thediggler

There is such a thing as Employment Law

I'm on a 176 PR and had the same situation. However, I've been told by my manager here that a new law has been introduced recently which prevents employers from forcing overseas employees to refund any relocation assistance. For the avoidance of doubt I'd suggest seeking proper legal advice, as the best you're going to get on here is people's opinions.

I've heard stories of people arriving in Australia (all states) and not being able to find work for months. Given the cost of living in Melbourne is so high, this could be crippling for your finances. My advice would therefore be to ensure you have something lined up before you fly over, if you can do this of course. Try looking on www.seek.com.au for potential opportunities.

Our sentiments exactly when we came out last July. Unfortunately it's not worked out for us and we're flying back this July but at least we've put our minds at rest by giving it a go. It's certainly been an experience! If you're looking for things to buy when you arrive in Melbourne give us a shout, we'll be selling cars (two of, both cheap), wardrobes, washing machine, dryer etc. Any idea where you'll be moving to when you get here??

Hey Jase, me and the missus (she's from Hull incidentally, i'm from Saddleworth near Oldham) have both had meltdowns in one shape or form since we've been in Oz. My missus is on anti-depressants at the moment and I've probably endured the most torrid 9 months of my life, hence why we're heading back to the UK in July (with Harrogate being one of our potential destinations actually!). Aside from the usual emotions you would expect when upping sticks and moving to the other side of the world, our youngest daughter has been a little sh*t since we arrived in Oz (we have two girls, one aged 5 and one aged 2) and couldn't have made life any more difficult for us. Things got that bad that we sought medical advice on the assumption she was part autistic although it turned out there was nothing wrong with her, she was just going through a phase of being a little sh*t!! People will say that could have happened anywhere, but the fact we're out here in Oz on our own and feeling isolated has compounded the situation and regularly tested us since we arrived. That said, I've never really settled here to be honest. We're renting a place in Sandringham, Bayside at the moment and the chances are if we stayed in the area then we'd either have to get mortgaged up to the hilt or spend the next few years continuing to rent which I think is like throwing money down the drain. We both miss owning our own home and are fed up paying $2,500 per month for a timber shack, even if it is apparently worth a fortune. The only positive I suppose is that we've managed to save money whilst we've been renting and should be going home with more money than what we came with, which is a bonus really given how many families lose thousands of pounds in the process of migrating and then returning home shortly after. So in answer to your original question, you're not alone mate. I'll never regret us moving to Oz and giving it a go as its something me and my wife have talked about for years, but i'll never forget the emotional rollercoaster ride we endured which has definitely had more downs than ups since we've been here. Roll on July!!

Hi Kez, and sorry for the late reply. I've been away the last few days and only recently managed to gain internet access again! The Golf is a 2001 I think, done around 125,000km which is about 78,000 miles so pretty low. I can get some photo's if you're interested but we're ideally looking to keep hold of the car until around June time, as we fly back to the UK in July. If you need something before I understand, but if you can wait then please give me a shout or send me a private message through PIO with your email address or contact number. Cheers, Neil

Hi Kezzles, We're leaving in July and have two cars we're soon due to sell. One is a cracking little black Golf I bought for my wife when we arrived with hardly a mark on it and runs brilliant. When do you need a car for and what is your budget? I just want to try and get roughly what I paid for the Golf which was about $6,500 including the rego. I'm in Sandringham and work in South Melbourne so close to where you are :wink:. Give me a shout if you're interested. Cheers, Neil

Really? We got told ours was a five year visa, which I assume could be extended in the event we're still here after that time. Is there no way of cancelling the visa after you've left the country?

Does anyone know whether you can cancel a 176 PR visa early? I'm trying to recover the super paid into my fund early and was told by the company that manages my super account yesterday that I have to wait for the visa to expire before I can do this. Just wondered if you can expedite the process? :err:

Hi Ian, we're a family of 4 living in a 5 bed house in Sandringham which is quite a nice and fairly affluent suburb located approximately 30 mins drive from Melbourne CBD. I think we got a good deal on the rent and are paying $530 per week, or $2,303 per month for the house. A lot of the other properties we liked in the area were upwards of $650 per week but you should be able to get something for $400-$500 per week depending on the area you want to settle. Electricity is a lot more expensive than gas and has been working out at around $200 per month for us. However, we have an old water tank in the attic that is heated through electrical conducting during the night which increases our costs. I would still say budget around $150 per month at least for a family of four. Gas is fairly cheap and costs us around $75 per month, obviously less in the summer with a slight increase in winter. Water works out at roughly the same. We got a deal on our phone line that included internet and a T-Box (similar to Sky) for $95 per month and is more than sufficient for our needs. If I could go back and choose again I wouldn't have bothered with the T-Box though, as we hardly ever watch it. Food can vary depending on how frugal you are and whether you want to include alcohol in the cost. We've been careful with what we buy and are spending around $220 per week on food and nappies, etc with say another $20 - $30 per week on beers and wine. We're not heavy drinkers so in some weeks we don't spend anything on alcohol. My wife says her friends spend upwards of $300 per week but you can get this down if you're careful on what you buy. Council tax won't apply if you're renting, although you might want to factor in perhaps the cost of contents insurance which I managed to get at $400 for the year. Then there's the cost of running a car (if you choose to buy one), school fees (even if it's a state school) and general miscellaneous expenses for days out, etc. I would suggest taking pack ups wherever you go, as otherwise you'll be spending upwards of at least $40 on lunch every time you travel out! We have actually done a lot better than expected considering how expensive things are over here, and are managing to save around $4,000 per month. Both myself and my wife work (her part time, myself full time for a firm of loss adjusters). We've heard horror stories of people coming over with their life savings or proceeds from a house sale without having a job arranged and within 6 months it's down the drain. In my personal opinion, for what its worth, I would say it's financial suicide coming over here unless you have a decent job lined up first or are 95% sure there is sufficient work available to secure a job pretty soon after your arrival. Hope this helps mate. We also moved out on a PR visa last July but things haven't worked out for us as planned and we're heading back to blighty in July. Happy to help with any other queries you have in the mean time.

Oooooo, how much is the pay? And where is the shoot?

I'd suggest speaking to someone like Moneycorp who can arrange this for you, and get you a better exchange rate than what your bank would offer. I'm not aware of any limits as such.

Can't help with accommodation, but we're returning to the UK in July and will be selling our cars if you're looking to pick one (or two) up that are cheap and reliable?

Hi Andy, we're in Sandringham too. Where about's in the UK are you from? We got our car seats from the Big W in Southland Shopping Centre, 5 mins from Sandringham. I've actually got a spare one going for free if you're interested?

Hi Scott. My advice would be to secure work before you arrive here, as getting a job can prove very difficult, particularly for tradies. A mate of mine from the UK who is also a plumber moved to Melbourne in 2012 with his wife and two girls. He told me he sent off over 70 CV's before he eventually got interviewed for a job, which he managed to secure albeit on half the hourly rate he was expecting (I think he said $25 per hour compared to the $50 he expected). He's since gone back home to the UK, as the experience was draining him thousands of pounds every month and he didn't feel like he was on the same wavelength as most the guys he was working with (he was from Oldham like me however which might explain why, hehe!). As for general advice on emigration, all I would say is be careful what you read on here. As with most things in life, some people love Australia and some people hate it. Reading people's experiences can sometimes add to the confusion and make you keep questioning yourself. What I soon realised from this website was that you're never going to be able to satisfy your own curiosity until you try Australia out for yourself, although that's not to say I'm encouraging you to come over here and give it a go. From my experience, it's not what I expected and my wife in particular has really struggled to settle. Moving to Australia has probably made us realise how much we took for granted back home and whatever the outcome I know we'll grow stronger from the experience. Feel free to give us a shout if you need any more advice on moving, etc.

Bayside's a good place to start mate. Good schools, close to the beach, plenty of train stations about. We're in Sandringham which would probably tick all the boxes for you, give us a shout if you need any more advice.

Yes, thanks for this, although I didn't realise I had to wait until the visa expired, bit of a bummer.

Does anyone have any experience of what happens when the Oz tax office decide you have been overpaid in child benefits and look to you for reimbursement, after you have returned to the UK? And before anyone starts pointing the morality finger, we've not tried to over claim any benefits. Our circumstances have recently changed in that my wife has got a part time job which we anticipate would affect our eligibility. However, despite having spent hours trying to get through to someone on the phone (literally) and after having sent numerous emails and letters, we cannot get any response from the child benefits department. The chances are we may be back in the UK by the time we hear anything at which point we'll be wondering what powers, if any, the Oz tax office can use to recover the debt from us if we're back in the UK? On another point, if you enter into a 24 month contract with say a mobile network or internet provider and cut it short to return to the UK without paying off the remainder of the contract (the fees associated with this are IMO ridiculous), do the mobile network have any legal powers to recover any outstanding charges after you've returned to the UK? Any sensible advice would be appreciated.

We used Seven Seas Worldwide and can't fault the service at all. Our crate arrived in Melbourne 8 weeks after leaving the UK and the cost was significantly cheaper than anyone else we obtained quotes from. I think the main reason for this is because we used their 'Movecube' service whereby they come and deliver a crate (different sizes available) inside a horsebox type unit, leave it with you for 4 or 5 hours whilst you fill it, and then return later that same day to take it away. The crate then arrives the same way when it is delivered to your Australian address and you unload it yourself. The driver's were all really helpful and friendly and we received regular updates and emails from their customer services department telling us what we had to pay, and when, and where our crate was. I think the cost including insurance and inspection fees charged by the Australian Government worked out at around £1,500. I'd suggest googling them as they seem to have really good reputation and are very well established.

We stayed in Mornington last year for 2 weeks when we flew to Melbourne to activate our visas. It's a great place with a nice town/village centre, plenty of shops, cafes etc and a nice park at the bottom of the strip for kids to play in. The only downside was the distance travelling into Melbourne city which proved to be a bit of a drag. However, if you don't have to worry about this then it shouldn't bother you! The beach is generally quite nice but can get a bit dirty with litter in parts.