cathy99

Hi i'm curious to know the time frames for those in sydney on a 457 how long after applying were you granted your PR? We applied on 23 feb and have still heard nothing, i know it states between 4 and 6 mths but I'm getting anxious with the unknowing!! TIA[emoji6] Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

What a lovely post so good to hear and your cottage sounds amazing! I may be after some advice of good area's to live in Brisbane. We live in Sydney and have done for two years but i don't feel our future is here as it's too expensive, I've always fancied Brisbane it appeals as a lovely family place Sent from my KFOT using Tapatalk

Totally! We haven't gone through all the heartache, anguish and effort to emigrate to so say make a better life for ourselves and our kids, to then when we get here keep worrying about how we're going to get home again! - oh the irony! Lol

I think, after reading all these that i appear to be in the same boat! We've been here 18 mths and i keep moving the goal posts due to money! I first said it would be now (july/aug), then at xmas, then easter next year now I'm saying july next year!!! Aargh it's just so much money and it would pay for our PR, but then i feel guilty as i keep telling people we're coming back then change it! My mum has been out twice, but she doesn't seem to be very understanding when i say i feel quite 'torn' as i want to come back for a visit but at the same time i keep thinking what else we could be doing with that money and she doesn't 'get' it!

For what it's worth you're certainly not a bad mum, so you need to get rid of that thought! Your son is 12 years old and being on the verge of a very hormonal teenager at the moment I with this he has had to deal with his dad and other family on the other side of the world since you came back to the uk - he's lashing out because he's probably scared, he's going to miss you and his family here and all his friends and travel to the unknown on the other side of the world, and there is probably a part of him that blames you for this situation to, in his naive 12yr old head! I think the best you can do is try and ignore these outbursts and try and sit down and talk to him. Don't be afraid to tell him how you feel, he should know. Tell him you love him enough to let him go, he won't understand what that means now, but he will when he's older. Tell him how it's tearing you up inside being like this but you know he needs to make this decision himself. Tell him how proud you are of him and what a fine young man he's turning into. Tell him he can call/skype you any time he wants and tell him you 'nag' because you care! I think you need to be more open and honest with him and tell him if it doesn't work out, that's ok too at least he knows he tried! My heart goes out to you, you are in an awful situation, but i don't think you should be protecting him from all your feelings, as that isn't being honest, yes you've given your blessing, but it doesn't mean you have to be happy about it x

We stayed in furnished holiday apartments for 2.5 weeks whilst manically viewing rentals. I'd already researched which areas we wanted to live in, so that narrowed it down. I made sure my 'rental pack' was all up together as each time you put in an application for a place you need to attach photocopies of wageslips, references, bank statements, personal references etc! Anyway we found a house in a lovely area within 2 weeks on just my husbands wage and we didn't pay 6 mths up front! With regard to furniture we just bought stuff off of gumtree to tjde us over (and i have two young kids) who were happy to slum it! I tell you what, by the time your shipping arrives it makes you realise how much crap we all have and what you can easily live without!

If i was you avoid payg with vodafone their reputation isn't as good here as in the uk. I managed to use $90 i. The first 7 days!! Over here its more about data than calls and texts so the more data you can get for your money, the better. I've always found optus prepaid sims very good value for money.

Hi thanks for your reply, sorry I've only just realised that there was a reply on here! I am in NSW but the email address is very useful thank you as I've been unable to find anything from the immigration website! :0)

Hi guys, we've been in sydney for over a year now and things are going great. I've just been reading a few posts lately regarding qualifications and being able to convert them to an aussie equivalent and wondered if this was true of my teaching assistant qualification? I qualified in 2011 with an NCFE level 2 teaching assistant qualification, over here the equivalent is the cert III in education support. I never actually had paid employment as a teaching assistant, just lots of volunteer work due to one reason or another, so when we came here i took the decision to take the cert III qualification and started it (online) in september, but I'm finding it really hard, with time more than anything i thought it would be similar to the uk one, so a breeze, but alas it isn't!! Anyway, i recently come across different posts indicating i can just transfer my qualification, so is this the case? Many thanks :0)

I would be very surprised if it existed in my kid's primary school, it must have every race going there, so all the kids are used to it and don't bat an eyelid, it's the parents that create racism - as they saying goes 'children aren't born racist', it's a learned behaviour from their peers!

I would say go for it, your children have the same opportunities here as they do in the uk, i would say they have more opportunities here due to the ratio of population:jobs! We've been here a year now with a 5 & 8 year old and are a lot better off than we were in the uk and i'm not just talking monetary value! It's a great lifestyle and like anything, it's what you make it! :0)

From the tone of your email and your total lack of enthusiasm i would actually say stay where you are, the grass is not always greener and if your life is good then dont change a thing. It is very stressful emigrating, very hard on relationships, throws you out of your comfort zone, you miss family and friends like mad and it doesn't go away! You feel lonely and isolated until you start to find your feet and make friends, which can take a long time - I'm not trying to scare you just being realistic! We only emigrated because our life had hit rock bottom emotionally and financially so thought what the hell, lets give it a go we've got nothing to lose, but if things had been good then it wouldn't of even come up in conversation - but having said all that if you feel its a decision you might regret and you go into with your eyes fully wide open then why don't you go for it and give yourself a timeframe then you can assess things after that time! Good luck :0)

It's a parents job to worry, no matter what the age. What you need to do is sit down with them and have a mature conversation about why you want to emigrate (not immigrate!), if you have a sensible plan of action, i.e. work, living accommodation etc then you may have more luck convincing them! :0)

It's 5 weeks, not 5 months!

I live in the hills too, if you're anywhere near castlehill rsl its a fab place to go with your little one and if you join moving to sydney on fb and do a post to introduce yourself etc you'll be flooded with replies. I did and got over 80 replies, it was lovely and a lot if the mums have children preschool age and get together every now and then! X

Don't worry it will gradually get better, what you have to remember is you've just arrived in a brand new country with no history, you left all that in england and it's going to take time. We arrived in january this year, i have a 5 & 8 year old and remember thinking 'wtf have i done?' It was the most lonely feeling in the world. I wondered how or if i was ever going to meet people or make friends and yes at week 6 even my husband was on the verge of jacking it all in and going home. But we perservered and gradually, very slowly i started to chat to my neighbours, mums at the school were very friendly then my kids would start getting party invites so I'd get to meet new mums or the same ones but chat again, which lead to going for coffee every now and then and today we've come back from a pool party where i met about 5 new mums, all very lovely. I also joined some groups on fb that had been set up, which area are you in? One of the groups would be ideal for you as its a mum and toddler group. Try not to skype too much, i find it hard skyping all the time i do it once every couple of weeks and phone, whatsapp instead! I'd be hesitant taking your daughter to a works do, perhaps you can invite some of them to yours for a barbie? It is tough, but hang in there its still very early days x

I'm another amazon fan and wish I'd done it for our presents, but as its our first xmas here i thought it would be nice to send stuff home, wrong!! $156 to send for frickin parcels, i nearly fell on the floor in shock!! For calendars photobox are good but otherwise argos, boots, amazon, dunelm all do delivery :0)

We got a contract within a few weeks with optus, we just had to provide passports and copies of visas, but having an address does help. We're with virgin now, but optus payg are pretty good, its all about how much data you get here, not calls or minutes, so the higher the mb/gb the better. Stay away from vodafone, they're shite in my opinion (and experience!)

I think it is a perfectly normal reaction for your 16 year old, this is possibly the worst time/age/stage off her life and the one time that she needs her dad's support in whatever she decides to do and not made to feel guilty in any way at all, after all it is your decision to emigrate, not hers. Emigrating is a massive thing in anyone's life, but what your doing doesn't just affect your life, it's hers too. If she does come here with you she will have to go backwards a bit in her education, as we're behind here compared to the uk, she may find it hard to fit in or make friends and on the flip side, what if she does come and does love it (result) but you or current wife hate it and by then she'll be older and may want to stay? There really is so much to consider and sorry but your ball she in all this is the least of them. This is one of the reasons i only emigrated when we did because my children are only 5 & 8 so young enough to adjust and also if it all goes pete tong, their education hasn't been affected so would adjust easy enough back in the uk. I hope this doesn't sound like a lecture, it's not the intention, I'm just trying to point out the bigger picture and also more importantly how your daughter must be feeling. I think off it were me, i would talk to her, ask her about her thoughts, her fears, why she really doesn't want to go and is it just cold feet so close to going and then maybe try and do a deal with her. Maybe try and convince her to just come out for a couple of months to see how it goes and validate her visa and then if she really does hate it, she's free to go back to the uk if she wants to and you will have to be brave and let her go! Good luck :0)

Well you should find something in that price range in those areas, if you download the real estate .com website you just have to put the area in, min price, bedrooms etc and you'll see whats available. :0)

I don't know postcodes, but if that's the kind of area you're looking at try Beaumont hills, kellyville, northmead, bella vista, baulkham hills, seven hills, quakers hill, stanhope, the ponds. :0)

Before i moved here my friend in perth said if you want to know what an area is like visit the shopping malls at the weekend to see what sort of people are there! I thought this a little odd (also not realising how many shopping centres there are here), but he was right. Having been here a few months and been to rouse hill and castle towers (both lovely), i then had the misfortune of going to Westfield in blacktown on a Saturday and it all became very clear what he meant! ;0)

Hi Louise, it's all perfectly normal how you're feeling, 10 months ago we were in exactly the same boat, never been here, uprooting two kids and had all the anxieties and emotions you're feeling, but happy to say 10 months later all going well, not been easy but nothing worth having ever is and the ups certainly outweigh the downs, the kids love it, mums already visited so all good! Good luck and enjoy the experience, at the end of the day if it isn't for you, you know you gave it a shot and can go home xx

Yeah sure no worries you can message me if you prefer, happy to help :0)

Hi can anyone tell me the cheapest way to visit home (uk) please? Is it cheaper to get a return from oz or buy it from the uk? I'm hoping to return next july for about 5 weeks and was hoping that i could save enough to buy a single home then once in the uk buy a return back here so we've always got a return back to the uk, but not sure if this is the cheapest way to go about it! Cheers :0)