Marisawright

Where I live (cornwall). Got the beach 5 mins away (and more almost at 5 min intervals!), got fascinating mining history and we have an old mine only walking distance away.

The people are, on the whole, lovely and welcoming.

 

I'd be happy living here forever (if we don't manage to get into Oz or don't like it).

 

 

In that case, I have to ask, why are you even thinking of moving to Oz?

Thanks Johndoe. Do you think it would be the same if I used a bank travel card in the UK?

Rental car companies won't accept bank travel cards, we discovered that on a previous trip. You either need a credit card, or some of them will accept a security deposit (which is a scarey amount).

If you are really "on the edge" then it might be worth consulting an agent just to make sure. I'd think if he was self employed, it would be assumed that he "paid himself" from his profits to have a holiday when he chose - but best to be sure.

There is nothing quite like a sunny day in Britain. I have never burnt easily but even I used to burn in the Aussie sun if I didn't take care - but in the UK I can slap on some sunscreen and spend all day in the sun without worrying. I love long walks but I used to find it too draining in the Aussie heat - here, even on days when the locals complain about humidity, the atmosphere is fresh, not too hot and not oppressive at all. Just a pity there aren't more days like that!

I also love the proximity to Europe - within an hour or two I can be in several completely different cultures, different architecture, different food etc.

We booked a car for a recent trip back to the UK through hertz.com.au which was about half the price of booking through hertz.co.uk. And also cheaper than any of the other places I had found cheap car hire previously. They had no issues with me using my Australian license. I used Enterprise car hire on a previous trip back and they were perfectly happy with an Australian license as well.

Yes, we used Enterprise a couple of times with our Australian licences, no problem at all.

Can anyone direct me to info for EU citizens moving to/living in the UK? I have been finding so much conflicting info. Can I get an NHS number & insurance number? I have aus citizenship as well if that helps. Can you also hire a car without a credit card? I know a lot of places in Aus don't so was curious if it's the same in the UK?

There's very little info about EU citizens moving to the UK because it's so much easier than it is for Australians!! So no, your Australian citizenship won't help at all.

You just apply for a National Insurance number once you're in the UK. When you go and register with a GP, you'll be allocated a NHS number.

I have a house in the UK and a bank account - will I have to wait to set up broadband/mobile phone until I get utility bills?

Can you change the address on your UK bank account to a relative's or friend's, then ask for a paper statement? That's what I did, and used that bank statement as proof of address for my mobile phone.

Holidays are holidays, they are not periods out of work.

That may be, I haven't heard anything about any rule changes though.

Now, don't start calling me a liar again! When did you open your bank accounts? Rules do change without the banks making a big song-and-dance about it. The tightening of credit started after the GFC.

Our experience is recent - we opened our accounts last June/July. I went to Barclays first because I'd been told it was the easiest place to get an account as a new arrival. Even so, the only account they would give me was their most basic offering which has no overdraft facility.

I subsequently tried to get an account at a few other banks (Santander, TSB etc) which were advertising better deals. All said they were very sorry, but as a new arrival I had no credit rating and therefore could not be accepted for any of the advertised accounts. They said that they had no wiggle room as all applications are now vetted by a separate security team who applied the rules rigidly with no exceptions.

I can assure you I am not making that up.

Best of luck with your move if it happens. We found it very straightforward as far as registering with a GP and NHS dentist, getting car insurance, opening a bank account to etc so I'm not really sure I can think of anything that might cause a problem. I will add to the thread as things occur to me.

We found everything straightforward EXCEPT opening a bank account and getting credit of any kind. The banks were very apologetic and staff told us it's all due to very recent rule changes, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Surely there has to be a way I can become a resident of Australia. I have a degree from England with Business Information & Systems, but was told on here that was void as a skill unless 2 years experience in that area of work?

... It just seems very difficult for a country that would thrive from letting people in surely?...

.

Why would Australia "thrive" from letting people in willy-nilly? Fifty years ago, Australia was under-populated and desperately needed people to fill countless vacancies in industry and business, and to start their own businesses to service the new country. Australia is not a new country any more. It may look like an empty continent - but huge swathes of Australia aren't habitable because there's not enough water.

Australian unemployment is higher than the UK's - they don't want to let people in who will struggle to get a job and end up drawing unemployment benefits.

I second everything that VeryStormy says.

I lived in Australia for over 30 years. I have seen a handful of snakes - in small towns in Queensland, and way out in the remote country in Victoria - but never in cities. That's not to say they don't exist but you're certainly not going to be seeing them constantly. Ditto spiders.

I also agree about family. The people who cope best with migration are those who are fairly independent of their families and don't see them that often even in the UK. At the other extreme, the kind of people who need to see their mum/sisters/grandma every week are, frankly, just not cut out for migration at all - they will be absolutely miserable, they will never adapt and the family will end up being forced to come home.

Only you and your wife know where she sits between those two extremes, but it is a very important issue and I agree that you need to discuss it.

As for jobs - VeryStormy is just about to return to the UK having struggled to find work in Perth for some time due to the downturn, so he knows what he's talking about. That said, some jobs have been affected more than others, so do your own research - look on seek.com.au for jobs, notice which agencies are advertising jobs in your field, and ring them up to interrogate them about job prospects (I know a phone call to Oz can be expensive but you'll get much better answers that way). If Perth starts to look like a non-starter then do the same for Brisbane, where the economy is more buoyant.

Bank accounts

Do you still have bank accounts in the UK? If not, then it will take weeks or even months to get one in the UK, unless you can establish a UK address ahead of your move.

What I did was notify my Australian banks of a change of address, and I used my sister's address. I then requested some paper statements and warned my sister to hold on to them till I arrived. I was then able to go straight to Barclays on arrival and open an account using my Australian bank statements as proof of a UK residential address. Of course this involves telling a bare-faced lie if they ask you - but the alternative is a long wait.

My oh didn't get around to it, so he had to wait until we got an electricity bill and rates bill for our flat before he could do anything. We were in temp accommodation for the first month, then of course it was almost a month before we got any utility bills (turns out the bank won't accept letters confirming you're connected, it has to be an actual bill). So it was over two months before he could get an interview, and the whole process of opening a bank account and getting cards etc took another couple of weeks.

I was also able to use my "proof of address" to get a UK mobile phone.

Credit Rating

Check whether you have any credit rating in the UK. If not, some banks won't accept you at all - and others will accept you but won't give you a debit card. Barclays will give you a basic account with a debit card but no overdraft, and they also have a basic credit card which you can get without a credit rating.

Without a credit rating you may struggle to get a rental property unless you pay six months upfront. Proof of a job may help.

I'm sorry but people replies are unbelievable and greedy.

 

I have been on a couple of TV shows and got paid nothing however received help and reassurance which I guess would be more helpful than a couple of hundred £'s whilst moving.

On Wanted Down Under, the programme finds temporary accommodation, organises house viewings, interviews with prospective employers etc. I agree that would have great value for a family emigrating, but the OP is not offering any of that - he's just offering to document it.

Wanted Down Under also pays the families' air fares and temp accommodation.

If you love the area, then I would be very careful where you move as the "vibe" in other parts of Sydney can be very different indeed. Many suburbs are essentially dormitory suburbs, with nothing in the way of nice cafes, restaurants or pubs and often, very few shops.

I'm an ex-Randwick girl myself, and when my oh wanted to move closer to his mum (who lives in the Shire), we checked out all the suburbs along the train line. The ONLY suburbs I felt I could enjoy living in were Gymea and Cronulla. However we drove through Oatley on the way down to the Shire and fell in love with it - village-y feel, huge village green, choice of cafes, local butcher and baker. The local school has a great reputation. It was the perfect middle point for us - only 40 minutes on the train to the city, and only a short train ride to Gymea (to see the MIL) or to Cronulla (for the beach).

I would love to hear from anyone who is a Freelance graphic or Web designer. Its a big decision to decide to live away from a city, and hope to find work from home, or will I end up commuting into Brisbane everyday?

If you think you'll need to commute to Brisbane every day then look at the Gold Coast, not the Sunshine Coast. "Wanted Down Under" has been showing people properties on the SC and suggesting that work in Brisbane is practical, but very few Australians would even consider it!

There's a lot of competition for web design/graphic design work.

I don't know any migrants who've done it but I do know someone who lives off-grid, here she is:

http://hubpages.com/@longtimemother

If you noticed I was replying to newjez as I quoted their replyso it wasn't aimed at the opon a 457 visa I think it sounds like a big risk on a childs future for sureBut they and only them can make that decision

I agree, but they need facts in order to do that. I think what Newjez was saying is that a success story with no detail doesn't help in that regard, because the OP can't tell whether your situation has any relevance to theirs.

Does anyone know of any house swap sites, I can only find the tempory holiday site types, wanting to move from stoke-on-Trent to Queensland. Huge long shot I know.

When you say you can only find temporary ones, does that mean you want to swap your home permanently? How would that work?

Well it will, but it'd likely be a small fridge in a big hole in the wall :-) unless fridge sizes have changed since I lived in the UK

Yes I think they have - a few people still have the wee fridge under the countertop, but I'm seeing a lot of people with big double-door numbers or retro fifties-style fridges which are extra wide. I don't know what the rest of Oz is like, but in Sydney, older houses have a tall narrow cubbyhole for a fridge and those would be far too big.

Bear in mind you'll be living in a holiday flat for the first 4 weeks or so, while you look for a long-term rental. So there's half the time gone already.

Also, one thing we didn't think of - if you leave things like your lounge suite behind and want to buy a nice one to replace it, many shops don't have them in stock and you have to wait 6-8 weeks for delivery. So you're no better off!

I second JohnDoe's idea - buy an outdoor table and chairs, a barbecue, and a picnic set. You'll need all of those in your new outdoor life anyway so it's not money wasted. Also buy a microwave. That takes care of your living room and kitchen needs!

For sleeping, I would leave beds behind, because then you can go straight out and buy new ones and have a good night's sleep straight away. But like I said - that means buying them somewhere like IKEA, where you can get them from stock. If you're fussy about what beds you get, then bring your existing ones and buy airbeds.

Leave your fridge behind and buy a new one - chances are it won't fit in an Australian house anyway.

That article sounds pretty accurate to me. It's the one thing that's worrying us about returning to Australia - because one thing this move has taught us is that we're definitely happiest in a big city, and Australia's big cities are all unaffordable!!

Even at your level, you may struggle to get your application taken seriously because employers will worry about how long you'll take to relocate. If there is a suitable candidate locally who can start in a month or two, even if a bit less qualified, they will prefer them to someone they will have to wait months for.

The other problem may be that old chestnut "Australian conditions" - a lot of procurement is about knowing who the good suppliers are, having the contacts, understanding contract law etc. You don't have that local knowledge and while I think you'd learn quickly, employers can be over-cautious.

Finally you would need to find a company big enough to need a Procurement Division. I wonder how many there are in Australia in total, and how often such a vacancy comes up? I worked in several large companies in my 30 years in Australia and in nearly all of them, procurement reported to the Facilities Director, it didn't have its own dept. head.

You could try talking to agencies like Michael Page, Hays, Hudson and Robert Walters who tend to handle most of the facilities/procurement jobs.

@dthomp - I'm not an education expert but I used to be married to a teacher, and I'd agree that a move for Year 10 would be fine.

My main concern is that on another thread, I see you'd be coming on a 457. If that's the case, then I'd say you need to be absolutely positive that your employer is cast-iron solid with a really thriving business, and that you're going to love the job. You simply cannot afford the risk of your employer going bust or needing to restructure during your contract - if that happens and you find yourself out of a job, then you'll have 90 days to leave the country. Immigration won't care that your daughter is in the middle of Year 11 or about to do her HSC, she'll have to go.

That's why so many members here worry about 457 visas for migrants with families. They are a great option for many people, especially if you are looking for a short-term adventure or want to test the waters and see if you like Oz - BUT when you have children at critical times in their education, or if you're asking a partner to give up their career, you need to be aware that a 457 gives you NO right to remain in Australia, so you may be risking a lot for the sake of achieving your dream.

I can understand your desire to get away from the London rat-race but have you considered moving elsewhere in the UK or Europe to achieve the same result?

Indeed but that wasn't the point of the post I quoted. The point seemed to be if you are thinking of returning to the UK then read this thread because someone has regretted it.

Exactly. People contemplating a return SHOULD read threads like this. Of course they should also read threads by people who haven't regretted it but the statement is accurate.