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We had similar thoughts when we were making our application last year, although our case was simpler as we had no children, pets or family illnesses to consider. The thought that gave me strength however was that I did not want to become someone who "almost" moved to Australia. Far better to come here, and for it not to work out and return to the UK than to never have given it a go. I don't know if that perspective will help you, but I found it useful.

My wife and I were granted 189 visas last year, with an application based on my skills. She had to get a medical and police check, but that was it as far as I recall.

I would suggest that you talk to a registered migration agent and see if they can help you through this part of the process. I had to do a similar RPL for my 189 visa last year and it was the most complex part of our application. Without an agent helping us I'm not sure we would have been able to put together a satisfactory application.

My wife and I moved out here last year on 189 visas, and we used an agent. We both work full-time so didn't feel we had the bandwidth to learn about the various visa options and figure out how to put together a "good" application. Even with the assistance of an agent it was still quite a lot of work, but at all stages we were reassured that our efforts would be successful. Using an agent seemed expensive at the time, but to be honest it was a drop in the ocean compared to the other costs we incurred in the move (the visa fees themselves, flights out here, shipping all our stuff as well as loss of earnings while we were job hunting). Overall, very happy that we used an agent.

Unless you want to spend lots of time shopping for basic kitchen items (not to mention figuring out which shops sell what) I would recommend just shipping everything. If you're already paying for a packing service with your shipping company the cost difference of bringing everything from the kitchen vs some things will be negligible, or zero.

Here's one to add to the collection: Sydney harbour bridge at sunset last night, taken from the Opera house.

As a fellow developer I'd recommend checking the jobs section on https://stackerflow.com and searching for jobs over here. Quite a few post salary ranges. Also, make sure your LinkedIn profile is up to date and then change your location to Sydney or Melbourne. (maybe in your title/description state when you plan to move) I did this and got a few cold calls from recruiters. If you have a similar experience you should be able to ask them directly for guidance on salary expectations.

In your case, assuming you're 30 or younger, the logical (only?) option would probably be a working holiday visa, staying with the family members you mentioned while you job hunt, and trying to get a job with a company who will subsequently sponsor you for a 457 (Temporary Work) visa. I'd recommend getting in touch with an authorised migration agent (we used Go Matilda who were great) and have a free initial consultation with them to figure out your options. Which ever way you do it, there's risk...good luck!

We used PSS in September last year. Had a 20 foot shipping container to ourselves, with lots of furniture, bicycles and other gear. Cost was as estimated, although we had an additional $400 customs fee at this end that was a little unexpected (but was in their small print). They packed and unpacked everything, and gave lots of useful advice regarding declaration of wooden items, things we shouldn't take (mostly wicker items and Christmas decorations that contained pine cones), and most important how clean things like bicycles, soles of shoes and sports gear needed to be in order to avoid the wrath of biosecurity (answer: exceedingly clean, as if new, and ideally smelling of disinfectant). Nothing of note was broken in the move, and we did not get charged for cleaning any items by biosecurity. We were able to track the boat(s) that our container was on, and we got our stuff pretty close to the original estimated date. I'd use them again in a heartbeat.

I was born and raised in Worcester - moved away when I was 18 and have never looked back! It's a small city, with lots of lovely history but looking pretty tatty these days. Surrounded by nice countryside though, with plenty of pleasant villages to choose from. Be aware that the river Severn floods pretty much every year, so be cautious about living near the river. If I had to move back to that part of the UK I'd probably look in and around Malvern, and rent in an area for a year to get to know it before buying (if I was in a position to buy).

After much planning and visa wrangling my wife and I are now happily in Sydney! We both have Amazon Kindles, and there is a Kindle book my wife would like to purchase that is only available on amazon.com.au. So it looks like we need to change the country setting in her Amazon account from UK to Australia. This makes us nervous that she might lose some of the (many) Kindle books she's previously bought via amazon.co.uk. Amazon claim that purchased content will be safe when changing country, but can anyone confirm this based on their own experience?

Thanks - planning to be in Manly (if we can afford it!)

We're at the final countdown with just one week to go until our move to Sydney! The packers are coming on Wednesday next week and there are a few things we're still wondering about taking (the alternative being to leave in the (locked) attic of our house which we're renting out). A couple of winters ago our combi boiler gave up. I was working at home back then, so popped to our local Homebase and bought three electric heaters (this sort). They're expensive to run, but were invaluable for the few days it took to get out heating working again. Would anyone recommend taking them out to Sydney? Thanks!

We have a UK Super King size bed, the mattress of which needs replacing in the next year (but the bed frame we really like, so want to keep). Sadly it seems that the nearest Australian mattress size (King) is 3cm longer and wider than our UK Super King! We're shipping a 20 foot container of stuff, so should we just buy a new mattress here and ship it too, or can you get UK-sized mattresses anywhere in Australia?

Hi all, My wife and I are moving to Australia as Permanent Residents in September, and have a house in the London that we'll be renting out. So we need to get a proper valuation and suitable depreciation report arranged. For the valuation, can we just go with a valuation from our mortgage lender (The Halifax)? Can anyone recommend a company here that can do depreciation reports? Thanks so much! Richard

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, cautions and recommendations!

So our big move is just 62 days away now! (not that I'm counting) My thoughts have turned to power cables and adaptors for our UK electricals. On Amazon.co.uk I've been able to source some power strips that have four UK sockets, and a cable that plugs into an Australian power outlet, plus a few traditional travel adaptors. However, for things like laptops I'd like to replace the cable that goes from the transformer block to the power outlet (examples of the two different styles are shown below). I can find a couple of suppliers in the US, but P&P is expensive. So I was wondering, is there an Australian equivalent to Maplin that would sell this kind of thing at a sensible price?

So we've set a move date for Sydney - Monday 18th September! Now I'm looking at the respective baggage allowances for the various airlines, trying to figure out which will be the best option for us. We would each like to take: Three items of hold luggage, each one will be no more than about 20kg and will be "sensibly" sized (bags we've previously taken on Emirates flights with no problems) One small wheeled suitcase as hand luggage, maybe as heavy as 10kg (bags we've previously taken as hand luggage on EasyJet with no problems) We can fly from Heathrow or Gatwick, want no more than one stop on the way, and will need to land in Sydney. We'll most likely be flying economy. I'm about to start checking airline websites and compiling an almighty spreadsheet with luggage size/weight/price details, but thought I'd ask if anyone had any specific airlines that they would recommend (or any that they would suggest avoiding).

What kind of information are you after..?

Thanks for the info Leanne, really useful!

Hi, My wife and I were granted Permanent Resident visas (Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189)) earlier this year, and plan to move to Sydney in September. My mother-in-law has expressed interest in joining us there at some point in the future, so we were hoping to find out is this might be possible and if so what the most appropriate options would be. It looks like some of the parent visas take years to process (up to 30!?), or have a requirement that more than half of the parent's children are living in Australia (my wife has a brother and sister who are living in the UK). My mother-in-law is around 65, retired, in general good health. Thanks!

The English test is needed when you start the visa application and yes, you can do it multiple times (but you have to pay each time...). I took the PTE test because it is all computer-based (at an examination centre). My understanding is that the IELTS test features a lot of handwriting, and I was concerned that my hand might cramp up! It's been a few years since I had to do much handwriting... Hope that helps.

Yep, I did this for my 189 visa (latter-half of 2015). I'm a native English speaker and took the PTE test as it was all done at a computer (at an examination centre), so required no handwriting (mine is pretty terrible, and I was concerned about my hand cramping up if I had to write for an extended period of time). It took me about two hours to get through the test, and I found it pretty exhausting! I had a sufficient score to add 20 points to my application. I was glad that I had spent a few hours preparing for the test in the week beforehand, using the free materials available on the PTE website.

Wow, confident move...don't the DIPB specifically advise against things like quitting your job or selling your home until the grant has come through? (on that off-chance that it doesn't)

My wife and I got our PR visas back in March (yay!), and spent a week in Sydney earlier this month. We're planning to make the move in September. Assuming that all goes well and we stay in Aus, we'll want to apply for citizenship as soon as we're eligible. With that in mind, will the four year residency requirement start when we land in September, or can it be dated from our trip earlier this month? In either case, what documentation do you need to keep hold of to prove when you've been in (or out of) Australia? Thanks! :smile: