long I wonder if we should have stayed but generally enjoy living in UK more than Australia. Really appreciate it here after being away, love my house here , having family around, the seasons, scenery etc but miss the beautiful blue skies and the beaches. Would never rule out going back, it is a great country which is why we moved out in the first place, but dont have any plans just yet. Would love to retire out there.

Hi Silverload We too returned from Adelaide to NW England a year ago. We used Wridgways and would highly recommend. It cost $6500 for full 20 ft container (inc insurance) and we had been previously quoted almost double this for a 40 ft container. They were great and managed to fit a massive amount in. It took about 6 weeks door to door and everything was in one piece. If you do contact them for a quote ask for Robert, he is very helpful.

It just never felt right. Had awful bouts of homesickness and even though I didn't hate it, I didn't love it either. I neve truly embraced Aussie life which I think you have to do to settle. You really need to give it 100% to settle and I just don't think we did or maybe we just didn't want to!

The only thing cheaper in Oz is the petrol. EVERYTHING else is more expensive.

We decided in April 2011 to move back. We never felt like we could stay in Australia forever and for that reason were never really settled. My oh got a job offer in the April and as my son would be starting school the following September in the UK, we decided to go asap. The job offer, exchange rate and the timing for my son's schooling spurred on our decision. Took about 6 weeks to sell the house. This was so hard as we had spent so much on it and we loved it . It felt wrong as we sold it at a loss, but we had to in order to return quickly. Unfortunately, after we signed on the sale of our house, the job offer my oh had fell through. I think after this we did have awful doubts, I remember being close to pulling out of the house sale, but this would have cost us a fortune and we felt like the decision had been made for us. The day the furniture went was horrible, I kept wanting to ask them to leave it but we had sold our house and handed our notices in and there was no going back. For me, this was worse than leaving the UK for Oz. We were so excited about moving to Oz and never doubted our decision(not until we got there anyway)!. Leaving Oz was so sad, I will never forgot our last night in a hotel in Glenelg, our journey to the airport and leaving our lovely Australian house. Coming back was a bit of a blur and nothing like arriving in Australia for the first time. Don't get me wrong we did want to come back (eventually) but we rushed back for a job which didn't happen and it all felt a bit too soon. We have been back a year now, I do love the UK and being back home, though things have been harder here and it has taken a while for things to get back to normal. I still do have days though when I dream about Oz and wonder if we did the right thing.

They are really good regarding vaccines in Australia. It is normally only the Hep B and the Varicella that they have in addition to the UK ones, but they always keep you up to date with what you need.

I would love to return to Oz in the future, not sure if I could live there again (well in Adelaide anyway) but I would certainly go back for holidays. I would like to show my children where we used to live as I am sure they will soon forget about their time in Oz which is quite sad.

Yes. I have completely messed up my career and my husband gave up a great , well paid job in the UK and is unlikely to be lucky enough to find anything like it. I am finding it so hard getting back into my previous area of work too. Constantly having doubts whether to come back to the UK when in Oz and now we are back, whether we should have stayed. Would have been so much easier if we had not have gone in the first place!

Hi I really feel for you and know what you are going through. The first few months, even first year can be very tough. I am sure once your husband finds a job you will feel better. Maybe give yourself a timeframe in which your husband would need to find work. You can then reassess your situation if he does find work and see how you feel then. It took my husband two months to find a job. In that time I felt awful and didn't know if it was homesickness or worry about being unsettled, after he found work, our money worries stopped but I felt the same. I went through a whirlwind of bouts of homesickness over two years then we decided to come home. I know it is difficult financially, but try and give it as long as you can so you don't make the wrong decision. We are back in the UK now and I still couldnt say for sure we did the right thing!

Hi Emmylou I too spent two years in Australia (Adelaide) and returned to Liverpool for several reasons really, mainly not being able to settle and wanting the kids to grow up around family. Like you I was really unsure about returning and for the first few months really wanted to go back to Australia, felt like the UK was so bleak, missed the sunny days and blue skies. It is only after being back a year, buying our own house again and having the kids in great schools and being around family, that I can appreciate being back. If I ponder on it too much I start to miss Oz and wonder if we have done the right thing, I just try to think back to how bad I felt when I was homesick and what I would have done to return home at that time. I don't think I miss Oz as much as I missed the UK. If you were happier in Oz than the UK then it is worth considering going back. I have thought about returning but I know I would never be 100% and you probably need to be to go through it all again. It is funny what you put about returning to a different place as I blamed Adelaide for not settling as I never really fell in love with the place, I have always thought if we had gone to the Gold Coast we would have settled easier! It is such a difficult thing emigrating, I always envy those who are so sure and don't doubt their decisions as it must make it so much easier to settle. Good luck with your decision x

I arrived in Australia around the same time as you 3 years ago. It all felt wrong for me from day 1 and I remember spending a lot of time on PIO reading your posts as you were in a similar position to me. I always wondered how things had worked out for you. I remember being really envious when you went home. I am glad it worked out well for you. I ended up staying for two years and returned to the UK last August. I am glad we came back, it hasn't been easy, particularly for me on the job front, but generally feel much happier here than I did in Australia. Hope this makes people thinking about coming home feel a bit more positive about returning to the UK.

It does take a while to settle. I found it hard for the first six months or so being back in the UK. I did find Adelaide a particularly depressing place though!

We came back to the same place. We would have tried somewhere else but it is difficult just to choose a place when neither of you has a job to go to. I think familiarity just makes returning a lot easier.

I visited twice before moving here. The first time as a trip around Australia and I fell in love with the East Coast(maybe should have gone there). The next time as a bit of a reccie to Adelaide. Nothing prepares you for the move. I remember landing in Adelaide and driving to our house for the first time. It felt like a different place to when we had been on holiday, I think I knew there and then it wasn't right. I seemed to notice all the negative things that you don't notice on holiday, I noticed how grotty some of the places looked which I had never noticed before and the lack of greenery and the awful iron fences everywhere. When you do a reccie you don't want to see these negative aspects which is probably why it doesn't make much difference whether you visit beforehand or not. I also remember hating to read the MBTTUK section on PIO as I didn't want to hear anything negative. It seems silly now when I look back but so many people don't want to be put off.

Hi I understand your reasons for wanting to return to Australia as it does seem like a great place to bring up kids but I agree with Quoll, the shock of having twins to look after without any support network would be huge. I moved over with two babies under two (felt like I had twins!) and I struggled so much without any support. My husband was working long hours and I desperately wanted to retrain as a teacher but I just couldn't as it would have been impossible without help from extended family. I should have known this before I went over there but I didn't want anything to put me off. Needless to say we have now returned to the UK. I hope you do what is best for you and your family but make sure you do lots of research especially regarding teaching jobs as they are difficult to get at the moment!

I would avoid Bootle and Anfield and most parts of Aintree. Have you tried Crosby and Formby? It is is bit further away from the city but near the beaches and nice community feel to them. We are in Crosby and one of the biggest estate agents Clive Watkins always have a lot of rentals in the area, they do tend to go rather quick though. I think you are more likely to get a furnished property if you get an apartment in the city, there are not a lot of furnished houses in the suburbs.

I would go for it, Sydney is great !!

Hi Summer I know exactly how you feel. I started to feel homesick after a month and it never really left for the two years I was in Oz. I had good and bad days but it was always there. I found it wasn't just missing family and friends but I felt like our new life had to be 'extra special' in order to replace what we had left behind. We had a perfectly happy life in the UK before so we didn't go to escape anything , we just had the opportunity and decided to give it a go. I think because I spent a lot of time alone with my children as my husband worked longer hours than he had in the UK, then it just didn't seem worth it. Like you I did manage to find a job and it was well paid with lots of flexibility around the children, but it still didn't feel right. Sometimes you do just need some time though, a month isn't very long and your feelings may well change as you get used to Oz. I am back home now and it is only now after eight months I am starting to feel settled again. I would say it can take a couple of years to settle in a new country. Good luck x