olly8 Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Hi All Am new to this forum and just thought I would say hi. My wife's family live in Brisbane and last Christmas we went over to see them and had such a good time we are currently applying for residency and thinking of moving over in the next year or two - we have a 5 yr old girl and 7 year old boy so not an easy decision! My father was schooled in Sydney and moved to the UK when he was 19 only to return with my English mother when they were married and had my sister who is the only member of the family to have an Australian passport as was born there. My Father was born in Singapore and never thought at the time to get himself an Aussie passport which would have entitled me to one as I was born in the UK after they returned back to the UK for work reasons. I have been to Australia 7 times now and have always had an affinity with the place due to previous family connections and my Aunt lives in Sydeny, just by chance I met my wife 10 years ago whose family live in Brisbane and we are now looking to possibly make the move. I run a successful logistics business in the UK which is the main reason it looks like our visa application should be successful - it has nothing to do with family connections through either my side or my wife's side - apparently my business 'skills' are what allows us to be granted a visa - am currently in the 'expression of interest' stage which having passed the skills assessment ( apparently the hardest part) and the IELTS exam it's just a waiting game I'm told by my migration expert - hopefully they are right! As businesses go , with the global nature of logistics it is properly the perfect business to be involved in to maintain a connection with the UK allowing me to fly back on business if and when it is needed - therein lies my main challenge now to try and find a way to dramatically increase my business to and from Aus over the next few months to make the setting up of an office over there much easier and a serious option for the business and my business partner. Not quite sure how to tackle this but if anyone has any contacts with people either side of the world who import or export I am all ears ! I think about moving everyday and the pro's and cons but am definitely more in favour of emigrating than staying but I am terrified of making the decision to go and it's a huge mistake and we have to come back. By applying for residency now I would at least have the option to decide which I never had previously and 12 years ago when I lived in Sydney for 8 months i would have bitten my arm of for the privilege of resindency! Those of you that on this forum that have emigrated - did you have these same thoughts when you were still here, leaving family, friends etc ? Any regrets ? I would be really interested to hear peoples thoughts but understand it has probably been discussed many times on this forum before but any help would be appreciated Cheers guys Olly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tina0101 Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Welcome!! Weve been ren here nearly 3 months and have no regrets. In the run up to leaving, I think most people 'have a wobble'; are you doing the right thing? What if it doesn't work? Etc, but it's totally normal! We we have been lucky and both of us have secured jobs and our son (he's 17) is happy in school. Ive de found lots of new friends and there are so many opportunities to meet new people if you are willing to make the time. We're on the Bayside and there's a Facebook group for our area which is how we've met them. Enjoy the adventure!! I can't help on the business side but if you don't give it a go, you'll always wonder. I've met people who've had a torrid first year or so, but have stuck it out and love it. Family will still be there and tbh I don't find Skype that bad and there are mobile phone deals where you get UK minutes included. What at area of Brisbane are you looking at? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olly8 Posted November 17, 2014 Author Share Posted November 17, 2014 Hi Tina Thanks so much for the reply - always nice to hear people are happy with the move ! My wife's family live in Thornlands which seemed quite nice and I will probably look somewhere in the Eastern Surburbs but not sure - think the nicest places are all the most expensive like Wellington Point, Cleveland ? I am planning on coming over in January or February 'on business' to have a look round and see where is the best place for us - schools are really important for the kids, they love school here and it's a bit risk moving them especially if they don't like the new school! What work do you and your husband do may I ask? The reason I ask is my stage 1 visa application went in on 5th July this year and haven't had the EOI yet - this is normal apparently but it's getting a little frustration as am kind of in limbo until all the paperwork is sorted. How is Bayside ? Thanks Olly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Hi Olly and welcome to the forum. As you can see from my timeline below we are moving to the Redlands area next year. Here is the link to my recce report thread if it is of any use for you. These are all private schools so not sure if they are any help for you. http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/reccie-arrival-reports/218130-brisbane-recce.html In the end our daughter decided on Sheldon and she has a place from next October (just doing one term of year 6 as we did not want her to have a 6 month break from school). As a result we are also looking at property in Victoria Point, Mt Cotton and Redlands Bay where you get a little more for your money (though it is further out from the CBD) but Thornlands and Cleveland are still high on our list too. Good luck with it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olly8 Posted November 17, 2014 Author Share Posted November 17, 2014 Many thanks - interesting reading I always getting confused with the 'private' schools over there compared to over here! Private is paid in Australia I think ? My two kids go to a fee paying school and I would be looking for something similar over there I would imagine but the most important thing is finding the right school so my kids are happy as this is very important of course. It seems you are all set to go with flights booked ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Many thanks - interesting reading I always getting confused with the 'private' schools over there compared to over here! Private is paid in Australia I think ? My two kids go to a fee paying school and I would be looking for something similar over there I would imagine but the most important thing is finding the right school so my kids are happy as this is very important of course. It seems you are all set to go with flights booked ! Yes, the schools we went to were fee-paying. The fees are less than half what we pay in the UK which is a real bonus for us. We have timed the move to coincide with our daughter completing year 6 at her Prep School as her friends would be dispersed then anyway. I would recommend organising a visit and chat with each of the schools in the area you are interested in to get a feel for them for yourself if that is a practical proposition for you. Taking our daughter worked out well as she got to choose and felt very empowered but as you are there on business that will not be possible for you. It has also settled some of our daughter's nerves about the move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tina0101 Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 We live in Wellington Point. Husband is a teacher and I work in school IT/admin. School fees, for the equivalent of private education here, are so small compared to the UK. I would strongly recommend that you see the schools before you commit - Sheldon was most definitely not for my son when we visited!! there are quite a few private schools (mixed and single sex, religious and non denominational) in the area. Our son is at a Catholic boys school, even though we are not religious they were happy to have him as long as he respected the schools values. The state schools around here also have pretty good reputations. I agree that If if you look further down at Victoria Point/redlands Bay/Mount Cotton, you do seem to get more house for your money. They're also not on the train line, which is why we are looking probably up to Cleveland (although I like Thornlands too!). Hopefully you'll hear hear something soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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