Jon the Hat

If $198 is putting you off, migration is not likely to be for you.

I was 45 and my wife 49. All going well so far apart from expected dramas with teenager.

One is probably the mean, one the median.

According to the news this week, the average is actually $150K.

There is a lot more to NSW than Sydney though - NSW is about 4 times larger than the UK. Lots of people live in other places. Depends what you do of course. It is bloody hard making new friends without working I think - maybe find your football team's local supporters club or something?

Sydney can be quite overwhelming I think, maybe try heading up the coast, or over to Melbourne or Adelaide? Yes I can imagine it can feel pretty lonely. hard enough coming with family to support.

Where are you? Australia is a pretty varied place, and I don't think in any of them are the best bits near the airport. Maybe get out and about a bit, you might find somewhere you prefer. It is pretty hard while you are not in work though to feel in any way established.

If Perth is a possibility, work wise I would have a chat with Eric Macias at Macias consulting, or Craig Youngson at Da Silva Youngson. It is hard to progress much until you are here though.

Unless you are in temporary accommodation, get them to unwrap everything, else you will have a mountain of packing materials to store until they bother to come back and collect... We had a garage full for weeks.

To be fair you will find that everywhere, including in the City.

A quick google shows crime stats in Mandurah are generally lower than Darwin, although drug taking is higher that doesn't appear to be passing onto other crime. Crime Comparison Between Darwin, Australia And Mandurah, Australia. Safety Comparison. (numbeo.com)

I'm sure no worse than someone working in a bar in Darwin has had to deal with. Good luck with your move! The climate will certainly be a lot nice to live with.

The first few weeks can feel completely alien. Even basics like going to the shops to get some groceries suddenly requires a level of effort you aren't used to expending. I personally think the things which are just slightly different are worse as you recognise a lot of things but not everything so you get this cognitive dissonance where expectation of normality and the reality of difference is confusing. If it was obviously very different you would expect it.

We bought everything just about, and I spend my time wondering why I have so much shit. Generally speaking everything is expensive here.

Yeah I would echo this, we have spent way more than that overall!

Usually you need 3-6 months of employment records. With both of you in new jobs, you might well find it take a while. Also worth noting that completing a house purchase can take 3-5 months currently. Not sure why it is so much worse that pre-covid but conveyancing seems universally shite these days. All in makes sense to rent somewhere with a 6 months break clause.

Re streaming, Optus sport cost about $10 a month if you are a mobile customer and streams ALL premier league games, so you won't miss any except for stupid timing. They also have a choice of highlights (3 mins, 9 mins, 25 mins, full game) on the app so I tend to watch them first thing in the morning for midweek games. I am an LCFC fan so not missing much this season frankly.

Oh that is much simpler to plan for. Good news!

If I recall it is 12 months from your police check / medical whichever is earlier. I put them all in at once and therefore had only 4 months to validate.

If your most recent spell of relationship is 4 years (assuming you lived together for all that time) and have an 18 months old child together you more than meet the requirements for defacto. I might still be worth a consultation though to see if you might qualify for the PR visa straight away based on the 12 years on and off part. I also paid for everything from my account and had no issues. As long as you have documents showing you are in the same house (i.e. same address) they don't have to be joint accounts. I included a list of payments from me to my partner in the financial section. Her being on the council tax will be good evidence, also see if you have polling card etc. with her name on. Anything to show she has been there. When you get it together, scan multiple docs together in one pdf - called for example household bills, start with joint ones. Citizenship by descent is easy, just get on with that one.

You guys are funny. POMs move here mostly because they have family here, because the weather is good, or because buying a home is cheaper. Are there nicer more interesting places? Sure, but they are also more expensive. There were nicer and more expensive places in the UK too, and most of the migrating POMS didn't live their either.

I agree if it was between Malaysian or China Southern / Eastern I would probably pick Malaysian. I still have a great photo of me holding a cocktail shaker behind the bar on a Malaysian A380 about 12 years ago.

Yeah I thought that after the Ukraine loss, but when it did strike twice and they lost a second plane in strange circumstances I was done.

I haven't flown with them since they had the two very unfortunate incidents. Who needs an unlucky airline.

I would get your 309 application in ASAP - the kids citizenship won't make any difference. If it is not granted when you want to move to Aus, you can enter on a visitor visa and fly somewhere cheap outside Aus for a few days so it can be activated on your return. Plenty of people have done this.