RMac

So far that's exactly what we have done, we so,d in early July at a bit of a peak and are now awaiting our move in a week or two

Which island? My husbands family are from North Uist ad we spent some time there, it is stunningly beautiful. The schools seem to have a good standard of education and I can't wait for school lunch. I should have my interview at the consulate in a few days, I have all of my evidence prepared so hopefully it is just a formality.

Thank you everyone, we are moving from Sydney in a couple of weeks, probably moving to the Clarkston/Newton Mearns area where my husbands family live. We have a cousin in Ayrshire, it looks lovely and well priced, I think when you come from Australia everything looks well priced. He has been going to part time pre school for almost two years, hopefully he can make the jump to full time school without too much trouble.

Moving to East Renfrewshire, Glasgow not sure of the exact suburb yet

Hi, we are moving to Scotland in a month and as such my 5 year old (born June 28, 2010) will be going straight into school. I originally thought he would go into first grade and be the correct age but then a friend from the UK told me that they start first grade at 4.5 so he will be too old? Any ideas

Thanks, I am just nervous, I haven't rented for a while and last time I did was in the inner west of Sydney where 50 groups would show up to every rental

Hi everyone, I received some good recommendations last time I posted so I thought I would try again. We are moving to Glasgow in October (family of 4 + 1 dog), I originally was planning on booking an air BnB flat and putting the dog into a kennel for a few weeks while we sort accomodation out. I am now thinking it would be better for the kids (who have to go straight into school) if we were able to move straight into a rental. Has anyone had any luck doing this? I have been emailing agents but haven't heard back, is there a private rental website? Also how do people get around the UK credit checks? Can I get my bank to write a letter stating our loans are paid in full? Thank you

Very reassuring Mrs Doyle, well thank you for all of the information, it's all happening now, our house sold in two weeks for a good price, due to an extended settlement on the house sale (I can't get my visa until we have the money) we are now looking at a mid October move date, we are all very excited, my husband is more relaxed than I have ever seen him and the kids can't wait to spend time with their cousins. My husband has found out that he will be able to keep doing his job (he is a software developer working from home) after we move so that takes some of the pressure off. I am planning on renting an air BnB house for a month if we have trouble getting a rental from here, the dog will go into a kennel and the kids will just have to home school until we are sorted. We are going to book a move cube because we are giving most of our hand me down furniture away. Currently planning a trip in the new year, flights are so cheap from the UK!

Thank you LR I hope you are right, I am planning on offering extra rent and an extra bond, plus we will pay for carpet cleaning etc, she is a very well behaved dog but quite big and hairy so I think she isn't very appealing to landlords

Thank you everyone, I have lived in Canada before and I found that it was a matter of buying really good winter clothes and just getting out and moving around. I also have a very active dog which forces me to go out for a walk every day, I found Scottish people to be genuine and warm so all in all we are looking forward to getting there and sorting housing out. My only concern is that we are taking our dog and rentals don't seem to allow dogs so the poor thing might be spending a bit of time in a kennel.

We are going back, house goes on the market next week so the last few weeks have been a frenzy of preparation, we are really excited, initially we thought we were heading to Glasgow but my husband might be working in Edinburgh so we aren't really sure. I had a look online and there seem to be lot a of jobs in my field so we are just going for it

I can't wait for the hot lunches, no more making sandwiches for me!

In Australia my daughter is meant to do a work sheet activity, a spelling list and read a book every day for homework, as well as an online mathematics activity, she is only 6 years old. My husband and I have always been very relaxed about homework etc as we feel it is ridiculous but now I am stressing that she will feel behind everyone else

Thanks for your reply, my daughter is lacking in reading confidence and as such is sitting a little below average in her class, we have also decided to get her some extra tutoring just to help with the reading, I'm not really too worried about numeracy. I have heard anecdotally that schools are a little more advanced in the UK anyway, totally agree with what you say about UK state schools, they sound much better resourced than Aussie schools.

This is what I have been told Category D: cash savings The applicant or sponsor must have held cash savings of at least £62,500 (or equivalent local currency amount) in a bank account for a minimum of six months. It is possible to use cash savings that have not been held for six months if the funds are the result of the sale of an investment that had been held for more than six months. Cash savings can be combined with some other categories to help you meet the financial requirement.

The only waiver for the funds being in your bank for more than six months is if the funds are as a result of the sale of a property that was held for two years, it is on the uk.gov site

Hi, I have a question about primary education in the UK, my daughter is currently in year one, and will be turning 7 in July. By my reckoning she will start primary 3 (I think) in September. Are the levels in the UK comparable to Australia or are there large differences in academic expectations. I am a bit concerned as my daughter is very average academically and if there are going to be major issues I would like to work on them now before we go. Thanks

Just an update if anyone was wondering, thank you for the 1st contact link, they were really helpful, thankfully once we sell our house we will have enough money so the migration agent seemed to think that from the date we settle on the house I should have my visa within two-three weeks. The rules are incredibly harsh, most people wouldn't have 130k Australian sitting in the bank, we certainly wouldn't if we didn't have something to sell. Also the normal spouse settlement visa costs 995 pounds, an extra 350 pounds will get it processed in under 10 days.

Thank you for the information, I am finding it difficult to work out what I need to do, I have emailed a few agents in the UK and am waiting to hear back, if anyone can recommend and agent please give me their details.

I did read you thread, I am waiting for dogtainers to get back to me with a quote, jet pets were the first to respond to my enquiry. I have been struggling to find any pet friendly rentals in the part of Glasgow we are heading to, I will ask some family members if they can recommend a good kennel.

Great news thank you everyone for your insights, I am feeling very positive about the move. And I had a win, I thought I was going to have to contact my old uni to obtain a grade transcript but the first box I opened in our storage area had it sitting right on top! I won't be to bothered if it takes a little while to register, I think it will be good to be available for the kids, I think they are going to need a bit of extra TLC.

I'm looking for someone in Sydney if anyone knows of one

Hello, we are moving to Scotland (husband and kids are UK citizens) I was reading on the government site that a normal application costs around £600 but that you can go in person and spend around £1000 pounds and the application is done on the spot. Does anyone have experience with this at all? Is it worthwhile hiring a migration agent at all? Also can I move to the UK as a tourist initially and then apply for the spouse visa? The only reason I ask is that I really want the kids to start school in September. Many thanks

I read on the UK government website that if you apply for the spouse visa via mail it is £600 and takes at least 6 weeks but if you go in person and pay £1000 then it is done that day, has anyone heard of this at all?

Hi, I have been told that waiting times are waived if the money is the result of selling a property you held for more than 6 months, after we sell our house we will have more than the required amount. The job of the UK resident only has to pay £18600 which seems reasonable, my husband works from home as a software engineer so he will simply keep that job. The nurse registration rules have changed slightly so all I have to do is show my credentials, sit a couple of exams and then pay around £1500 to register!!! I just had a look and Glasgow has just opened an enormous new NHS hospital with 29 operating theatres (I am a theatre nurse) so that is incredibly exciting. All of my husbands family are in the Giffnock area of Glasgow so that is where we are looking. I think I will hire a migration agent in order to speed the process up. We have two weeks to get the house cleared and painted and on the market, things are pretty hectic right now.