Dekra

Does anyone on the forum live in Seymour at all please? I have a very big (for me) favour to ask someone if they do but it would be a very small thing for anyone that is in Seymour to do. Just take one little photo on a camera phone and e-mail to me if possible.

Themaccas - thankfully Tas does not charge school fees for 457 visa holders. Given that most 457 families end up going PR route then they're really just investing in the state/country's future in the same was as aussie born or PR visa children. I understand NSW and now WA and SA trying to save money in the education budget but I also think it is a short term saving not the long term investment it has been when 457 visa holder's dependents education was same as PR.

Thanks for your replies folks and for the identity crisis explanation Toots lol. I have been doing more sums and now know our weekly budget will be a decent bit more than I hoped so we can have the breathing space we need to allow my hubby to either get a job or start his own business in computer and mobile phone repair. I just like to be sure that I consider worst case scenario for budgeting as I think it is pointless trading working with Glaswegians to Taswegians unless we can be sure that there will be a benefit to us as a family. 

Self doubt and the responsibility that I am making the final decision with my head and not my heart is a tough combination. Part of me wants to back off and say well I had the chance to do it but it was safer not to. Then the other part of me knows that is rubbish, I have the chance and whilst there is no guarantee in anything in life I will regret letting the opportunity pass. 

Laziness, fear, complacency those are the things holding me back. Finance is a slow down but not a hold back. I am sure there will be good times and tough times if we make the move, but there will be those if we don't anyway. 

On 2016-12-28 at 6:59 AM, Skani said:

 

Food is an important part of the Hobart scene - both eating out and food markets - including old style pubs with open fireplaces. 

In fact food is so important that we have a week long party - called the Taste of Tasmania - to celebrate it each year. :cute: Coincidentally it always starts on this date (28th December).

Thank you (fellow)JockInTas. I knew we liked the idea of the Tas lifestyle but this seals it as we love eating out. And hubby's birthday is 28th Dec! Fated I say, fated.

I should have read this post before I posted my own "Is $1000 a week enough" topic but we do have two kiddos to consider too which does up our costs lol. I am pleased at least that I haven't seen anyone saying nooooo stay clear you'll not survive on that yet.

I am a Scottish nurse with a job offer/sponsorship to come to Hobart. My husband and I love the idea of Tasmania where it is a nice pace of life, we aren't looking for bright lights and big city but need to be within a short commute of a hospital and where there are enough facilities that our children can still have outings etc. Combine that with a pleasant climate, beautiful environment and lower than average cost of living and we hope that Hobart will be the right choice for us.

The one final thing that has been holding us back from motoring forward was a few health related thing than link to financial viability.

Can I therefore ask those of you in Tas and especially in the Hobart commuting area a few things moneywise.

Our household comprises 2 40-something adults, a (by then) 10 year old boy and 7 year old girl and a Jack Russell dog.

My take home salary should be roughly $1000 a week. I know rental costs for a 3 bedroom could be between 350-450 a week leaving $550 for household expenses, bills and spending money. We will be importing one car with us so would not have car payments but would have rego/ins/running costs for it. We will initially be on a 457 visa (I'm not affected by the recent changes as long as I get my visa application in soon) so we wouldn't have any family tax benefit. Initially my husband would not be working so we would not have childcare costs until he had a job. Basically, my question is until hubby gets a job that is right for him and doesn't get wiped out by childcare costs is that $1000 per week enough for a comfortable living? We would have some savings behind us but would prefer to keep that for a house deposit in a couple of years time if possible. Also there is a possibility of a part time job for hubby that is work from home that he can actually do anywhere in the (civilised) world which I believe after tax would leave him with $450 which if it happens would make a difference but which I do not want to count on just yet which is why I want to base the final decision on the financial side based on the $1000 per week.

Any advice/insights etc would be welcome.

I know this post is a few months old now but I posted AHPRA documents on 26th September and lo and behold, still not delivered as yet. Very VERY frustrating.

The Astra was sold here, first as an Opel, then now as a Holden (long story!). I would be inclined to sell it in the UK unless you love it. We never got the SRi here in diesel, so if you like that combo in particular, bringing your own car here will be the only option. Servicing shouldn't be an issue.

 

If you're going to only bring one car, bring the Laguna. We never got the coupe and when the time comes to sell, French car fanatics will no doubt fall in love with it!

Thanks Iron Lady. I did eventually find out that the Astra shape I have is the same as the Holden Cruze. Think I'm going to take your advice and not bother with the Astra. It's a nice enough car and great for having an 80km round trip commute four times a week, but when I'm relocating to Alice Springs I won't have a big commute and I think once I'm settled into my job I will look at a salary package small SUV AWD (thinking Mazda CX-3).

Does/has anyone worked there or had an interview with them at all? I have seen a few posts that are quite positive about the hospital which is reassuring. I had an interview with them early this morning and it may be the end of next week before I hear anything. Waiting is so hard. Can anyone else tell me how long after an interview with the friendlies that they heard back? My other interview I was told I had the post there and then so now I am paranoid I have been unsuccessful.

I'm a Scot, too mean to pay someone else to something I am capable of myself. But yeah I totally get what you mean about getting it wrong and wasting time, especially as I have a bad habit of skim reading and only lifting what my subconscious wants to see. Like you my hubby is not big on the paperwork side of things and I'm too much of a control freak too.

 

Yes it is daunting - mainly the paperwork that you need and especially since my OH is useless with paperwork lol! But we shall press on.

 

 

xx

For such a supposedly laid back country I have found the paperwork not just daunting but very hard to understand easily and I would rate myself (quite egotistically) as well above average intelligence (IQ 157 to back this up). In the early stages of looking at migration we considered NZ briefly, and their paperwork was simple and clear to both read and understand despite conveying the very same or similar information in many cases. Just got to get on with it though unfortunately.

Nothing wrong with MK, but I have lived in MK most my life lol

You likely passed through MK on the way to somewhere else at a young age and due to the significant lack of signpostage to get back out of MK you remained there by default. Kidding, mostly Not been in MK for a good 12 or 13 years, there could be so much signage you can't see the road now for all I know.

Schooling in ACT is free for 457 visa holders (or waived), I checked this out as I was considering Canberra myself at one point. The problem is the cost of housing in ACT when it's much cheaper just a few km down the road in NSW. Cairns pay will also likely be higher as it is classed as rural and remote, depending if she is employed at a public or private hospital this might make a significant difference to the household budget. Flights to and from a state or territory capital a number of times a year for recreational leave is also paid for a state employee in Qld which again is a rather nice perk. Personally with your choices I would go for Cairns but I am not you, my own choice has been Alice Spring so I do tend to be a bit different and went knocking their door asking for a job there. Good luck with your decisions.

As I suspected, the ones earning twice as much as nurses, midwives and AHP. Shame but not unexpected.

We've been here for about two weeks now. The first 5 days were in St Kilda (through airbnb), then we moved across to Williamstown to be closer to my work (again through Airbnb). The place in Williamstown wasnt up to much but airbnb sorted us a full refund and we found another place in Williamstown instead. Williamstown is nice, especially south of Ferguson street. Very quiet though. Small areas around Newport and Altona are okay too. We're looking at long term in Maribyrnong on the edgewater estate which is affordable, right by the river and not far from Highpoint shopping centre or the city centre.

 

It all depends what you want though.

A few days to start off in St Kilda would do me fine lol. That's where my parents lived when I went from twinkle in eye to blob in belly.

Hi Adam, that is good to know, thank you. Can you tell me if nurses count as medical professionals or not please? Some people use medical for only Dr's whilst others include nurses/midwives and allied health professionals too. Would be nice if it was us lower salaried people too.

We have been number crunching and looking at different options, eg other cities/states and even NZ but it keeps coming back to Perth being our number one choice.

I've just sent away for a new passport as current one has been lost for about 3 and a half years after my daughter decided to use the bag it was in when she was playing dress up with mummy's shoes and bags (she was only 2 at the time). So the passport was always going to be required but it is the first thing I need to prove my identity for my AHPRA registration.

Hubby is organising copies of his trade papers and certificates so we can apply for a skills assessment for him which will give my 190 application another 5 points. Then we are just biding time, saving and doing ILETS until I have 2 years experience then I can put in for state sponsorship and hopefully if this is granted I'd have my 60 points. We will use that time to spruce up the house and save save save.

I've done ball park figure for our migration costs and it is at least £17,500 by the looks of it. But only £12,500 would need to come off house sale costs and that means we could potentially have $25,000AUD as savings or for a deposit for a house.

So plan is, get my passport, AHPRA reg, hubby's papers, 190 if WA government sponsorship requirements remain the same, get a job (preferably 2 but minimum 1 before we leave UK and be heading for the shores of WA by 2018.

Fantastic post Iron Chef.

We would considering importing our cars.

2012 Vauxhall Astra SRi Ecoflex 2.0 CDTi. 165bhp and 64,000km on the clock. Good spec, including the all important AC. Worth around £7000 here at the moment. Can't find an Australian Astra of the same age, the all seem to be older model or the 3 door GTC which are newer.

2009 Renault Laguna Coupe GT dCi 2.0 180bhp and about 130,000km. High spec, full leather, dual zone climate control very rare car even over here. Ballpark figure here is £5000 and nothing similar I can see in Redbook.

Both cars are in great condition mechanically, with the Astra having a few cosmetic scratches on the bodywork (seems to be an occupational hazard when parking in hospital car parks) and some scuffing on the alloys.

Thanks in advance.

Why can't you get a permanent visa without any type of sponsorship, get independent visa and ahpra registered and then start applying for jobs from uk so you have something to go to...I got job from uk with 189 visa and that takes some financial pressure off when you first get here

Unfortunately, as I'm now 40 I only score 50 points and need to get 60 to qualify. If I delay by another year I'd get 55 points, still a little shy unfortunately.

I'd also suggest taking whatever period you think you might be looking for work and double it. Always better to be pessimistic and pleasantly surprised, than optimistic and finding a big ten foot pole coming towards your rear end at 80MPH.

Only setting foot on a plane with a contract of employment and start date agreed. I'd rather suffer an extra Scottish winter or two whilst employed in a job I love than be job hunting on arrival no matter how pleasant the place and climate. Luckily being a theatre nurse is a speciality in demand.

I ought also to point out that although my reply to bungo sounds a bit defensive (it is yeah but it was wayyyyy more so before I edited it) that I do appreciate the constructive comments bungo. One reason for joining this forum was to see what expectations were realistic, what were not, what needed changing, what couldn't be changed and what if anything could be done about it. It's a learning curve and I appreciate you taking the time to provide insight.

It is not realistic to be looking for an employer who will sponsor you for a permanent visa. It is extremely hard to even find a sponsor for a temporary visa from overseas and permanent would be many, many times harder than that. As a nurse you should be looking into skilled migration.

I'm looking at a variety of options, 457 is likely to be the most likely but that does not mean I can't have a wish list. Things change all the time, the employer I am looking at has previously offered PR sponsorship and may do so again. Or may not.

However overall, the maths just don't seem to work and I do think you need to take a good hard look at this with your OH.

 

Your £15k of house equity could easily be swallowed up in visa fees, flights and removalist costs. So you arrive without any buffer, nothing for a house deposit and nothing even to live on whilst you secure work? There are also a lot of unexpected expenses when you arrive and you burn cash getting settled in. I agree with Marusa that a move costs on average £15-20k, mine was more like £25-30k I would say.

 

You mention saving over next year, but are you really going to be able to save anything substantial in one year or so? And yes pushing things out further will impact hubby as you rightly say he would be knocking the door of 50. I don't know but this feels like financial suicide to me.

I've not given the full picture in my opening post, the equity realised comment was after I deducted £10,000 as a starting point for visa costs, shipping and temp accommodation. I understand this is on the short side and proceeds of the house sale would not be available in the early stages of visa applications but we do have ways and means around some of that which would leave us with approximately £15,000 to bring with us as a potential deposit or savings to have behind us. I should point out however that I will be not making the move without having secured work myself. Hence employer sponsored migration.

Thanks for the welcome ali and Marisa.

Marisa, I am deliberately basing all my calculations on myself being the only earner at the moment and I know it's going to be tight. But that is why it's good I'm the sort of person that likes to plan in advance. The very earliest I think we would do this is early next year but I am thinking more along the lines of August 17- Feb 18 as the window of a number of things all being about right together. I am also hoping to find an employer that would consider taking us on with a PR visa from the start as hubby will be 46 at the end of this year so wouldn't want to be applying for PR later and he's suddenly knocking on the door of 50 (don't tell him I said that lol). I would do my best to keep cost of moving down but as you say it's not always the best way in the long run.

Hi,

I am new to forum but hope to find lots of answers to the questions buzzing around my head here. But first a little about me.

I was almost Australian however my parents returned home to Scotland 7 months before my birth in 1975. A little part of me has always felt Australian and I've always dreamt of emigrating. Until now it has always been a pipe dream but after qualifying as a nurse last year my husband and I have been able to talk about it in more realistic terms now. We have two children who are currently 8 and 5, one of whom has some additional educational needs but is thriving at his current school. Any decision will be made with the needs of both children at the heart of it, so this will be one area I will be looking at closely.

Having looked into different areas we would prefer to go to WA - Perth or surrounding areas specifically.

Other than that the big issues are financial. We own our own home here but it's not a huge value and by the time the mortgage is paid off we would be lucky to have £15,000 equity realised. Our savings are non-existent but we would be able to raise some cash by saving between now and a potential emigration date. That's not a lot to put down as a deposit on a home in Australia. There seems to be a big discrepancy between rental rates and mortgage rates, with the mortgage for the type of home we would like being lower than the mortgage rate but based on my salary alone at the moment the maximum mortgage available would be significantly short by around $120,000. We aren't looking for anything crazily expensive as far as I can tell. Just want 3 beds, 1 bathroom would do but an ensuite would be nice. Don't want to be too cramped but again small Australian homes seem to have as much or more space than we are used to with our ex-council 2 bedroomed (plus loft conversion - hence lack of savings).

Maybe we are greedy, maybe we are lazy but we would ideally like to run two cars as well unless we were living close to where I'd be working and public transport was good.

So that's it really, theatre nurse looking for a nice hospital to work in, hubby is a diesel engineer to trade and is a specialist in Allison Transmissions, although for the last two years he's done shop work to fit in around my nurse training then shift pattern now I've started work. He's happy to work but that would be something that would be easier once over there I think.

Now I have introduced myself I'm away to check the other forums, hopefully find some answers and maybe more questions I never realised I needed the answer to. Sorry if I make a pest of myself with questions, I will try to find previous posts on a subject before posting.

Dek