Anna833

Hello everyone, We are considering a move back to Melbourne next year after returning from Australia in July 2017. We are contemplating a move to Ferntree Gully and I'm just wondering if anyone lives around this area and recommends it or can give alternative areas which are family friendly (3 year old and 1 year old) in the East? Many thanks Anna :)

We relate to this as we moved back in July this year (my husband was quite happy to stay but I was missing family and friends) we have a 20 month old and I felt that we should be closer to form relationships. We have been back nearly 4 months but we are not settling too well partly as we moved an hour away from family/friends as my husband couldn’t get a job closer. It feels like friends who we were missing have not really made the effort to come and visit and it seems to be always us visiting them and family. I understand they have moved on but I think that now we are back home it’s gone back to what it used to be and their taking us for granted of us being closer. I understand 4 months is definitely not long enough to make a decision so we have made the decision to decide prior to when my son starts school in 3 years (or a little sooner). Hopefully by then we will have some more clarity on where we want to bring up our family. Everyone is different and has different wants and needs so some will feel happier in Oz, some in Uk! Least we have the opportunities to live in both countries.

Ozzie - thanks for your comments [emoji4] We shall see what the next few years hold. We don't regret coming back as we would always be thinking 'what if' if we stayed. Sent from my iPhone using PomsinOz

Perthbum - I mean by not immersing myself by I think I was always holding back from forming close friendships and regularly having the uk still on my mind didn't help as maybe I didn't feel I wanted to let go of my old life. That's why I probably didn't enjoy it as much! I think if you were to put your whole heart into making it work and maybe staying a little longer then you could get through the wobbles you may have and actually settle down a bit more. Sent from my iPhone using PomsinOz

Thanks for all your comments and personal experiences. Everyone has their opinions on which is the better country to live and for their own family. I think it's understanding what will ultimately be the best thing for my family and that will take a bit of time! We are definitely lucky in that we have the option of living in both countries. I think whichever country you live in you'll miss the other in some way or have fond memories. I do regret not immersing myself in our Australian life a little bit more as I was still clinging onto what we were missing back in the uk at the time. This is maybe why people don't settle and do choose to move back! We shall give it a few years in the uk and try to quash the regrets we have of moving back. It's no good looking back now!! Sent from my iPhone using PomsinOz

Hi All, We returned to the uk in July this year after living in Melbourne for nearly 4 years. We returned due to a mixture of missing family, friends (although most have drifted and moved on now), the countryside and of little things but the main reason was that I felt like my 19 month was missing out on building a relationship with his grandparents and cousins. It was also the isolation and a little bit of homesickness which was a major player as well. See, we have been back over 3 months now but I'm wondering whether we have been too hasty and instead should of come for an extended holiday rather than shipping our belongings and 2 cats back to the uk to live in a completely new area (only place my husband could find a job with his skills). As we don't know anyone nearby at the moment and I'm a stay at home mum I feel a little isolated even though we are back in the uk with family/friends an hour or so away. It's horrible having the thoughts of did we actually do the right thing!! Luckily we waited until we got citizenship in June to make the move back so we can always go back but how long do you wait before thinking that life is actually better in Australia? I think my husband is missing it slightly more than me. I'm just thinking now we are back, maybe we are looking through rose-tinted glasses at oz again and forget all the bad experiences we had over there. (mostly good though apart from missing family) We came to a decision that we will see how things go over the next 2 or so years and make a firm decision of what we want to do prior to my son beginning school in 2021. Has anyone else who has returned had these regrets and do they pass and or is anyone planning over relocating back to oz in the near future?

No we wont have residence in Australia when we return back to UK. I'm wondering if we could provide an Australian address of a friend or provide a UK address so that they can notify us about our ceremony date. I shall have to give the office a call and see what they say about it.

Hey, I'm wondering if anyone has some insight into whether once you have applied for citizenship, sat the test, been approved and just awaiting to attend a citizenship ceremony; whether it would be possible to move back to UK whilst waiting for the ceremony date? Has anybody been in a similar situation like this? I will be able to apply for citizenship in December but I understand it could potentially be 6+ months before completing the whole process and obtaining an Australian passport. We've recently had a new baby and we've been thinking about returning back to UK to be with family whilst the little one is growing up and then move back over in a couple of years time. We wanted to wait until we could get our Australian passports before returning home but the pull of home is getting a little harder so we were just wondering if once we have sat the test and it's been approved can we move back and then fly out for the ceremony? If there was also a possibility of attending the ceremony in the UK at an Australian embassy or something that would be interesting to know about too. I've done a few searches and research suggests that we can go overseas once we've been approved but doesn't mention if we can move back to uk and wait for the ceremony date from there. I may have to contact the border people. Thank you Ana

Hi All, Visa granted today!! Woop Woop!! Been a long wait but this forum has helped greatly. Hope that all the June gang receive grants soon :jiggy:

Hello, I have been following this thread for weeks now and thought I would post some info. My medicals were referred on the 23/7/12 and my meds were finally finalized on the 20/08/12. My hubby sent an email to the co this morning just to push them a bit so hopefully our visa will be granted in the next few days!! Fingers crosses that everyone in the June group will receive all golden tickets soon!!

Hello all, I have been following this thread for a couple of weeks now and thought I would put my penny into the discussion as my medicals were finalised this morning! (Grant imminent - fingers crossed!) I am on a 176 visa and my medicals were referred on the 23rd July. It has been a very long and agonising wait but this forum has helped lots. There doesn't seem to be any order in which referrals are finalised I don't think, although I believe contacting HOC does potentially help as I emailed them on Friday and received a response on Saturday saying that they should be finalised the beginning of this week! They were actually telling the truth!!! Good luck for everybody still waiting!! I'm sure everybody's will be finalised soon. Anna