Toad

We recently returned to the UK after 16 months in Perth. We're very glad to have our house to return to but do wonder if things may have been different without the stress of having bad tenants and a big mortgage in Australia. Also you're right it does make the return all to easy. I think the big factor at the moment is the exchange rate , taking the equity out of your UK house and buying dollars at current rates doesn't seem a great idea. But I don't think things are going to turn around greatly any time soon(not without something drastic going wrong in China). Then theres the question of the Australian housing bubble , despite predictions of a crash on the horizon (i personally am hoping for this) I can't see it. With an influx of migrants from the eastern states as well as outside Australia driven by mining jobs I think things will just stagnate for a year or two. I think if there are two people working and you don't set your sights too high (especially with future interest rate rises likely in 2012) . Buying a second house in Perth could be the best bet. Then you have good cover for most scenarios , if you love Perth and decide to stay you can sell up later in the UK and upsize or buy another investment property there(maybe with a better exchange rate by then). If you end up returning to the UK you're back to familiar surroundings without having to worry out getting a mortgage etc. Or if you're like me and you become totally confused you could keep both and ping pong back and forth forever and a day. Good luck with move whatever you decide. Toad

Good luck with the application , i'll be looking foward to hearing how it goes.

Hi forblkexp I'm no expert either but have been looking into RRV visas where the applicant has spent less than 2 years as PR myself recently couldn't find an awful lot but you may find these links useful. http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/migration-issues/81484-resident-return-visa.html http://forum.migrationhelp.com.au/showthread.php?t=755&page=2 Let me know if you find anything else out and i'll do likewise. Good luck ,Toad

I guess feeling deflated for a bit might be a good thing , at least you are being realistic. We got our visa grant very quickly and were swept along with a rush of excitement. While preparing to go in 2009 we watched the exchange rate go very wrong for us and felt rushed to get over as we were reading that house prices were about to take off again. So when we got there i took a major nose dive, things went very bad for us for a while (rushed into buying the wrong house coupled with problems with the tenants in our house in England). After spending a year and a half in constant turmoil trying to decide whether to return or not (and doing many pros and cons lists) we are now back in the UK. So after all this soul searching and stress i am still no nearer knowing where i want to be. I think anyone heading over should go without being to influenced but what they hear , Australia seems to evoke some very strong emotions in people and all to often people are very strongly in love with it or equally strongly hate it. I think i have been to both ends of this spectrum in the last 2-3 years and am now coming to terms with the fact that i am pretty neutral. There really are so many variables that for me there is no clear 'winner'. As long as people don't head off expecting a sunny utopia where there is no crime, jobs just fall in your lap and lifes just one long BBQ then perhaps they won't set themselves up for a fall. That said we ended up in a beautiful rental ,had good jobs , made some fantastic friends and i'm a bit puzzled as to why we're back. I think we're all pretty priveledged to have the choice of living in two such fantastic countries or maybe having that choice is curse , i could be looking at a life of indecision and ping ponging. Sorry to end on a negative note ,Australias great so's the UK ..........Nuff said. Good luck to everyone heading off on what WILL be a great adventure whatever the outcome. Toad.:jimlad:

Hi Dawny We arrived from Oz to UK 10 days ago. We have made applications for the children to return to the school they used to attend in our catchment area, but have been told they are full. We have been offered a school close by which we are not keen to send the children to. We now have to go through the appeals process with the local authority. We noticed you have some experience in this area, with succesful outcomes and wondered if you could please offer some advice to us when putting our appeal paperwotk together. The children have had a traumatic 16 months moving 5 times and changing countries twice, to now face difficulties being accepted back with their peers in the school thay were familiar with. Any support/ advice you can offer, will be greatly appreciated. Regards and Thanks Toad and Wife