Daffyduck

6 minutes ago, Constance said:

I have said everything is based on my circumstances, my views of what is significant for myself, my family right now. What used to be the case is not relevant, I have stated specifically this is my opinion and my view and my lesson incase that is helpful to others. 

Ours is around 25% as I said - yes it's specific elements and they equate to around 25% of the total costs. 

This is a grey area from which there is gaps between info from immigration and employer contracts. The blog posted earlier was the most helpful of responses, thanks Daffy. 

No worries, hope you get things sorted out.

14 hours ago, Marisawright said:

However the agent is working for the employer, not for you.  If they're a good agent, they wont mislead you, but they might not disclose all the downsides or risks because it's not their job to warn you of those -- you're not the client.

Very true but we were offered a very generous relocation package. The days of everything getting paid for are pretty much over now, my wife's company now cap relocation at $10k which if you're moving a family across doesn't cover much.

10 hours ago, Nemesis said:

In 2021, a friend of mine consulted a very reputable agent about a domestic violence issue. In the home country it was probably the equivalent of a long-spent caution, in the UK it would've been laughed out of court. Friend only wanted a 3 month tourist visa. 

The agent estimated a fee of a couple of thousand dollars, at least, and potentially a 2 year wait, with very little guarantee of success, followed by an appeal taking 2-3 years, still with no guarantee. And I gather timings are now even longer. 

Friend went to Thailand instead

 

It can be done. FIL was referred to VACCU as he had a caution for a domestic issue (non violent) but it still came with the tag line "domestic abuse aggravator". He has terminal cancer and had a very narrow window for coming out so we sent pleading emails to the minister for immigration and our federal MP. Lot's of character statements and police reports also submitted to VACCU. Visa was approved within a week of sending the emails. 

The extenuating circumstances, (relatively) minor nature of the conviction and the fact it would be a one off trip would have helped but can't see them bending any rules in the case of a working holiday visa. 

If you're going for a 186 wont the sponsoring employer organise an agent?

Found this if it helps.

https://www.keystonevisa.com.au/ens-186-visa-am-i-able-to-leave-my-employer-after-i-obtain-my-permanent-residence/

1 hour ago, Constance said:

Adding to this again... 

As a lesson learned to others looking at this and skilled stream. 

I was almost through the independent skilled route and flipped to the ENS last minute due to unknowns in processing times. This was a mistake for me, I should have carried on as the independent as I would have got the job anyway, it would not have cost more and without the strings. 

Just a note of my personal experience should anyone find themselves in the same position looking at these options. 

Sponsorship can seem like the ultimate win but it's not all it's cracked up to be and I wish I'd stayed on my own track. 

I think that very much depends on your personal circumstances. We did well out of the sponsored scheme as the entire move was paid for (including visas). We essentially got to move to Australia for very much reduced personal financial cost.

I'd probably also say that it's on the individual to fully understand the terms and conditions of the visa before any ink hits paper. 

20 minutes ago, Constance said:

Hi, 

Thanks for replying. Where did you read this?

Cheers, Ashley 

The working full time for 2 years bit was one of the conditions in the visa. 

Like Maria says though, if your employer is okay about it then I wouldn't worry too much.

Ours took a few weeks but might depend on your trade

We were looking at that. Seems that there is a requirement in the visa to remain with the employer in a full time role for 2 years.

Afraid it's unlikely to be good news for yo, VACCU referral pretty much a certainty and they take a very dim view of any domestic violence convictions. They consider restraining order on grounds of safety domestic violence, especially when it comes with a conviction. The  VACCU process will probably take at least 6 months and potentially years. The VACCU unit is also a notorious black hole, it's very difficult to get to speak with anyone there either through email or phone. Generally, the only way they will speed an application up is on grounds of ill health or if there are strong extenuating circumstances to grant entry, unlikely to be the case for a WHV. Again, doubt it's what you want to hear but I think it's very unlikely your application would be approved. Australia imposed what is essentially an outright ban on anyone with a domestic violence conviction from entering the country in 2019. Just think it's best to be honest about your chances before you go chucking lots of time, effort and money at it. 

Jeezo, some grim reading here. Was bad when we left but can see it's got a lot worse. It's a shame, like Cheery, I remember Glasgow during the late 90's early 2000's being absolutely buzzing. We're heading back for a trip around Easter so suppose we can see how bad it's gotten. Might be good because my wife is having her first wobble just after passing the 1 year mark here.

Hi,

Quick question I'm hoping someone can help me with. My wife was the main applicant for a 186 skilled PR Visa. She was looking to make a small reduction in her working hours to spend more time with the kids. She's been told by her employer that working FT is a condition of her visa. I'm not really sure where this comes from, does anyone have any experience of this?

Congratulations Rob, hope the move goes smoothly

8 hours ago, Cheery Thistle said:

The Tunnel and The Arches, Moskito and Booly Mardy’s and a lot of the places in Merchant City. It’s all changed now, but Merchant City is still quite nice and OK for a night out. Bath St is dire now though. 
Don’t start me on the tax. Council has just closed 3 of our pools/leisure centres but are proposing a £700 per year council tax increase, alongside £43million of cuts over the next 5 years. That’s on top of huge cuts over the past 5 years already. Where will it all end? 

https://news.westlothian.gov.uk/article/79328/Council-disagree-with-proposals-on-Council-Tax?fbclid=IwAR0U6a1t8D5lUVsI5SW0n_9ifVnfcgb0Q8_7RLRyhMd2Et9feyPSQoGMVMA_aem_AaXlilbssjEjhFoxQcTiiqdA50S_Np26ad7mQ3Bg8qtHJiQ7c_SP6SVXOTKUdIIPsvA
 

Thought even the Merchant City was going downhill, all started when they closed Boudoir.

Same all over Scotland, our council tax was sitting at 2.5k before we left and the council kept dreaming up ways to add in additional charges. Best one was when they started charging you if there was any grass in your food waste bin.... Swimming pools closing, libraries the same, roads and pavements a sate but still charging full whack.

Still seems like there's plenty of money for hair brained schemes though, the cycle lanes appearing all over Scotland for a start, then Glasgow council restricting the biggest motorway in the country to 30mph. 

Glad I left.

13 hours ago, welljock said:

It would have been Dom Pérignon or a nice bottle of Cab Sav. Can't believe you never went to Clatty Pats.

The West end might as well have been another planet when I was younger, don't think I even went to Ashton Lane until I was in my mid 20's.

2 minutes ago, Toots said:

I was thinking more of leafy Bearsden.  it used to be one of the more posh suburbs of Glasgow but who knows these day  .............  the druggies and drunks may have infiltrated there too. 

Still posh, comparatively speaking of course. You know when you're in the nicer parts of Glasgow when they've got a Waitrose.

1 hour ago, Parley said:

To be honest. $700K is a very affordable home.

Most would be paying over a million in capital cities.

Fair point though Glasgow is far smaller than most of the capitals, it's about half that of Adelaide and the average income is about $45k PA less than Melbourne/Sydney. Suppose when you factor the difference in average salaries the $700k works out equivalent to $1.2m. 

Either way, I don't think it'll be too long before the UK is following the same curve as Australia and most people will end up being priced out the market all together, either that and it'll be like Canada where you'll start seeing lenders offering 90 year mortgages (I wish that was a joke).

58 minutes ago, Toots said:

I dare say you wouldn't see it in the more salubrious suburbs of Glasgow either.

Newton Mearns still had a young team, used to see them swaggering down the street with their bottle of Buckie in hand.

2 hours ago, Marisawright said:

Where's that?  Where I live in Melbourne, a small 3 bed semi would cost you $1.5 million.   Where I used to live in Sydney, $2 million.

Newton Mearns, just outside Glasgow. West of Scotland has never been known as somewhere with sky high property prices so $700k for a 3 bed semi there is still considered very expensive compared to a few years ago for that part of the world. Compared to what my budget would have bought me in Glasgow Vs here in Adelaide, it's worlds apart. Got a nice big house with pool on a quarter acre plot, something I would never have been able to afford before. 

Long of the short is the houses all across the developed world are becoming unaffordable for the average person. Unfortunately I can't see an end to it.

7 minutes ago, InnerVoice said:

Whether you find the cost of living cheap or expensive will depend greatly on your income and lifestyle. We all have different salaries and spending habits so while one person may find a place cheap, another will find it expensive. What I've noted from this thread is that if I ignored my housing costs, my monthly outgoings in both countries would be roughly about the same. My energy bill is zero, my grocery bill is twice as much as it would be in the UK, and other costs are pretty similar so it balances out overall.

Unfortunately, I can't ignore my housing costs. My mortgage is currently 45% of our total outgoings, and by this time next year it will have increased to 55% as our fixed rate will have ended. That's unsustainable in the long term given that I'll need to keep working until I'm 83 to pay it off. If I was back in the UK my mortgage would be zero because I have enough equity in my Australian home to buy a similar home in (regional) UK outright.

Forget climate change and AI, affordable housing is the challenge of our time - not just in Australia, but in all developed nations where population growth is exceeding the rate at which new homes can be built.

Agree 100% re housing affordability, it's a crisis that many (Most? All?) developed countries are failing miserably to deal with. Australia does seem slightly further down that road than some places in the UK but it was becoming very similar. There are 3 bed semis going in my old area for over  A$700k, it's not sustainable.

On 05/09/2023 at 20:11, Cheery Thistle said:

Thank God someone who finally agrees with me lol. Glasgow is so grim these days and it actually makes my heart sad. My first grad job was based there and in the drinks industry in the early 2000’s when Glasgow was quite a trendy place to be with great shopping and nightlife. I saw the inside and behind the scenes of most of the cool bars and clubs, attended many launch parties etc, was great fun! My boss hired the party fire engine for our Christmas do one year and I was fireman lifted in and out of every pub hahaha! Would be frowned upon now I’m sure. 
Now it’s a case of dodge the zombie on the way to work. And yes, it’s filthy, as are many of the trains in and out (despite that fact that it costs me over £20 for a return journey of 45 minutes). How and when will this ever change I’m not sure. 
Edinburgh is more my home town as it’s where all my family are from and most of them live. It is better and when I can work from the office there I do that. Even Edinburgh is not what it was pre-Covid though. 
As for tax, I believe we are now paying the second highest level recorded since WWIIhttps://www.economist.com/britain/2023/04/11/britains-tax-take-is-getting-bigger-but-not-better

Scunnered lol. 

 

Same, I'm old enough to remember Glasgow in the 90's before they cleaned it up and made it somewhere you actually wanted to spend time, sad to see it sliding rapidly backwards. Used to spend many a night out in town in the 2000's, lot's of good memories of the Garage, Cat House, Shack etc. (even went into Bonkers one time!), nothing but empty units, junkies and homeless now. Almost couldn't believe how busy Rundle Mall was when we got here, reminded me of Buchanan street back in it's good days.

The tax thing is great, I always get a laugh when my Aussie colleagues complain about tax rates here. Try 42% tax plus NII and your pension coming out of salary rather than being on top!

On 12/08/2023 at 18:24, Cheery Thistle said:

I just wanted to give people a realistic idea of how much things cost here now. Our council tax is quite heavy, food and drink has got really ££. You will always get someone coming on saying ‘I feed my family of 5 for £50 a week’ but honestly I don’t know what they are eating!! We try to have protein at every meal so I think the meat and fish gets expensive. I cook from scratch all the time - dinners would be things like cod wrapped in Parma ham with cherry tomatoes, roast chicken, warm chicken salad, salmon with potatoes and veg. I make soups and salads for lunch. So we eat well. We do also like a bottle of wine and a couple of beers at the weekend, but don’t overdo that any more - too old now!
Fuel is £1.50 a litre, car tax is £180 a year for the diesel car, insurance is £70 a month. I mean, I suppose we have a ‘nice’ car, but honestly I need something that’s at least reliable - can’t go back to the days of car start roulette lol. Especially with public transport not being great. 
I’m not sure how expensive our area is really. Edinburgh has got really dear - £13 for a glass of wine last time I was out. Specifically where we are isn’t too bad but there aren’t many places to go out any more - most places have shut! Grocery prices are the same nationwide. 
Our mortgage rate is low, around 2%, and amount is relatively low too but we are opting to pay it off over a shorter term. I reckon a mortgage in Aus for us would be in region of $3500. 

Glasgow, was the same before we left. Price of things was just getting insane, that and the taxes kept creeping up. Couldn't believe it when I paid nearly 7 quid for a pint in town....

We've been here a while now and I genuinely don't think it's that much more expensive, some things are but other things are actually cheaper here. What amazes me is how clean and tidy everything is here, I know Glasgow ain't Edinburgh but Glasgow was looking like an absolute midden when we left, here is utterly spotless and tidy by comparison.

Magic, thanks folks, cleared that up nicely.

I'd heard that you're exempt from the Medicare additional surcharge if you're still on the first 12 months of your PR visa. Not been able to find anything online about this, can anyone confirm?

Yup, would far prefer to go myself but can't guarantee time off work required for the trip, just the nature of the job unfortunately.