gambale Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 Hey everyone, I am hoping some of you would be willing to share your experiences in relation to your arrival and initial set up in Australia. I have a wife and 2 young children (7 and 2 years old) and we are planning to move to Brisbane area (still researching where!). I'm currently working with my migration agent on a 189 visa application with a nominated skill of Software Engineer. We are hoping, all being well, that we can move out next year. I'm really interested in how people have made this move that were/are in a similar situation to ours. More specifically, I need to try and minimise the stress for my wife and kids so I am considering heading out perhaps a month ahead on my own, stay in some basic accommodation and try to secure a suitable rental and hopefully make some progress job hunting (although I'm not currently sure what is realistic to expect when searching for software jobs in Brisbane). We are planning to travel light and do this whole thing with a modest budget so this additional trip would impact the overall cost. So has anyone else taken this approach, is it worth it? Any advice or experience shared is greatly appreciated! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 I personally would never let my husband have sole say in the house for a longer term rental and him to go on ahead and choose all that. Just the little things I'd look for he would not. And he might not be so fussed with which way the house is facing, where the plugs are in a room and other things but I would. Also I'd want to see an area where I was potentially going to live, look round it, make sure it ticked my own boxes for myself, the kids and the family. Sure my husband would probably not make a terrible choice in area but house wise, I'd need to make sure I could see it for my own eyes first to know things in it would not grate on me or not be practical in the longer term. I'd be so peed off if he rented a house with a badly laid out kitchen for example. I'd also want to be certain I was confident the house was in the zone for a decent school. If a house was rented in an area with a not so great school I'd be very unhappy. I'd need/want to be able to research schools in full in each area that was being considered, to perhaps go view them if able and so on. I'd not want hubby deciding that solely. I don't think he would either. He'd want me to feel comfortable settling on an area and therefore a school zone (not all states/areas are zoned but many can be). I'm in the group that says go out together, have a couple of weeks to settle in as a family, find your feet, look for a rental together and all that. Many book a short term fully furnished rental for about 4 weeks to give them some breathing space to find a longer term unfurnished rental. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 You'll get lots of differing views on the best way to do it! Some would say migration won't work unless you're both fully committed, and therefore the whole process is something you need to do together all the way from start to finish. However if money is really tight then yes, personally I would recommend you coming out on your own first. One of the biggest costs of migrating is the cost of holiday accommodation while you look for a long-term rental (you'd be wise to book 4 weeks), plus living costs while you're looking for work and have no income coming in. Obviously you'll save a lot if it's just you in a hostel rather than paying for a two bedroom holiday flat. And if your wife and kids can stay with family in the UK until you've found a job, that would be a big worry off your mind. I would say definitely do that if you were going to Perth, where people are taking months to find work - I have no idea what the market is like in Brisbane but perhaps better safe than sorry? Most Australian companies run their IT from Sydney or Melbourne so I'd say it could take a little time to find the right job in Brisbane - and you don't want to be worried about how to feed your family in the meantime. I'm not sure I agree with Snifter about you not being able to choose a rental on your own - if it was a long-term place to live that's a different story, but if it's only going to be a six-month rental while you look for a place to buy, then surely it doesn't matter which way the house faces, so long as it's in the right school zone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 I'm not sure I agree with Snifter about you not being able to choose a rental on your own - if it was a long-term place to live that's a different story, but if it's only going to be a six-month rental while you look for a place to buy, then surely it doesn't matter which way the house faces, so long as it's in the right school zone. If its a year long lease being signed for, which often many properties are, then I'd stick with my point about it being a tough sell if I hated the house for whatever reason or it really didn't work for me/us. Starting off in a house that you don't like or struggle with is not a great way to start a new life or start those early months trying to find your feet. My heart used to sink when I had to head home to the place we started out in and we were only there 7 months or so. Hated it. And 7 months felt like a very very long time when living in it. Some migrants are still renting years after arriving and have not bought for whatever reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 You will probably get so many differing opinions and end up more confused lol. I purchased a house interstate without hubby seeing it and it was absolutely fine. Just make sure you take photos yourself as agents can be very sneaky with their camera angles. Also get your wife involved with the choice, get her looking at schools, zones and rentals online and send you out to look at them that way she also gets a say. I would hate to be away from my hubby when moving but it has happened and will again in a few months. It will take a lot of pressure off all of you if your wife can continue at home with the kids in an established routine and you can be organising everything at this end, BUT, it has to be a decision you are both happy with as there will be plus and minus points either way. In regards to jobs, I would suggest that you start applying a few weeks before, see if you can use an address over here and say you will be available for interviews from a certain date. You also have to think what's going to happen once you have your rental set up, will your wife join you immediately or wait until you have a job. Also will she pack up everything at that end and fly over on her own with the children. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicF Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 When we moved over my OH came a few weeks before me and the kids, partly to get set up but also because he had secured a job he needed to start and we had promised the kids they could finish the school year before we moved. We had discussed the area we would want to live (easier for us though as my OH is from Adelaide and we had visited many times) and my OH went looking at houses to rent in the area and found us a place to live and also bought a car. It worked for us as he is the fussy one and I'm very much a make do with what I have kind of person. Whether it would work for you would depend on how your wife would feel about you selecting a place to live. Just thought I'd add we did all the packing up together before my OH left. We sent the container and moved in with my mum for a while. I had to deal with the finalising of the house sale but all the paperwork was signed before my OH left. I'm not so sure I would have wanted to be left behind with all that stuff to do by myself though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shargreaves Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 We are waiting on final decision of a 190 pr state sponsored visa for NSW. Our situation is very similar to yours. I have a wife & 2 young children 7yrs & 2yrs also. I'm a grahic designer. We are all moving as a family as its a long journey for anybody let alone 2 young children. I want to support my kids and wife on the journey to our new life. We are looking into a holiday let for a few weeks then look to getting a rental together. We'll be having a couple of days to settle then i'll be job hunting whilst tbe wife researches school and kindy (as the ozzies call it) for our 2 yr old. Once they are both settked my wife will look into getting a job part time to help with the finances. The way i look at it is that this is a journey being undertaken as a family and thats how we are planning to do it. Good luck in your move Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gambale Posted June 9, 2016 Author Share Posted June 9, 2016 Thanks all for taking the time to reply, you've really got us thinking! One of our main concerns was ensuring we try and provide a stress free (as possible) environment for the kids... if i went over first, the plan would have been for me to come back to the UK and head right back over with my wife and kids as they couldn't do that journey by themselves. The way i see it: Go alone: If i went alone for a month first I could organize a rental (we would buy asap but ultimately depends on finances/success of the move) and settle on a suburb, visit schools, search for work and all the other things. Having the freedom to do all this without worrying about my family at the same time is appealing. But... although my wife says "as long as I can see photos..." etc I feel like the whole success of our new start in life rests on my shoulders... from having to secure that job to choosing the right suburb and the right house and school all alone... within a month... sounds like a huge pressure that introduces a lot of risk to the success of the move. Although you could argue good planning and research might reduce that. All go together: So the obvious benefits I see here are, as many of you have said, we are in this together and can make all the decisions together in person. Perhaps we need to slow down a bit a take the time when we get there once booked into in temp accommodation to find the right area and schools etc... But our concern here is that its a lot of pressure and even more unsettling for the children going into temp accommodation to a rental then (hopefully) a bought house. Still undecided but plenty to think about. Thanks for you opinions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 @shargreaves and @gambale - I think for both of you, the most important thing to research is your job prospects, so you can make a reasonable estimate of how many weeks you'll take to find a job. I have no idea what that might be for your occupations - you may get work in two weeks or you may be job-hunting for six months (yes, some do take that long), so you need to try to work it out. If it's likely to take a while, you may be wiser to delay renting a home and bringing the family out until you're sure you've secured an income. I know that returning to the UK last year, I was surprised how plentiful job vacancies were all over the South of England compared to Sydney. It's something I really didn't expect, considering we're always hearing how badly the UK is doing! Australia is experiencing a downturn with rising unemployment, so it does make sense I guess. You probably have a good idea how long it would take you to find a job in the UK - but based on my observation, you should assume there will be fewer vacancies in Australia. Also allow for the fact that some employers will prefer less-qualified Australians to a new migrant, so that you may not be quite as successful at interviews as you would be in the UK. By far the best place to research jobs is Seek.com.au. It gives a slightly rosy picture because agencies are lazy about removing jobs that are filled (or leave them published as "bait"), so make allowances for that. The best plan is to notice which agencies are advertising jobs in your field and actually ring them up to grill them about the job market (don't email - they won't bother answering!). Not trying to put you off, just urging you to be realistic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 The kids are going to be fine, they aren't going to feel the stress/pressure like you do! It'll be like going on holiday for them! They won't know or care if the house you go into is a holiday let or a long term rental. I'm with Snifter, much as I love my DH I wouldn't totally delegate house finding to him, especially if we had to consider schools and such! As Marisa said, finding a job can take you longer than you think so plan for 6 months out of work and take anything less than that as a bonus. If you have a really tight budget then perhaps delay departure until you have a more substantial one as you will haemorrhage money for the first few months. The thing I would be ticked off at would be if I was left behind to do all the de cluttering, packing and cleaning!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samjwilli Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 As the others have said - I wouldn't fully trust my oh to choose an area, house, school without me being there. We are leaving on the 3rd July and are in the process of sorting through the house - it's by far the worse bit for me and very stressful. Organising letting agents, removals, tip/charity runs its a lot to do with two kids and working full time. My kids are 5 and 2 years and haven't really noticed the stress, their life is exactly the same, school/nursery, going to the park, supermarket etc they are both really excited about our new adventure. I'm glad I'm a team of 2 doing all of this not on my own. My kids so far have been very resilient to the changes around them so far and I'm sure it will continue. We we have a temp accommodation for the first 8 weeks while our stuff is being shipped over, it means we are choose a new home together as a family. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy Jane Victoria Hose Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 We're in a similar place. Got our case officer for our 190 NSW sponsored visa last Friday and just waiting more visas to become available. We're going on holiday to hopefully activate our visa at the end of July. I have researched locations loads and I'm desperate for my OH to go out without us and get things sorted, but he's said he's no way making a decision on a house without me Just ref the kid element, we've got 2. One aged 6 and one just turned 9, we've travelled loads with them and they always fine, much more resilient than you think. I also moved 4 times by the time I was 10 and I'm Ok (or I like to think)! Main thing is to search for an area first, look for schools, commute times etc. We're planning on seeing if we can get a furnished place for a month when we first arrive before signing up for schools and a long term rental. Good luck Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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