jimmyay1
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I have kept my property in the UK since i moved down to Oz. Its in London and has gone up in value. i also have this dilemma. Capital gains tax would suck so may need to sell it within 3 years. I'm not keen to return to the UK at all but i like the security of having a property there as you never know what might happen. fortunately we have a good local agent and the tenants are really nice and i work in the property industry myself and know tradies in london, so it being thousands of miles away doesnt freak me out in the slightest. all i need to do is make sure the agent does their job property . The tenant also knows to email me with anything if not getting any joy out of the agent. It's a good relationship. The big downside is that if i'd cashed in i would be looking at buying a bigger property here than i currently am. but you can't have everything. will probably keep the UK property as an investment, long term, and hopefully find a way around CGT when the time comes to sell i suppose.
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wow, i can't believe some people's parents and families are so harsh. Have to admit though i was worried at the reaction mine would have, but they were pretty positive and were quite excited for me. my dad said to me he didnt blame me and slightly wished he had done the same when he was younger and lived abroad at least for a while. i used to live a few hundred miles away from them anyway but did visit pretty religiously every month or two and we remained close. Actually the distance is often a state of mind i find. it would be lovely to see them but they are still the same old selves when we speak on the phone or skype. I just wish they could have moved over too, but this is what you have to face when you migrate. you leave family thousands of miles away. i think about family every day and what they are doing but i don't let it get me down. it would be crazy to forget people i love so much. i think it's rotten that some people';s relatives guilt trip like this, i really do. parents should be supporting their adult children in major life decisions unless there's very good reason ( not selfish ones) not to .
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coming up to my second Christmas in Oz. Actually really looking forward to it. Last year, i'd only been here a couple of months and everything was brand new. we had no furniture and it was quite odd being in the heat. as summer now finally seems to be on the way in Melbourne, its delighful to think that we're heading into Christmas in the warmth - seems like a luxury to have heat at this time of year. if i was in the UK i would be cold and wrapped up for a long winter to come. i can do without it! would rather be on the beach! Christmas down under has also allowed me to abandon all previous traditions of Christmas and do it my own way. Last year we drank Aussie Champers and ate mousakka for Chistmas dinner! Who knows what we'll try this year....
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Places I didn't get to visit in Australia but wanted to
jimmyay1 replied to maidensarah's topic in Aussie Chat
I just came back from Kakadu National Park - it's an awesomely beautiful, harsh, flyblown, magical, scary part of the world. it feels like the first spot on earth that was created and parts of it feel incredibly alien, anywhere which can make you feel such contradictory emotions must be quite special. I loved it and it was amazing and we had it to ourselves as it was low season so no tourists really - but i also kind of disliked it at the same time! i'm not sure what i expected it to be, it kind of reveals itself to you the longer you are there. distances are huge. i wanted to see more but when you leave the main highway you are off roading and the off road parts are really not great, very bumpy and corrugated - in a hired city type 4x4 it was a bit nerve wracking so we didnt dare do too much for fear of wrecking the vehicle. all the locals have completely tooled up 4x4s for this purpose and its one part of Oz you can see there's a justification for it. i would love to go back properly kitted up and really explore. basic Toorak Tractors just don't really cut it up there. It really is a huge wilderness with an abundance of natural beauty, and hazards. it's all very exciting and there is amazing animal and plant life but it's not really somewhere that you go walking off on your own without telling someone where you're going, or having a plan and the distances between places is large. for Brits used to thinking of driving to places outside of cities as having a break in "the countryside", places such as Kakadu just don't fit that neat description and i think as a recent migrant i am still getting used to the sheer scale of this country! -
at the moment,i do less exercise in Australia than i did in the UK and have in the normal week to week , i have a less outdoorsy lifestyle in the sense of running around physical activity. my daily commute now involves a car drive rather than a cycle ride as was the case in London ( and at first here until i moved offices ) and i have put on over about 8kg as i am also a greedy sod. the good intentions i came with to become a super fit adonis havent been followed through in my daily routine, i should make more of an effort really . the food here is too good not to be tempted, i find aussie food of all descriptions irresistable, it's a bit of a problem! i managed to give up smoking after moving down under which has been a real achievement in maintaining health and you are right the fresh clean air does work wonders for the spirit and mood. l australia is an amazingly beautiful country and the oppportunities are all there for the taking if you organise yourself properly and can find a routine where it works. the opportunities and facilities for outdoor activities and sports are better than anywhere else in the world. Just done be too hard on yourself if your expecations of a new fitter you don't work out in reality! it doesnt happen by magic!! :-) Best of luck!
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Thanks Rupert. I am generally pretty happy, and looking forward to all there is to come.
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A year since i moved down here, time has flown. mostly good stuff has happened. took me 3 months to secure work, partner had already transferred job down here so that helped cushion things financially when we came. everything seemed really pricey at first, i wondered if we would ever be able to afford a meal out or anything. securing employment helped as we had 2 incomes coming in and renting in a relatively cheap rental unit, albeit with irritating noisy neighbours. after a year we have managed to save up enough (just) to put a deposit down to buy a 3 bed place in the bayside area. we are going to auctions at the moment and hopefully will buy a property soon. however we've kept our property in London with tenant as an investment. I feel at home in Melbourne and reasonably settled and enjoy the area i live and the places i go to at the weekends, the scenery is stunning and i am just in awe at how beautiful and unspoilt this country is, it's unbelievable. I've have had a trip up to far north queensland which was stunning. however work has dominated my life for the last 6 months and i generally do very long hours as a manager far longer than i worked in the UK. Like 8am to 730 -830 pm most weekdays. I don't find that hugely enjoyable as i have been tasked with managing and clearing up the huge disorganised mess of a previous employee and it is difficult whist firefighting day to day with little in the way of support and a fairly relentless schedule. However because i have not been in the country too long i feel i can't complain much, i just have to take on what's thrown, and just hope things get a bit calmer on that front as i gain more experience and feel more comfortable with systems and processes, all of which have had to be learned afresh whilst trying to be a manager of people at the same time! sometimes in periods of reflection i feel a little lonely as i have no friends locally or family here, just my partner. my partner works away half the week so i am generally home alone 3 nights in a week. I generally just work into the evenings and then come home and have dinner then go to bed. i have done one or two things with work people socially at weekends including going skiing which has been very nice. however of course it is different to old mates and family and it takes time to bed this in. i am hoping that gradually things will improve on the social front but obviously i need to make time and space for it. i suppose i have to feel like everything is under control at work before i can do that and that is hard. we are financially a lot better off in Australia than we were in the UK and know longer term there are better opportunities for us to get more financial security than if we had stayed in the UK. Overall the migration experience has been good to us in terms of what we have achieved in a year however despite success migration has been stressful at times as you are quite on your own. in some ways i feel like i've had a very up and down year. Sometimes i feel really over the moon and ridiculously happy. Other times i get a feeling of being a bit empty, alone and down for no real reason, although I don't really miss the UK at all very much. it would be nice to see family they are a long way away and perhaps won't visit for another year or 18 months. my partner has lived in various countries and always a long way from family,has few friends and is very self reliant. i guess i am too but i do miss what was a very good and stable network of close friends made over decades which is probably what i miss most of all, to be honest. Overall a good year but migration is a process not an event and that process continues for a long time after you have arrived. i feel i have some way to go to feel like i have fully "made it".
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am so glad i didn't sell our flat in London when we moved down under last year. its really gone up in value and if i ever want to move back ( i do like the UK as much as Oz) it would be impossible to buy back in londonat the rate things have gone. London's always been pricy and once you're out of the market there, it's hard to re-enter, hence we kept the flat on . .
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i got laughed at at work when i asked if anyone had a plaster for a cut finger!
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Fantastic, well done Sarah Rob!
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Hey yes i did , thanks. My visa was granted on 29 November, having applied on 14 June. I got back yesterday from a lovely week in NZ exploring the north island. So all in all not bad 5.5 months from application to grant. Now have returned to Melbourne, set up medicare, tax file no, bank account today. Got job interview tomorrow. Hopefully it will bear fruit!
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Have been told by case officer i can leave Aus and she'll grant visa, have booked flight to NZ for next Thurs. Timescale then has been just over 5 months. Sent my application off on 13 June and had ackowledgement from Australia House on 18th June, so they've been a bit quicker than i thought!
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Hi, I applied around 13 June and had acknowledgement of my case from Australia House on18th June, I'vehad email correspondence with LG since, the latest being around a couple of months ago and she said they were looking at nearer 6 than 5 months which would take us up to mid December. Looking at the email above re "end of December " grant for someone else who submitted around the same time, i would say the response from Australia House to a chasing email may be likely to disappoint ! I'm in Oz now on a tourist visa but naturally am extremely keen to try and secure a job and start working before the Christmas . January , being summer holiday time, s pretty much dead so far as trying to secure work is concerned as decision makers are usually away on their hols. Rather disappointing.
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I am 5 months as well now. Hoping it comes before long. I'm on oz on a tourist visa now and loving aus, but really want to get going with looking for job etc .
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Ming75 who is you case officer?
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brilliant! congratulations!
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I find it quite encouraging that a couple of visas have recently been granted at the 4.5-5 month month mark , Greeneyes who applied on 10 May and got the 309 on 27 Sep, and pinkgibbon who applied on 20 April and got a 100 on 14 September.
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https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...2TWJoLVE#gid=0
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I also have LG . i applied around 14 June and was told 5 -6 months which would mean mid Nov-mid Dec for a grant. I emailed her the other week informing her that due to my partners' work situation ( he has to relocate to Melbourne in just over a month ) we would probably be going out together at the end of Oct , with me on a tourist, visa , before grant of my 100. She told me that the wait time is still nearer 6 than 5 months, not really what i wanted to hear, but nevermind. So i will need to arrange to be out of the country whilst she grants. she said she would contact me just before they are ready so i can go away, which in it's own way is as good as confirmation that the visa IS on it's way. I have to say, LG has always been so courteous and helpful with my enquiries, it has really put my mind at rest. I will let her know shortly before we go that we are off, in order to flag myself up with her once more, and hopefully things will then go smoothly. And fingers crossed we can get a slightly earlier than 6 month grant date! Getting exciting now - only just over a month til i am scheduled to leave for Melbourne!
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congratulations - from your timeline it would appear you have waited a couple of weeks less than 6 months! seems AH are now firmly into the April application grants...encouraging!
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Looks like Australia House are about to start on the April applicants , which has to be good news! getting closer and still retaining broadly the 5 month grant time.
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All the best with your move to Melbourne. I am following you at the end of next month! Hopefully my visa will be granted by mid November, so i can do a quick dash across the Tasman and then come and start a job (hope i land one quickly!)
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Seems there are a few of us in this position. I applied in mid June and have been given a timesecale of mid Nov -mid Dec for my grant. the problem i have is that my partner is returning to work mid Nov in Oz after many years living in the uk and he will need to be there for a couple of weeks sorting accomodation etc before starting work. It really therefore makes sense to go together , at the end of Oct although in theory i could be there on a tourist for 6 weeks. Rather irritating to have to do a visa run to Nz but there we go.
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hi Charleysmum, as i think i mentioned before your posts are encouraging me to go slightly earlier than i thought i would, with my partner at the end of October, as he is scheduled to start work in mid November & my perm residency visa is due for grant mid Nov -mid Dec, going on the timescale LG has given me. Good to hear the "NZ-run" need not be too expensive. i think having 2-6 weeks before my visa is granted will be very useful "set-up" time for household etc stuff. I know that we are not supposed to be "actively seeking work" whilst on a tourist visa but i would still want to be applying for jobs and being available for interview , given how far down the road things are in the process. i would hope that, as you say, if one is upfront and honest with employers, this would not be seen as an issue. J
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Thanks very much for the lightning fast response. I may well take a punt on coming slightly earlier than planned and using the first month there to try and find work before my visa is granted. After all it is easier to interview in person whilst there. Edit : i imagine there may be a Christmas / post christmas summer holiday lull in the jobs market in Oz so may be best to try and secure something before rather than arrive mid December & start.....