DianaK

It also depends on what is available in your area. I found that the speed and service is pretty much the same among the providers and I went with the least expensive provider, as I was not interested in bundles with phone and TV. As an example, Dodo and TPG are cheaper than Telstra, Optus and Internode.

You can go on a month to month/no contract but the initial cost is more and you pay for a modem. I am on such plan.

I have organized all papers for release of the container and the quarantine myself and it was all done within 10 days from arrival of the container. It was around Christmas and they wanted to book the inspection after the holidays but we talked to the company where the goods were stored and they asked the inspector to look at our goods while inspecting somebody else's container. You have to be on their case and following up with them until you get them to inspect the shipment. I am not sure how it works if an agent is organizing it for you. When I called for a quote, the agency asked for over $1000 for just organizing the documents and the quarantine and we decided to do it ourselves.

We used them for clothes mainly and then we packed the cardboard boxes with nylon wrap and we did not have a single box or item damaged, although we shipped everything in pallets as we did not have enough items for a full container.

I suspect that this is the better option as based on what I get deducted as tax from my pay cheque here is 10% less than my Canadian deductions, although I am earning 30% more in Australia and I am in a comparable tax bracket. I still have to see what is the bottom line after my taxes are done here for the first year but with the new tax rate for my bracket, introduced by Trudeau I will most probably be still better off in Australia.

I am still waiting for my T4 and soon I will be able to let you know. My concerns are more around paying as little as possible to CRA for the Life long learning plan and First time home buyer plan when I become non resident and mainly when is best to become non resident in this case. In your case, if you stay a resident in Canada you will be charged on worldwide income, meaning that you will pay taxes in Australia and Canada on the same income. If CRA calculates that your taxes in Canada are $10,000 and ATO calculates your Australian taxes to be 7,000, you will get a relieve on the 7,000 in Canada based on the treaty between the 2 countries but you will still owe 3,000 to CRA in Canada. If you are non-resident you can choose not to file and you will pay 3,000 less. I just picked random numbers for the example, I am still not sure if there is such a difference between the tax rates in the 2 countries.

Also, how many divorced women with children, limited employment opportunities in their countries and poor English will embark on this "adventure" with the genuine intention to study, considering the fact that $20,000 to $30,000 AUD per year for study is a lot of money even for the Australians? It is sad really, but the student visa is the easiest way to enter Australia and a lot of "students" lie to the point that they declare their siblings for husbands and wives so that they can come and work/stay here.

Most probably the majority of these students have never been interested in education really...they knew what they will be paying when they enrolled and went through the whole process of applying for visas.

I will be filing my Canadian taxes for 2015 pretty soon and I will let you know how it went. We moved here in October and I am going to claim Canadian income until October. Also, for RRSP, first time home buyer and life long learning you owe taxes on the full amount as soon as you become non resident for tax purpose in Canada. I will still have to find out what is best for the first year - to declare myself non resident as of certain date this year or to extended it for the next year when I will be deemed to be a non resident due to no longer having ties with Canada. I am thinking for engaging a tax agent in Canada but I might look for an agent here in Australia.

We have two cats and it was no problem getting a rental in Surry Hills. We are currently in a very nice, newer apartment building and a lot of the tenants have cats or dogs. We rented through Charles & Stuart but I am not sure if this is one of their areas where they have rentals or it was more of an incidental find. You can call their office in Double Bay and ask. The ad did not say pet friendly, we just asked.

Most of the newer cars can run with Ethanol just fine, no damage, but I have personal experience with using E10. When we arrived, we did not know much about the the E10 fuel here and filled the tank of the Jeep with E10 several times. As a result we had issues with the catalyst converter, which was most probably related to the type of fuel (or so I have been told).

I was based in Wellington, but I have visited NZ on previous occasions, as a tourist. I think that it is a great place to visit for a month or so and there is a lot to see. Just too slow and quiet for me to live there.

I am a big city person and I find NZ really "small and restricting" in regards to what you can do and where you can go. It is quite gloomy and cold, in a way that I have never expected it to be. I disliked it so much that I had to resign and leave a great company, only because I could not imagine myself staying for the whole duration of my project. People are really nice and nature is beautiful, but this is all for me. I could never live there.

Research master course in accounting? What for? To be an accountant here you do not really need a master degree. Are you concerned about how another degree will help with getting the PR or just about your career? If it is about the career, I will not bother with another degree. May be, applying with CPA to get a professional designation will be of more use to you, or if you are eligible to work in Australia, get an accounting job. Getting a local experience, even as an accounting clerk or volunteer will give you more chances than a master degree, considering that you already have a master degree.

We booked 2 months, but only because it took 2 months for our container to arrive. Otherwise, 1 would have been sufficient to secure long term rental.

I agree with Pom Queen. One of my cats had wrong RNATT details and they had to issue new permit, the other cat's breed was wrong and if we have not noticed it, the airline would have refused boarding the cat as they do not transport this breed. Just check every single line. I am glad I did prior to departure.

Yes, if you like quiet life, definitely not the area. We are not party animals either, but I still enjoy having everything around. Good luck with the search.

For $650 you can find 1br within walking distance from CBD and your office. Walking to work will save you quite a lot of time and money on public transport, plus you will have all the entertainment areas close by where you can go for a drink or a nice evening out without the need to pay for a cab on the way back. There are also lots of activities around CBD and for a younger couple this could be quite suitable. We came 3 months ago and secured a rental in a newer apartment building in Surry Hills, close to Oxford street. I walk to work and after we lived in the area for a while, we both think that it was a great decision we made. Initially, we also had a lower budget but I guess, it is a trade off.

Hi Sarah, I hope that I am not providing misleading information but you can put yourself as an exporter, if you are applying for the permit. In my situation, I had to involve the agent after the permits had been issued. For one of my cats all the documents and flights were arranged by me and for the other cat I had to involve an agent due to last minute airline rules change for certain breeds. For both cats, I put myself as importer and exporter. In any case, if it is you submitting the application it makes sense that you put your names. I thought that when you involve an agent they take care of all that?

The import permit should state you as the importer. The address and phone number are formality. They even do not need to know if you change it.

Regarding the accounting/bookkeeping opportunities - we came from Canada 3 months ago and my husband is still looking for a job. He is a CPA from Canada and recently became a CPA in Australia, has over 10 years of accounting experience(including supervisory roles and audit) in big corporations in Canada but only in the Oil and Gas industry. According to the recruiters and some of the employer's feedback, this is a huge problem. Both, the lack of Australian experience and the industry that he worked in makes it very difficult to find a job. This is in Sydney. There are a lot of accounting jobs advertised but the market is flooded with accountants. He has never had a problem finding a job in Canada, even when he had 0 years Canadian experience 12 years ago. So far he has sent over 100 applications. it is true that he did not tailor his resume for each position he applied for, but still.... The recruiters are also saying that the market will be dead until the second part of January.

My first "above 40" day here .... Had to walk 40 min outside and by the end of the trip I was totally done for the day...difficult to explain that to the "boss", who expected of me to come up with a "brilliant solution" to a complex issue.

I would not worry about these too much , if you are doing it with a shipping company. They keep the crates till the release date, and it does not make sense to change them if the crate is in good condition after the long flight. In our case, when I collected my cat, they gave it to me in a different crate, but they never notified me or asked me to pay for it. They most probably will let you know in advance if you have to provide. Sorry I cannot be of more help.

Hi Topender, Would you happen to know agencies that find placements/contracts for Oracle functional consultants? Thanks.

I also think that you should claim experience after December 2013.