evets

Out of curiosity since you have never been to Brisbane or Perth, have you been to Australia?

Ah good to know, as I have not found many round the suburbs in my area. A little late for me know I have read Perth is very expensive compared to other parts of Australia. Think also the same now applies to the rest of Australia, high cost of living here in general compared to other Western countries. Cheaper to go on vacation abroad than take a vacation to to say Byron Bay.

Not sure about your post. Property in Melbourne will come as a shock and especially quality!!! Buying a house and closer to the CBD is pretty much non existant these days, unless you have a very decent 6 figure deposit! You will be looking at apartments.

So true, the push to hire 457 visa's on cheap wages is pretty rampant. Even to the point of getting them to pay for there own visa's from certain countries. To the OP, the salary you are being offered is low/very below average for a skilled trade in Australia and not likely to progress due to stagnant wage growth here.

Based on my experience, very much doubt any shipping company will give you free storage for at least 4 months. You need to read the T&C to see what they offer, some may give you a month. You could try to negotiate to see what the best they can do, but anything over a few weeks to a month, they will (more than likely) charge you. storage = $$$ Depending on how much you are shipping I think that may be quite cheap based on my own experiences for a small storage unit, and not even climate controlled.

Good post. I like Perth, found it very clean and no graffiti on the public transport. The outer suburbs came as an eye opener to me, more so than Melbourne. Very open and would need a car to do anything on a daily basis. Defiantly not high in the walkable score. The city centre is small and very clean but they have most bases covered with what you do not want to buy on the internet. Would I want to live there, mmmnn after living in Sydney and Melbourne I find Melbourne a more attractive city with so much more to offer, except the beach's. Then again it all depends on what you are looking for. Young family, Perth may be ideal. Just consider the weather in summer. I spent a week there, morning cup of tea in the back garden 8/9am and picked up a great tan. Brisbane I found a bit greyish, but only was in the city centre. Compared to Melbourne, Sydney and even Perth I could not see the appeal myself, but that was in 2002. As for jobs, depending on what you do. Perth and Brisbane might be hard to secure anything quickly. The job market is pretty tough here, all over, in certain fields and with the mining boom crash this has certainly not helped WA. Australia did not experience the GFC, and since 2009 Melbourne and Sydney have seen properties rise nearly 100%. Believe Perth has seen drops since the mining boom collapse. It is certainly an interesting time to be moving here. Having a decent/good job lined up if you can would really help you get settled.

For the items you are selling, start getting some of them on gumtree/trading post as I found some of them did not sell as fast as I thought. It took me nearly 3 months to sell the vast majority and still have a few things left. And be prepared for low ballers! The other issue I am seeing for finalising is how to deal with selling the F/F and washing machine.

Thanks Bungo, it now makes more sense to me. Appreciated you stepping in.

Yes she has upto 3 years, but I believe from memory, maybe on this forum or another or some other source(was a while back). The UK is looking to change the system for Australians to get visas for the UK. Hopefully someone on here can answer that and correct me. Or do a search on the net to see what info you can find out. I cannot comment about the registering as defacto and the bridging visa, as have no knowledge about it. The defacto visa is not so easy, you are really best going to talk to some one who fully qualified and knows there stuff. I have known a few people who have done it, and heard there experiences and the costs associated with it. this would help you come up with a plan to discuss with your partner about the best route to pursue and timelines. Not sure what part of the UK you are in, but has the lady ever visited the UK? Good luck with everything, relocating is not easy by yourself let alone trying to work in a defacto visa.

Not sure if this helps you at the moment; http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2016/12/07/importing-foreign-maths-science-teachers/ But you could be very indemand soon

She could maybe try for this: https://www.gov.uk/tier-5-youth-mobility That gives her up to 2 years to live and work in the UK.

Welcome and yes I think it covers a lot. Not really sure what to suggest, but I think it may be worthwhile going to speak to a migration agent who can provide more guidance. Since you mentioned your age in another post, I would assume your partner is over 30 and if so not eligible for a UK working visa. Are here parents or grandparents from the UK or another part of the EU. If the former then she could look at UK Ancestry visa(not sure of the exact details), if the latter maybe try to get a passport for her home country and enter the UK on that(not sure if this is legal or not!) As for the 457 route, it can be difficult but not impossible. From your background, you could try looking on LinkedIn and seek.com.au, see what roles are available and make contact with them. But honestly, reading your posts I think you have a slim chance. Other than that I don't think the tourist visa allows you to work or study, you would need to apply for a course and be accepted then apply for a student visa.

I found that also after I sat the test. The online tests appear/are harder than the actual test. I was in the same position, sitting there reviewing my notes and documents. Was shocked at the actual outcome. Better to be more prepared than not.

Congratulations and wish you the very best on your move. It is a huge leap of faith and flying into summer! Nice I am on my 6 week time line countdown of relocating from Australia to Canada. Nothing personal, have loved my time here in Melbourne, just job market not that great in my industry, lots being outsourced or mainly offshored. Your post resonates with me, as I feel exactly the same aside from the house sale as kept mine for a rental as the property market has crashed at that time in the UK, while the property market in Australia appears unstoppable now!!! For me it never truly hits home until the plan is taking off and you think WOW no turning back now!

Haha so true, I have citibank CC which I think offers great benefits and no annual fee.

Your welcome, these forums like other expat forums are here to help and provide advice guidance. Helped me with tons of issues/questions. Would you say your position falls under Account Manager or Service Delivery Manager, if even? I see lots of these positions posted in Melbourne, not helping as your partner is in WA. WA like say SA and QLD are going to be tough compared to say Sydney or Melbourne. The IT job market is saturated at the moment, and locals are struggling to find work also. As the locals like to call it the 457 rort! I am even relocating to Canada as found it tough when my company had a number of retrenchments. I have read too many sad posts of expats in Australia moving back to the UK, due the job market here. Your job title is vague, I work in IT myself so this could cover a multiple different areas. Do you have ITIL, Agile/Waterfall, PM or BA experience or would you class yourself more in a BDM type role? Lets say 20K pounds is roughly 40KAU$, it is less with the exchange rate now. 40K AU$ will be a struggle to cover you for a year, including education fees, unless your partner supports you. Can your partner get to the UK on a work visa, as this may be the best route forward.

Agreed, but if your hubby is only commuting a few days a month, then the commute negates the overall benefits. Sydney has become one of the main immigration cities in Australia, pushed up house prices. Developers going mad to build new apartments. The key thing that has not happened is investment in infrastructure and the city is busting at the seems. The same I think can be said for Melbourne and probably a lot of other cities across the planet. I personally find some of the outer suburbs, in Melbourne that is, bland. I could be in some part of out back NA as it is very Americanised. But some of the countryside can be so beautiful, same with any country, if you are prepared to take the time over the weekend for short trips. Are you coming on a view to emigrate or just stay for a certain period of time for the work commitments. If the latter, come and enjoy the new lifestyle. If the former, well I cannot answer that. Another thing while I remember, PT is awesome in SE England, London and I think the train network in the UK is great. You will hard pushed to find anything similar in Australia. Parts are good but because of the size of the country compared to the UK, it cannot compete. Too costly I imagine.

Not bothered where you got them from, still very awesome pictures. After not traveling out to the country side here for a while, really reminds you of how many beautiful places can be found in such a short distance.

Good luck leanie, hope it all goes well. As for the test, have to agree I used numerous online tests like toOZ2012 mentioned as was a little shocked by the actual test. In and out between 5- 10 mins!

Can she get a working visa for the UK? If so, that might be the best plan of action to look at. Easier to apply for a defacto visa to Oz than the other way around these days and less costly. As you mentioned your current age. What line of work are in at present? Studying is not cheap in Australia and you have limited options to how many hours you can work. Unless you have a big bank account, might be a no go for you. Unless you have a degree already what kind of courses are you looking to complete in a year?

This made me chuckle. The climate in NSW is very different to the climate in SE England, as such going to provide very different landscapes. There are many parts of NSW which are will take your breath away, like some parts of SE England. Tasmania or parts of Victoria, cannot comment on ACT maybe provide that English country side. More so NZ. Your hubby has a good opportunity which many people do not get. If he works from home and only goes into the office rarely, then that is a real bonus. You can find a nice location as long as he is prepared for the long commute the odd day he has to go in. My best advice work out or estimate how many of the month he has or potentially has to go in, ask him how long he would be prepared to commute. Then look at areas that has reasonable access to a train and take it from there. 4 hours commute for a few days a month, is not that bad if you can find a nice location to live in and probably as a bonus the rental costs will be far cheaper and you can get a bigger property. PS Northshorepom, awesome pictures

Yes this shocked me too. I think the UK has a lot more competition and banks tend to offer better deals including free banking and being able to use any ATM without being charged if it is not one of there own. Funny sometimes seeing the big 4 banks ATM's next to each other, though this is really rare. The amount of times trying to find an ATM so you don't get charged, Paypass is a god send, I do not even remember the last time i used an ATM. I am with ING who offer cashback when you use the debit card, but sadly they are removing this feature to save costs and "provide the customer with better value".... I am sure some of the banks would offer student packages, but I do not know. Google it, always seems to be my first port of call for anything these days.

Depending what type of sales you do, your best bet might be to try and get into a multi national company and try to see if you can get an internal transfer down the line. But again this is all relative to the area of products you are selling.

Personally I find some of the outer suburbs very bland, and not what I think of Melbourne. Each to there own though. You do get better value for money for property, to an extent! I have not been to these areas myself but have visited some/many outer suburbs of Melbourne. Some to me have been an eye opener and wondered if I was still in Melbourne, let alone Australia. My own personal opinion which others will probably disagree with. Have you been to these areas or just researched? Commute time to the CBD at those times I think should be fine, but depending on knockoff time could be a bit of a tedious. Try using google maps and put in start location/time and destination, it is pretty accurate.

Are you long for a long term rental or quick short term rentals? If the latter, you will get more money for the rental but also the downside could be without tenants for some periods. If short term, then bed linen etc I would expect to be provided, maybe even a cleaner once a week to change it as you would be wanting more cash. I personally would not be looking to rent a short term lease for 3 months and be expected to provide my own bed linen, towels etc. The whole point is I want a serviced unit. I just noted your location, may be hard for the short term market. Could be wrong!!! Do you have any big companies around you, as that would help with the short term market.