Incata

HI My mother in law is being a bit of a nightmare. Her plan for our ideal future is to move 2 minutes down the road from her so she can pop in any time. That's my idea of hell, but still! I've overheard her ask my 3 year old why he wants to go and live in Australia when he will be leaving his mummy, daddy and brother behind. She told him he would be awfully lonely. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He then ran through to me and repeated the whole conversation. He told me he didn't want to go to Australia as he didn't want to go without mummy. I could have cried. How could she make my lovely little boy so sad, and how could he believe that his beloved grandma would tell him such an awful story? It took a lot of quiet talks to get him to understand that we are all going together. In the end we told him Grandma was being silly, which he seemed to accept. I however, wanted to rip her head off! On being challenged, she denied having said it. As a result, I am keeping the kids as far away from her as possible for as long as possible, to avoid them being upset by her. We've also not being telling her where we are with the visa process and just said it is ongoing. She is going to flip out with the next update, so that is going to be given by phone, by my husband. Stand by for eruptions from the South! Your little one will be fine when you are moving while she is so young. My husband is in the Armed Forces until later this year, and we were moved 4 times between the time my eldest was born and the time he was 16 months old (to where we have been for the last 2 years). At a year old he did not give a monkeys as long as we were all together. He got a bit upset seeing the packing boxes as he seemed to think my husband was going away, or he was going to be left, but as soon as I took him away from the situation and left my husband to the sorting out and packers, he was fine. For the last move, he came and saw the house the day before we moved in, and chose his bedroom and where his bed and toys were going to go. That seemed to make him happy. He missed one of his friends from playgroup (same age and they met up 3 times a week at the creche for a couple of hours), but he soon settled down once we joined some toddler groups here. My youngest will be 2 when we move (if all goes to plan, fingers crossed!) He is very different from my 3 year old in that he has not made any close friends, and the person he likes playing/fighting with most, is his elder brother. This also has something to do with the fact that there are no other little boys his age in the area, so we are not particularly anticipating any problems with him when we move. We think we may have some adjustment issues with the 3 year old but as soon as we find the local kangaroos, a swimming pool and nice play park he will be fine. He has however specified that he wants a pet kangaroo in the garden. Not quite sure how I'm going to provide that (it has been explained to him that they are wild animals and not kept as pets), but he is determined that we will have one in our garden. He always tells us 2 minutes before we drive into a police speed trap that there is one ahead, so his sixth sense may be working and we may well have a kangaroo in the garden, who knows! Suffice to say, you are not alone in having relatives who are upset about the move, and are looking at their best interests, rather than the best interests of the children. It is hard, and I can't offer any advice as I haven't solved it myself, but just wanted to let you know you are not alone on this one. If you do work out how to deal with it, let us know, I could do with the tips! Best wishes Carolyn

Hello What is happening with the property market in Canberra at the moment? Is it rising or falling or just static? I'm trying to follow any articles I can online, but am finding it particularly hard with real estate agents as so many properties seem to be going for auction - making it difficult to tell what is happening with the market and how long properties are on for before selling. It seems that many more properties go up for auction than over in the UK. Is this just the sites I am looking at, or have other people found this to be the case? Many thanks Carolyn

Hello I have been reading that in Canberra 50% of children go to private schools. Are the State schools particularly poor there? Some people have told me there is little difference in Australia between state and private schools, but I wonder if anyone on the ground in Canberra and the surrounds can give me an opinion? Secondly, is there any benefit in sending a child to a state primary and then a private secondary, other than saving money, or should they go to one or the other the whole way through? My kids are not of school age yet (3 and 19 months), so I am just starting to consider future options. Many thanks Carolyn

Hello I have been reading that in Canberra 50% of children go to private schools. Are the State schools particularly poor there? Some people have told me there is little difference in Australia between state and private schools, but I wonder if anyone on the ground in Canberra and the surrounds can give me an opinion? Secondly, is there any benefit in sending a child to a state primary and then a private secondary, other than saving money, or should they go to one or the other the whole way through? My kids are not of school age yet (3 and 19 months), so I am just starting to consider future options. Many thanks Carolyn

Thanks for your help. Much appreciated!

Hi all Can anybody tell me what the situation is with regards to car insurance? Do you have to start from scratch or will insurers take into account any no claims bonus earned from the UK? I just ask because when I lived in Canada many years ago, they accepted my no claims certificate from the UK and gave me the same number of years there. Any information would be gratefully received. Thanks Carolyn

Hiya I'm not sure where to look for this information so I'm hoping that one of you may be able to help. Are beds the same size in Australia as they are here? The only reason I ask is when it comes to replacing bedding etc, are sheets and duvets the same sizes? The same goes for mattresses. When our mattresses go to the great furniture shop in the sky, can you just replace the mattress (ie will it fit the UK base), or do you have to replace the whole thing? Many thanks Carolyn

Hi Katie I would suggest that you get your parents to talk to a Registered Migration Agent. They will be the best guides as there are so many options from applying independently, to being sponsored by a state, through to being sponsored by an employer. You could also suggest that you all go along to an event such as the one I have linked to below, as employers, migration agents and often state governments (eg Western Australia) will attend, talk to candidates and give presentations. My husband and I went to one before deciding to apply, and we found it very useful - not so much in terms of gaining contacts, but more in terms of finding out about different areas and the different options open to us. I know that these chaps do events in Manchester and Aberdeen as well, it's only the London one I linked to so that you could have an idea of what is included. http://www.workingin-events.com/events/opportunities-overseas-expo-london-november-2012/ You might also want to have a look at the threads on the "Migration" sub-board as there is interesting information, and a lot of helpful people there. Good luck and let us know how you get on! Best wishes Carolyn

We did a google search and found a 1 or 2 bedroomed fully furnished apartment in Central Perth for a week. Cost about $135 - $150 per night when we stayed there back in Feb/March. Don't know about regional areas though, as we were only there for a week and did not want to move with 2 toddlers unnecessarily.

I would suggest you talk to a Registered Migration Agent such as Go Matilda or Overseas Emigration. They can advise you about which visa is the best to go for in your circumstances and help you sort out all the paperwork. We used Overseas Emigration and found them absolutely excellent.

You are looking at approx 2 hours (based on X-rays and blood tests for adults and medicals for everyone). We allowed 4 in order to have lunch afterwards!

Country: England City: Maidenhead Name of clinic: Bridge Clinic Price adult: £200 (Includes HIV and chest X-ray, further blood tests at additional cost) Price child: £170 (aged 11 - 14), £85 (for under 10s) Date: July 2012 Comments: Very good clinic, very happy with service received.

Hi Stacey I have not yet moved to Australia, but many years ago I did make the move to Canada, so I know what it is like to be a new immigrant. I gave up everything and went with 2 suitcases and left family, friends and a job. Like you I found it terribly hard. Vancouver was beautiful but I missed home. The good news is that you do settle down, but you need to give it time. For most people, it does not happen straight away. You need to try and get involved. That was the big mistake I initially made, I didn't. I went off doing things on my own (skiing, hiking etc) and as a result was very, very lonely. This only changed when I started to get involved in things going on in my workplace. If you are not at work, try chatting to other parents at the school gates or at pre-school/kindergarten (depending how old your children are). If they are not at school, try going along to the parks when the local schools kick out and chat to the parents who let their kids have a play there before going home. If your kids are at school, go along to the socials. I'm a little on the anti-social side so this was very hard for me. However, it will come. Give yourself time and don't beat yourself up about it. I flew back to the UK 2 months after going to Canada (I had promised to come home for Christmas) and frankly, that cured me. I came back here, the rose-tinted spectacles I had dropped off, and I realised that actually the UK wasn't all I had thought it was over the last 2 months. When I went back, it was with a different attitude, and a new willingness to try. Friendships came, albeit slowly and eventually I did consider Canada home (and then I met my husband who was in the UK Armed Forces and ended up back here anyway!!!) You need to give yourself at least 2 years before making a decision as to whether or not a place can be home. That (from talking to others who have emigrated), seems to be the typical length of time it takes to feel settled and start establishing friendships. If you stay for 4 years and you and your children get your citizenship, then both you, and they, will have the choice in the future of where you want to make home. Don't give up, just keep holding on and you will get there!

I understand from other posters that there has been a backlog at Global Health due to the number of people trying to get their applications in before the July 1st deadline. This resulted in a surge of applications and medicals, and as a result, an increase in the number of people being referred from their medicals. I understand that they are working through them as fast as they can, but it is very frustrating for those who are waiting to hear. Hope this helps.

David My background is International HR so I will try help, but if I'm teaching you to suck eggs, please forgive me! Jamie S has given you some good companies to contact, and they are ranked among the top in their specific fields. I would add Hayes Accountancy Personnel (although I am not sure if they are across Australia or just in specific locations). However, in each of the cities you are looking at, there will be smaller, specialist recruitment agencies who will be worth a try. You can find them via google (or as a last resort via monster.au which some still use - personally never found it much help for professional jobs but some agencies still post there in order to get their names in front of international candidates). I would suggest (if you haven't already), that you get your profile up on linkedin (www.linkedin.com). It is the business equivalent of facebook (but much less tacky). You can do job searches on it, and get in touch directly with the people who are posting the jobs. You need to go to the advanced search tab to be able to specify the parts of Australia you are interested in, and you can also set up job alerts. I (pre-kids) and several others I know have secured work, both nationally and internationally using this site. Employers are happy to do skype interviews (again, if you haven't got it, get it as it is an invaluable tool for international networking). I would also suggest that you do some searches on Australian style CVs/Resumes and adapt your CV to their style. Finally, when applying for jobs, remember to tailor your CV and cover letter to the role you are applying for. This is especially important when you are applying for a role and are not in-country. Very many people just submit a CV (without a cover letter) and do not bother to look at the job description or person specification, and as a result, while they may have the relevant experience, it is not stated or highlighted in the information they send in. They then don't get interviews (and then ask why?) Hope this helps. Best of luck Carolyn

I can't help as I am not an expert so I would suggest you talk to a Migration Agent as soon as possible. Try Go Matilda or Overseas Emigration. Both have excellent recommendations from people on this forum. Good luck!

The problem with apprenticeships in the UK is that they are work based qualifications, and therefore are rarely considered to be "full time study". They are also paid (not a lot, but something), which full time study isn't. Some courses do block release, where the apprentices will do periods varying from a week to a month (and sometimes longer), in the classroom; some will do day-release, whereby the apprentice works for 4 days and studies for one. Others still do no work in the classroom and their skills are assessed purely by a more experienced colleague (who will have done the relevant training to be able to assess the apprentices skills and abilities and may work for the same company, or another local company). It is, as others have said, a very difficult situation to be in.

I don't know the situation with individual agents as regards this situation but would recommend talking to some of the ones recommended on different threads such as Overseas Emigration and Go Matilda. They seem to have good reputations and I am sure they would give you an accurate assessment of what your options are.

Do a google search. There are plenty of free sites and forums where people will give advice. The listening takes lots of practice. However, it seems to be the writing section that catches most people out - predominantly because of poor grammar and poor sentence structure. We used the most recent Cambridge Practice Tests (Book 8 I think) and also a book on grammar for ILETS (which also helped in the verbal as we used some of the hints and tips in it to vary the structure of the sentences we used in the arguments we had to make). We both scored 9s in everything - but both practised for about 3 weeks beforehand. http://www.expatforum.com/expats/australia-expat-forum-expats-living-australia/105568-ielts-getting-band-8-writing.html

Slimming World is great as well - it just wouldn't work for me now with 2 kids under 5, as I'm full time on riot control, so I have to do the same thing for everyone, and I have one fussy child and one who will eat anything!). The new Weightwatchers points system is much easier for me to follow as it is so much more about portion control (and no counting most fruit and veg). Mu husband said it wouldn't work as well, and yet four months after I joined, he signed up and has so far lost 1/2 stone (he had much less to lose than me).

I got it from the information sheet for doctors on how to assess candidates. Link is on another thread.

It's worse than that - the voices on the listening test have American accents.

We had our agent check our references before getting the referees to sign them, just to make sure they were what was needed so that time would not be wasted if we had to get them re-written because something important was missed out.

A BMI of over 30 (not 40) is considered to be obese. If your BMI is over this then they do further tests. A BMI of 40 would get you turned down without a shadow of a doubt. If your son wants to go to Australia, tell him he needs to lose weight. It can be a great motivator. I joined weightwatchers to lose my babyweight and because I wanted to go to Australia and have lost nearly 4 stone in 6 months (and still eat chocolate and drink wine). I'm no longer obese (I was only just on the BMI of 30), but now have a BMI of under 25. It can be done, but your son has to want to. If he doesn't, you will be fighting a losing battle.

If you get 8s in everything in ILETS you get 20 points. Often requires studying and buying some practice books, but well worth doing for the extra points if you are borderline.