CFAC1

Pfft or scousers calling themselves mancs...

They're 50 and 49 but seem to be pretty confident that they will get PR eventually...

I don't want to right now but it's nice to know you possibly have the option... Thanks for all the replies. Hopefully her parents end up coming home, that would solve everything! They are only on a 457 visa as well!

I'm aware the 457 visa is only temporary but I've heard from people already over there it's pretty much a case of if you've behaved yourself for 4 years you don't have a problem with it being made permanent by the company. its an awful lot of money and training time to be investing in someone only to then send them home 4 years later. I'm pretty certain there has been a shortage in recent years, here's an article from 2013... http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/airservices-australia-staffing-raises-concerns/story-e6frg95x-1226681590439

Thanks for the replies, some really good advice there. I appreciate it. Ill try and reply to various points different people have made. Im an Air Traffic Controller, so my options are extremely limited when it comes to employment in Australia. All ATC is supplied by Air Services Australia. So if they have an international intake then you have a chance, if they aren't recruiting well you ain't getting in. There is no other way. I'm not sure whether the occupation is on the SOL or CSOL, but I know they are not currently recruiting. I've heard it is reopening next year, but after that, who knows. Thats sort of the issue, I don't know how long the door will be open to me to emigrate on a 457. If I wait 5 years I could potentially put us in a position where it is impossible to go. There's been a shortage in recent years but that won't last forever. To put it into perspective there are around 1000 controllers in the whole of Australia. Ive said to my Fiancée we will holiday in WA every year but that isn't enough anymore, she wants to be with the rest of her family all year round not just for a month. As I say we have recently spent a month there and I did have moments which were almost surreal, things you just wouldn't see anywhere else where I thought 'yer I could live here'. But then I also had a lot where I thought 'there's no way I could live here'. Oh and psychologist, really!?

Yep that has definitely started. To be honest I've got no idea whether she's getting a load of propaganda from the rest of her family, but naturally they would rather her be over there with them, so it wouldn't surprise me. They all live about a 1 hour 10 minute commute away from where I would work as well. From what I've seen of the Kwinana Freeway during rush hour, I doubt that's a barrel of laughs every day.

Yes I work in a niche area of aviation that only takes on foreigners occasionally (roughly every 2 years there's an intake). The next intake is next year I believe. It is on a 457 visa.

Thanks for the replies. Just to clarify, we have been together since we were 16/17. The only reason we aren't married yet is our age. Who gets married at 22 these days? It just isn't done anymore. So it's absolutely no reflection of some sort of inferior relationship to anybody else's. I'm actually the only person I know who is even engaged at this age! Sign of the times. Anyway back to the point. We are certain we want to be together, it would have been easy for her to just get off with the rest of her family when they all went, but she didn't. Most people who go to Australia seem to have much better job prospects/wages to look forward to when they get there and it seems that's normally something that sways it. But I would probably be working longer hours with less holidays. I would earn more money in Australia on paper, but I've a feeling that with the higher cost of living/bigger mortgage etc, I probably wouldn't be any better off than I am here. There's going to have to be a compromise somewhere along the line, I want her to be happy obviously. Maybe that means just renting out our place in the UK and giving it a go for a year at some point. But I wouldn't do it if I was actually going to be worse off for it because that would just be stupid. Generally speaking, how much more money do you have to earn In Australia to account for the higher cost of living? What is a good household income in Western Australia?

Hopefully somebody can help. First a bit of background information. My fiancée and I have been together 7 years and live together in the UK. From the outside we have a really good life, we're only in our early twenties and are fortunate enough to own our own city centre apartment, drive nice cars and are really comfortable financially. We both love our jobs. I have a career in aviation with fantastic prospects and my fiancée has a really good job too with fantastic prospects. However, a few years ago my Fiancées sister and her partner moved to Western Australia after visiting other members of her family out there and loving it. That was shortly followed by her parents. It left my fiancée who was 19 at the tIme shellshocked. Her and her mum were really close. Now she's here and all of her close family live out there. We recently went to visit for a month and she really liked it. I too liked it, but not enough to actually live out there. Now she wants to emigrate. She's so unhappy here, every single day she reminds me she does not want to live here and she could be in Oz with her parents if she wanted to. It's a #hithole here according to her. Its a real dilemma and I just don't know what the answer is. I want her to be happy but I don't want to emigrate. I've said I will think about it in a few years. I can apply to go on a 457 VISA and would earn a good wage out there, but I know I wouldn't last. We have everything here and I don't see why we should chase her family 12,000 miles around the world. All her family have had there own reasons to emigrate, but none of them reasons apply to us. Hopefully there is somebody who has been in a similar predicament that can offer some advice. Thanks