Where to start ?

[Hethv]

I am an Australian living in the uk. I’ve been here 11 years and my husband and I have started playing with the idea of moving back to oz. I’m from WA but we would be looking at the east coast, as we both work in Air Traffic and I know Airservices Australia is over in Brisbane. Ideally we would like to stay in our same fields of employment as they are very specialised. 
what I’d like to know is, where do you start ? What are all the things we need to consider and how much is a move likely to cost ? 
we have 3 kids and rent atm, and will be looking at moving in 4 years, so we can save enough money to move straight into a bought property. 
can anyone help guide me on what the first few things we need to do (other than hubby’s visa) so we can start putting a plan together to decide wether it’s the best option for our family. 
all advice is welcome

[Marisawright]

You qualify easily for a partner visa, but be aware that it's a slow process.  There's a lot of work involved to gather all the evidence of your relationship, and then you'll have a 12 to 18 month wait for the visa to come through.

I'd say moving straight into a bought property is an unrealistic goal.  You can't buy or even rent a property, sight unseen, from the UK.  Firstly, real estate agents shamelessly photoshop the images you see online,so you should never buy without seeing it in person.  Secondly, you can't judge what the suburbs are like from a distance, even with help from places like this forum. You might buy what looks like a gorgeous house in a nice suburb that's handy for your work - but when you arrive, you'll discover it's a dump, and the reason it was reasonably priced is that it's right on the edge of that nice suburb, bordering on a rough area where hoons race their cars every night, or something. 

Most migrants book a AirBnB or a holiday let when they arrive for three or four weeks, to give them time to look for a long-term rental.  Then they live in the rental property for six months to a year while they get to know the city, and then they're well enough informed to buy. 

Check real estate prices on realestate.com.au, to get an idea of how much you'll need.  For some reason, people seem to assume that houses are cheaper in Australia but they're not, and in most cities, houses near the beach are astronomical (not that Brisbane has any beaches!).  Homely.com.au has reviews of individual suburbs - I wouldn't rely on them completely, but they give you enough of an idea for your initial research.   

Edited January 18, 2020 by Marisawright

[Marisawright]

The move will be expensive.  The visa (and possibly a migration agent's fee to get it prepared) is the cheapest bit.  The main expenses are:

• Air fares
• Shipping your belongings (shipping is expensive, but far less expensive than replacing everything with new when you arrive)
• Four weeks' holiday accommodation when you first arrive
• Buying a car (more expensive than in the UK)
• Insurances
• Money to live on while you look for work.

That last one can be the worst.  For most people, it's unrealistic to hope for a job offer before you make the move.   As a general rule,  Australian employers would rather hire a local applicant than wait for an overseas applicant, even if the overseas applicant looks superior. However, as your work is so specialised, there might not be local applicants so you're in a better posiition.   However you would need to have the partner visa already approved because employers aren't going to wait for months, not knowing when the visa might come through.

The snag might be - what are the chances that there will be vacancies for both of you at the same time?  Your partner might get a job but then you'll be stuck on one income while  you wait for a vacancy for you (or vice versa). You'll need to budget for that.

One idea to consider - the 482 visa. Normally we advise against that for families, because it's a temporary visa for only 2 to 4 years.  But in your case, it could get you over to Australia, and then you could apply for the partner visa onshore.  It's an employer-sponsored visa which means the employer needs to offer your partner a job, and then sponsor him to come to Australia.   It's normal for the employer to pay your air fares and some other relocation expenses.  

You'd need to check whether your occupation is on the list of occupations eligible for that visa but it would mean you got some of your upfront costs paid. 

[Quoll]

And don't forget to get your British citizenship if you don't already have it while you wait.

You could start applying for jobs any time you like but your DH might be better waiting until his visa comes through and you could move over to start work ahead of him  - you'd both have jobs for the interim  then as  soon as his visa comes through he can apply for jobs and wait till he lands one  or move over and have a hiatus period until he gets one. I guess only you  are going to know what chance there is of two similar roles cropping up in the same place  at the same time in your field of expertise, but once one of you had a foot in the door, the old boy network opens up a bit.

[Hethv]

Thanks for the replies, 

I think realistically we are giving ourselves a 4 year timeline on moving. This allows for saving as much money as we can so we have diffident funds to factor in 

- renting deposits, mortgage deposits, only 1 of us getting a job initially, flights etc on top of all the usual visas. 
 

we don’t plan to ship anything from the uk, as we have never really invested in much over here because we never quite knew if we were going to stay. So we are happy to just come over with our personal belongings. My mum lives In WA, so we are discussing with her the possibility of her helping sort us a rental so it’s already waiting for us to arrive. 
We were hoping to apply for jobs here in the uk, as we currently have great jobs, and it’s incredibly nerve wracking to leave those without something lined up. 
I’m already a UK cit, and we plan to have dual cit for all 3 of the kids, so they have the luxury of travel later. 
Is there anything I’ve missed that is important to consider? 

[Marisawright]

2 hours ago, Hethv said:

 

Is there anything I’ve missed that is important to consider? 

Yes, the high likelihood that the rules will change over the next four years and if you leave it too long, you will find it much harder to get in.

Australia is steadily closing the doors to migrants and I can foresee a time when they’ll impose financial and other restrictions on partner visas, like the UK and other countries.

 

[Bulya]

9 hours ago, Hethv said:

Thanks for the replies, 

I think realistically we are giving ourselves a 4 year timeline on moving. This allows for saving as much money as we can so we have diffident funds to factor in 

- renting deposits, mortgage deposits, only 1 of us getting a job initially, flights etc on top of all the usual visas. 
 

we don’t plan to ship anything from the uk, as we have never really invested in much over here because we never quite knew if we were going to stay. So we are happy to just come over with our personal belongings. My mum lives In WA, so we are discussing with her the possibility of her helping sort us a rental so it’s already waiting for us to arrive. 
We were hoping to apply for jobs here in the uk, as we currently have great jobs, and it’s incredibly nerve wracking to leave those without something lined up. 
I’m already a UK cit, and we plan to have dual cit for all 3 of the kids, so they have the luxury of travel later. 
Is there anything I’ve missed that is important to consider? 

Four years?  Things will be very different by then and almost certainly harder to gain access 

[Guest The Pom Queen]

On 19/01/2020 at 05:35, Hethv said:

I am an Australian living in the uk. I’ve been here 11 years and my husband and I have started playing with the idea of moving back to oz. I’m from WA but we would be looking at the east coast, as we both work in Air Traffic and I know Airservices Australia is over in Brisbane. Ideally we would like to stay in our same fields of employment as they are very specialised. 
what I’d like to know is, where do you start ? What are all the things we need to consider and how much is a move likely to cost ? 
we have 3 kids and rent atm, and will be looking at moving in 4 years, so we can save enough money to move straight into a bought property. 
can anyone help guide me on what the first few things we need to do (other than hubby’s visa) so we can start putting a plan together to decide wether it’s the best option for our family. 
all advice is welcome

Hi @hethv welcome to the forum.

My only piece of advice would be don’t wait You are very lucky in that you are an Australian Citizen. 
Even with your mum being in WA if you are moving to the East coast it will be very difficult to get a rental unless she takes a flight over. Alternatively fly over start your life in WA for a few weeks whilst one of you goes East to set up.

@Quoll made a very valid point with regards to jobs. Airservices like to take on a lot of graduates or trainees and not many vacancies seem to come up so to get two together may be a push, however, have you considered you working full time with them if you can get a job and your husband picking up shifts with Swissport (was Aerocare). If he has an ASIC which you would both need for Air Traffic anyway then he can pick up hours around your shifts if needed. I know it’s not the same but lots of the guys from Aerocare went on to other areas of the airport and used it as a stepping stone. 

‘Always remember where there is a will there is a way

[ADAVIDH]

On 19/01/2020 at 08:21, Marisawright said:

You qualify easily for a partner visa, but be aware that it's a slow process.  There's a lot of work involved to gather all the evidence of your relationship, and then you'll have a 12 to 18 month wait for the visa to come through.

I'd say moving straight into a bought property is an unrealistic goal.  You can't buy or even rent a property, sight unseen, from the UK.  Firstly, real estate agents shamelessly photoshop the images you see online,so you should never buy without seeing it in person.  Secondly, you can't judge what the suburbs are like from a distance, even with help from places like this forum. You might buy what looks like a gorgeous house in a nice suburb that's handy for your work - but when you arrive, you'll discover it's a dump, and the reason it was reasonably priced is that it's right on the edge of that nice suburb, bordering on a rough area where hoons race their cars every night, or something. 

Most migrants book a AirBnB or a holiday let when they arrive for three or four weeks, to give them time to look for a long-term rental.  Then they live in the rental property for six months to a year while they get to know the city, and then they're well enough informed to buy. 

Check real estate prices on realestate.com.au, to get an idea of how much you'll need.  For some reason, people seem to assume that houses are cheaper in Australia but they're not, and in most cities, houses near the beach are astronomical (not that Brisbane has any beaches!).  Homely.com.au has reviews of individual suburbs - I wouldn't rely on them completely, but they give you enough of an idea for your initial research.   

Brisbane has several beaches...Margate Beach, Wynnum and (albeit artificial) Southbank.  Granted, they are not like the beaches on the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast and Sydney but I wouldn't say they are much worse than Melbourne beaches in my opinion.  It takes roughly the same amount of time to get to the Brisbane beaches as it does to the Sydney beaches if you use the respective CBDs as a starting point.

[calNgary]

57 minutes ago, ADAVIDH said:

Brisbane has several beaches...Margate Beach, Wynnum and (albeit artificial) Southbank.  Granted, they are not like the beaches on the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast and Sydney but I wouldn't say they are much worse than Melbourne beaches in my opinion.  It takes roughly the same amount of time to get to the Brisbane beaches as it does to the Sydney beaches if you use the respective CBDs as a starting point.

Dont forget Nudgee, which is also a dog beach so an added bonus if you have a pooch. 

 Cal x

[Marisawright]

1 hour ago, ADAVIDH said:

Brisbane has several beaches...Margate Beach, Wynnum and (albeit artificial) Southbank.  Granted, they are not like the beaches on the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast and Sydney but I wouldn't say they are much worse than Melbourne beaches in my opinion.  It takes roughly the same amount of time to get to the Brisbane beaches as it does to the Sydney beaches if you use the respective CBDs as a starting point.

Anything would be better than Melbourne beaches!