hardtochase

Glad it went well, that was my initial experience with recruiters here too.

I could have sworn I replied to this post earlier... Anyway, I'm Nat, 31, I've been here 6 months. I was in Angel for 5 years before I moved here and starting to miss the fast(er) pace of London social life! Would be great to get a few people together for drinks soon x

Totally agree with this. Satisfy your curiousity and move home if it doesn't work out. I miss London and love Sydney.

As far as immi are concerned it would be the same job, different company, which is allowed. But I don't think it would take a genius to spot that it's an affliate company which is NOT allowed. I've said I'm not comfortable with it but they are blaming me for not reminding them sooner (!) and saying it's their "only choice". Taking a break while the visa is processed is an option, but I'm not 100% about working for them anyway (only strengthened by all of this) so I think I know what I've got to do.

It would be exactly the same job, they are just trying to pass it off as a different job. When I queried how they are going to explain what I was doing Jan-Mar on my sponsorship application they said they could easily make something up!! It's not my ideal place to work at all but haven't found another job to go to and worried about being in super expensive Sydney and unemployed. It's not the best place to be for my line of work. Think I'm going to have to quit, this has probably given me the push I needed. I'll set myself a deadline to find something here and if not, Melbourne it is!

Yep this is what I am afraid of. They are blaming me for not reminding them sooner that my 6 months was coming to end and saying they now have "no choice" but to go down this route. hmm.

In my first 3 months here, I definitely thought it would have to be short term, due to my job. But now I've fallen in love with the country/lifestyle and come to terms with the fact I am going to have to compromise on the job front. I definitely understand why people would want to leave though.

Oh my goodness, I just came here to agree with this statement. I could have written this (apart from mine would say buying director rather than medical director. Why do they employ people from overseas if they don't want us to use what we know!?

I am about to hit the 6 month mark being in this job. I reminded my company and they said they will just transfer me over to another company and pay me that way until March when they will sponsor me. I know it's not strictly speaking allowed, but my question is can I/they get away with this? Apparently the other company has a different owner name (wife of the owner of the current company), different registered address and ABN. (Obviously I have serious moral questions about this company's general shadyness but that's a whole other story, if I had another job to go to right now I wouldn't be in this situation).

Barclays Bank have an account for expats, but it charges a monthly fee.

Hi I'm Natalie, 31 too. I've been here 6 months but always up for meeting new people! I'm in Surry Hills, so not far if you fancy a drink!

oh and second paycalculator!

100k on your own, you'll be laughing.

A friend of mine told me about a job in her company mid Feb this year, I interviewed 2 weeks later, was offered the job a few days afterwards and accepted a week later. That was March, I left 3 months later, beginning of June so I've been here 2.5 months and haven't looked back. It's a surprisingly easy move, there are so many cultural similarities. I actually have to remind myself I live in Australia because I often say "here" when I mean London because I forget I don't live there anymore!! I am in Sydney so can't speak for more rural areas but here you hear so many British accents it really is easy to think you're at home. Until you go to the beach and remember you're living the dream!!

Yeah I know The Local isn't the norm, but I was still surprised you can even buy beer that expensive! I'm sure they only serve pints here, so they can charge the earth. Actually schooners are a better measure not that I'd admit that to an Aussie. Stowford Press is one of my favourite ciders back home, so I was happy to find it here and makes a change from Monteith's which seems to give me a killer hangover!

But also to chime in on veggies. I do find they're generally more expensive but SO MUCH better thank England IMHO

Wow I need to try these places with $5 schooners, after my Saturday night! 1 pint Trumer Pilsner $13, 1 pint Westons Stowford Press $9.60. The Local Taphouse, Darlinghurst.

Here's hoping.

Yes 28 days grace = 28 days it takes for the TFN to come through. My beef is that you have to wait until the 28th day before you can chase it up and if there's a problem, you're out of the grace period.

did you read my post? I did call them and they told me to call back on Tues.

So I am awaiting my Tax File Number. I know that if I don't provide it to my employer after 28 days I will get taxed at the higher rate. The application form states it takes 28 days to get here. 28 days is Tuesday, so given it's nearly the weekend I thought I would call today and find out what's going on as it hasn't arrived yet. I've just been told I have to wait the full 28 days, see if it arrives and if it doesn't then I can call back and only then will someone look into it. Sounds completely ridiculous/inefficient to me. For all I know they might have one error in my address and I can't sort that out until 28 days have passed. I don't know what I want from this post, apart from to air my frustration.

Once you're here and earning Aussie dollars, it won't matter so don't worry about it.

Hi all, this sounds like fun. I'm 30 from London, living in Surry Hills. I can recommend The Sheaf in Double Bay as a good location? It's about 10 mins walk from Edgecliff train station if that. Also if anyone is up for a mid week drink anytime in Surry Hills area, feel free to PM me.

Thanks guys!

My new employer booked my flight so I had no say. Thanks for the info re airfreight though, think this might be the way to go..