Jordan01

Good morning Cara

We were lucky enough to secure a furnished rental before we left the UK. We needed to submit bank statements, references, utility bills (to prove we were good with our payments) and so forth. I would suggest you have this ready for when you are here and looking for a rental. As we had this organised before we arrived it made life a lot easier for us and telephone, internet, electrics etc were set up before we arrived. This also meant we could have any deliveries sent to the house. We ordered all new bedding so that we didn't have to worry when we arrived. We even had our bank accounts set up and our cards ready for us the day after we arrived at our local branch. Drivers license took an hour or so and Medicare took 20 minutes. You just need to make sure you take all the relevant paperwork.

As soon as we landed we bought a new sim card at the airport - great deal - and started using this straight away. (make sure your phone is unlocked) I have since bought a new phone with a new contract but my wife still uses the other phone. This was so easy.

We found a car on Gumtree before we left and bought it the day after we arrived - a lovely SAAB convertible.

With regard to employment. We had telephone interviews whilst in the UK but contacted prospective employers after we arrived here. Busy negotiating jobs at the moment but nothing finalised yet. Much easier when you arrive but still worth initiating contact before you leave.

Our advice - do as much homework and research before you arrive.

We have only been here 2 weeks tomorrow but the transition was so smooth we feel as if we have been here forever!

Wishing you best of luck!

Barry :smile:

Hi Cara

By personal approach I mean that we emailed companies directly and waited for an email response, then called them directly. Another way is on SEEK, quite often you will see the companies HR persons details, directly approach them is a great idea.

Definitely start applying from the UK.....hopefully with your new address in Australia if you have one? Once you arrive, get back in contact with the same companies and remind them that you have landed!

Best of luck for the future.

Barry & Debbie

Thanks for the update, glad you're all settling in so well. Great news on the job interviews - may I ask how you went about getting them?

 

Glad you're enjoying the experience, how exciting! :smile:

Hi there

We did our homework and spent time contacting people independently along with applying through agencies. The personal approach was the best as very little response from anyone before we arrived in the country.

Barry :smile:

Hi Everyone

Just a quick update, been here (Manly QLD) a week now, already bought a car, a motorcycle, loads of bits n bobs from local shops, done drivers licence change, bank accounts, medicare and are attending interviews tomorrow! Been to surfers paradise for the day (Amazing) Been a really busy week :jiggy: Our son starts school on the 23rd of January however our 16yr old daughter decided to stay in the UK with friends to finish her GCSE's..........she will join us in June 2017.

Have we made the right decision.............ABSOLUTELY !!!!!!

Best of luck to everyone, and look forward to seeing you "Down Under"

Congrats!!!

We are heading for Brisbane, Wynuum West to be exact. We secured a fully furnished townhouse rental there right opposite our kids school so we are very pleased. We fly on Xmas day and land in Brisbane on the morning of the 27th December 2016. When are you guys going and where will you be based?

@Jordan01

Ah! Thats an idea! I know people say not to rent from just looking at the photos but a lot of the houses we are looking at are fairly new builds (homes are about 10 years old or less) so I'm guessing they can't be too far off the photos perhaps..?!

 

Did you sign a 6 month lease or 12 if you don't mind me asking?

Hi Alycat

We signed a 12 month lease but with payment of the first 6 months upfront.

Good luck to all

Wow so great you secured a rental already! How did you organise that? Was it privately via Gumtree? I heard that its not easy to secure a rental from abroad.

Hi Alycat

We saw the property on a reputable real estate website, emailed them and offered 6 months rent upfront......The landlord jumped at the offer!

Received the documents via email, signed everything and returned by email.

Hi Everyone.

Just a quick update. Our daughter is staying behind in the UK to finish her schooling and joining us at the end of June.

We handed in our resignations, booked our flights for Christmas Day and have managed to secure a fully furnished rental property right across the road from our sons school.....all within 5 days :jiggy:now just left with the mammoth task of selling all of our furniture.

We will keep you updated.

Many thanks to all who have shared our journey so far and given us great advice.

Hi Nikki

My visa was for a 309.

Hi everyone

A fantastic day for us today - we received an email from our visa agent at 4pm today saying CONGRATULATIONS! Your visa has been granted after just 5 months!

Celebrating over a jeroboam of champagne! We wish everyone who is waiting for their visa the best of luck!