Moving to Perth - Have visa but everything seems against us!!,!

[Walmerironman]

Hi

 

not sure what I need from this post? Advice? Maybe just a rant! My wife is Australian, our two boys (14 and 11) are dual citizenship. I now have my permanent residency having invested a couple of thousand pounds via an agent. The house is on the market and we should find have approx $550k of cash to set ourselves up in Perth when we arrive.

 

A bit of background. For 20 years my Oz in-laws have given me grief that I have not taken their daughter or grandchildren home. The decision has not been easy, welove the uk and the corner of the UK we live in, have a nice house, camper van, motorbike, great cycling, friends and have earnt in excess of 65k the last 2 or 3 years. But it is not Australia! Most of the time my kids have yearned to move to Oz as we all now dis-like the long winters and the relatively short amount of time you can actually enjoy the outdoors here. Though we do try and surf in the winter if conditions are right!!!!

 

But here is the reality. None of my wife's relatives, sister, bro-inlaw, parents etc have shown any enthusiasm or expressed any encouragement once we have broken the news, in fact quite the opposite! It's not a personal thing, there have been no fall outs prior, but just that they are so bloody negative or wrapped up in their own "glass half full" lives! To the extent that today we received an e mail today from the mother in law with the following line.. "Hate to tell but saw on the news the other night that all the Poms are leaving Perth and moving back to England". Then straight onto telling how she had played golf all day. No explanation or anything to qualify the statement. All of the e mails have been along the same lines, "I don't know what he'll do for a job?", "You'll be broke", "It's too late for your eldest". There was not even a positive response when we excitedly broke the news. Just, "Oh, we didn't think you would as you have a good job, there are no jobs here."

 

So what should we expect? Is it that bad? I know that the state is on slowdown due to links with China etc, but the upside of that the exchange rate, nearly $2 to the pound, you can't have it all! WE should be able to be mortgage free if we are sensible. I have previously worked as a train driver, though it is ten years since I left that job after 12 years driving. I now work as a Transport/General Manager for a waste business. I have experience in tendering, compliance systems set up and use of, HR, transport law and consider myself to be a hard working, driven and forward thinker, I never leave a task or an opportunity until it is finished or exploited.

 

My eldest is very sacred about the move, friends etc, but he is a skater and loves to surf, now there have been 2 recent deaths, all going against us.

 

Maybe I need to hear positive stories or am I being too hopeful that the move is worth it?

 

Anty comments please, how did you find it, am I alone in wanting to feed the in-laws to the Sharks?

 

Thankss

[Sammy1]

I would suggest that you only move here if you have a burning desire to do so, anything less will lead to misery. Do not move for anybody else, just do it for yourselves.

 

There are positives and negatives here, like any country.

[Marisawright]

Gosh what a situation to be in.

 

As Sammy says, the first thing I'd say is - bugger the in-laws, what matters is what's right for YOU and your family. Both countries have pros and cons and although you can see some positives in the move, you can also see what you'd be losing. If the in-laws hadn't been harping at you, would you want to give up the life you've got?

 

If the answer is no, then there's your answer.

 

If the answer is yes, then you've got some hard thinking to do. We've had several highly-qualified and experienced people on the forums recently, who've had to come back from Perth because they can't get work. It certainly wouldn't be my choice of destination if I was moving to Australia now, because the downturn in mining has hit WA so hard. I'd be a lot more positive if you were going to Melbourne or Brisbane. I know that sounds crazy because the whole point is to be closer to the in-laws, but at least it would be a 4 hour trip instead of a 24 hour one! And on reflection, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to have some distance? :smile:

 

Have you researched jobs? The best place to do that is seek.com.au. Notice the agencies who are offering jobs in your field, then ring them up and grill them about opportunities (don't email - they'll ignore you!).

Edited June 11, 2016 by Marisawright

[VERYSTORMY]

I am not totally sure I understand your reasons for making the move.

 

You mention the in laws, but, sorry to be frank, that would be a pretty silly reason. If they are that bothered about seeing you, they can visit the UK.

 

You do need to be aware that WA is undergoing a bit more than a slow down. It is pretty dire. As well as moderating on here, I also moderate our sister site Perth Poms - which you should have a look at - there, even our most common posting migration agent is telling people not to move there at the moment.

 

She is also correct that a lot of Brits are moving back because of the economy. We moved back from WA in March and the shippers were inundated with Brits moving back. When I arrived at Perth airport, the check in queue was full of families permanently leaving. It isn't just Brits either. Hence, there are now 17,000 empty properties in WA.

[Walmerironman]

Hi. Thanks all for your replies. I appreciate the frankness. Our move is not to be near the relatives, though it has always been a factor.

 

The he main drive has been my wife wanting to go home and I have always felt that Oz would be a better place to bring up our boys, I do not like a lot of things about the UK at the moment, I suppose I'll have to do another pros and cons list!

 

we have considered SA or Victoria, but we love the coastline etc around WA.

 

More ore comments welcome.

 

Thanks again

[Walmerironman]

Thanks for your replies, frankness is what I need!

 

The move is not driven by our in-laws, otherwise we would have gone long before. It's more that I am at stage in life,50 (But young) where I would like a step change. I don't like the way that the UK is going at the moment with the whole EU thing and migration etc. I have always felt that Oz was where we would end up as pensioners, the winters get us both down here, plus I do not want to live out my life with "what ifs?".

 

We have not rules out SA or elsewhere, WA is just the area we know and love the best, but it is not the be all and end all.

 

i guess we will have to draw up a new list of pros and cons and go from there. Though it would be nice to hear of good news stories.

 

thanks

 

Bryan

[ali]

Hi Bryan,

 

To be honest .. who knows what is around the corner for you because it's your life and you sound like a grafter. Your in-laws probably (after all this time) can't quite get their heads around you coming, but for me I'd say make the move for yourselves and if the rellies want to be part of your lives then that's a bonus.

 

We've been here 9 years so not a recent migrant, and I know that the job situation has changed, but realistically there are people being employed. I had to travel to the UK in March, now I couldn't say how many were leaving permanently as I didn't go and speak to them to ask, but those few families I did have a general chat were going for holidays, that's not to say that people aren't leaving - they are and their reasons will be personal, but I don't think that everyone getting on a plane out of Perth airport is destined never to return again.

 

Life is what you make it and taking opportunities when they arise, come over, get your citizenship so that even if you return to the UK and your children decide when older to live in Aus you'll have the advantage of moving here to be with them without any hassle. (By the way .. we're really settled and love it here, there's been bumps along the way but whose to say those bumps wouldn't have arisen if we'd been in the UK?)

 

Good luck with the journey.

[Jilldesp]

Hi,

I would take no notice of your MIL, as u have to live your life on your terms not hers; but do consider the job situation here as others have said. We have been here only 10 months, but are already thinking of returning home because of the job situation. My husband is an engineer and has a contract ( for now), and has been applying for permi jobs over east (as nothing here for him) for the last 7 months and has never had a response from anything! He is very senior with 24 years experience in his field. Staying here and hoping that something will come up is a big risk to our eldest son's education:(

Having said that, u have a decent amount of money to bring with which is fab. Just make certain u are going to the right part of OZ! We are realising the hard way that we haven't!

good luck with your decision, it's a tough one.

[BacktoDemocracy]

Hi

 

not sure what I need from this post? Advice? Maybe just a rant! My wife is Australian, our two boys (14 and 11) are dual citizenship. I now have my permanent residency having invested a couple of thousand pounds via an agent. The house is on the market and we should find have approx $550k of cash to set ourselves up in Perth when we arrive.

 

A bit of background. For 20 years my Oz in-laws have given me grief that I have not taken their daughter or grandchildren home. The decision has not been easy, welove the uk and the corner of the UK we live in, have a nice house, camper van, motorbike, great cycling, friends and have earnt in excess of 65k the last 2 or 3 years. But it is not Australia! Most of the time my kids have yearned to move to Oz as we all now dis-like the long winters and the relatively short amount of time you can actually enjoy the outdoors here. Though we do try and surf in the winter if conditions are right!!!!

 

But here is the reality. None of my wife's relatives, sister, bro-inlaw, parents etc have shown any enthusiasm or expressed any encouragement once we have broken the news, in fact quite the opposite! It's not a personal thing, there have been no fall outs prior, but just that they are so bloody negative or wrapped up in their own "glass half full" lives! To the extent that today we received an e mail today from the mother in law with the following line.. "Hate to tell but saw on the news the other night that all the Poms are leaving Perth and moving back to England". Then straight onto telling how she had played golf all day. No explanation or anything to qualify the statement. All of the e mails have been along the same lines, "I don't know what he'll do for a job?", "You'll be broke", "It's too late for your eldest". There was not even a positive response when we excitedly broke the news. Just, "Oh, we didn't think you would as you have a good job, there are no jobs here."

 

So what should we expect? Is it that bad? I know that the state is on slowdown due to links with China etc, but the upside of that the exchange rate, nearly $2 to the pound, you can't have it all! WE should be able to be mortgage free if we are sensible. I have previously worked as a train driver, though it is ten years since I left that job after 12 years driving. I now work as a Transport/General Manager for a waste business. I have experience in tendering, compliance systems set up and use of, HR, transport law and consider myself to be a hard working, driven and forward thinker, I never leave a task or an opportunity until it is finished or exploited.

 

My eldest is very sacred about the move, friends etc, but he is a skater and loves to surf, now there have been 2 recent deaths, all going against us.

 

Maybe I need to hear positive stories or am I being too hopeful that the move is worth it?

 

Anty comments please, how did you find it, am I alone in wanting to feed the in-laws to the Sharks?

 

Thankss

I would just tell you my take on it in Australia, we were there from 04 to 13, we were 42 female 55 male, female major earner in charity management and I will tell you my thoughts and you can discuss it with in laws and get there feedback and some of this may be what they are thinking and not saying.

Breaking into the job market is hard , especially at 40 and it is even harder to break in at the level you are here in UK and that's why it works best for young people, took us 6 and 8 months to just get a toehold in the job market and 9 months for my wife to get a perm job at a level she was doing 6 years previously.

You will be competing for jobs that Aussies have spent their whole careers lining themselves up for

Look at educational opportunities for your children and how it suits them in terms of what career options there will be for them in the long term.

I think the in laws may be holding back from saying some things because of them getting their daughter back

Sorry to be brutal and I stress these are my observations and others may have a different take on things, and maybe that you might get different responses if you do more posts on here and other websites so don't take my comments as gospel

I do not know Perth at all, we were in Brisbane but I and my wife both found Australia quite resistant to accepting non Australian experience as relevant and it only worked because she took on a organisation which was basket case and turned it around.

Really don't want to p*ss you off but it might be worth having a chat with other members of family and asking if they are holding back on things for whatever reason

Edited June 11, 2016 by BacktoDemocracy

[newjez]

Hi

 

not sure what I need from this post? Advice? Maybe just a rant! My wife is Australian, our two boys (14 and 11) are dual citizenship. I now have my permanent residency having invested a couple of thousand pounds via an agent. The house is on the market and we should find have approx $550k of cash to set ourselves up in Perth when we arrive.

 

A bit of background. For 20 years my Oz in-laws have given me grief that I have not taken their daughter or grandchildren home. The decision has not been easy, welove the uk and the corner of the UK we live in, have a nice house, camper van, motorbike, great cycling, friends and have earnt in excess of 65k the last 2 or 3 years. But it is not Australia! Most of the time my kids have yearned to move to Oz as we all now dis-like the long winters and the relatively short amount of time you can actually enjoy the outdoors here. Though we do try and surf in the winter if conditions are right!!!!

 

But here is the reality. None of my wife's relatives, sister, bro-inlaw, parents etc have shown any enthusiasm or expressed any encouragement once we have broken the news, in fact quite the opposite! It's not a personal thing, there have been no fall outs prior, but just that they are so bloody negative or wrapped up in their own "glass half full" lives! To the extent that today we received an e mail today from the mother in law with the following line.. "Hate to tell but saw on the news the other night that all the Poms are leaving Perth and moving back to England". Then straight onto telling how she had played golf all day. No explanation or anything to qualify the statement. All of the e mails have been along the same lines, "I don't know what he'll do for a job?", "You'll be broke", "It's too late for your eldest". There was not even a positive response when we excitedly broke the news. Just, "Oh, we didn't think you would as you have a good job, there are no jobs here."

 

So what should we expect? Is it that bad? I know that the state is on slowdown due to links with China etc, but the upside of that the exchange rate, nearly $2 to the pound, you can't have it all! WE should be able to be mortgage free if we are sensible. I have previously worked as a train driver, though it is ten years since I left that job after 12 years driving. I now work as a Transport/General Manager for a waste business. I have experience in tendering, compliance systems set up and use of, HR, transport law and consider myself to be a hard working, driven and forward thinker, I never leave a task or an opportunity until it is finished or exploited.

 

My eldest is very sacred about the move, friends etc, but he is a skater and loves to surf, now there have been 2 recent deaths, all going against us.

 

Maybe I need to hear positive stories or am I being too hopeful that the move is worth it?

 

Anty comments please, how did you find it, am I alone in wanting to feed the in-laws to the Sharks?

 

Thankss

 

I have to admit, when we moved back we were met with the "do you want a medal syndrome". My father had an investment property that would have been perfect for us. He sold it three months before we arrived. (It doubled in value next two years). To be fair I didn't ask him to keep it, but then I didn't want to pry into his financial state. He gave a nice TV to my sister the week before we arrived. They did put us up when we arrived, but they were a nightmare to live with, and I took a rental which wasn't suitable to get some space.

 

It was the job situation which drove us away. I did get a job. But after three months of, why not get a job on the mines or why not get a job sweeping the streets, or cleaning or whatever. Not that I am against taking those sorts of jobs. But if I can't pay the rent and feed my family, what's the point? I may as well return to the UK.

 

Maybe we should have tried harder. But some help would have been appreciated.

 

This isn't recent history, it was many years ago. But it can be a hard slog, and when family don't help, you have task yourself who you are really doing it for.

Edited June 11, 2016 by newjez

[newjez]

Thanks for your replies, frankness is what I need!

 

The move is not driven by our in-laws, otherwise we would have gone long before. It's more that I am at stage in life,50 (But young) where I would like a step change. I don't like the way that the UK is going at the moment with the whole EU thing and migration etc. I have always felt that Oz was where we would end up as pensioners, the winters get us both down here, plus I do not want to live out my life with "what ifs?".

 

We have not rules out SA or elsewhere, WA is just the area we know and love the best, but it is not the be all and end all.

 

i guess we will have to draw up a new list of pros and cons and go from there. Though it would be nice to hear of good news stories.

 

thanks

 

Bryan

 

 

Having recently visited a GP in ellenbrook Perth , I was very amused to be the only white face in a packed surgery, except for the doctor who was white south African.

 

I wouldn't migrate because of migration worries.

[Quoll]

If you like your home and you have (as it sounds) a good job then rent out your home, take a career break and see what happens although you are closer to screwing things up education wise for your eldest if you take him off the GCSE merry-go-round.

 

At 50 you are pretty much over the hill (Australia is a very ageist society at the best of times) and given the high unemployment levels with so many people having been made redundant you won't walk into a job, if indeed you can find one at all.

 

Your kids won't be any better off in Australia but unless they want to go to a UK University down the track they shouldn't be too disadvantaged.

 

OTOH I can see the push from your wife - I was trapped in Australia and it was awful, had a huge impact on my mental and physical health - I would have been happy to wait until retirement before an escape though so would your wife wait until you are retired to move? That gets your kids through education too.

 

So yeah I'd say your in-laws have summarized quite well.

[scuffythetugboat]

I thought they'd stopped printing the brochures from the 60's saying how easy life is in Australia and how anyone can get ahead if they want to. Wanted down under? Only your money nowerdays. At 50, if I had a good set up I'd make the most of it.

[Marisawright]

I thought they'd stopped printing the brochures from the 60's saying how easy life is in Australia and how anyone can get ahead if they want to.

 

True. I love many things about living in Australia, but it's NO easier to get ahead in Australia than it is in the UK nowadays.

 

However given the extra information the OP has provided, I'd say he has to take the risk and make the move soon. It may be essential for his wife's sanity, and also he says he wants to spend his retirement in Oz. That means he needs to get ten years' residency under his belt before retirement age, to qualify for the Aussie pension. It's quite likely they'll increase that number of years so he'd be better to exceed the minimum.

 

But in his shoes, I would also be taking his relatives' warnings about Perth seriously. The parents-in-law have yearned to have their daughter and grandkids close by for years - they're not going to turn around and start putting him off for no reason, are they? They must be very worried, to be willing to sacrifice their own needs.

 

I would be looking at Melbourne or Brisbane instead because the chance of finding work is so much greater. Sure the scenery may not be quite so nice, but scenery does not put food on the table. They can always retire to WA later.