Ballaratburd

25 minutes ago, GJ1443 said:

Hi @Ballaratburd,

Reading your post was a perfect description of where I have been the last couple of years, almost exactly to the T, having 2 small boys now 7 and 3 myself.

I've found the link to the podcast you did and ill listen to that tonight I was wondering if you could share the Facebook group you mentioned? The FB groups i find are all about people moving to Australia,  not back from AU to UK...

I am scared for the upheaval of moving my eldest in school because all I hear is how awful the school and health system is at home

We are hoping to be able to buy a home outright so feel that the financial burdon is somewhat reduced. Its more of the upheaval of our children that is causing my delay. 

Would love any further help or resources you could recommend!

Hope you are all doing well,

Thank you! G

Hi G,

The group is called Ping Pong Poms and it will hopefully give you some insight from other people who have made the move. It’s a huge decision to make but I know in my heart of hearts it was the right one. I can’t comprehend what it must be like to still live in Australia with the current state of affairs, particularly Melbourne or Sydney. 
 

I can’t comment much on the school systems as my boys are both still nursery age but I have heard from fellow poms that the UK fairs betters overall, however I do like the fact they start school later in Oz, personally I feel that the more involved and invested parents are in their children’s educations the better the outcomes but of course the school culture has a massive impact. 
 

I have to be frank and say that the NHS is probably in a far worse state than even most people are aware of. Despite not missing Australia I find myself in the middle of the night  pining for the hospitals and work culture I left behind in Victoria. The current state of affairs in Scotland is an absolute disgrace and I have started looking into private health insurance (which is very uncommon to do here) but I’m so appalled by what I see on shift every day, never mind the fact that you cannot see a GP for love nor money and some nights I’m being told a blue light ambulance will take 4-5 hours to transfer my patients to a bigger centre. 

On 07/08/2021 at 14:56, Haggis said:

Hi Ballaratburd (Pam),

Thank you for replying, I was so chuffed there when I saw you had responded to my message.  I couldn’t believe the similarities when I came across your post after frantically googling my dilemma! 

Im so glad to hear yourself and your family are finally feeling settled.  I imagine the process to get there would have been very stressful though and not smooth sailing. I’ll defiantly check out your link now, will be good to hear your experience, the good and bad. Ta for popping it up. 

My daughter and I live in Golden Point and before that Ballymannus up Alfredton before. It’s so central to everything which is great and my work is on Mair Street so it’s walkable but like you, no family and very very small group of close good friends. My daughter is 2 so we’ve spent most of our time missing her baby/toddler classes due to lockdowns limiting meeting other mums. Where abouts did you live? I saw you are a nurse, did you work up at the Base? 

 

Thanks again, Lacey x

 

 

Hi Lacey, 

 

Sorry for late reply. 
 

Initially we bought a house on Howitt street near to the show grounds, we then sold that with the intention of building near to ballymanus and rented in Alfredton on Elaine avenue however we then made the decision to move home. 
 

I was working at the base part time whilst still on maternity leave from my main job at The Alfred in Melbourne, the base was nice enough and I got on well with the staff there but usual story, lots of acquaintances, no real friends, as is always the case with aussies. I met a few girls from mums group and I’m still vaguely in touch with one of them now but I’ll be honest and say I don’t miss Ballarat in the slightest (bar a big bowl of chips and glass of wine at the Lake View then a nice stroll around the lake haha)  the reality of living there compared to our expectations when moving from Melbourne was  vastly different. 
 

Where are you from in Scotland? Have you given anymore thought to a move home? 

On 28/07/2021 at 18:29, Haggis said:

Hello, I know this thread is just over a year old but i’d really love to hear how Ballaratburd got on moving back to Scotland with her family? I’m going through the exact same battle with myself daily on ‘the best’ thing to do. I’m also Scottish living in Ballarat (been here just over 5 years). 

Be really good to hear your experience leaving and settling back home.

 

Thanks!

Hi Haggis,

I was pleasantly surprised when I got the email notification about this reply to my old post as I haven’t logged into this forum for ages.

 

We moved back in September 2020 and I can’t believe I have been home for almost a year. It was an extremely stressful experience and almost nothing went as planned initially when we moved home however slowly but surely we have managed to rebuild our lives after so many years. Perfectly happy to answer any specific questions. Also im quite active on a Facebook group  which I found really helpful when making the decision to move back and I really recommend joining for good info. I also ended up being interviewed for a podcast on the subject. I’ll post the link below in case you are interested.

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/britstralian/id1562466988?i=1000519675970

 

Where do you live and work in Ballarat? I’m quite open about the fact that moving to Ballarat from Melbourne was definitely the beginning of the end of my “Australian journey” but in all honesty I think I would have needed up coming home regardless where I ended up living. I could never 100% rule out a move back to Australia in the future but I doubt that I will, despite all the difficulties since returning and the disappointment of realising there was a reason I moved away from quite a few family members in the first place (!) I’m really glad to be back home and raising my kids in the country I feel we all belong.

Good Luck, any questions just ask.

Pam

 

Sorry to hijack an old thread, but we have recently returned to the UK and I am looking to transfer my Australian driver's licence transferred back to a UK one.  My UK licence expired a couple of years ago, however my Australian (Vic) licence is current.  I had been under the impression that I could just get it transferred over, but on the DVLA website it says I need to have been resident in UK for 185 days before I can transfer it over.  I really need a UK licence for work purposes and this could throw a spanner in the works.

From the posts here, others seem to have just transferred it, I'm wondering if the rules have changed recently or if the fact I did have a UK licence previously means I don't need ot have been resident to renew it.  Any help from someone who has done it recently would be appreciated.

44 minutes ago, Amber Snowball said:

Go for it. You might find that the size of your caseload means that you can’t do as much of the ‘good’ work that you would like but there are times of real reward when parents flourish with your support.

Scotland pays a band 7 as well I think, so bonus!,

Yes, I think this was the right move and I too thought I’d be in Australia for ever but something changed, don’t really know what. Just felt I was done with it.
I was there 13 years, moved my nhs Pension over there and everything, no intention of returning. I was good for around 10 years then a switch was flicked.

My now adult son is still in Australia and is likely to remain there but at the end of the day he could move anywhere and has his own life to lead, so I need to be where I need to be.

I still have days when I think did I do the right thing but I know I have. Australia was very good to me and I have a passport so could return.

Have you looked into returning to the NMC register yet? That was a complete ball ache. Took ages as I had to find someone who knows me who is a nurse and health visitor to declare I was ok to practice! I’d been gone for years! Luckily an old colleague did it but it was a pain. Took months!

You can only do what you feel is right at the time so I wish you the best!

I've only been here for 7 years and still in contact with a few friends from my old ward so luckily that part wasn't too bad. Currently still waiting fo Ahpra to do their bit and its asking for a supporting declaration and not sure what that is as a police officer friend at home and my manager here have both completed their sections. I applied for nurse bank and they got back to me and said they wouldn't consider my application until i was in the country (not that i was surprised, even after 7 years they are still as uptight an organisation as ever) I will also most likely be going back to a grad nurse pay as a band 5 despite being a band 7 here but again if our jobs were the only consideration we wouldnt be leaving Australia in the first place!

I also feel like I am done with Australia as does my husband, ive been advised by plenty that this is just a difficult period in my life (which it is of course with 2 children under 2) and that it will be fine once they go to kinder/school etc but ultimately i dont want my kids to grow up here for a multitude of reasons and whilst we loved Melbourne as a younger childless couple as I said previously my priorities in life have changed and I dont have the same view of the UK and Scotland as i had previously. Amazing how some time away (and no doubt an increase in maturity) can change your perspective on things.

What age is your son? Is there no chance of him joining you at any point?

14 hours ago, Amber Snowball said:

Errrmmm. It has its moments.

When I look at the district nurses and what they do then by comparison I think HV is ‘better’. It will give you a 9-5 mon-fri role. Although some areas are starting to offer evening and weekend services. The key is not to think you have to get everything done, every day,  otherwise it will consume you. The thing with being the caseload holder you feel responsible and you are responsible so prioritising is the key! Those families are yours for 5 (sometimes very long) years! No handover to someone else unless they move.
Some people seem to think we are pseudo social workers as well so it’s about being clear what we do and again not being dragged into covering other roles!

There are worse ways to earn a living that’s for sure!
The profession would be happy to have you! 
 

 

I’m sure it will have massive challenges, the area I’m from in Scotland is quite deprived so i know that will be even more challenging however I’ve been feeling over the past few years that it’s definitely something I would like to do. I’ve basically had 2 under 2 with a husband who works 60 hours per week, zero family support and not much in the way of friends around either, it’s completely changed my way of thinking and what I want out of my career (previously I had aspirations of going higher up in hospital administration) but since having my boys I’ve realised I would really like to work with other mums, particularly those who don’t have great support. I’ve been quite involved with the breastfeeding association here and I considering applying for midwifery but now we are going gone I’m eligible to apply for a traineeship so we shall see how things go. 
 

How many years were you in Australia? Do you feel confident that you have made the right decision? I’m 100% sure that this is the right decision for my family but I’m sad to leave Australia, I really did think I would live here forever. 

On 01/08/2020 at 18:29, Amber Snowball said:

It never occurred to me that I would be unwell. I have the most vanilla health history ever. Maybe I just suppressed that worry! 
It certainly puts the level of debt I would have had in Australia into perspective. It would have been mortgage debt not anything frivolous. 
Anyhoo, good luck with your move. What sort of nursing do you do? I’m a Health Visitor. Clinical commissioning and the obsession with KPIs is killing the role but there we go.

I work with some lovely people though and that makes all the difference.
I’m in the north west of England now and the amount of rain is an eye opener! Originally from near Heathrow.

I lived for a number of years in Geelong so know Ballarat. 
 

I have a crit care/trauma background and for the past three years I’ve been a bed manager and after hours coordinator initially at the Alfred then latterly at Ballarat, however believe it or not I am keen to retrain as a health visitor I looked into doing it here but of course needed my midwifery which I don’t have. KPI obsession is something I’m obviously very familiar with but overall do you still enjoy your role? 

On 29/07/2020 at 22:43, Amber Snowball said:

Good luck with your move back. It’s not utopia here but not all bad either! I’ve been back 2 years now, can’t believe it, and I think it’s going ok. I was diagnosed with a long term condition at Christmas which may mean I have to cut back my hours in the nhs and tbh I feel sick thinking about the situation I would probably have been in had I stayed in Australia with this happening. I would have had an increased mortgage and would be struggling I think.
The NHS is one messed up organisation! But you know that!

Hi Amber,

 

I must admit that going back to work for the NHS is the thing I am dreading about going home (that and the horrendous cold sideways rain that Scotland has in abundance) 

im sorry to hear about your health issues, I have often wondered how I would cope if I was diagnosed with a chronic condition or even if I had an accident and was unable to work for a period of time. The reality of the situation is that now we have kids all of our reasons for being here no longer matter, I know that we will all be better off in Scotland and I’ll just have to suck it up and go back to being a frazzled, over worked NHS nurse. 

On 10/07/2020 at 14:12, Lynne shenfine said:

Hi everyone. 

This is my first post on this forum, however, I have been reading for a few weeks and have found it to be extremely interesting and helpful.

This could be a very, very long post but i will give a little bit of background and cut to the chase! I am Scottish and we are known for waffling on!

My husband and i emigrated to Adelaide from Newcastle upon Tyne in March 2013. His family all live in the north of England and my family in the  highlands of Scotland. My husband had spent time in Oz during his training in both Melbourne and Brisbane for a year at a time (we are going back around 25 years!) He said Australia got under his skin and despite landing an excellent job in the U.K he never quite settled and dreamed of going back. He was previously married with a daughter when we met. A fantastic opportunity arose in Adelaide so we decided to go for it knowing we could travel and visit family and we could go home if it didn't work out. We had to give it a go or spend the rest of our lives wondering what if?

We left with our nine month old daughter and our second daughter was born three months after we landed. Our children are now 8,7 and we have a 3 year old too. Our families supported us but were equally heartbroken which we never really talk about!

My husband had been travelling twice a year to see his now teenage daughter and she had come to visit us too as she was getting older. I have never been back since we emigrated as my mum and dad were coming out at least twice a year and I wanted to wait until our children were a bit older before we made the trip. That was meant to be this year! Obviously Covid  has pretty much put paid to all of that in the near future and we are left wondering what now???? My husband id devastated at the thought of not seeing his daughter. Despite the distance they are very close (we all are!) and we have . done an amazing job of maintaining the relationship via visits and weekly FaceTime video chats and phone calls. My mum and I are also very close and I phone her every day but its just not the same.

Life is good here. My husband is a consultant surgeon due to come a professor very soon, loves his public job and his colleagues and has a thriving private practice. We live in a beautiful house with a pool close to the beach and  our older girls go to the local school where they are happy. I am a nurse but don't work so I am home with the kids. We have friends but haven't really found our tribe. We also have two dogs and a cat which we adore! We are permanent residents but haven't gone for citizenship yet.....stupid we know!

But............

It all looks great on paper, however, we spent most of 2019 VERY unsettled. We talked constantly about family and going home. At this point our parents were ageing and becoming less able to travel. My husbands family, including his beautiful 80 year old mum, and the majority of my family have never met our two youngest children. Hubbys trips back to the UK were beginning to take its toll as all his holidays were spent travelling home while i stayed here with the kids and no support network just praying there wouldn't be a disaster while he was away! 

We do love Adelaide, however, have issues. the summer is brutal and I often find the kids and I are confined to a fairly indoor lifestyle during the summer school holidays. My husband earns well but despite gruelling hours between tax and cost of living we aren't much better off than when he worked in the NHS!  His private work also buys him body and soul but it is very much something you are expected to do here.  We feel extremely isolated from the rest of the world and are beginning to regret coming here. 

My husband applied for a few jobs last year but we pulled out thinking that equally we would be insane to leave. I should probably add that my husband is 50 and Im 41 so the thought of starting again is daunting.

We pulled out of the jobs thinking as long as we can travel we can probably cope. Then covid happened.

We are genuinely now torn every single day as to what to do. Every time we say we will stay literally within 24 hours one of us has changed their mind! 

Its become all consuming and we feel we can't move on with life. We are also acutely aware that time is not on our side with regards to our childrens education, and friendships and our ages.

We just can't shake the feeling that our Aussie dream has run  its course. We miss our families and feel we are denying our children contact with them and in particular their  big sister.

My husband has applied for a job in Bath which he is discussing with his ex UK colleague this weekend to see if it would be suitable.

However we are also worried that going back won't be what we think it. That we are rose tinting it and we won't see as much of our families as we think or that UK winters are far more miserable than we remember! It would be a one way trip for us. If we went back we wouldn't come back to Oz again for by the financial implications we couldn't put our families through the heartbreak again. We haven't even discussed this with our families as we  don't want to get their hopes up!

It really is an impossible decision with no right or wrong answer. 

ANY words of understanding or wisdom would be so appreciated.

Thank you if you have read this far and i hope you and your families are safe and well wherever in the world you are.

P.S told you i could talk!!

 

 

 

 

Hi Lynne,

I really enjoyed reading your post. Our situations have a lot of similarities.

My husband and I moved to Melbourne from Glasgow in 2013. We moved to regional Victoria in 2018 after the birth of our first child but to be honest we have both felt pretty unsettled since then, we had another baby not long after, just before covid hit we had put our house on the market and had an offer accepted on land to build a house here and I think I must be one of the few people who feels they benefited from covid because the impact it had on our housing plans made us take a massive step back and re evaluate our lives and we realised that really we are no longer happy here and exactly as you put it "Our Aussie dream has run its course"

I am a nurse also and my husband is a police officer. I managed to work my way up the chain pretty quickly here and I am now a Grade 5, my husband earns a lot more here than he did in Scotland and the working conditions for both of us are much better but honestly our earnings in no way make up for the increased cost of living and since I went part time I feel like we are constantly struggling for cash and I cant believe we were considering increasing our mortgage by so much to build. My husband works ridiculous hours here and commutes one hour each way to work, I am home with our two boys as still on maternity leave and have zero support network and I feel so incredibly bored and lonely. I have picked up lots of friends over the years and the majority of them have flitted in and out of my life, I find Australians to be very "on the surface" and I have struggled to develop any deep friendships and apart from two friends (one irish and one scottish) I dont feel I have anyone I can rely on here whereas I have stayed in touch with a lot of friends at home and also have my Dad, sister and several extended family members I am in touch with often. Since becoming a mum my entire outlook on life here has changed dramatically. I hate that my boys are hidden away at the arse end of the world and I honestly thought to myself one day a few months ago "why am i choosing to be this miserable" I love the weather and I love my job, but these things are no longer as important to me as before. I really tossed up just powering through, knowing that this period in my life would be difficult regardless and once my boys are older It will get easier but really I know I would be delaying the inevitable and I didnt want to find myself feeling like this in 8 years time when the kids are settled at school and its an upheaval to them. Ultimately they were born here and we are all citizens so if they decide in the future to come back then they can freely.

As soon as we both admitted we were on the same page and wanted to go home its been all systems go and tonight we booked flights for the 8th of September, I still have a million things to organise but I now feel like I am 100% making the right decision and I cannot wait to be back in my homeland and I really feel I will have a new found fondness for the place.

I would be really interested to hear what you decide to do. Good Luck with it all, its an incredibly hard decision to make 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9 hours ago, BacktoDemocracy said:

Being very analytical and mercenary, all I would say is really think carefully before making the decision, the UK is forecast to suffer a 20% contraction in its economy and  now the time of this depression is not the time to be scrabbling for a new job in a new country, in this week alone there have been over 12,000 redundancies and large scale support from the govt is the only way millions of people are getting paid. 

Start to read the British online press, personally I would include the Guardian as a alternative.altho others might doubt it.

These are times not seen since the 1920's/30's so sentiment might have to be tempered with a lot of practicality.

Sorry, we are moving into uncharted waters,

You have my sympathy as we moved back ourselves 6 years ago for similar reasons,  altho we are much older, I imagine. 

Hi there,

Thanks for your reply, fortunately my husband and I are both in jobs that are always unaffected by economic downturns. Both the NHS and the police are having recruitment drives at the moment so it appears we will be able to obtain employment easily. I have debated this decision more than any other decision I have made in my life and overall I feel the benefits of moving home to be closer to our families far outweigh the negatives. 

3 hours ago, Issey said:

Maybe you didn’t understand the post - she needs to get home to her family and husband who is already here but cannot get a flight for the dog - a dog is for life not just Xmas - it’s family ( only true animal lovers get this so don’t worry) So your perception of a nightmare and mine will never agree. The dog was bought whilst they were living there they never thought they would need to return to England - and yes these are exceptional times and yes there are other families in the same situation. I was asking if anyone had experience or contacts to help. However it’s sorted now so thanks for those who had positive comments.  

Completely understand. Dogs are family. Can I ask what airline she used? We are looking at flying home late this year and will be taking our dog with us. Thanks 

17 hours ago, LKC said:

We lived in Sydney for almost 9 years, and it was only in the last three or maybe four years there that I started to feel unsettled. Not homesick as such, but just like I didn't belong. We had friends, but as you say they weren't the kind of friends you could rely on in an emergency. People were friendly, but those deeper friendships never developed somehow. I started to feel quite isolated and depressed, but didn't feel I could tell my husband because he seemed to be enjoying himself. We came over to the UK for a holiday, and that pretty much cemented my feelings. I confessed I wanted to move back, and husband admitted that he was a bit 'meh' about Australia anyway. We ended up moving to Scotland (where we'd not lived before - husband was offered a job so we took the chance), and although our marriage has since broken down, I'm sure it was the right thing to do.

Although we're in a different place in the UK to where we'd come from, and we didn't move close to family and friends, I feel more at home here than anywhere I've lived before. I have made some amazing 3am friends (you know, the ones you could phone in the middle of the night), and am really enjoying being part of an amazing community. I think it's the best thing I've ever done! 

I completely agree with what Marisa says - don't get stuck. We moved back before eldest started high school for that very reason. I couldn't imagine being stuck in a place I didn't want to be (not to mention what might have happened if ex and I had separated over there! That doesn't bear thinking about!).

Could you afford to go back to the UK for a visit, once this Coronavirus has done one? Maybe that might help to clarify your feelings.

I’ve been discussing it extensively with my husband over the past few days and I think we are going to give it a go. We effectively have nothing to lose. Our children are so young that they will never know any different, we are citizens and we can both come back to our jobs easily enough if it doesn’t work out. 

18 hours ago, Ausvisitor said:

If you have been in AUS 7 years, do you have citizenship? If not have you been in AUS enough actual time to qualify.

If you have citizenship (or could get it by applying) I'd be tempted to head back to the UK and try it out, knowing I could come back anytime I want without having to go through visa applications again. 

It's a harder decision if you aren't yet eligible for citizenship/not willing to wait while it is conferred as then you need to think, "would I want to come back in 10 years?"

 

But as Marisa says, don't get yourself into a position where you are stuck in a country you don't want to be in - nothing worse than that

We have our citizenship so going home and “trying it out” is a definite option. It’s just a very overwhelming decision to make I suppose

2 hours ago, Marisawright said:

You'll get plenty of people telling you, "Don't go back, you'll be worse off, you'll be mad to leave such a great lifestyle".   That's not the point. 

The question to ask yourself is, can you see yourself growing old in Australia?   Can you look forward to spending the rest of your natural life here, or does that thought fill you with dread?  If it's dread, then make a definite plan to go home as soon as you can.  It's going to take time to rebuild your life, pensions etc in the UK so the sooner you start, the better. 

We have seen so many members who wanted to go home but decided to persevere for a few years, to take advantage of better pay/better conditions etc.   But the problem is, the longer you stay, the more entrenched you get, and you'll find yourself putting it off for a couple more years, and a couple more, and suddenly you're stuck  - "we can't move now because it will disrupt our chlid's education",  "we can't move now because he wants to go to university and we'd have to pay international fees in the UK",  "we can't leave now because our son wants to stay with his girlfriend and I can't bear to leave without him", and finally, "we're stuck here forever now because of the grandkids". Don't be one of those sad people who get stuck in a foreign land.

 

Thank you. I fear that if we don’t do it now that it will keep rearing it’s ugly head until we do go back and by then it would be much more difficult

Hi everyone. I posted here last year about the same topic but given that I’m considering moving home again I wanted to have a chat about it in a forum that can be non objective.

My husband and I moved to Melbourne from Glasgow almost 7 years ago, we now live in Ballarat (small city 100km west of Melbourne) it took a bit of time but we finally managed to get into good jobs over here (nurse and policeman) bought a house, have recently had our second child and just purchased a block of land with the intent of building our dream home. I was very homesick after the birth of our first child but it subsided for the most part however recently (past 6 months) my husband has admitted that he feels like he is “done with Australia” He isint unhappy, doesn’t mind work and likes where we live, but for the most part he says he doesn’t fit in here and I tend to agree with him. We have no real friends here, I have lots of friends from work and mums groups but no one that I feel I could call on in a real emergency. I miss my friends and family at home and I do feel like I am depriving them from having a real relationship with my two sons.

 

At the risk of sounding overly dramatic I now feel genuine turmoil because since he told me this all I can think about is whether moving back home would be the right thing for our family? I really enjoy my job here and I love so many aspects of the lifestyle but Is having better pay and working conditions and better weather and access to the outdoors worth never feeling that proper sense of belonging? It’s also a real struggle sometimes having two young children, a husband who works long hours and zero support. 
 

Not really sure what I am looking for here, just a bit of chat really and perspective from other poms I suppose. I should add that we became citizens last month and have extremely transferable jobs so if the worst came to the worst and we hated being at home then we could always come back, however I also feel I can’t really just use that as a back up because I’m a mum of two now and things are very different from moving here as a young couple with no ties and responsibilities.

 

Thanks for reading 

Hi everyone,

Husband and I (Both Scottish) have been living in Victoria for 6 years now (5 years in Melbourne and now 1 year in Ballarat) but we have never been able to shake the feeling that perhaps we chose the wrong state when we first moved here. Don’t get me wrong there are a lot of things I love about living here, and now being in a large country town with Melbourne on our doorstep as opposed to living in the centre where it is extremely busy, massive housing costs, traffic blah blah blah it’s much better, but we both still talk often about how we wish we had moved to a warmer climate. Now that we have a toddler and another baby on the way, nightlife/restaurants/cafe culture isint anywhere near as important as it used to me and I still dream of the warmer weather, large house with a pool, taking my kids to the beach on the weekend, bbq for dinner most nights etc etc

Anyways, looking to hear from those who are living in Western Australia (even better if you have lived in Victoria as well) What do you love about it? Why should we move (or not move) As although I love the look of Queensland, WA is much more feasible for us job wise as my husband could transfer easily with no training or setbacks. we could both earn more money in WA and from what I can see now the mining boom is over housing is much more affordable. 

Thanks everyone 

SA would work as it is all classed as regional.  He would need to look at jobs in his field. They are building subs soon. 

He is a submarine engineer funnily enough. Any tips on the best place to look for jobs for him?

Yes he would need an employer to sponsor him before applying for a visa. Are there jobs for Marine Engineers in rural Victoria?

I think most likely south Australia but they haven’t even got as far as looking for jobs yet as I had advised that getting the visa first was the best option, however that was when I thought his job was eligible for a 189

Hi all, asking a few questions on behalf of a friend who visited me in March and has been talking about moving here ever since.

 

Her husband is a marine engineer which is on the skills list but only eligible for the 187 RSMS visa. Am I correct in saying that he would need to secure employment first then apply for this visa? Is it possible to get the visa application in motion then try to apply?

 

Does anyone have any experience of this visa living in regional Victoria? Since I live in regional Victoria I figured I would start my research based on that.

 

Thanks again

 

 

Australia Post are not noted for timely delivery.

Possibly the most diplomatic way I have ever heard Australia Post described haha

My most recent (online) Evidence of Citizenship application was approved in two days and the Evidence arrived by post a few days later.

Thank you. It’s good to know it’s not a long wait time.

Oh I found a lot of things in life simpler in the UK. Not saying that I preferred living there, I love living in Australia but Australians have a knack of making even the most simple thing complicated [emoji6]

Not really simpler. It appears i need to apply for a citizenship certificate for him, and have to send in an identity form for the baby, proof of our PR status and his birth certificate (all certified of course) not that any of this surprises me. If there is a way of making things complicated the Aussies will always do it [emoji849]

Thank you. I was afraid that was the case.

Sorry if this post is in the wrong place. Both my husband and I are permanent residents and our baby was born in Sep 2018 in Melbourne. I need to apply for an Australia passport for him and it’s unclear online whether I have to apply for the citizenship certificate for him or if his birth certificate is sufficient evidence. Can anyone shed some light? I don’t want to pay $190 for the certificate if I don’t need to.

 

TIA