Rinkie66

When I originally applied for my permanent residency (from the UK before emigration) my application was refused, under the title no such job, even though I had described all my duties in my role came under their print and pre press section. We could have got our residency from my husband so I wasn't too bothered but as a follow up I emailed them saying, actually on your web site it clearly states that my duties come under pre press, I cut and pasted a roles description. I merely got an email back saying, that's fine, application approved!!! That's Australia for you!! My point being it could have literally destroyed all our future plans and turned our life upside down and all it took wasn't even an appeal but one second thought email to correct. I would follow it up in as many ways as you can, as fast as you can. Good luck

Moved home 6 months ago after 9 years in Sydney, we have 2 little Aussies of 2 and 4. We had massive cold feet right before the move despite really deciding to return at about the 5 year mark, when we sold our house, but stayed to have our daughter and spend some time back in central Sydney in the wonderful Newtown. In Singapore my husband suggested we could just move back for 3 weeks and then go back again! But since arriving we have never looked back, Sydney was a good place to live but never home for me, I worried about settling back here after reading posts on here, but there was no issue at all. My career is streets ahead here and I picked my contacts back up straight away, we live in a lovely area just outside London and my son has enrolled in a great first school, my husbands family live nearby and they LOVE to see nana, who is great with kids. I have to be honest and say I have barely thought of Sydney, despite thinking I would hve thought of it and fretted over it every day. I'm sure things will change as we are still honeymoon period, but we are so happy to be back, and for me, not to worry that I would wake up in 20 years time in Sydney, still constantly talking about going 'home' but then knowing I had 2 adult children who were Australian and would likely always then live on the opposite side of the world (they still might do that being dual passported admittedly!) and that would then be a fracture I couldn't fix.

We returned November last year after 9 years in Sydney, specifically to enrol my now 4 year old for school start. We had to have the application in by mid Jan I think, and the allocation was given mid April, we got our first choice thankfully, although our second choice was equally as good. You can put in a mid year enrolment although obviously your choice will then be limited, so it depends on the area. All schools locally are good here so I wouldn't have been too upset to have to have put a mid year application in.

You can search for my previous posts on here but in brief we moved back 8 months ago and did 2 move cubes and they were fantastic, no breakages and here in 3 months. We also did one shipment using Kent, it was terrible, took 6 months, couldn't track it and our fridge was bashed up and my computer kit broken. The only reason i used them was for safety of my computer kit which I use professionally. Disaster. The Kent shipment cost almost double the move cubes and they were fairly rude at the quoting stage to boot, I should have backed out then. Move cube all the way for me!

As I used this site to gain knowledge re shipping before we moved back I thought I would give a brief account of our experiences. We shipped 2 medium Move Cubes and on pro packed Kent shipment. Both Move Cubes arrived without a single breakage 3 months after we got back to London, they were easily tracked and professional and easy to deal with I can't recommend them highly enough.Almost 6 months on we are still waiting for our Kent shipping. It has been pretty dismal service. We have no idea when it will turn up. We had a shared container and were told roughly 3 months. It was picked up on October 24th, professionally packed. In late December I received an email asking for delivery details to release it from Sydney!!! I was told they would contact me when it shipped. By Feb I still had heard nothing. I sent 3 emails to our contact. nothing. I called her, she said she had "so many emails to deal with". She said it would arrive at the start of March. The receiving company called me and gave me a delivery date of April 3rd into customs and said I would have it within a week, over 4 months since it had been collected but at least I would be getting it! The next thing I heard was the receiving company (Excess International) had gone into receivership and all goods they held had been left dockside and in a warehouse and we had to wait for warehouse staff to contact us. A week or so later we got an email saying Brittannia movers had taken over the deliveries. I then heard from Brittannia saying they would be in touch but no ETA. Still no ETA. Sigh.And still we wait. It's very very annoying. I work freelance and only used Kent as I wanted my work system (monitor and server) professionally packed for insurance reasons. I couldn't have even give my clients an ETA for taking on their work remotely. Very luckily I upgraded my Mac this side and borrowed my friends monitor as she is on Mat leave. I bitterly regret using Kent who were so much higher cost, when I could have just used Move Cube. The consignment also contains our fridge freezer and dining table. We are currently eating standing up in the kitchen or at our toddlers table whilst kneeling down!This is only our experience, but I would not be using Kent again or recommending them. Even before the receivership debacle they were hard to contact. The contact who quoted the shipment that side was actually quite rude to me (I questioned the sq m he had quoted given what was going in) but I'm pretty thick skinned and brushed it off at the time but I wish I hadn't now. We are very very happy to be back, and will certainly not be returning to live in Sydney (despite enjoying our 9 years there) so hopefully won't need a shipping company ever again! But I'm recommending Move Cube all the way!

I am also creative industry and also missed london a lot, work wise as well as other things, whilst away. We were in Sydney 9 years and returned in Nov, we now have 2 young kids. I, like you, felt I was home on my visits back and wanted to return for about 3 years before we actually did. I had read on here many people regretting their choice to move back and I was really stressed about making the wrong choice as the financial implications of an emigration for a family of 4 are huge. I was so sure by the time we actually moved that I was being really stupid, thanks to all the "why would you come back here" comments from friends in the UK. But now, I am so deliriously, wonderfully glad I stuck to my guns, and we did it. I knew the moment we arrived in Heathrow, but yes we are in honeymoon period. I have started freelancing already in a London Studio that I always followed the progress of. Of coursers totally impossible to say what you will feel when or if you do it. I just wanted to say you can feel, at the point of moving, that you are doing something crazy and stupid and will need to reverse it, and it still end up being right. Of course, like everything, that's not true for everyone, but you will regret it if you don't try. I said I would allow us one move back here, and then one move back to Sydney (as we never had lids when we lived in London last so couldn't make an accurate comparison). Now, I really can't see us going back. I really hope we don't have to, it just feels right for us, here.

Good luck with the move! Of course I'm only, as everyone, speaking of my experience. I have read people on here that have moved back and felt a bit disconnected but I think I have read more positive posts about people fitting back in. I ran into a woman with a toddler year old in my playground up the road on Monday, she had lived in Sydney 8 years and moved back just over 2 years ago and was very happy with her decision, no regrets at all. Plenty of us move back home in the end!

We returned from Sydney after 9 years there just under 2 months ago. We had wanted to return here for several years as we have 2 young children and wanted them to grow up with extended family, amongst other things. We were really worried on leaving Sydney about regretting the move and not fitting in here, I have only been back twice in 9 years, to th point where my DH suggested in Dingapore "we could just go for 3 weeks and go back to Newtown" even though all our bits and bobs were sailing the high seas! I worried about constantly thinking about the area we lived in in Sydney which we really liked, and missing it. However, totally unexpectedly as soon as we landed in Heathrow it felt a hole in my heart that I had never been able to fill in any way in Sydney, despite constantly trying, healed up. That was a shock. I haven't had any culture shock, even with the cold weather. I always missed the lay of the year in the UK - Christmas in winter, Easter in spring time, long summer nights and bank holidays, guy Fawkes etc and never really latched onto the Australian seasons very well. I am really enjoying being back in winter!! And central heating!! I haven't ever thought about pasty people in shops etc, it just feels very normal. Maybe I never truly embraced Sydney even though we are citizens.

we are in honeymoon period, but it's a relief to actually love it, and I am making the most of it as one day I will want to feel 30 degrees again I'm sure. Catching up with friends and family feels like having not been away, although we are short on time with 2 toddlers. Life is much busier here so far.

The only culture shock so far is cost of trains and the fact they are constantly disrupted, I have a half hour journey into London and its 21 quid a day, 27 with a tube pass. Ridiculous. And there is constant signal issues etc. they do however, go faster than a car unlike Sydney. London to Liverpool in 2 hours now. 210 miles, not bad! Overall the UK costs are cheaper, free healthcare, groceries are cheaper, kids clothes very cheap (no VAT) books, etc. however there is such a massive availability of goods you are tempted to spend more! I didn't see any clothes that I "had to have" in Sydney but in London it's a risk looking. Also grocery shopping with lots of tasty treats on offer, and wine in the supermarket! But having clothes, food and wine in one shop is fantastic when you are time poor with young kids.

anywa, I'm sure I'll miss Sydney at some point, I'm relieved to not feel it now though.

I don't even want to think about the flight with a nearly 2 year old and a 3 year old

Yes, we went back last August on our UK passports and our kids travelled on their Australian passports. The only hassle was that they made us queue in the "non-EU nationals" line upon arrival rather than letting us join the EU line so we had a bit of a wait (just what you want with a 2.5 year old and a five month old after a 23 hour flight!!) Other than that, all good.

thats interesting to know! I might just really try and not get anyone's backs up at passport control. I'm wondering if they will ask the duration of our visit and if I should be honest and say we intend on getting the kids passports etc or if I should just say 6 months, as the flights are cheaper booked from uk anyhow. Any ideas?

i checked with my friend who is a GP as my daughter has quite bad reflux still at age nearly 2, so will need a doctor ASAP. He said that's fine as we are both British parents there should be no issue over entitlement to NHS. Not sure about the schools thing, we need to lodge a school application as soon as we get back for my eldest who will start the following September. I will be looking into the passport thing within a couple of weeks of returning, I don't have my birth certificate, lost, so will need that replaced beforehand. My friend did get her australian children their uk passports when back on a 3 week holiday, but I hear that there is quite a backlog this year.

After questioning whether to return to the uk for about 4 or more years we committed to return about a year ago when my daughter turned 1. It had been a very hard year for us with 2 children under 2 and no family. I have been desparate many times to jump on a plane and go, but of course now I'm going next week I'm feeling little desire to go at all. I'm hoping it's cold feet. I'm actually terrified to be honest, in 9 years we have only been back twice and I'm wondering if I remember it clearly and be able to settle in etc etc. all my mum friends are in Sydney, though in have to say largely British which doesn't sit well with me, I don't like feeling like and ex pat, reminds me of that awful soap in the 90s, El Dorado. We spent a large amount of time living slightly out of Sydney in an area which didn't suit us, we moved back into Sydney 2 years ago to an area that I truly love and will miss, however I cannot reconcile myself with rIsing my children here away from family (many of whom are too old or can't afford to visit). I can't imagine ev getting rid of the feeling of being "away from home" and I can't live with it. I am of course worried that I will get back "home" and realise it isn't my home either, but I think we have to try. Both countries have amazing qualities, most of which aren't replicable in the other, and they are just so damn far apart. I know I will miss Sydney, but I'm hoping it won't be a real guttural feeling of needing to be there. If it is, I guess we gotta find another 20 grand and move back, I think we have said we will do that if needs be, but that would have to be a final move as we know fully all the conditions and have lived as a family of 4 in both places. I'm sick of feeling rootless.

This is a little late in the day as we fly back to the uk on Tuesday after 9 years in Australia. Our children will be travelling on australian passports, we will get their uk passports once there as haven't had time to do that. We are both British. Has anyone re entered uk on their uk passports without their australian children holding one yet? The only issue I am concerned about is that we have one way tickets so they will know we are intending to stay, we are entitled to but does that entitlement automatically include our children? Anyone have experience of this? TIA

I have lurked around on this forum for literally years and years, about 5, whilst we have made the decision to return to the uk. We have been in Sydney for 8 years, moving here from London in 2006. We now have 2 small children (3 and 22 months) and have finally got it together to return, we fly Oct 28th. Whilst we have talked about little else for the past 5 years now it's actually happening I am feeling a little "cold feet", but really for us, it's time to go home. Mainly it's people saying "why on earth are you moving back" that cast doubts over the move, this is usually from people who have either never been to Australia but "saw it on the telly and it looked nice" or came on holiday here once. Or family.

Anyhow, my question is, has anyone remained working for their Australian employer whilst in the Uk, and what were the implications for tax? (Resident/none resident). I will be either permanently working or freelancing in the uk, but my husband will be still working for his australian employer for at least a year. We currently have a rental property there (which we may well move into if we can transition to a residential over a buy to let mortgage, and we are sure we are staying) but I just wondered in general terms the tax implications of still being resident here for income tax whilst living there, and if this has implications for other things such as healthcare, pensions etc.