Collie

Offer an extra $10/$20 per week if the market is that tight. worked for me 5 years ago.

Is she a full ACMA? She doesn't need to transfer over. It is an option if you want. I never bothered and it hasn't really been an issue. Most employers view them all the same. Regarding an agent, If you are confident you have the points, I'm not sure what value they add. It is really a process of getting all your paperwork together and making it as easy as possible for them to follow. I didn't bother using one and I had no issues. Process took about 9 months but this was back in 2003/2004, not sure how it has changed today.

No worries,apologies on being dragged into that

Of course, there is. I just answered the OP with a rough bottom up estimate of my opinion based on my experience. You are welcome to give them a bottom up estimate based on your experience. I don't think you'll kitout a house for a family for much less than $10k but depends on your taste etc. Again, $10k per vehicle isn't unreasonable. But you cut your cloth. I'm probably a little heavy on the rent and bond, not that familiar with the GC property market. I'm about to move interstate myself and expect to spend c.$35k over the next 3 months including a vehicle. I hope to be working within that time and I am moving furniture etc

Yes, but they want/need 2 vehicles. $20-25k in living costs, the rest are capital items. Of course if cashflow is an issue, you could lease the vehicles. Obviously, the sooner you get working, the quicker you have some cash inflow

Hey mate, I'm CIMA too. It is becoming more recognised over here although CPA & Ca are better know. CIMA & CPA Australia have a mutual recognition alliance, ie a CIMA member can become a CPA by just applying and paying the fees. I did my Skilled Independent application in 2003, not sure what the current rules are. If you look for Accountant (CPA) on the occupation lists, she should be able to apply under that. Good luck.

Hey Woody, Probably depends on the value of the vehicles and what you want to spend on rent. I would estimate a rough guide of $50k-$60k. 2* Vehicles - $20k Furniture and setup house - $10k (may be light - look at Gumtree, Facebook for 2nd hand bargains) 3 months rent - $9k Rental bond - $3k 3 months living - $10-15k

BTW, I live close to Leichhardt, nice area and Darling Harbour, Central very accessible now that the light rail has been extended. Good restaurants but not much in terms of decent pubs. Oh and you're under the flight path but you do get used to it. I still love the inner west though and much prefer it the (posher) Eastern suburbs or lower North Shore,

Hey mate, What type of property are you looking to buy? How big? Is it just you moving or is there family too? What are the characteristics of an area where you'd like to live (party zone, close to the beach, quiet family area etc.) This will help people give you a better steer. At $130k-$150k (does this include or exclude super?) you will pay about 30% tax so will take home about $100k, say $7,500-$8,500 per month (calculator on the ATO website for exact calcs). If you a a single professional you can have a very nice life in Sydney for that. I would recommend that you rent for a year first until you get the lay of the land. In Inner Sydney (<15km CBD) you are talking the guts of $1m for a house. You may get an apartment for maybe $600k-$850k. Who knows what is going to happen with property prices, there is a growing body of thought that there is an overhang of units coming on the market, particularly in the inner south (Zetland, Alexandria, Green Square) where there has been massive development in recent years. I have heard a few anecdotes where potential renters were offered their pick of 10+ units around there. The consensus expert opinion ("vested interest") is for property to continue to grow in Sydney at 8-10% in 2017 and then flatline in 2018, the infamous soft landing (they predicted that in Ireland in 2007 which then saw 50%+ prices drops over the next 5 years) Have you heard about negative gearing? Australia is pretty unique in the world for allowing this ridiculous policy. Basically, financially you are better renting where you live and having an investment property. You can claim any net loss on your property income (rent less mortgage interest and letting expenses) against your tax liability on your salary. Rental yields are pretty low at about 3%. Confused yet?

Melbourne is a big city (4m people) and has many HQ's of Australian and international companies so don't rule it out. As a gut feel, Melbourne probably has 40%, Sydney 50% and the other 10% in the other capitals (just a gut feel). HQ of 2 of the big 4 banks and 3 of the 4 large health insurers are in Melbourne as an example. Big Greek population in Melbourne too and a reasonable sized one in Sydney. You may move to Australia and meet a nice Greek girl and settle down That would make your Dad happy. Better nightlife in Melbourne (thanks to Sydney's lockout laws) Shorter trip from Greece to Aus, only 5 hours to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and then 11 (Perth), to 14 hours to Aus. Let us know what you decide and how you go.

Long term rentals, 99% unfurnished, you will get a cooker and maybe a dishwasher and dryer (units). Gumtree and Facebook marketplace are great places for getting 2nd hand stuff cheaply. I'm moving soon and getting rid of a lot of stuff on there. Domain.com.au and realestate.com.au good places to look. Holiday lets (stayz, airbnb) will be furnished.

Good post. & if you're in Sydney, Casino Mike wants you to stop having fun and be tucked up in bed by 9pm, unless you are going to gamble in his mate's casino of course

Oh, one other thing you could do is to set your Dad up on skype and teach him how to use it. You can skype him from London to get him used to it and then skype him from Aus. Once you're set up he could come over and visit you. My parents learned to skype in their 70s to see their granddaughter and have travelled over twice in recent years (3 times for my Mum). My phone contract in Aus includes 300 minutes of international calls per month and regularly call my family and mates in Ireland, the same as I'd call a local mate, just have to watch the time difference

Hey mate, I'm with the others, go for it. I'm a little confused by your post though, you're in London, right, your Dad is where (UK?) and your brother & family are where? There is an expression about London "everybody should live before they are 35, everybody should move out of London after 35", can't remember who said it. I first moved over as a backpacker at 24, moved home to Dublin at 33 with citizenship and came back to Sydney at 37 (economic reasons), now I am about to move to Perth at 43 (to be closer to my daughter). I purposely got my citizenship in 2007 before moving home just to keep my options open, I didn't think I'd need it so soon. It is definitely harder as you get older and as an expat you need to make more of an effort to meet people. It took me 18 months to really settle when I moved back at 37. Depending on your interests sports clubs are a great way to start socialising. My football club in Sydney has over 2,500 members and over 200 over 35's and 45s. Meetup.com is a great site for finding groups who share your interests, I found a great bunch of friends to go skiing with every season. Even social events on forums such as this. It will be hit and miss but you will find people you click with eventually if you make the effort. You are probably over sharing a home, but it may be an idea for the first year to help you meet some people. Flatmate finders is a good start to find compatible housemates. Regarding work, you are in a boom industry worldwide (although sometimes not as well paid as it might be). You should be ok in any of the capital cities but Sydney and Melbourne would be your best bet. Reach out to a few recruiters (I know a few in that area) for an initial chat on how in demand your skillset is and what sort of $ you could pull. Seek.com.au is a good start for browsing job ads and I'm finding LinkedIn is good. Nov to Jan is a real quiet time so don't be too disheartened at the minute. Things start picking back up post Australia day (Jan 26). Sydney is about 10% more expensive than Melbourne but salaries are higher. IMO - Sydney is beautiful and has better weather, the harbour & beaches. Melbourne, probably friendlier, more of an European city and more culture, nicer vibe to it although the introduction of small bars in Sydney helps. PR is a big thing, well done. Never die wondering, you rarely regret the things you do, often the things you don't do. I think it's worth coming over and staying to get your citizenship. After that you have options, you may end up going back to Europe/Uk and then retiring to Aus in 20 years. You may end up with kids and have Aus citizenship to pass onto them. Keeping your options open is the key thing. Definitely a better lifestyle and more outdoors focussed. Distance is an issue though (although flights are cheap at the minute) meaning you can't go to every wedding, funeral etc. If you decide that Aus is too far away but still want to move out of London, have a look at Dublin. Smaller, friendlier city but still close to UK/Europe, no IREexit (we're dumb but not stupid ) and large tech industry (Silicon docks is in the city and has the EMEA HQ of a lot the large tech companies (Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter etc and lots of spinoffs from that), crying out for software engineers. Good luck

Hi folks, Moving interstate so doing the clear out. Have a number of household items for sale, may be of use to some fresh arrivals. Pickup from Balmain in Sydney, measurements in cm, h=height, w=width, d=depth Bedroom chest of drawers & bedside lockers (5 drawers in the chest and 3 in the lockers), 107h*80w*40d for the chest, 62h*42w*40d (dark chocolate/black) - $100 White hall wall table (with bottom shelf) 71h, 81w, 31d - $20 Wine rack hall table, glass top shelf, holds 24 bottles 90d, 64w, 30d - $30 2* foldable beach chairmen (as new), foldable low chairs, suitable for beach or domain concerts etc. $20 for 2. Electric panel heater (looks like a flat screen tv), wall mountable/free standing, remote control - $50 (will throw in additional electric bar heater) Mountain buggy urban - convertible buggy/pram, 3rd hand $80 3* small side tables (chocolate colour) $10 each 2* tall spot lamps $20 the pair. All items will be on gumtree with pictures. Thanks, Colin

Apologies-I stand corrected.My french was always better at 3am after a night out:)

No, "I regret nothing"

I have read through this thread with interest and a few wry smiles. I have ping ponged back and forward a few times from Ireland. If I had my family and friends from Ireland in Aus it would be perfect (oh & the alps or some decent snow mountains relatively close by). To the OP, I'm a little puzzled; if you weren't sure on coming over why did you apply for the visas? Also, is it just that you are the 1st of your friends to have kids and hence you are ahead of where the others are in the circle of life? I go back to Ireland every couple of years, have a few nights out with my mates from childhood. They often only see each on Wednesdays at 7 aside footie (that's sacro-sant) and maybe get out for a couple of pints every couple of months. They all have young kids though. In this day and age, generally both parents need to work to pay the mortgage and bills so kids are in childcare/school. My mates use my visit as an excuse for an escape out for big night. But back to my original ?, why get the visa in the first place? I presume you did have a desire to emigrate at some stage. I think you have 3 options 1 Stay where you are, maybe look for similar age of life people (meet-up.com, kids clubs etc), downside is you'll always wonder what if? 2 Take the leap, make the move and really give Aus a go. You will need to be prepared to go the extra yard as an expat to create a social circle (meetup.com is good for finding similar interest groups), it normally takes 12-18 months to really feel like you have settled in a place. If it doesn't work out, it's a set back but at least you tried. 3 1/2 way house. Rent out your house in the UK, give Australia a go, ideally get citizenship for you and your kids as it gives you future options. If after a couple of years, it's not for you, move back. I think you need to commit to 3 years (or 4 to get citizenship) to really give it a go. You won't dies wondering and you have taken some risk mitigation strategies. Only you guys can make the call but option 3 would be my recommendation Hope this helps, Good luck

Great, well balanced post. We rarely regret the things we do, but often the things we didn't do. Je regrette rien.

Hi Gareth & Beverly, I have worked in retail banking in both Ireland and Australia. No current affiliation to any of them apart from being a customer. The big 4 banks in Australia are: CBA Westpac ANZ NAB CBA and Westpac have about 25-30% market share and ANZ and NAB about 15% each. They all have similar offerings in terms of products. There are a number of other smaller players (note Westpac has a multibrand strategy including St George, Bank of Melbourne and a few others). A good online only bank offering is INGDirect, they have no branches but a good transaction account and savings account offering. They refund ATM fees also (you get charged $2-$3 for using a different bank's or private ATM here) The big 4 are much of a muchness and I think all 4 will let you open an account from offshore, you will be able to deposit funds into the account but no withdrawals until the account is validated onshore. This just means going into a branch and compiling with the Anti money laundering requirements (ID checks etc). I'm a bit of a rate tart so I have lots of accounts. In terms of technology and ease of use, I find CBA pretty good, their technology is world class (although the others are catching up). I have accounts with INGDirect too and their online savings account is competitive, their technology and apps are pretty good too and they run good promotions every now and then. I rarely if ever go into bank branch so happy enough with them. Regarding transferring money, don't use a bank (UK or Aus). I think Moneycorp sponsor this forum a bit and John regularly provides updates on f/x rate movements. Haven't used transfermate or transferwise but both are well regarded. I have used a crowd in London called Halo and found them good. I normally place an order at a desired rate and if/when the market hits that rate, the order is executed and I settle in the other currency, you can do a simple spot transaction either. I'm sure the other providers provide this service too. Hope this helps

Hi there HuntersMummy, I like Skani's idea of writing down what you are looking for in where you want to live, the must haves and the nice to haves. I have only visited Cairns, liked it but it is a country town and probably smaller than Darwin. It will still be very tropical and hot in summer, nice winters though. Work availability and budget will be a big factor in where you move to. My experience of country towns anywhere is that you can live there 10 years and you are still a blowin. I have a cousin who lives in a beautiful part of West Cork in Ireland and has been there for 15 years, she is still not considered a local . She is heavily involved in the community though and loves it. Quite often community is found in parts of the cities. I live in Balmain in Sydney and there is a great community around here if you want it and get involved with local clubs etc. My cousins moved to Canberra initially (state sponsored and were in their 40's with 2 kids)) and were soon part of a community. After their 2 years they moved to Perth as Canberra was not the Aussie dream but a means to an end. They have been in the Northern suburbs in Perth for 5 years and are heavily involved in their local community, mostly through local sports clubs for them/their kids. So it all depends on what you are looking for. I don't know why but the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast came to mind for you when I read your post. Good luck

I do appreciate that the British had their share of unsavoury history - but it just wasn't as recent. You obviously haven't looked at Irish history in the last 50 years. Pop over to Derry and have a chat with the people who were part of the civil rights movement in the 60's. Or even just watch the film In the name of the father as a starting point. Anyway, things are a bit better there now and I digress. I live in Sydney, about to move to Perth. I find that Melbourne is the most European of the Australian cities and has the best culture (depending on your definition) and vibe to it. No stupid lockout laws, nice friendly people (more open than Sydney), good sporting and musical events (every touring band does at least Sydney & Melbourne). But then you get 4 seasons in 1 day and soaring temps in summer. Cities are constantly changing and should be. Sydney was far better before Casino Mike and the fun police came to power. Wait for the royal commission in 10 years about how it all is/was property scams. I think you need to be clearer for your reasons for wanting to move. It sounds like it is so your children will be closer to family, what age are your kids? Also London is changing and I know a lot of people who are getting out post Brexit. Do you want to live Nigel Farage's Britain/London? A lot of jobs are already being planned to move to Dublin, Paris, Frankfurt, Luxemburg. I have never lived in London and never had the desire to. The best part about the London is the easy and cheap connections to go somewhere else.

Hi guys, Just thought I'd update for information purposes. Quotes are generally $3k to $6k for 20m3. Big differences. $155 to $195 per m3. Selling the scooter and the car if anybody is interested.

Well mate, I'm getting quotes of $3k-$6k for Sydney - Perth for 20m3 for comparison. (1m3=35cubic feet). Your 430 is about 12.2m3 which doesn't seem a lot. A standard sized fridge is about 1m3. Get a price per m3 although they'll have minimums and pick up charges etc. I have been quoted $155 to $195 per m3

Townsville is the biggest town in FNQ. I don't know it well, it has a rep for being a bit rough & ready. Defence forces have a base up that way. Cairns is quite nice and tourism is the main industry, gateway to the Barrier reef etc. Probably a bit option for your OH's occupation. Has a casino and lots of restaurants. Port Douglas isn't far away and is an upmarket resort (for work). I was pleasantly surprised by Cairns, I'd go there ahead of Townsville personally