skiegirl14

My husband and I have just taken a holiday to sydney and loved it. We realise a holiday is different than living in a place but it was so nice to have so much more variety in everything than in WA. We also realise that sydney is out of our price range. We have a 2 year old and are hoping to have another next year. We have heard that Wollongong was nice and also Newcastle. My husband is an electrician working in the mines right now but we'd like to get away from the fifo life. Any advice on what the job and house markets are like would be appreciated! ?

I'm not sure what your circumstances are, but we applied about 2 1/2 years ago for our 175. We were looking on here and saw that it was taking people years to even get a case officer, so we decided to come out on a working holiday after being advised we could transfer our 175 application to a 457 once we got out here and found someone to sponser my husband. What we didn't realise was that since we were in the country, it pushed our 175 application to the front of the queue. We ended up being contacted by our case officer within 2 months of being here and once we had our police checks and medicals we were preapproved within the month. We just went to Bali (cause you have to be over seas for the final approval) and got our visa stamps. We have now had our permanent residency since last August. We didn't use an agent, because we had been told by a few people on here and others that they would rip you off. We have actually had a family member trying to get his sorted over here and has cost him over $17,000 throughout this last year and they still managed to screw up his application. We went to see a few when we were still in the UK and they just gave us dodgey vibes, so be careful.

Hi there! My husband and I moved here from Northern Ireland (I'm originally from California) about a year and a half ago. We were glued to these sites before trying to get as much info as we could. We both have iphones, but got them unlocked before we left and then just got pay as you go sim cards from optus. We have the $30 a month plan and do call the US and UK quite a bit. We rarely have to top up early. Make sure to take advantage of facetime and skype too. That helps keep all the costs down. The easiest way to get into the CBD (downtown) is by train. There are quite a few train lines that run through Perth and is really easy to get around. There are tons of nice suburbs around Perth. It really does depend on your price range. That website realestate.com.au is really good. There's also gumtree.com.au. That one is kind of like the craigslist over here. We have bought loads of stuff off there, but they also have jobs and people looking to meet friends. They have the same thing in the UK and I actually met a few girlfriends through the site there. I hope all that info helps! I love it here and have no plans to live anywhere else :biggrin:

My husband and I have been in Perth about 2 months now and are trying to make some friends. We are SOR (near Carousel) and would love to meet up with some others in the same situation. We aren't really into the club scene, but don't mind pubs and bbq's. We don't have any kids yet (waiting till we got here) but don't mind meeting people that do. We are 30 & 31. We are both pretty laid back and love having a laugh. Let us know if you are interested in meeting up somewhere! :spinny:

We got tired of waiting for our 175 visa to come through (lodged 2 years ago), so we came out on a working holiday visa as it was our last chance (I'm now 31). We kept hearing it was taking people 3-5 years to even get their case officer and were told that we could change to a sponsored visa when we were out here. We just got word that we should have a case officer within 3 months. We have our meds booked and should have them done before we get a co and have sent off for our police reports to the UK and USA. Hoping it will be all back in time. So here's our question: if we have all the bits and bobs, how long will it take to actually be granted our visas? We can stay on our working holidays till Feb, but hoping it comes quick. Also, do we actually meet with an officer? We are now in Perth, WA and haven't told the immigration dept yet. Not really sure how to go about doing that either. Any help would be great! Thanks!

Haha! He's 30, but I'm not sure how mature he is! I'll get him to check it out.

We're in Beckenham near Cannington south of the river. He doesn't mind where it is. He's looked at that website and is going to try to get in contact with some of them.

Thanks! Will check it out now. Cheers!:biggrin:

My husband and I have been in Perth for about a month now. He really wants to get back into playing football, but is having a hard time finding a team. He knows a guy that plays in a 5 a side league, but you have to come down and watch and drink for a few weeks before they will let you play. He doesn't mind a pint or two, but doesn't want to just go down and get pissed without playing. I'm sure there are other guys out there looking for the same. If anyone out there wants to start out a team let us know and maybe we can get something started :biggrin:

Hi there! We have just made it over to Cairns, but are leaving today for Perth. We came from Belfast and are on working holiday visas also hoping to get sponsored. My husband is 30 and an electrician, I'm 31 and a jack of all trades. We have lots of family and friends over there, but would love to meet up with people in a similar boat!

My husband is a spark and has his vetassess. We have put in our application for 175 visa and wa state sponsorship, but are looking at the immigration website and seeing a 2-3 year time line for 175 and 176 visas. I'm turning 31 in November and have had some advice from relatives living over there saying we should just go over on a holiday working visa, find an employer to sponsor us and then apply for a different visa once we're there. We are going to go to the Aussie embassy in Dublin to try to get some answers, but I'm hoping to get some advice for people on here who have been through this crazy process. Any advice would be hugely appreciated! :unsure: