Collie

It really easy how long is a piece of string question. Are you including a vehicle in the set up costs or not? Are you shipping furniture and household stuff (90%+ of rentals are unfurnished). Where are you planning on living? For pure living expenses, I think you would need $5-6k per month. Check out domain.com.au (prices are per week) to get a feel for rental prices in different areas but inner Sydney will be about $500pw for a 1 bed apartment. Additionally you will need 4 weeks rent as a bond (deposit). I think I read the other day that the Sydney rental market is quite tight at the minute. Hopefully, you are lucky with work, check out seek.com.au for current vacancies and to give you a feel for salaries. Get in touch with recruiters before you arrive. You may get lucky, I once hired somebody from London with just phone interviews (although she turned out to be a nightmare). To be safe, I would be bringing 6 months living expenses so $30-35k + whatever you need for a vehicle (may not be needed of living in inner Sydney, also look at car share schemes like goget.com.au) and whatever you are going to spend to kit a place out (or you can rent furniture until you start working). Hope this helps.

Hi there, I think the right vibe for you is inner Sydney and probably inner west or eastern suburbs, although not great for north Sydney travel depending on where you are (2 trains). The north shore is beautiful but very quiet. North Sydney is ok during business hours but pretty quiet at night & weekends. Crows nest has a bit of life to it and may be an option that direction or Neutral bay/Cremorne. North of St Leonards is pretty much suburbia. Manly has it's own vibe going on but awkward for North Sydney, better for the city with the ferries. TBH, my recommendation would be Balmain/Rozelle, close to the city but has it's own village vibe going on. Although a lot quieter than it used to be, still lots of good pubs, cafe's restaurants and has a really good community. Close to the bay walk/run for a bit of exercise. About 1/2 hour to Eastern suburbs beaches and to the airport also. Easy access to the city via bus or ferry and your husband can commute to work by ferry to McMahon's point. Commuting by ferry never gets old, only issue is that the journey is too short. I live in Perth now but lived in Sydney for over a decade, mostly in the Balmain/Rozelle/Drummoyne areas (so may be a bit biased) Forgot about driving in Sydney, traffic is a nightmare as is parking but public transport in inner Sydney is quite good and ubers are cheapish. I would recommend getting a motor bike or moped as it's an easy way to get around (can use the bus lanes and free parking) . May want to re-consider your budget or requirements. Why do you need/want 3-4 bedrooms and a garage for 2 cars for a couple? If you live inner Sydney, you won't need 2 cars (or barely 1) as you will commute by public transport. There are some great car share schemes in Sydney where you can rent a local car by the hour (About $6 ph) on an app. Have a look at goget.com.au A much better & cheaper option for occasional drivers. You should get a nice 2 bed apartment in Balmain for your budget, 3 at a push. check out domain.com.au for a browse. Feel free to pm if you want more info, I know Balmain pretty well.

As above mate. I have heard of ways & strategies around certain obstacles (such as the never-ending temporary visa (30 year processing time) for parents - not sure if it is still around ). Your best bet is to find a good migration agent, give them as much info as possible and ask them what your options are. Then you at least are pprobably inofrmed to make a decision. No personal experience with the following but the 2 Perth based agents I regularly see recommended are Edwina King and Patricia Halley (Visas4u or something like that). Good luck. BTW Work is not exactly plentiful in Perth at the moment.

Are you sure about this? AFAIK, in Australia, they generally insure the vehicle, regardless of the driver

They want to know what you had for breakfast and your first born child too. WA are extremely strict on category A documents. I went to transfer my NSW license over with 2 passports (Australian and Irish) bank cards, utility bills, medicare card, lease, NSW license and it still wasn't enough. If you are a citizen and were born in Australia, they want your birth cert, born overseas, they want your citizenship certificate. I'm on my second Aussie passport (ie citizen 10 years +) and this is the only time I have been asked for my citizenship certificate (which I lost years ago) apart from my first Australian passport. Immigration and border control accept an Australian passport as proof of Australian citizenship but not the WA Department of Transport. They have the list on their website, the Category A documents are the crucial ones, the others are fairly routine.

Good luck Vicky, When you are looking at salaries you need to know whether they include or exclude super. Super is superannuation and is a mandatory pension contribution of a minimum of 9.5%. It is still your money, it just gets put away into a fund (of your choice). So using your $130k, if it was $130k+ super, it would be $130k base and super of $12,350. $130k including super would be $118.7k base +super of $11.3k, $130k base will be about $7,600 per month after tax (the 118k would be about $7k). You could have a nice comfortable living (without being extravagant) on Sydney on that (for a small family). There are a few threads on cost of living in the money section. It is a bit of a how long is a piece of string ? as everybody prioritises different things. But at a high level, you will be able rent a nice apartment or a small house (2-3 bed) in a reasonable inner to middle ring suburb. You will be able to enjoy life with regular leisure activities, meals out etc. If they offer to sponsor you for PR, go for it. Great opportunity and you will be giving yourselves and your children options for the future. You can always move back to the UK in 4-5 years after you have gotten citizenship.

I lived in Sydney for >10 years and loved it. It is a great city for all ages. It is expensive though so you need to take that into account. What does your OH do? He will be free to work for anybody. I hear the caveats above though and would agree with some of them. A couple of things to look for. See if they will sponsor you for PR insterad of a 457. A 457 visa is a temporary visa and will only get you 2-4 years depending on occupation. It also means you are tied to your employer and are not eligible for many govt benefits (childcare rebates, school fees etc). If you don't like the employer you are stuck with them unless you find a new company to sponsor you. If tehy sponsor you for PR, you do a min of 2 years with them and then you have more options. If you come on a 457, I would put off the 2nd child until you complete it. The employer would not be happy and may look to exit you. Even on PR, probably put 1-2 years in first. Australian healthcare (and pre natal in particular) is excellant IME Sydney is in a bit of building boom at the moment with many large projects on the go at once, Perth is struggling btw Let us know how you go.

Sounds like your minds are mind up so good luck. A couple of extra things about 457s and PR for you to be aware of. With the recent changes to all visas the age threshold for PR is 45 so keep this in mind when transitioning, get your application in before he gets close to that threshold. Also, a new one regarding property, if you buy a place on a 457, you no longer get the PPR exemption from Capital Gains tax so would be eligible to pay tax on any capital gain when you sold. Not an issue if you are going to rent or delay buying until you have PR. The relocation package sounds good (although a higher salary would be better) and I think a govt dept will be more likely to play by the rules and not screw you over.

Sorry, meant to say in Melbourne where housing costs are high.

HI Zatara, A couple of things, a 457 visa is a temporary visa. As said above, if the option is there for a sponsored PR visa (186), go for that and skip the 457 altogether. There is no guarantee that the 457 will lead to PR. 2nd thing is salary. Where in Victoria are you moving to? $89k for a family of 5 would be quite tight IMO. Does this include/exclude super? What are the other parts of the package? Have a look at domain.com.au to get a feel for housing costs which will be your biggest expense.

Ah right. Well best of luck. Hopefully common sense prevails and they take out the retrospective part of it. Doesn't affect me but very unfair to change the goalposts on people mid game. Should be only for people granted PR after 20 April 2017. I'm in your game too (CIMA & CPA) and moved from Sydney to Perth earlier this year. It is VERY competitive for work and rates have dropped significantly (think 25% - 40% less than Sydney) so you would want to think long and hard before moving over right now. It is a boom and bust town and hopefully it is near the bottom. If it is a long term plan - try and get some experience in Resources, Health care/Aged Care, University or Agribusiness sectors. It will stand to you. It is very much a who you know town, happy to share experiences via PM if you like

IMO Snifter's post is on the money. It's a tough one mate. When are you eligible for citizenship? You say that you have been here 5 years but I summise only 1 as a PR. You could try applying for citizenship now if you are eligible under the old rules. AFAIK the new rules have not passed parliment yet. For $280 it is worth the gamble. A friend of mine has done this based on advice from a good agent. Worst case you lose $280, best case the legislation gets amended to include grandfathering clauses. It will take 6-12 months anyway. On point 1, you can get a RRV when the travel portion of your PR expires. They can vary in length of 1 to 5 years and are not guranteed, you need to show that you intend to plan to move permanently to Australia. So I think you are saying that your 1st 5 years as a PR are up in 2021 and then you hope to get another 5 years (you may only get 1 or none). They will not keep giving you RRVs if you are not living in Australia. At some point it becomes use it or lose it. 2 of your girls in the UK will be adults by 2021 and may even look to travel or move over here for a while. They are teenagers now so probably spend more time with friends than family. It sounds like you have good relationships with them. IMO - you make your life here as best you can. Keep skyping/phoning/texting as much as you can, it's not the same but helps (your option 3). Property in Perth is cheaper (and still dropping) but work is very hard to find and rates have dropped big time. What do you do for a living? Bring them over when you can, or you travel over when you can. I know that it's expensive bringing the whole family so maybe you do a trip by yourself sometimes, even if it''s only for a week/10 days. Good for them to have their Dad to themselves for a bit anyway, particulalry for girls and it sounds like they are a bit older than your other 2. Anyway that's my 2 cents worth.

457 holders can drive on their UK license in Australia. When your intention is to stay you are meant to convert over to a local license within 3 months

The issue is that you are not meant to have 2 licenses at the same time (UK & Australian) - not saying it doesn't happen, it does but you're not meant to. You are meant to give up one to get the other. So if you are moving to the UK permanently, you can get your Australian license converted. If you are just on holiday you should be able to drive on your Australian license. That is the way it works for Ireland anyway - I assume the UK is the same

Basically, from a pure financial point of view: If you & I lived next door to each other in identical houses, we would both be better of renting from each other (ie I live in your house and you in mine). This would allow us to claim expenses (and mortgage interest) against the rental income, if that is a loss, we could then claim that against our normal income (salary etc). We can do this for up to 6 years (afaik) without losing PPR status and creating a capital gains tax issue upon sale. Basically the taxman will subsidise your losses on an investment property. AFAIK, Australia is the only country in the world that has this policy, it is ludicrous. It contributes to high property prices (my estimate is by 20-25%). Most people who work in banking agree, even the politicans (on all sides) agree but they deem it too politically sensitive to abolish as there are about 1m Mum & Dad property investors now. It costs the taxman (you & me) about $6b pa. That will only go up when interets rates rise. The Treasury have been advising for it's abolition for years (to both sides).

With the absurd negative gearing rules that Australia allows - this is a reasonable strategy from a purely financial point of view.

For you and your soon - yes, it is as easy as getting the passports and jumping on a plane. For your husband, no. Do a bit of online research first and then maybe talk to an agent about options and a spousal visa

Hi there, I think you are on the right track - The visa for your husband will be the biggest and most challenging piece for you so get started on this bit asap. Is he entitled to any UK or EU citizenship by descent? - This may be the easiest way Renew your UK passport and apply for your child's UK passport.

To the OP, Just wondering what didn't work for you in the GC? Re removal, it cost me $3,200 for 20m3 (about 1/2 a container) for Sydney - Perth with A2B removals as a reference. Good that your partner has work lined up as that is generally the challenge in the smaller sities or remote areas.

Can you define what a terrorist attack is please? For me, it is the unlawful use of violence and intimidation.

eh - Port Arthur????

How have they been identified as radicalised? They used to say the same thing about nationalists in Northern Ireland and lock people up without casue frequently. This led to resentment and distrust of the RUC and security services in NI by close to 50% of the population. When these people had a law and order issue they didn't go to the RUC but to their local Sinn Fein office, it empowered the IRA, led to punishment beatings, killings, banishments, vigilantism and Kangaroo courts. It is not the solution, it will lead to more resentment and actually make Britain less safe. Learn the lessons of history. Lord of the flies solutions and mob rule are dangerous paths.

I have just listened to a report about the vigil in Manchester last night. There were people there from every community and religion to show their support, solidarity with the victims and express their shared grief. The reporter spoke to several people of the Islamic faith who condemned the attack and pleaded that this was not done in their name and was not representative of their beliefs, religon or way of life. As an Irishman, I can understand where they are coming from, the IRA campaign of the 70s, 80s and 90s was certainly not done in my name and was not representative the vast vast majority of Irish people. Thankfully, the vast majority of British people at the time were able to recognise this. There are 1.3 billion people in the world who practice Islam, approximately 23% of the world's population, if they all had the same beliefs as this (British btw) terrorist, the world would be at war. To the people on here saying lock them all up and throw away the key, saying that the Koran (whatever that is) preaches evil, I'd say go and read some history, you are preaching the mistakes made in the past and they do not work. Those that ignore history are bound to repeat it. For a start, you show your ignorance, it's Quran not Koran for a start and I doubt any of you have ever read it. It is an ancient religous text, the same as the bible or the torah and contains many of the same parabels. There is some horrendus stuff in the bible too. A policy of Internment has been shown to fail and only breed more terrorists. A policy of they are all the same, let's just lock up anyone leads to miscarriages of justice and innocent people being destroyed (Guildford 4, Birmingham 6 etc). Hopefully, the British security services have learned from this. Apart from anything else - how do you lock up 1.3billion people or even the 2.5million British citizens of Islamic faith? Some of the views being expressed on here belong in 1930's Germany not 2017 Britain or Australia.

I'd rather focus on the compassion shown by the people of Manchester than blaming an entire religon (of 1.3b people) for the actions of a very few. Manchester is united in defiance of terror City stands strong after bombing that killed 22 people following Ariana Grande concert about 4 hours ago Simon Carswell Thousands of people have gathered in Manchester City Centre for a vigil following a terror attack at the Manchester Arena. Video: Reuters Nadia Abdulmalek, a 55-year-old Muslim teacher originally from Libya, and Deborah Henley, a 52-year-old flight attendant who is half-Jewish and half-Irish, did not know each other. It did not matter. They embraced and cried among a crowd of thousands at Manchester Town Hall at a vigil on Tuesday evening to remember the 22 people killed by a suicide bomber at a pop concert on Monday night. “We are one,” said Ms Abdulmalek through tears as she hugged Ms Henley. “They tried to divide us.” Packed into a sun-drenched Albert Square were Muslims, Sikhs and Christians, determined to show that the actions of the attacker – named by police as 22-year-old Salman Ramadan Abedi, a 22-year-old Manchester-born son of Libyan refugees – would not divide one of Britain’s most mixed and multicultural communities. This was Manchester, united. “That lady there is Manchester,” said Ms Henley of the stranger she had just hugged. “We are all Manchester. It doesn’t matter about your religion, your faith or where in the world you come from today – you are in Manchester.” Ms Abdulmalek, a Muslim mother and grandmother, joined the vigil to support the families of the victims and the 59 injured in an attack that targeted the most vulnerable: young girls enjoying a special night out. “He didn’t do a favour to Muslims,” she said of her fellow member of Manchester’s Libyan community. Abedi was claimed on Tuesday by the Islamic State militant extremist group as a “caliphate soldier”. “He was brain-washed by I don’t know who,” Ms Abdulmalek told The Irish Times. “I pray for his family. I feel sorry for his family.” Tabet (23), her Manchester-born son, said the city was “too strong” to be divided by Abedi’s act of violence, the worst terrorist act in the UK since the July 7th bombings in 2005 that claimed 52 lives.

As a father and human being, my thoughts and condolences are with those in Manchester and their families. From the reports I have read, it is still too early to assign blame or to know the motivations behind the sick person(s) behind this attack. Please refrain from knee jerk reactions and tarring whole groups of people/religons/nationalities with the same brush. Nobody I know of any race, religon or nationality would condone such a horrendous act.