AdrianAdrian

Good evening everybody, Until our furniture etc arrives in Melbourne in approximately April 2023, my wife, son and I are looking for a furnished place in Melbourne for a few months. Airbnb is ridiculously expensive so we are looking for another way to find a furnished place to live. Does anybody have any tips or know of anybody who might have a furnished place they would be willing to rent out come the end of January? Our budget would be about 600 a week and in a neighbourhood no more than 40 minutes from the CBD if possible. Thanks! Adrian

All of the comments have been really helpful, and as we have lived in Melbourne before, albeit only shortly in 2019, we kind of know the deal there. I was just curious as to how costs, aside from real estate had, had increased since then. Globally, costs have increased in most sectors, so it won't be a surprise for us to see food etc costing more. Real estate, however, has exploded everywhere. After looking at our old budgets from 2019, I believe we can get by for six months with the one salary of 100k. We don't drink, smoke and rarely eat meat. We just want a change of scenery and after four years, hopefully get AUS citizenship. My original question was whether 100k would cover our family of three for an initial six months. I remember the higher cost of living in Melbs, but this is a compromise we are now willing to take for half a year. We have savings, and although we hope to ring-fence these so that we can hopefully buy a property once my wife has returned to work in July 2023, we have no qualms dipping into the to get us through the first six months. We considered moving to another country in Europe, but dealing with all the red tape in a foreign language is something we have just left behind anyway after living there since 2014, and we want to be able to operate in English again for a few years due to our our baby's needs. I know some will say it will be tough for six months and others may say give it a go, but to be honest, staying here isn't an option, even if it costs more to live in Australia. My UK teacher salary would be 30k GBP a year working approx 65 hours a week, whereas in Vic it would be just shy of 100k AUS, and less hours. However, one thing I have learnt over the years from living abroad is that more money doesn't necessarily lead to more happiness, even if it does help to make life more convenient. Anyway, here's wishing you all luck wherever you may be.

We are in the North West, which has always been much poorer than the Home Counties, and before 2014 the place around here was great to be in. After nine years in Europe, we came back and were shocked to see how things have changed. Of course, there are different areas in the UK, but the poverty and amount of food banks that many now have to rely on in the North West is rather shocking. I also don't remember it being a gauntlet trying to get a doctor's appointment in 2014. I understand the pandemic took its toll on many places, but even abroad it was nowhere near as bad as it seems to be here. I am just struggling to understand how things have become so different, and I don't see much opportunity for our son here in the future. We arrived back here at the start of summer, and it was also great to spend time outdoors with our family, but the place is not the UK we remember before 2014. Sorry for sounding so apocalyptic, and you are right, there probably are more affluent areas, but we just don't recognise (our part of the) UK anymore.

Come back to the UK and live here for a while - you will realise how dire the place has become. We last lived here in 2014. It was a completely different place back then, upbeat, optimistic and a United Kingdom. It is almost unrecognisable now. You might think Scomo was bad, but seriously, the last fella here utterly gutted the place, in addition to misleading parliament and he lied to the Queen. The new PM is trying to sink the currency and enrich her mates. We can't wait to leave the sinking ship.

We lived in Europe for the last ten years, and apartment living is the norm in most cities there, so we have no qualms about doing so. Of course, having our own house would be a dream, but as long as we have a roof over our head in a safe area, house, townhouse or apartment are all fine with us. Once my wife starts to work come July 2023, then we can see how her salary allows us to broaden our search. Even if the bank would give us a 900k loan, we wouldn't take it. That kind of money is just absurd, particularly with the mortgage repayments. We have no inheritance nor a bank of mum or dad to go to, so it is all about starting at the bottom of the property ladder for us. We will give living in Melbourne a go, and if it doesn't work, there are other places to try. Anywhere is better than the UK right now, so we won't give up.

I know the feeling. We had lived away from the UK for almost 10 years, and now we don't relate in many ways to Britain or the current British mentality here. We came back so that our son could spend some time with his grandparents, but now we realise we could never live here.

Thanks everybody, We have decided that Sydney isn't going to work at the moment. The place is simply too expensive for us to live on with a paltry teacher's salary. Hopefully in a few years we can revisit the idea, but we aren't prepared to moved around the globe to live in poverty. Once I hopefully become a headmaster or work for the higher levels of the DfE, then my salary can surpass 120k per year (max a teacher is paid in NSW). Now I can understand why so many are leaving the teaching profession in Sydney. We will probably give Melbourne a go, and should it not work out there either, there are other options for us (we have connections in WA too). Once we hopefully have Aus citizenship in four years, we will reassess future plans. We would like to get our son Aussie citizenship, and open his future options, to add to his GB and EU opportunities. Thanks for all your advice, and good luck with your future endeavors!

We know Brunswick East very well, lived there in 2019, but we didn't like the place that much. The trams to the CBD were always rammed, and we just didn't like the neighbourhood too much. We would be looking for somewhere with a train station and good motorway connection, like Oak Park way perhaps, where families also live. We looked at Geelong too, seemed a nice place, but a job that has come up might be in Fitzroy North, and the 1hr+ commute each way from Geelong would not worth the beach style trade-off in our opinion. As a teacher it is impossible to do any work from home, so location still matters for us unfortunately.

We have just over $100k saved up and will try to ring-fence this so that we can use it for a property in July or so, when we hope to buy. My wife can work, yes, we just want that she spends another six months or so at home with our baby son whilst we all get used to being there. Then he will go to nursery say three or four days a week and we will both be working. So basically it is about surviving on the 100k salary for six months as a three piece without having to eat into our savings for the deposit. Thanks for the info!

Dear all, In the new year, my wife, my one year old son and myself are planning on moving to Australia. Our initial plan was to possibly move to Sydney, where my wife's brother lives, however, it seems like Sydney is out of our price range. So I am curious as the Melbourne may work? My wife wants to stay home and look after our baby for a while longer, probably another six months, so until June 2023, and I will be working as either a primary school teacher or a German and Spanish high school teacher. My salary is likely to be around 100k, and although we lived in Melbourne in late 2019 before our baby was born, we are not sure if we will be able to get by on my salary alone. Is 100k going to be enough for the first six months? We have savings of approx $100K. We would also eventually be looking to buy a small place to live, but our budget will be about 600k. Are there any areas in Melbourne you would recommend for a small family, with a price range of up to say 600k, which is say no more than a 30 min drive to Fitzroy North (due to possible job offer)? We don't mind the type of property (unit, flat, townhouse etc) but we do not want to have a balcony but rather some kind of garden/communal area, as we want our son to be able to run around somewhat. We are in our mid 30s, do not want to be renting forever and would like to have something we can call home. We are currently in the UK, but I cannot bring myself to consider raising our son here, the country is so broken. Any advice welcome. Cheers!

Yes, I know how expensive living there can be, but Sydney seems out of control. Childcare is an extra cost, hence why my wife would also like to stay at home a while longer with our son. I believe there is the CCS, which should lower the amount paid for childcare in Australia, and this will be improved upon in July 2023 by the Labour party there. As far as double salary goes in ten years or so, this isn't possible as a teacher, or head teacher even. The pay is pretty poor compared to other careers, so I may have to change career if I want to hit the 200k mark. We will be 40 in a few years time, and really don't want to be renting then, paying out somebody else's mortgage. Thanks for the advice anyway

Sydney is a great place, do not get me wrong, but so is Melbourne. It is more artsy and has much more live music, which appeals to me. I notice you you returned back to Aus after living in the UK in 2016 or so. What made you go back?

Melbourne is a great place, even without the 'global' tourist attractions

Hi everybody, Thanks for the quick replies and information. I guess Sydney isn't going to work for us then, regardless of how much we try. We don't really want to live in squalor after moving half way around the world as we would just hate being there. It might be a global city, but that is no good if you can't live there. A friend of mine lives near Newcastle, but also told me that because of the pandemic, people from Sydney drove up the house prices something crazy. It is quite ironic that I became a teacher after a 1 year PGCE because the job was on the skills list (quickest way into the country), but now can't afford to live there, in Sydney at least. I understand now why there is a shortage, particularly if people in the job can't support themselves living there, in addition to the somewhat dismal job working conditions and unruly children nowadays. Maybe we will just move elsewhere in Australia. We would like to have family around, hence the reason for Sydney. Living near to Newtown was never going to happen, we know how expensive it is there, but then living way out west in the extra heat and with the gangs wouldn't be much fun either. My wife also works in education, more in the administrative and assessment side. She would probably return to work part-time in June 2023, when our son is 18 months old. We have been to Melbourne before, but it wasn't the right time or set-up for us back then, and we also didn't have our son in late 2019. Personally I liked the city and my job, but other factors meant we weren't meant to be live there then. I will ask in the Victoria forum to see what they think about living on 100k a year and landing a nice first home to live in for 600k. We also would consider the Perth metro, but there aren't as many jobs going there, even if property is much cheaper. I also lived there back in 2010, down in Freo. Nice place too, but again, job prospects are lower, but then again, it is part of the compromise. Anyway, thanks for the advice everybody.

Dear all, In the new year, my wife, my one year old son and myself are planning on moving to Sydney, where my wife's brother lives (in Newtown). My wife wants to stay home and look after our baby for a while longer, probably another six months, and I will be working as either a primary school teacher or a German and Spanish high school teacher. My salary is likely to be around 100k, but we have heard horror stories about living in Sydney with how expensive it is, so we are not sure if we will be able to get by on my salary alone. However, there must be plenty of other folks on 100k or less in Sydney, who manage to get by and some kind of comfortable life... I hope! Is 100k going to be enough? We would also be looking to buy a small place to live, but our budget will be about 600k. After looking online, it is likely we will have to live in the outer suburbs, as property elsewhere in Sydney is completely unaffordable. Are there any areas in Sydney you would recommend for a small family, with a price range of up to 600k? We don't mind the type of property (unit, flat, townhouse etc) but we do not want to have a balcony but some kind of garden/communal area, as we want our son to be able to run around somewhat. We are in our mid 30s, do not want to be renting forever and would like to have something we can call home. Staying in the UK is also not an option, because it is on its way down the drain. Any help or pointers much appreciated.

Hey Rick, I went down this route in 2017, and to be honest, I just did it myself without an agent and saved a few grand. Of course, I imagine they offer a great service for those who feel they need the support in submitting it, but I didn't feel I needed the extra help. I had a few years experience teaching Spanish as a primary teacher, got my PGCE in the UK 2014, and had to take an IELTS test to get some extra points too. The whole process for the sponsorship took me about half a year, and tbh it wasn't too difficult. Just follow the steps that they ask of you and you'll be fine with the state sponsorship. As soon as I got the sponsorship, my 190 visa invite came through automatically. This may have changed since 2017, but that is how it was with me. Once you eventually get the 190 visa, then you have to register with the VIT so you are allowed to teach in Victoria, who require more paperwork and certificates, plus you have to pay an annual fee. Only when you are registered with the VIT can you start to teach, and then you will be on a Provisional Licence, which means you have two years from the date of issue to complete a set number of days teaching. Furthermore, you will have to submit coursework that will then push you over to having a Full Licence. Sounds like a lot, but if you are serious about doing it, just go ahead with it. Anything is better than teaching in the UK! Good luck!

Just a quick update from me - our son's 101 PR visa has now been approved. We applied for our son's visa at the start of February and it was approved today, meaning it took a little over four months. After submitting all the initial documents, we were subsequently asked to submit a health check for him and also police checks from myself and his mother. This delayed the process a little, but nonetheless, a turn around of four months is pretty decent considering at least 25% of applications can take up to 9 months to process according to the homeaffairs website. Our son was only born at the end of last year, so I imagine because he is still so young, there wasn't that much documentation needed which therefore expedited the process. Good luck to anybody else who is looking to take this visa route and maybe see you Down Under one day in the future.

Well hopefully the process doesn't take so long. In today's world, patience is the word!

Thanks for that! 6 months seems much quicker than the stated times on the website. Fingers crossed ours can be processed as quickly!

Taking 21 - 34 months for the child 101 visa means our PR will have expired by then (exp July 23). But we can't do much anyway until he is born and we have his birth cert, so that we can apply for his UK passport.

Did your child also have to have a medical examination? Not sure how we will arrange one with the paper application as we need this HAP ID. Somebody also mentioned that the parents need to get new police checks, even if they already have PR. Was this also true in your case?

Good afternoon, Unfortunately no, not managed to get anywhere to be honest. Heard a few people mention a 600 tourist visa, but that is about it. Will look into speaking to a migration agent in the new year once our baby has its passport. Good luck and hope you get things sorted before January. Regards, Adrian

Righto, that sounds like an interesting path. Would this involve the 600 visa which some people are talking about, or just taking the baby on a 3 month holiday visa at the airport and trying to extend that if needed until the PR comes through? A tourist visa requires private health insurance though, doesn't it? Or can we, as two Brits with PR, get our baby onto medicare even with his tourist visa? With all the tests, injections etc that babies need in the first few years, we wouldn't take him if he didn't have medical care. Thanks for the help both of you

Dear all, After keeping an eye on the child visa 101 processing times, I have noticed that in the last few weeks the application process estimation times have gone crazy. 21 months for 75% and 34 months for 90%. Who on earth can realistically plan their lives with these kind of times?? Is there any way to speed up the process? Our PR visa runs out in 2023 and due to Covid and my wife's pregnancy we have been unable to travel to Australia in the last 12 months. With the birth in December in Europe, where we have been stuck since early 2020 and only being able to submit the baby's PR application come early 2022 (birth certs, health checks etc), the visa would only likely be processed after our own PR has expired. Does anybody else have any similar experience? I also might have landed a job starting June 2022, so preferably our dependent child would need his visa by then. Any help much appreciated. Thanks, Adrian

Dear all, I am new here and have tried to look for some info on this forum via the search bar, but so far I have not had much success. Hence the query here. Maybe somebody has experience with a similar issue and can shed some light on it... Basically, my wife and I, both British, have PR and lived in Victoria in 2019 but in Dec 2019 we came back to Europe for personal reasons and then the pandemic hit. Since then, we have been unable to return to Australia, and now we are expecting our first baby (yuhu! Smelly nappies and blood-shot eyes here we come!) We would like to return to Australia by July 2022, as I may be starting a new job in Vic then. However, our baby is only due to be born this December, giving us only approx 7 months to apply for a PR child visa before the job begins. Therefore we have two options I believe, a child 101 visa or the child 802 visa, meaning the baby will also receive PR. Does anybody have experience taking either of the two visa paths for the child: 1 - apply for the child 101 offshore, and then head to Australia with the baby on a tourist visa, until the 101 is approved? 2 - travel to Australia with the baby on a tourist visa (with private health insurance for the little one, or trying to get the baby on medicare) and then apply for the onshore 802 visa? Both the 101 and the 802 seem to have incredibly long processing times, more than 12 months, and well, my employer might not let me wait so long. I do now want to leave my wife with the baby whilst I go to Australia and wait for the visa decision, in case somebody suggests that. If we do not return to Australia by July 2023, our PR expires, so we need to somehow expedite the process if at all possible. Any help, pointers, tips would be much appreciated! Cheers, A