Marisawright

The funny thing is that we've found the opposite. My oh has wide feet and wears New Balance. We always bought them at a New Balance factory outlet in Drummoyne. He needed a new pair before we left but we didn't bother as we assumed we'd get them cheaper here.

Lo and behold, the high street stores don't stock the wider widths in store, so we've had to order online. After spending hours searching, the cheapest pair we could find were actually MORE expensive than Australia, for exactly the same shoes.

we live in inner London nowhere quite as crowded bar HK etc

 

i work I'm NhS nowadays far from easy and service sadly far from fit for purpose despite skilled caring staff...resources way too stretched

 

I know it would be second best, but do bear in mind that you're living in THE most crowded part of the UK, so you would feel less squashed if you moved anywhere else in the UK. You would also be better off financially as housing is cheaper everywhere else.

As someone who has just returned from Australia, I am struck by how crowded London's whole commuter belt in the South of England is, even right down to the coast - but you don't have to go far north of London to start seeing a huge difference, with far more open spaces and far less traffic once you're off the motorways.

No solution for the NHS, I'm afraid, unless you can get work in another field, but at least it could address your other concerns and still let you be close to family and friends. I wouldn't be worried about finding work - if you can land a job in a whole other country, you can find a job in another county!

Recognized like by the engineers australia? My wife's credentials were assessed by them. We didn't bother having mine assessed as it was enough for our application. Yes, i have looked at seek.com.au...everyday. I was informed my experience in the middle east and the philippines is not relevant, way to bursting my confidence with those words. We chose sydney because this is where my wife's sister lives...she helped out when we had the baby.

 

I did some research and going back to school might increase my chance of practising my profession.

Being assessed for immigration and having your qualifications recognised to work in Australia are two different things. Employers will always prefer a local engineer to an overseas one because they are not familiar with overseas qualifications. University standards vary around the world - how do they know whether a Filipino engineering degree is better or worse than an Australian one? They only have your word for it.

If you can get registered with Engineers Australia, that will give an employer confidence that you meet Australian standards.

Employers may say your overseas experience is not relevant - it's up to you to prove that it is. When you apply for a position, analyse the advertisement and list the requirements (qualifications, competencies) they are looking for. Then list each of them in your cover letter, giving an example of how your experience enables you to meet each requirement.

So your cover letter would start something like, "Dear ... , I wish to apply for the position of .... I feel my qualifications and experience are an excellent fit for this position, as follows: ...."

It may also help to attach written references from your employers in the Middle East and the Philippines to your application. If employers can read references which talk about how good you are, it will influence them (whereas they aren't likely to bother to make an overseas call to find out).

I agree with Flatpack. The most important thing is that the agent is MARA registered - unregistered agents are a lottery.

Are your engineering qualifications recognised in Australia?

Have you looked on seek.com.au to see where the jobs are? Sydney is by far the most expensive place in Australia to live - if you can find work in another city you would save a lot of money in rental costs.

@Margie - I wouldn't say I'm an expert, but I have just been through the same process myself!

Assuming you've been in Australia exactly 40 years, that makes you 61.

Australian Pension

Just to be clear, we're talking about the government pension here, not superannuation (see further down).

To get your Australian pension, you'll need to stay in Australia until the day you reach pension age, then you go into Centrelink to claim it, and you can then go anywhere in the world and continue to get paid. It would be reduced if you'd been resident for less than 35 years, but that won't apply to you.

If you leave Australia before you reach pension age, then the only way you can claim is to move back to Australia when you reach pension age and stay for TWO FULL YEARS. If you leave the country before the two years is up, your pension will be stopped.

Two other alternatives - (1) pray that Australia and the UK manage to sign an agreement to allow pensions to be paid (we've been waiting since 2001!) or (2) move to Spain, Italy, Malta or France instead where you can claim your Aussie pension no problem at all.

British Pension

To get a UK pension, you must have paid at least two years' NI contributions (if you're planning to continue working, you'll be able to do that easily). Then, how much you get depends how many years' contributions you have made. You can submit a claim to have your Australian work record recognised towards it, so bring evidence of your Australian work record with you. Unfortunately they will only credit years before 2001, but it will help!

If you are still short of years to qualify for the full pension, then you can make voluntary contributions and as you're so close to retirement age, it would probably be worth it - unlike the Aussie pension, the UK pension is NOT means tested so you'd start receiving it the moment you reach pension age. Your best idea is to request a pension forecast ASAP:

https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-statement

- but you'll have to wait till you're resident in the UK to claim your Australian work years.

Superannuation

If you leave your lump sum in your super and transfer it to a British account AFTER you've arrived in the UK, you could get slugged a scarey amount for tax. However, if you take your lump sum BEFORE you leave and just put it in the bank, then it's just savings and you can transfer it without being liable for any tax. If you decide to do that, I would use a service like Moneycorp to do the transaction instead of letting your bank do it - it will save you a LOT of money in commissions and fees (join through PomsinOz to get a fee-free account).

If you don't want to take a lump sum and prefer to convert your super to a pension, the bad news is that it won't get tax-free treatment in the UK like it would in Australia. You'll have to declare your super pension as income on your British tax return and pay tax on it (though you do get a tax-free threshold just like in Australia). That could make quite a difference to what your income would be in retirement.

Banking and Credit

This is a huge headache.

You cannot open a UK account from Australia, it's impossible. Even when you get to the UK, no bank will look at you until you can show them proof of a UK residential address - which means you can't even apply until you've found a place to live AND received your first electricity, water or phone bills. Even then, you can't open an account at the counter, so allow a week's wait for an appointment and two weeks for the account to be available for use. So don't close your Australian bank accounts, you'll need to go on using them (with your ATM cards) for at least a month. If you need a credit card, then you'll need to keep using your Australian credit cards for at least a year.

A cheat which would speed things up - if you have relatives in the UK, change your postal address for your Australian bank accounts and credit cards to their address before you go - then you'll have some bank and credit card statements waiting for you when you arrive, and can use that as proof of address (just don't let slip to the bank that it's not going to be your permanent address!!).

Even once you've got proof of address, you'll only be able to open the most basic account, with no overdraft and no credit card, because you have zero credit rating. Some banks will not even give you a debit card (Barclays will so they're your best bet - they will also give you a credit card earlier than most). You won't be able to get a mortgage or any personal loans, except from loan sharks.

The silly thing is that you can't even GET a credit rating until you've incurred some kind of debt - which you can't do because you have no credit rating. The only way to do it is to apply for a high-interest credit card designed specially for people with a bad credit rating, then use it at least once a month and pay it off on time every month. After about a year, you'll have a good enough rating to get a mortgage or bank loan.

I would not even be considering it were it not for dd of late July when travel component of our visa expires therefore if not in Oz then need to start whole process again which would mean family as a whole not included.

 

my drivers are overcrowding pollution health.my mum would come with .

You say "mum would come with". It is now difficult and horrendously expensive to get residency for an aged parent - if you haven't already investigated that, do so - it might be another deal breaker.

The fact that your oh is calling this "YOUR dream", and you talk about "MY drivers" suggests that you're the one who's been driving the move to Australia and you've persuaded your family into agreeing to the move. Having been on these forums for some time now, I can tell you that's a potential recipe for disaster: the first few months in a new country are hard enough, even if you're all 100% committed. If you've got family members who don't really want to be there, at the first sign of difficulties (and there will be difficulties) they'll be wanting to give up and go home.

Also have you thought about what you'll do if your kids don't settle, and they decide to move back to the UK once they leave school (if they're moving reluctantly then you have to allow that's a possibility - don't assume they'll fall in love with Australia once they get there, many people don't!). Will you follow them back? What if only one of them moves back and the other meets and marries an Aussie? Which country will you choose?

I'm sorry you've found yourself in this situation, you're certainly not alone. Best wishes in working it all out.

Hey we have the choice of moving to Perth or Brisbane. We are a young family my husband a chippy two children ages 7 and 3 I have read so much info but like to hear from people who live in either cities..Where best to settle and riase family, schools, cost living?

It's a very very difficult question to answer because people's reactions to cities are so personal. I wouldn't live in Perth if you paid me, whereas I love Sydney. On the other hand, I know people who love Perth and wouldn't live in Sydney at any price. The same goes for Perth vs Brisbane. It's like asking people whether they'd prefer to live in Exeter or Newcastle - they're very different even though they're in the same country, and some people will prefer one and some the other.

My only comment would be, if you don't have a job to go to, then I'd choose Brisbane. Only because if you struggle to get jobs, or don't like it, you have a much greater choice of towns and cities along the East Coast which you can move to affordably. Whereas if you have to move from Perth, it's horribly expensive to relocate all the way across the country.

Any chance you could visit Australia to activate your existing visa?

I don't think the 175 visa is offered any more, so if you don't use this one, you can't get another one. If you let your existing visa lapse, you'd go for a 189. No idea whether not using the 175 would count against you.

OK, I deleted it, but I don't really stress about stuff like that. I would if she was 8

 

Entirely up to you, just mentioning it because a surprising number of people forget it's a public forum and post things they wouldn't if they realised.

I'm assuming you're young, free and single, so I wouldn't live anywhere near Bella Vista. It's a commercial estate surrounded by sprawly family suburbs and will bore you to tears

 

Your public transport options in that area (at the moment - train arrives in 2019) are buses. ...

 

http://www.cdcbus.com.au/IgnitionSuite/uploads/docs/Region_4_Network_Guide%2024%20January%202015.pdf

http://www.cdcbus.com.au/hillsbus-maps.html

 

Personally I'd be tempted to look at the services that go to North Sydney.

I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure there are NO services that go from North Sydney on to the M2. The North Sydney section of that map refers to a different service altogether.

I agree that the worst thing he could do is live in the burbs, however I do think that inner-Sydneyites are too dismissive of Parramatta - yes it has rough elements, but not as bad as Sydney's cinema precinct on a Friday or Saturday night, and it is a mecca for young people from all over the Western suburbs.

A real cutie, but you may want to consider that this is a PUBLIC forum, it's not Facebook - you don't have to be logged in to see the posts. Which means that your daughter's pictures are now visible for strangers to see, and download if they want to. Perhaps the topless one isn't the wisest thing to post.

Which one is supposed to be better, Irish or Scotch ?

Don't even start that debate, please!

This is not technically correct. The OP is over 30 and so is subject to the 'Lifetime Loading' legislation (link below). If you don't sign up to this within your first 12 months then you will have a 2% loading applied to your premiums..

That's true but my statement is also correct. They have 12 months to decide whether to sign up, and my advice is to take advantage of that. Obviously IF they decide they're worried about Lifetime Loading, then they will need to sign up before the deadline, but there's no advantage in signing up any earlier than that.

Besides, they may decide they're not worried about Lifetime Loading. For instance, they may not be planning to stay in Australia in retirement, so they're not worried about needing health insurance in their old age. Or they may prefer to self-insure, like my husband does.

Oh. Is it spelt differently in US and UK ?

 

I didn't know that.

The one with the 'e' in it is Irish.

Chortlepuss, would you happen to know the actual definition of 'town house' in Australia and NSW ( in case there is a difference between states) please?

 

I have seen many ads for new developments but we are unsure, it all looks so 'suburbian'. Would those be town houses?

 

A townhouse is a house on a strata development. It's usually a terraced house or a maisonette or a semi. It's exactly the same as a strata apartment - you don't own any land if you buy a strata townhouse, you own a share of the strata. Because of that it's cheaper than a proper house of the same size.

New developments look suburban because they are!

We are not coming back to Sydney, we can't afford it (it's part of the reason we left). We lived in the inner suburbs - the furthest out I've ever lived is Five Dock in the West, and Oatley in the South. We could afford to live in Sydney if we moved further out, but for me, that's not an option - too far from all the things that make Sydney attractive. I wouldn't live in the Hills District if you paid me.

We're still debating where in Australia we will go.

Whereabouts are you working?

Hi ,

I get to know that which of the city is most affordable? Sydney or Australia.Can nay one guide about the life style,residence,Job availability and other treats of the both Cities?

Well i have heard that Sydney is more costly as compared to Melbourne but more populated and have high availability of Jobs...

Sydney is the most expensive city in Australia for housing (rental and purchase). Canberra is the next most expensive, and Melbourne is third. Otherwise, the cost of living is very similar. Both are big cities. Which one gives you more job opportunities depends on what kind of work you do.

Hi!

 

I would really appreciate your recommendations as we have been told to have a solicitor in case we need to go ahead with buying a place.

 

You don't need a solicitor to buy a house, you need a conveyancing firm. They are just as good, if not better, than a solicitor because they're specialists - handling property is all they do. Northshorepom's recommendation is a good one.

Hello,

 

I am new to PIO and looking for some advice. I am planning to travel to Australia in the next few months on a tourist (eVisitor) visa with the intention of applying for a partner visa on-shore. My partner and I have been together for more than 3 years and we meet all of the necessary criteria. However, I am unsure of how open I should be with immigration on arrival with regards to my intention to apply for the partner visa.

A tourist visa is a tourist visa. If you are honest with immigration, you will be put straight back on a plane. You are expected to apply for your partner visa off-shore and be patient!

If you want to go the on-shore route, then arrive with a return ticket and don't bring things like copies of certificates etc which will make it obvious you're going to be job-hunting.

Cheers Quoll,

its a temporary fix i know but thats what we need at the moment. He's a forming joiner but his girlfriend is a mental health nurse and they are looking into sponsorship for her too. So we are looking at the cheapest option really that will extend his visa. Any course and the best length of stay.

We've spent the best part of this year doing IELTS and preparing for his skills assessment Just don't want him to have to leave.

 

Like I said, my concern is that a big part of qualifying for PR is getting experience - qualifications alone are not enough. So looking towards a long-term solution, he might actually be better off going back to the UK for a while and building up his years of experience than staying and doing a course that won't contribute to his ultimate goal.

Hi All,

Was looking for some advice regarding a student visa for my son.

Unfortunately his skills assessment may fall through for his PR application therefore we are looking for the best student visa.

 

The thing that occurs to me is that it's a very temporary solution. If he's studying, then he can't build up any work experience in his current profession, so he will be even worse off by the end of his course - and he can't study forever.

I notice you had an older thread asking for possible solutions for him - did you ever work out what his chances were of getting PR?

Thanks everyone, your input has been very helpful. I would expect that we'll be beyond the $180k joint income within a year or so, so figured we might as well take it. So glad to hear that everyone has recovered well Marisa and Jessie and that you had a positive experience.

 

If you're not going to hit the threshold in the first year, then the sensible thing is to delay. You won't reduce your premiums any by joining earlier.

Well since the average in England & Wales is £186,350 according to the latest Land Registry report, over £1m is some of the most expensive in the UK. I didn't realise how much house prices in Sydney had gone up though and that the median is now over $1m, wow!

 

Still the OP is considering moving to Perth and it seems that house prices are dropping there and the median is half what it is in Sydney, a move from Edinburgh is viable so long as there is work.

I was suggesting to them that the East Coast would be better for work and that's why I mentioned Sydney house prices. As you say, it's an important factor to consider when trying to work out whether a move will leave you better or worse off.

You can't compare the dearest house in a city with the average of house prices everywhere else! In spite of that low-sounding average, there are homes over £1 million in plenty of other cities in England - in fact they're ten a penny in the South East. Take a look at this table on Zoopla and you'll soon see that Edinburgh's average price is cheaper than the whole of the South East, South West and East of England, with just a few exceptions.

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/house-prices/?search_source=top_nav

It depends where in Edinburgh and Sydney, Edinburgh has some of the most expensive property in the UK, this was in the news just a few days ago

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-35060899

The most expensive IN SCOTLAND, not in the UK. I've just been Googling to get a comparison with England, but it seems most of the supposed "UK affordability" studies only look at England and Wales!

The streets they're mentioning are right in the heart of the best part of Edinburgh, and the prices are only just over £1 million - houses right in the heart of Sydney cost a lot more than that!

Im so with you, I do completely get what you are saying, unfortunately for us if we don't spent 10K a year on health insurance we get taxed 20K extra in tax so we really have no choice and if we have to pay insurance we might as well use it! However, I would say this, when it comes to serious health issues like cancer, you cannot ever get better treatment and going private will simply bankrupt you, ive seen that with my own eyes.........

I was in the same boat, financially it made sense to have private health insurance so that's why I got it initially. As you say, once you've got it, you may as well take maximum advantage.