The Smith Clan

We want to live in Oz and would like to start with a good agent. Any advice please?

We have got recommendations for immigraion2oz and visa bureau and once we finally make a decision and if we decide to start process will be with one of them. Many on here have used both.

Maria

We'd never contemplated Australia. A few years ago we has Residency Visas for NZ all set up and activated but by the time we were ready to go and GFC had happened and, with good jobs back in the UK, we felt it was not a good time to go. A few years down the line we were coming to a point where we had to decide whether we'd re-apply for NZ or move in the UK. The main draw for me in NZ was to reduce commute time and better outdoor opportunities.

 

That was when my wife happened to be chatting to someone about Australia, exchanged some E-mails, had an interview and a couple of years later we were in Australia. It was one of those opportunities we couldn't turn down. All Visa and medical fees refunded and flights and a 40ft ISO container with all our worldly goods paid for. We had PR straight off and citizenship 90 days after arrival. With our child only 3 at the time it was a good time to move (or so we thought - we had underestimated how much a 3 year old would miss his friends and Kindy back home).

 

Australia has been good for us. We love Brisbane, my son has settled and has a good set of friends and my wife has a good job with the employer than sponsored us over. I have changed career direction completely and retrained over here.

 

The key thing I always say though is that we had no expectations of Australia. We knew the streets were not paved in gold and it had it's problems. The draw for us was that it was a new opportunity at very little risk to us. Both our parents were also living outside the UK and we'd been used to moving a lot too.

You sound very fortunate, it is the risk financially that concerns me. If money was not an issue I would go tomorrow as I know if it wasn't for us I could financially afford to come back and take the financially loss. What would you say the main difference are. Is it that you have a bigger home/pool that has improved your lifestyle, the time you spend outdoors because of the weather? The work ethic is this different?

Maria

Thank you for sharing your experience, we are at the stage of weighing up the pros and cons of going to OZ so this is helpful. Good luck for the future

We have been looking at houses both to rent and buy and we have found an area that looks appealing in Narangba and we want to find similar to compare. I didn't know that about it getting dark is this in summer too?

 

The thing is we have the house of our dreams here in terms of what we set out to achieve but could never afford a home with the pool and so on and live the outdoor life like in UK. In 2006 when we first started with an agent to move we lived in an area we didn't want to bring our family up in so there was no doubt about leaving there, now its harder as we have worked our backsides off to get our home and then building work to extend and I love it but cud oz offer us more? As I say we are doing our homework and thank you for your advice along the way so far. I planned to visit on my own but now we are hoping to get out in august for 3 weeks with a lot of this time looking at rentals, trying to arrange meetings re work.

Thank you again I do appreciate all the advice we can get.

 

Maria

Forgot to add that that I lose 10 points next jan and then would need to get 20 points in the English exam to get 60 points, the agent has advised to start the ball rolling now, this seems to be our last chance to get our visas.

Best of luck to you but a few things to consider. First of all, there are no "long bright days" in Australia. The length of the day doesn't vary from winter to summer nearly as much as the UK so you don't get the very short winter days - but you don't get long summer twilights either. Once the sun goes down it gets dark suddenly!

 

It's one of the reasons you want to avoid a long commute, if you're hoping to get down to the beach after work - even at the height of summer it'll be dark before 8pm, not giving you long to have a swim!

 

Also do check out the house prices - housing in Australia is expensive. You have much more chance of getting the house of your dreams in the North of England, Scotland, Wales or several countries in Europe than Australia.

We have been looking at houses both to rent and buy and we have found an area that looks appealing in Narangba and we want to find similar to compare. I didn't know that about it getting dark is this in summer too?

The thing is we have the house of our dreams here in terms of what we set out to achieve but could never afford a home with the pool and so on and live the outdoor life like in UK. In 2006 when we first started with an agent to move we lived in an area we didn't want to bring our family up in so there was no doubt about leaving there, now its harder as we have worked our backsides off to get our home and then building work to extend and I love it but cud oz offer us more? As I say we are doing our homework and thank you for your advice along the way so far. I planned to visit on my own but now we are hoping to get out in august for 3 weeks with a lot of this time looking at rentals, trying to arrange meetings re work.

Thank you again I do appreciate all the advice we can get.

Maria

It would take me ages to reply individually but what interesting posts, thank you to you all. Our reason is we hope to eventually buy the home of our dreams, we expect to work hard for it and eventually sell up our uk home. Also for the weather, winter is a long time and I live for long bright days, where we are out in the garden until late. We don't wear rose tinted glasses and we know it wont be an easy move and will take us lots of saving, emotional Rollercoaster, with visa process and the move settling in, will still have to work etc... but we have got to try. We are doing so much research and the people on here are amazing, so helpful and happy to share your experiences.

That's the $64,000 question (as they say) which is probably not far off the money it costs to bing the family over these days.

 

Our circumstances are unusual, even potentially unique on this forum, as we are in our 50s but with a child of 12. We had both worked long hours based in London and, frankly, were burnt out. We were earning decent money but are not big spenders so we saved and had also paid off the mortgage. Commuters to London have this blank stare and generally avoid any eye contact or interaction; they are also generally much younger than us. London is an awesome place but I always felt that I was the only person working there that actually saw it.

 

Long before we met my wife lived in Sydney and Brisbane as a skilled migrant. During that time she obtained citizenship and had no real intention of returning to the UK but circumstances conspired about 15 or so years ago. Luckily for me.

 

We therefore had the great good fortune to be able to get a visa for me and not have to pick a part of Australia based on a job. Schools were a primary consideration though. if we can find some paid employment this year it would help us for sure but we have only just started looking at that.

 

Being in London you feel like a lab rat returning to your cage every night with just enough energy left to feed youself and keep your cage clean and tidy. We loathed the UK climate between November and March too and did not want to grow old there.

 

The Brisbane area offered the overall climate that we wanted and a variety of topography and wildlife within a 90 minute drive that is hard to beat. It was also very affordable for us coming from Surrey. We have room to breathe and the locals are overwhelming friendly and welcoming. Queensland offers us the right mix of exoticism and freshness with a heavy dash of familiarity. I still pinch myself every day that I live in such a beautiful place.

The Brisbane area appeals to us too. WE looked to move in 2006 and then they changed the pathway for my dh skills. I was still at uni, we realised at his point we could not get our visas. I am now able to go on my skills but this may change next jan as I lose 10 points for my age and I feel a bit of pressure to get our visas now rather than later. I am fed up in the uk of the dark winter months and live for summer and spending long days out doors, just siting ourdoors until dark firepit on and making the most of the day. we love family days out too and camp in the summer. however there is the little part of me saying what if I don't settle. WE are looking at visiting now and have decided that we must all come as a family to see if we like it. Hoping to spend 3 weeks in Brisbane in aug

It would be interesting to hear what made you decide

I came back to the UK early 2015 to be with my elderly mother after being in Australia for 35 years. Unfortunately after a long and healthy life my Mother had a bad fall and passed away very suddenly 4 months ago. I have no regrets about coming back to spend this time with her, but I will be returning to Australia in 2016. My dog came too, so he's in for another adventure.

 

Personally, I love Australia. However, it pays to remember what someone told me when I first went to Australia in my early 20's, that Australia is a foreign country and although English is the first language, the way of life is completely different to that in the UK. Some love it and settle in for life, others can't wait to leave. Sure there are plenty of beaches and BBQ's but its not a holiday and you still have to work.

 

I have lived in both Brisbane and Adelaide. Brisbane is sub-tropical, great beaches, hardly any Winter and can be very humid at times. Property can be expensive the nearer to the City you get, but as someone already mentioned, real-estate.com is a good way to start looking. Adelaide is a lovely City with a lot of parklands. Very easy to drive around. Climate is more seasonal with hot Summers and cold Winters (not as cold as UK though, as days can be quite sunny). It has been referred to as a big country town, but the folks are friendly and the houses a bit cheaper.

 

I wish you all the very best in your decision and hope you decide to give it a go!

Thank you for your post, I am sorry to read of your loss.

Adelaide looks lovely but we have to go where we can get work. Brisbane looks a bit easier on the work front. I was planning to come over on my own but we have considered us all going to get a feel for life there.

Thanks again

Do, please, take Wanted Down Under with a big pinch of salt! For instance, you may have noticed that families are being shown houses on the Sunshine Coast and then the main breadwinner is looking at jobs in Brisbane. I was so perplexed by this that I started this thread:

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/chewing-fat/244053-do-people-commute-sunshine-coast-brisbane.html

 

....from which you can see that no Australian in their right mind would plan to do that. The reality is, of course, that if they'd shown those families the houses they could afford in Brisbane itself, they would've been disappointed in either the areas or the houses.

 

Adelaide housing is more reasonably priced than most and personally, I have a real soft spot for the city. It's so compact yet it has all the amenities you could want. Unfortunately it's small size and lack of industry does make employment more of a challenge - and one of my friends, who tried to settle there, felt it was a real "who you know" culture (but to be fair, that was only her opinion).

 

Check out realestate.com.au or domain.com.au to get an idea of house prices and bear in mind that estate agents in Australia use fish-eye lenses to make rooms look much bigger, and some even photoshop the images.

Many thanks, I will have a look at that thread to.

We have discussed starting the process and then going out to activate visa then coming back and moving when we can secure work, don't want to move with out work lined up.

I lose 10 points next jan due to my age which takes me to 60 points, this is the factor of maybe starting now as would need to get 20 points in English exam.

So excited at the thought of going its jus the risk of ending up not settling and the financial cost

but I guess some would same you never know if you don't try it!

Once the 189 visa is activated how long is it before we need to move to Australia for good, so can we take a long trip to sort jobs etc and then return at a later time?

Hi Angela,

Hope no one minds me adding to thread. I am also a social worker looking to emigrate, at the start of process. I have 7 years experience in adults and also LD's, can I ask what books are good to look for to research practice in Australia. I have been looking at Jobs in Adelaide but it appears very quiet, are there certain areas where it is easier to get work, as a social worker?

Hi

 

I am an adult social worker planning on moving to Melbourne so this is the state I have researched the most.

It seems that most jobs aren't advertised showing the salary when looking on website's like www.seek.com.au. However it seems that casual work as Case managers is around $30-35 per hour.

 

kmrg

Thanks and good luck

Hi Ruth

 

We are also in upper coomera and have been there 3 and a bit years. We are looking at buying at some point this year and will probably move to Helensvale. We have a 4 year old and one due in a few weeks. Once bubs is here we would be happy to meet up. We have spent so much time trying to find work and get settled we neglected the making friends side of things.

 

 

 

 

oh and Smith family, you shouldnt have too many troubles finding work as a SW lots of non govt organisations also employ social workers. I work in Mental Health admin and we have loads of them! Good luck with your move.

SteveNem can you advise on any links, starting to worry about getting work and salary I am heading out in march hoping to meet up with potential employers.

We have looked at Adelaide but looks high unemployment rates. It feels like a mind field at the moment.

It would be lovely to catch up, as we will be moving with no friends or family.

Advice needed please!

My partner and I are just about ready to start the visa process along with out two young sons. We feel pretty prepared to gather everything we need for trade assessments, medicals, the visa etc. However my partner recently contacted a migration agent (Destination Oz Ltd) as to see if it would suit ua. Both working full time and two little ones anything to help it go smoothly! We are looking for advice from anyone thats used an agent or even this agent to see if you found it usefull, recommendations etc really anything is helpful!

Thank you

We are at the start and narrowed down between visa bureau and immigration2oz, please see my post and responses

We are using the Visa Bureau, we signed up with them in March last year. Sue Tempany was our case worker until she left the bureau before Christmas and now we have Kimberley Chatt as our case worker. Darren Chatt is the registered MA at the Visa Bureau. They work well as a team. They have been exceptionally efficient with everything. Ours was a slightly complicated case but we have now submitted police checks and medicals and are literally awaiting the news that our 189 - skilled independent visa applications have been approved...! I am very impatient and this waiting is killing me. We are anticipating hearing back any day now. Best of luck...!

Thank you and wishing you the very best

It was Darren we spoke with when we started the process but once we started the ball rolling with the application we were assigned Jennifer Ferguson as our case officer,she was a great help all through the process,either via email or a quick phone call to answer any questions we had.You have defo made the right choice if you go with Visa Buruea.Id recommend going to one of there seminars to get all the info you need,thats where it all started for us.We went to the Glasgow one in February last year.

Many thanks for your response it is all very helpful

We are currently in the process with Visa bureau and all is well. Sue Tempany was dealing with our case but has since left but there has been no let up at all. I would happily recommend these guys to anyone. Darren is knowledgable and very accomodating always at the other end of our calls ready with answers. Very honest when it comes to updates and what to expect

Many thanks for your response is all very helpful

It's human nature. Many of us fantasise about things and then when that fantasy could be a reality we then prefer to keep it as a fantasy - otherwise it could mean 'change' and us Brits are typical creatures of hating change!

 

One way to view it differently could be to rethink your ideas on change? I read a book some years ago called Who Moved My Cheese by Dr Spencer Johnson. It has a great analogy to explain it. However, the difference is that it's about change that is sometimes out of your control, whereas your change would be by choice. Just remember that you're in control of the emigration process - it's not in control of you. If you get visas, if you get job offers, if you book flights, you still have the right to turn it all down if you don't want to go when the time comes.

Thanks for your response, the sense of loss of control is a factor as we could end up worse off, if we could secure jobs now and know salarys that would make a big difference. My job as a social worker looks like less pay and means I may end up having to work full time, which with children is not something I want to have to be forced to do to survive.

Hopefully I will know either way after my visit in March.

Thanks again

It sounds like you need to take stock - actually write down the pro's and con's. What benefits do you expect? I always worry when I see people saying they're moving to give their kids a better future. There are good reasons to move to Australia but I'm not convinced that's one of them.

 

30 years ago when I emigrated to Australia, it definitely offered a "better life" - more job opportunities, great salaries, cheap housing. A lot of Brits still have that picture of Australia but it hasn't been like that for a long time. Unemployment in Australia is worse than the UK and rising, and housing is expensive in most cities (I notice in Wanted Down Under, they're covering this up by showing families homes a ridiculous commute from where they'll be working!). Many young people in Australia are still living with their parents into their thirties, because they can't afford to buy a flat of their own.

 

If you love the outdoor lifestyle then Australia may give you and your family a "better life" in terms of day-to-day living, and that may well be worth it for you. How can you put a price on happiness? Many families who move to Sydney (unless they've come from London), find that they're worse off financially, but if they love the Aussie lifestyle they feel it's worth it.

 

Personally I prefer the Australian lifestyle and will be returning eventually - BUT if I was younger, I think I would be staying in the UK because the career opportunities are so much greater, with the ease of travel meaning I'd have the whole of Europe to choose from. I'm glad I was educated in the UK, too, because there is so much more choice - even now, there is no equivalent in Australia to the business/language diploma I got in Scotland many years ago.

Many thanks for your response, we both agree that as exciting Oz looks and we hear on programs like wanted down under we cant wear rose tinted glasses. The pros and cons list is a good idea and we will do this, we have done a mental one but one written will make it clearer. Since my post we have looked at Adelaide where we wanted to settle and its high unemployment I am visiting in March and I guess I will know for sure by then.

Thanks again you guys on here are soo helpful

At point of signing up with an agency and applying for my English exam and skills assessment and now the reality hits home.

Is this right for us all moving from family?

What if this is the biggest mistake would cost us financially?

What if worse off financially how would we be happier and stuck unable to return (we know average wage but haven't yet secured jobs as so early into process)

Then when we talk about staying in the UK I fell disappointed and worry for our childrens futures here and we ask our selves what if moving is the best thing we ever did!

Anyone else experience this?

Feeling confused!

Hi

I think rough price for flight ticket, crates, permit, vet work, export docs, and flight to Melbourne would be around £3000-£3250 depending on where you are based in UK and the size of your dog. Then you need to add on $1500 AUD per pet (around £700) plus whatever it will cost to get your pets from Melbourne to where your final destination is, so genuinely you are not going to have much change from £4500. Sorry.

Please if you are thinking about doing this, then get the rabies work started early as that needs starting at least 7 months before the pets fly and if you leave that late then you may incur kenneling/cattery costs in UK which will bump up your price more.

Regarding which pet shipper to use, UK has no "bad" or "dodgy" pet shippers. We all offers different things. Petair offers an all in one service which is the easiest (but sometimes the expensive) way to get your pets to Australia. Others will offer you some of the process, but then you need to add vets costs and road transport costs to the final price. Also, just have a think about where your pet shipper is based. A local one to you is great, but the shippers based closer to London Heathrow mean that your pets' time in their crates is significantly shorter.

I hope that helps and am sorry that it is not cheaper.

I spoke to someone on Monday and still awaiting quote, I was told this would be via email.

Can this be looked into, in case they have my email wrong.

I really do understand your angst. Years back when I moved to the Uk I'd just spent a year having cancer treatment and my beloved cat was my constant companion through it all. In my mind there was no question whatsoever about whether he would come with me to the UK. He did come, and yes it was expensive to bring him all the way from Perth to north west England, however I had many good years with him over here. He passed on a couple of years back now. He coped with it pretty well albeit I had a bit of a blip just after he arrived when he refused to eat for the quarantine people. They asked me to go visit him and of course I did ...as soon as he'd seen me he chowed on down and was fine after for the duration of his stay. Funnily enough the people who looked after him still remember him as he was a pretty memorable cat lol I feel very much the same about my 3 Siberian Husky dogs who I am bringing home with me to Australia in May...in my case I have mum, dad, and one of their pups ...they are my kids and my 'grandpup' and although yes again it is expensive to bring them they are totally worth it. On the scale of things, for me at least, the cost of transporting them, especially them being larger breed of dogs, is by far outweighed by having them with me in my life. It just wasn't an option for me or my family not to take them as they are part of me. I hope you are able to find a way to take your beloved pets with you too.

Yes I feel the same and its the thought of leaving part of your life behind, as they are part of the family. It will be hard enough at first with such a move and harder to not have hem with us.

My account in UK stayed open with intent of servicing mortgage/receiving rental for UK property - bank were happy about this. Always best to say you're just heading to Oz temporarily

Thanks

It is possible that there is clause that enables the credit company to request payment in full at any time (this is usually the case on overdrafts for example) and when you advise them of your change of address they could invoke it but we continued paying a number of debts in Australia - an interest free loan for a sofa and credit cards.

 

So long as you keep paying they are likely to be happy!

 

 

 

Hire purchase may be different but that's quite rare these days (cars is about all you still see that on)

Many thanks for your response