Advice on moving to Australia

[Becky and Kyle]

Hi everyone

We have just signed up to this forum in the hope that we will gain some great advice and tips off you all. 

We are wanting to emigrate to Aus in roughly 2 years time or less but need to know how much money we will need for visas and anything else that is necessary for the moving process. 

I am a secondary school maths teacher and my husband Kyle is a plumber and gas engineer so we are both on the wanted skills list. We have a daughter and another baby on the way so it'll be the four of us moving over. 

We are looking to move to New South Wales but not sure where in the state yet. We want to rent at first. Ideally we want at least one of us to have a job lined up before we go.

Is the emigration process fine to do alone or would you recommend a registered advisor/lawyer to help with the process. 

 

Thanks

Becky and Kyle 

[Jilldesp]

Hi, we emigrated in 2015, and our visas (189 type) and for the 5 of us was £10,000. However we did use a solicitor, so extra fees for this in with that price. We had our visas in 9 months. 

Shipping was about £4000, and then obviously flights.

You will need at least £10,000 for initial accommodation and car hire fees. I can’t remember exactly how much we took, but it was swallowed up fast!

We initially lived in Sydney, but I’m sure u know, very expensive. I can’t really recommend other areas of NSW, but the coast is cheaper I think. We had to relocate to Perth for husband’s work. 

Good Luck xx

[ali]

The first thing to decide is which of your skills you're going to apply for the visa on and look at the requirements for the skills assessment which you will need to pass before being able to apply for a visa.  

If your application is straight forward you can do it on our own - agents come into their own when things are a little more complex

[CeltInCaulfield]

May also be worth noting the major overhaul of visas at the moment and the fact that you cannot guarantee occupations remaining on the lists. If eligible to apply now, might be worth doing so. You can activate your visas and leave the move a couple of years until you are ready.

Edited April 12, 2018 by CeltInCaulfield

[Guest]

Second the above. It could well be the skills list changes and professions currently on it won't be in two years time. If you have the funds to apply now or before the list is due to update, might be worth doing so. 

As to how much money you will need, visas I've no clue as I didn't come over on skilled visa. But you can look the current prices up online easily enough on the Giv website yourself  Don't forget you'll have to factor in all of you, medicals, police checks and any skills assessments etc.

Then costs to migrate. Return flights for all of you to validate if not moving before the first entry date comes round. Or one way if you make the move and validate all in one go. Then set up costs in Aus. In NSW, depending on area, who knows. How do you like to live, do you hope/want/expect to maintain that lifestyle or are you prepared to cut costs in those early months/years to get you set up. 

Shipping your belongings. This can mean shipping only personal effects in a movecube for say £1,000 or a sole use 20ft container for a few thousand £ more.  Dig around shipping options. If you want to ship all your stuff, its going to be a chunk of cash needed and shipping costs will only likely increase over the coming couple of years. 

If you have a dog or cat, research the costs of bringing them. It will run into thousands of ££. Plus quarantine in Aus. If you are thinking of getting a cat or dog sometime before you migrate to bring with you, reconsider and wait till you are here and set up and know its all ok, then get one  Its a cost and stress you could do without if you are planning to migrate in next couple of years IMHO. 

You'll need short term rental, car hire or buying one, bills, one off payments for things like drivers licence. Then food, fuel, possible childcare/school fees, uniforms etc. And other things. 

Some people manage on $20,000, others bring $50k with them. Much will depend on you and your lifestyle and where you choose to settle. 

FWIW, not many people secure employment before they arrive. Most have to make the move, have a heap of savings and job hunt when here. Some find work ahead of the move but this is often in specialised areas and IIRC a plumber/gas engineer would have to get local certs to be able to work here in Aus though I may be wrong. And teaching you usually need to be here on the ground handing out CV's to schools to get relief work. Or if applying for contract (term or year posts for example) or permanent jobs when they list (usually the bulk of them are listed mid year, June/July, perhaps a bit later, not 100% sure if it varies state to state) teaching posts that are for the following school year starting in Jan. 

 

[Marisawright]

Snifter makes a good point.  Migrants often assume work is more plentiful in Australia.  That used to be true, but these days, unemployment is about the same in both countries.  So think, if you both lost your jobs tomorrow in the UK, how long would it take you to find another job?  It's going to take just as long in Australia, and perhaps slightly longer because you're new to the country.  So you'll need to budget to survive for the weeks or months until you've got a salary coming in.  If you're going anywhere outside the capital cities, it's probably wise to budget for 6 months out of work.

[VERYSTORMY]

Also budget that your husbands occupation is a licensed occupation in Oz. The requirements to get his license vary by state, but roughly he will need to work as a trade assistant for about a year. A bit like an apprentice, which obviously doesn't carry full trade salary and undertake some college courses. 

[Jack91]

Second what Very Stormy says. Although there may be a slim chance you can get your qualifications transferred with an interview etc etc 

[amibovered]

Just to backup what Marisawright was saying,  an occupation on the skills list, doesn't imply a shortage of that skill in Australia, viewing it as a "wanted skills list"  would be a little misleading.