LochStock

Hello All I thought I'd share our experience of our journey for anyone that may be interested: With our Visas ( subclass 190) being granted in August we found ourselves in the fortunate position of making arrangements for the big move and trying to source employment. My employers informed me they wouldn't support an internal transfer to our Australia based offices and that I would need to resign from the Glasgow office but was free to apply for any vacancies open in the Sydney and Melbourne offices. This was more of a minor inconvenience as we were prepared for that scenario and even thought it would provide an opportunity for even more of a fresh start and a new life. I was extremely confident my CV would get me a few interviews and that we'd both be employed within the first 6 months which tied in with how much money we were able to bring over to support us until we found work. Now for the journey itself, we reasoned a big life change like this should be marked with a memorable occasion like a once in a lifetime holiday, we could have saved another 3-5 months worth of cash but arriving in Australia straight from Scotland would feel too much like a holiday at first and we'd probably procrastinate about getting our feet properly on the ground and looking for jobs and places to live etc. Some people I appreciate might be in a position where as much money as possible should be taken if going over with no employment lined up for us. I'm well aware of how arrogant it sounds but I just felt anything more than 6 months worth of cash might also cause an element of procrastination. We wanted to go over knowing there were funds there to support us and at the same time know we had to get a move on about getting money coming in. We opted for our journey to Oz to take this format: Last November we employed Sevenseas worldwide (after reading some positive reviews about them on this forum, and their pricing being one of the cheapest it was a fairly easy decision to make) to collect our shipment and have it shipped straight to Australia whilst we marched down to Trailfinders and organised an East to West coast trip of the United States. Neither of us had been before and going to live in the Southern hemisphere it seemed unlikely we'd get a more affordable chance than now. So from November through until our departure date of January, we saved as much as we could, and sold as much as we could, to completely empty our flat before handing over the keys and making sure we had as much spending money for the States. I also set a personal target of applying for 20 jobs every single day on seek.com.au or other job search websites or even the internal job search pages of some of the largest companies in Victoria. Given we were on a state sponsored Visa, it seemed prudent. Being a complete nerd I kept a spread sheet of every vacancy I applied for and by the time we flew to New York I'd sent over 500 individual applications, I'd heard back from around 50, 49 were rejections but 10 of which encouraged me to get in touch once I actually landed in Melbourne, because they really liked the look of my CV and would like to see what vacancies they could offer me when I was eventually there. Only 1 was offering a Skype interview with a view to offering me a position before I'd actually landed. Numbers wise that's an awful lot of time put in for very minimal return but to be honest in such a competitive market I thought I'd be closer to 1000 applications before I was getting skype interviews. Though I do see the logic in companies being wary of granting interviews to people who are not yet even in Australia I'll admit it was a bit disheartening and I began to think I'd hugely overestimated the skills and qualifications and References my CV gave me. The trip to Australia itself was indeed one we're going to always look back on as life changing: New York, Chicago, Phoenix, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Tempe, San Francisco, Los Angeles & Honolulu in 26 days, days 27 & 28 were in Sydney before we flew out to Melbourne to settle. To detail everything we experienced would require a while different thread, I'll consider writing it up though another time. I'm happy to say our route to Oz worked out completely as planned though in that, on our last night in Hawaii we both talked about how as incredible a holiday it had been but we were both ready to stop living out of suitcases for weeks and ready to actually hit the ground running. My cousin picked us up from Melbourne and took us to Dandenong where we'd arranged to stay with a friend for the first fortnight in order to get our feet on the ground but also not overstay our welcome and make sure we got right on to job hunting and looking for our own space. We gave ourselves 3 days to settle in and see a bit of Victoria and Dandenong and the main city centre of Melbourne itself. Our friends organised a hug barbecue on the 4th night and invited a whole bunch of people in the hope we'd make some friendships and maybe even make some connections around possible jobs, It really struck home at this point that this is the country I live in now and I absolutely love it. The rational part of my brain knows I'm just in the honeymoon period but my partner and I were talking about it and right away feel convinced it's the best decision we've ever made and that as long as we work hard at finding work and getting involved in the local community and contributing something we'll be much happier here than we ever could have been in Glasgow. Fast forward to day 14 of living in Australia and I've found a job working in the city whilst my partner has three separate interviews lined up for next week. I spent a day contacting all the Melbourne based IT recruitment agencies, sat down with two of them the following day, both put me forward for interviews, one of which was the very next day, and that afternoon I had my first job offer, the next day I got the second one. I accepted the first one and have my first day at the office next week. I have since been contacted by two other companies that originally asked me to wait until I got to Melbourne asking if I'd been offered anything permanent yet and would I be interested in contract work for either of them. I think it's almost too obvious but it definitely seems to increase your chances of getting interviews if you're actually in the country, some industries may very well be different and I would apply for those 500 odd applications again but I almost feel like it was a waste of time and that most employers, unless in dire need of filling a very niche position, will likely always prefer candidates to already be living in the vicinity as opposed to someone looking to pro actively secure a position before they arrive. We both feel that the culture here, the lifestyle and yes the weather, are infinitely preferable to our old life, as long as we look at joining local clubs, and socialise and make sure we're active in the community we'll be much happier here than we ever could be in the UK. We took a huge gamble, left everything behind, had the best holiday we'd ever had getting here, and cannot wait to see what the future holds for us. We're delighted we're finally here after 6 years of saving and planning and waiting on the CSOL list to be in our favour, but for every penny spent and every sacrifice we made whilst our friends we're getting married and taking out mortgages has completely paid off. We may very well be caught up in the honeymoon period, our moods may change and I'll try to stay as honest as possible as about this in future updates but for now, we're here as permanent residents and we could not be happier. To everyone else that's thinking about it, take the excellent advice given on this forum, make use of it, and if it really is your dream to live here, I'm sure you'll have the motivation to go through every effort to get here and make it work. I want to keep this post positive so I've neglected to turn it into a, 'Australia has this whilst Britain doesn't have that etc'. Kind of thing when talking about why we prefer it because there's no black and white, everyone is different, everyone has their own experiences that shape their wants and preferences and I detailed some of these in an earlier thread but I'm definitely already happier here than I ever could have been in Scotland.

Hi Sarah, We're due to fly out on January 28th but all our boxes are being picked up to be shipped on the last weekend of this month. It should hopefully arrive at my cousins house in time for us getting there on February 29th. It means that for the whole entirety of December and January the flat will be a gigantic shell with just the bed, clothes we're not planning on shipping or taking on the holiday & some furniture we'll be trying to sell on Gumtree, and a really old TV. Kind of exactly what you are describing above. We talked it out quite extensively and would rather the stuff gets shipped sooner, even if it potentially leaves us with a scenario whereby we've sold absolutely everything else and we end up moving in with one of the in-laws for a few days before we fly to the states.

I think I mentioned in my original post there are plenty more reasons for my wanting to leave than just the weather, it's just the last couple of posts really focused on that and I wanted to be able to elaborate on that particular factor as it pertains to my growing up in Jockistan. Also I'm more than happy to accept some people don't see it as such a big deal likewise there's plenty of posts that mention things that are too much to ignore such as family and cosying up to a fire and Christmas times, seem really alien to me, and I have to try hard to empathise because I just don't have those close family ties a lot of people really rely on and find such a valuable asset to life. I've just plain never had that. Not a sob story by any means just offering an explanation as to how we can all view the world so differently. For example, not a trolling comment here in case it comes across that way because it's a polar opposite opinion that you may think I'm stating just for arguments sake, but for my views, that post about sweating loads and relying on air conditioning sounds amazing. Getting up at 6 am every day for the gym is getting difficult now the freezing mornings are starting to happen up here.

I'm really appreciating the diversity of the feedback here, though I think I may have failed to properly explain the issue with the weather when we talk about the seasons. Now again my experience is relative to growing up in the central belt of Scotland, I won't tar all of Britain with the same brush but I would be willing to bet money it's very similar for all the country, especially in the North of England. The best way to explain it would be to a story from a friend of mine I recently had the pleasure of performing on stage with. She is from Canada and is a violinist in the Irish orchestra and Scottish Opera. To paraphrase her "I've grown up in Canada, studied my music degree in San Francisco, lived in Beijing for 6 months, London for a year, Dublin for 6 months and now Scotland for a year. I cannot stand your weather, At least in Canada we have four seasons, and yes it's freezing cold in Winter but we have great summers it can be sunny for weeks at a time with some downpours, San Francisco was always sunny 'cos it's California but you want to know what the problem is with Britain and Ireland? It's almost always wet, so what if it's technically your summer? The sun is rarely warm enough to completely dry up the ground from whenever the last day when it really poured down, it's also never sunny for more then 2-3 days at a time, oh sure you might get lucky with one week one particular year where it's a week straight of sun, but by and large it's just always wet here. There's not so much four seasons as there are the months where the flowers bud and bloom and it's raining, the sun comes out and warms you and the flowers and trees are in full bloom and it's raining, the leaves fall off the trees and it's raining and then it's raining more, then there's a bit of snow, and it rains more and turns it into horrible slush. In winter in Canada we can wrap up against the snow and the cold and the blizzard but you get where you're going and you can take your heavy coat off and be fine, in Britain and Ireland it's likely your same heavy coat is soaked through and will be nowhere near dry enough by the time you have to go back out. I think I'd want to live somewhere where there can be four distinct seasons, where maybe it is rainy and windy and cold in Winter but in summer we actually do get really hot, nice warm sun for more than 2 days in a row! In Scotland people were acting like it was such a big deal and people were losing their minds that the sun was out and the temperature was 17, 19, 18, 20 degrees over 4 days this year. That's maybe a result if that's all you've known but that's plain awful, I can endure harsh winters if I know that the summer is going to bring temperatures consistently into the 20's for several days at a time" She was really on a rant by this point and probably feeling a little homesick being a touring classical musician, but she was spot on. When I'm talking about wanting to experience better weather and climate I'm happy to accept four clear distinct seasons but I absolutely hate that summer here is really only just the months July to September, where the sun occasionally comes out, and occasionally gives you a roasting hot day but for the most part, just like spring and Autumn here, it's constantly wet, and muddy, and miserable, making it hard to enjoy outdoor pursuits. I want to experience a summer where the amount of hot and dry days vastly outnumber the soaking wet ones. I know it's possible because I experienced it for myself and I regularly Skype with my relatives in Melbourne who tell me what it's like year on year. I don't think there's really an argument that, unpredictable as Australian weather may be, and as rainy as it could get, spring and summer over there are consistently warmer and drier for longer than they are over here. That's really what I want from it.

Thanks all, yeah I realise not having kids and a mortgage automatically removes what would be two significant factors in our decision. We plan on making all that happen for us once we've actually settled there! I also appreciate the irony in making such a big deal about the changeable weather and then planning to emigrate to Melbourne initially of all the cities. I did live in Melbourne in the summer of 2010 and winter of 2013 though and the harshest winter day we experienced was akin to a bad rainy and windy day that we get all the time in Autumn here. Wozzie I can completely relate to the situation with your pet, our dog was ill and we knew it would be too treacherous to try to arrange travel, she passed in MAY and I remember thinking whilst my own brother was in the room 'Well there's definitely nothing keeping me here now' A lot of my work mates and family members have said things to me like 'I just don't understand, Scotland has absolutely everything any one cold ever want whatever their taste' it's actually a really common attitude I encounter and that may very well be true and certainly is for a lot of my friends but somehow ever since I first visited Australia I've known it's not for me.

*Spoiler – may take 10 minutes out of your day to read* So I’ve been thinking for a while on whether or not to post this, as it’s all my thoughts put down on proverbial paper, as anyone can see from my profile; I’ve been following this forum for a long time but only recently became more active once I’d received my Visa grant notices for my partner and I. What’s apparent, and this actually applies to every single online forum in the history of ever, is a lot of people will give their opinion in certain threads that call for it, but act like they cannot possibly conceive why other people that go through a similar experience could possibly have a different opinion on the matter. So having read a good lot of this sites hugely entertaining and informative content I thought I’d share my story with you, as to why a 29 year old from Glasgow, Scotland, is uprooting from a very well paid web design job (relative to my age and industry) that currently supports a modest flat and two cars whilst my partner is studying and working on her own online business and gamble everything on a move to the other side of the world with no job or permanent home waiting on us when we get there. I’ve been to Australia twice, on a WHV in 09-10 and a short holiday with my partner in 2013 for two months. She wanted to see the place a little before making a mature decision on where both our futures may or may not lie as we were getting pretty serious about each other. We absolutely fell in love with the culture, the lifestyle and especially the weather. Over the two visits we’ve stayed in a lot of various places for a few weeks at a time in WA, Victoria, NSW and Queensland The weather, beaches and lifestyle really appeal to us, I play a lot of outdoor sports and I appreciate a lot of people have said they actually prefer the British weather, but we don’t like it at all. Different strokes for different folks and all that, but for us there is no better feeling than stepping out into the sunshine for a walk in the park or a run or cycle or even drive somewhere, or in my case onto a grass pitch with the sun beating down getting ready to kick off a game. Whilst those days exist in the UK, realistically in the Scottish summer you can’t plan with any degree of certainty to do an outdoor activity that benefits from sunshine, 2 - 3 weeks in advance. It always has to be a last minute decision. Whereas depending on where you stay in Australia, there’s a vastly increased likelihood you can make good weather dependant plans weeks in advance and still fulfil those. Some people love the four seasons and actually like the snow in winter and the leaves in autumn, and again you form these opinions based on your own experiences and memories created growing up but you know what? We both hate the cold and the snow, don’t mistake me for being melodramatic I could continue to live here quite comfortably for my future and put up with it for the days / weeks out the year that we actually get it bad, but the fact the country seems to come to a grinding halt every time it does get over 6 inches deep has always made me a little embarrassed about living here. Another major factor that largely affects Glasgow culture, not entirely sure I’ve spent enough time in Edinburgh or other cities to properly comment, is how accepting we generally are of the alcohol and violence and football problems. To try and articulate this better - I actually really like Glasgow and recommend everyone to come and visit and spend some time here but I’d also feel compelled to say, unlike a lot of 1st world major city and tourist destinations you may have visited, you won’t really be able to get a late night coffee or restaurant meal if you’ve gone to a late showing at the cinema or the theatre because a lot of them shut down and stop serving food at around 9- 10. Largely for no other reason other than it’s an accepted part of Glasgow culture, if you stayed open later than that, they run the risk of enduring serious trouble at the hands of the odd violent drunk and it’s not worth it for them. I can live with it, I can see the good outweighs the bad in Glasgow but I’m also personally fed up with the fact that everyone’s always seemed to be quite accepting of our problem and not a lot ever seems to get done about it. Last time I was in Melbourne, my dad’s cousin took us to a horse racing night at Mooney Valley and afterward when I asked if we were going home he said he’d take us for a good pizza, I thought he meant take out, and when we actually got to sit at a restaurant and order food and start eating around midnight, in a restaurant that was still pretty full completely blew my mind. You just couldn’t do it in Glasgow, and I daresay most of Scotland, because for all it would be just a minority there would definitely be a crowd of people that saw it as just another place where people could continue to booze and be loud, abusive and a nuisance to the other customers. The idea that if I went out for a night out in that city and didn’t have to plan for it to be strictly over and done with in time for the last bus at 2.30am was a complete game changer. I just remember thinking over and over throughout that entire trip “I really wished I lived here” as silly as this paragraph may have been to read to some. Is that a sole reason you should uproot? no, but it’s definitely a factor in the category of a more identifiable culture or better lifestyle. There’s also the family argument – I do completely understand people who said they’ve found it too difficult to be so far away from loved ones, but unfortunately we just can’t relate. Again, every person on this forum is different and has their valid opinions and experiences. We do have family but neither of us are close to them at all, to the point that, when we initially talked about really doing this and reading the posts on here on the subject, something that’s regularly such an absolutely monumental deal breaker for a great deal of you, is a matter of complete and utter inconsequence for us. So that’s how I can be in the situation I’m in, others who’ve had a different childhood and different experiences may find they could be quite content were they in my place, I may even come across as crazy to be giving all this up, but my partner and I simply just flat out don’t like living here, even with all our fortunate circumstances we’ve been lucky to take advantage of. So we are giving everything up, I do have relatives in Australia who are giving us a place to stay for the first month and I have some contacts in the IT industry I made on my last visit that I plan to reach out to, but we’ve both looked at what we have, we both have foreseen where that leads and we’ve both agreed we want something different for our lives. We believe Australia has a great chance of providing it. We might never get the jobs or chances to be in a similar situation we have now, we may have to work longer hours for less pay but we’re both willing to do it, we’re both willing to get involved in the local community wherever we settle and try and positively contribute. (I’m looking to set up teaching drums and see about getting the relevant coaching qualifications to perhaps help out coach in a local team) We’re willing to go through all of that hard work because we both loved our time in Australia and think it could be perfect for us and our hobbies and our lifestyle choices. Now it could all not work out, we could end up back here in a much worse situation than when we left but neither of us wants to reach our 60’s or 70’s, look back on this time and regret not taking the chance when we had it. Most important to us is our happiness and our bright future together so that’s why we’ve taken the decision and why we’re going. See y’all next year.

We used Quickvisas.co.uk, they were excellent and well worth it, we had a higher cost because of some extra services we agreed they would provide us but I would spend it again. Essentially, the DIBP website is very clear on it's processes for specific Visa type applications but that doesn't mean there's not a lot of information to take in and fully understand before you map out your plans for applying for one. We enlisted them because, between our two work schedules, we knew it would take us both many months longer to afford the time necessary to look into it and prepare properly, so our main benefit was the time saved for convenience. Our agent made it very clear what was required of us and when and always correctly set our expectations as to potential obstacles and estimated wait time for specific results or outcomes at every step. I would recommend, that if you can budget for a migration agent well enough (we paid over £1500 in total) you'll find yourself in the position that it is well worth it for the peace of mind and convenience they can bring to the process.

We Used QuickVisas - Quickvisas.co.uk. They made the process really easy and the communication was excellent. Every single query we had was answered, made us feel we were in good hands. I do appreciate a lot of people will be put off with the cost of going with an agency, but what we personally experienced was a stress free process brought on by our assigned agents knowledge of our situation and how to apply it to a successful application. He also had a network of contacts in the relative government departments he was able to contact to get direct information from quickly pertaining to Visa allowances, processing times etc. - Information not necessarily available to someone trying to go it alone and communicate directly with the government via some "contact us" section of a department website. I would personally recommend using one if your circumstances allow you to budget for it.

I have to say reading this thread has been a breath of fresh air, my partner and I are due to arrive in Victoria in March next year and we've been reading some of the more negative threads with a bit of apprehension. However our plan is to fully embrace the fact we're in a new country, to make an effort not to constantly compare it to life back here in the UK but just immerse ourselves in the culture and get involved in the local community and see where life takes us. Good on you lot for going out there and getting your heads down and making the life for yourselves that you wanted, I hope to count myself among your number some day soon.

Thanks very much for the responses I appreciate it, the ACT guidelines stated that with a closed occupation I can apply with a job offer and / or with the nomination of a family member who is resident in the state. Unfortunately I have neither of these things available to me. I wonder if I've perhaps missed the boat on applying this year already then, my girlfriend and I will have lived together 12 months in March 2015, I wonder if I should simply revisit the situation then. The only other option that comes to mind is exploring applying under a different nominated occupation. I have 8 years continuous full time employment in IT behind me, the last two as a lead web developer. Perhaps I can obtain references from previous managers confirming that, before 2012, I did work aligned with the ANZSCO job descriptions of occupations on the SOL. If you have any other recommendations or advice if you were in my situation It'd be really great to hear them.

Hi Everyone, My situation is I'm looking to get advice from some experienced users. I've been looking into obtaining the above Visa for myself, with my partner added as an additional applicant. My current job title and profession of web developer is listed on the Nominated Occupations list for the Australian Capital Territory for potential sponsorship. I appear to meet the requirements set out in the points test and I have managed to get references from my current and previous manager confirming my competency in my nominated role. As I understand it, these are some of the documents required to help obtain a positive skills assessment from the assessing body, the Australian Computer Society. I just really want some information on the exact process to follow from anyone that's perhaps been in the same boat: The way I interpret the information on immi.gov.au; the very first thing I should do is to apply to ACS to obtain a skills assessment with all the necessary documentation that entails, before then hopefully being able to lodge an Expression of Interest with Australian Immigration? At which point if all goes well, is it the case that I'll be invited to apply and it's at that point I can make my application for myself and my partner? We're in what will be classed as a de-facto relationship I believe, so I'll also need to provide documented proof we have lived together for at least 6 months as far as I can tell. Is this correct or have I got all my research all wrong, can anyone help steer me in the right direction? Sorry for the long post I just wanted to provide as much details about my situation as possible and what information I have readily available. Many thanks