Guest sandcastles Posted May 13, 2011 Posted May 13, 2011 Hi, first time poster! I'm Sam, I live in Adelaide with my husband & 2 girls. We have been here for 5 years in June. Dd1 is 7 & dd2 is almost 3 and was born here. I have been happy here up until a couple of months ago, when I realised how much I miss my dad in the UK! Dh has never been settled, but makes the most of it for the rest of us. Today we have decided to return to the UK for good in the next couple of years, the sooner the better really. Reasons - other than above - is that we are seeing a huge difference in the education system for dd1. It seems too relaxed & laid back. She is doing well, but I can't help thinking that it isn't enough for her. There is no national curriculum, there is a huge difference in what they are taught state by state. There is hardly any or no world history taught here, so they will never know their British heritage etc. There is hardly anywhere to take the children without having to take out a mini loan for a day out! I have struggled at Christmas each year, it just isn't the same. I can't get used to it & I long for my girls to see a 'real' Christmas. All this was just semantics until a few months ago, as I said! But each time I talk to someone at home it just makes it worse! What I really need to know, is where to start! What do I need to do? I am usually very organised & work off lists, but I need help to compile a list to work off. I am told that we can choose either a UK or Aus passport for dd2. But that is as far as I get! We also have a dog that I am told is coming back too :wink: ANY help anyone can give would be gratefully received! Thank you!
Guest siamsusie Posted May 13, 2011 Posted May 13, 2011 Welcome to PIO Sandcastles, There is an abundance of good advice from members who have returned/thinking about returning back to their roots, and I sincerely hope you will find this forum helpful for you. Kind regards Susie x
Guest sandcastles Posted May 13, 2011 Posted May 13, 2011 Thanks Susie! I am working my way through some posts now, was just hoping for a point by point list! <lazy>
2tigers Posted May 13, 2011 Posted May 13, 2011 Welcome to PIO and good luck on your move back home! If your daughter is eligible for a AU passport I would get it if I was you, its easier when over there than trying to sort her one out over here. 1st AU passport applications in the UK have to be a visual application in London. She will also be eligible for a UK one. If she is dual nationality she may have to do what my children do - enter and leave AU on AU passports and enter and leave the UK on UK passports. Reason for this is, the AU immi need to see her leaving their system and the UK system need to see her enter their system. When arriving in AU she will need to enter there on an AU passport as she would not be eligible for a visa in a UK passport when she already holds a AU passport. Does that make sense? LOL All the very best, I love being back home
landv Posted May 13, 2011 Posted May 13, 2011 Have you thought about jobs and where will you live? Have you kept your Uk house or will you need to rent somewhere?
rammygirl Posted May 13, 2011 Posted May 13, 2011 Do get citizenship before you leave though. At least then you will all have dual citizenship that will last beyond the 5 years of RRV. Perish the thought that 20 years from now your youngest will move to Oz and you won't be able to follow! I am a firm believer that families should all have the same citizenship if possible.
Guest sandcastles Posted May 13, 2011 Posted May 13, 2011 landv, we sold our house as we needed to do so to fund our move here in the first place. But we have relatives we can stay with for a while, while we work out where to go next. Dh has been told that his old company will have a job for him on our return. His best friend in the UK is the manager & so would help out in that respects.
landv Posted May 13, 2011 Posted May 13, 2011 Good news about the job, that should put your mind at rest. I agree with rammygirl, make sure you have citizenship before you leave, -that is one of the reasons I am still here -, in case my daughter will want to come back when she is old enough and we as her parents won't be able to "follow". Do you mind if I ask, is your daughter in private or public school?
Guest sandcastles Posted May 13, 2011 Posted May 13, 2011 Thanks rammygirl, something to consider! She is in public school, landv.
Guest Guest37175 Posted May 13, 2011 Posted May 13, 2011 Hi, first time poster! I'm Sam, I live in Adelaide with my husband & 2 girls. We have been here for 5 years in June. Dd1 is 7 & dd2 is almost 3 and was born here. I have been happy here up until a couple of months ago, when I realised how much I miss my dad in the UK! Dh has never been settled, but makes the most of it for the rest of us. Today we have decided to return to the UK for good in the next couple of years, the sooner the better really. Reasons - other than above - is that we are seeing a huge difference in the education system for dd1. It seems too relaxed & laid back. She is doing well, but I can't help thinking that it isn't enough for her. There is no national curriculum, there is a huge difference in what they are taught state by state. There is hardly any or no world history taught here, so they will never know their British heritage etc. There is hardly anywhere to take the children without having to take out a mini loan for a day out! I have struggled at Christmas each year, it just isn't the same. I can't get used to it & I long for my girls to see a 'real' Christmas. All this was just semantics until a few months ago, as I said! But each time I talk to someone at home it just makes it worse! What I really need to know, is where to start! What do I need to do? I am usually very organised & work off lists, but I need help to compile a list to work off. I am told that we can choose either a UK or Aus passport for dd2. But that is as far as I get! We also have a dog that I am told is coming back too :wink: ANY help anyone can give would be gratefully received! Thank you! Blimey, you're not asking much! We went back to the UK last August after 2 years on the GC. I was desperate to go home, my Aussie partner a lot less so. Sadly we couldn't stay due to her being unable to find work in her chosen field, so we returned to Aus in Jan this year. Best advice?, be clear about where you want to return to. I'm not joking. I was fixed on the South-East, my OH on the South-West. It took time and money to work out that the latter was not going to work out for us in our respective professions. Be clear as to where you're going to end up. It's a bigger country than you think when you come back to it! Try not to stay with family when you return if you can help it. They may be glad to see you back in Blighty, but not necessarily in their spare room. Maybe try and rent a holiday flat in the area you're moving to. Depends where it is of course, but it'll give you some freedom to explore and get settled. Make sure sure you have all the paperwork you need to land jobs. Police checks and references are time-consuming to acquire. Do the leg-work months in advance and it reduces the stress when you arrive. Same goes with scoping out school and day-care provision for little ones. Of course, if you're moving to somewhere new then that's hard, but even if you're moving back to your old stomping ground things change while you're away. Log onto parents' websites or check-out OFSTED reports. Gives you some flavour of who you're dealing with. Get good removalists. I'm by no means an expert. We used Grace and they were affordable and reliable, Pickfords less so (stuff went missing). PIO is a great place for practical advice. Ask around, not just on this forum, but on CTF and NGAC. There's heaps of experiences to tap into around here. Make sure you have a British bank account. Helps massively with potential employers, estate agents etc. Last of all, stick with it. I wish with all my heart that my OH could have just dug in and battled through the tough stuff that inevitably occurs when you move countries. It will be hard initially, but being where you want to be is the best feeling in the world. Best wishes Oz
rammygirl Posted May 13, 2011 Posted May 13, 2011 Yup a few of us ping pongers here. Best advice is don't burn your boats in either place. We were glad we kept our UK bank accounts for when we returned to UK and we kept our Oz ones open just in case! We are now returning to Oz after having to apply for a new visa and are glad of that. It isn't difficult with on line banking and they send new cards around the world these days. I echo Ozsceptic. We stayed with my sister but ended up moving to a short term furnished rental after 6 weeks before we fell out and our 2 teenagers rebelled!! We moved back to within 2 miles of our old house despite thinking we would make a fresh start in an area with better weather as schools would accept kids back and sort their GCSEs out no probs (just as well they had been model pupils!!) and kids wanted to be near their old mates. And TBH after dragging them to Oz then back they deserved a break. Practically just the reverse as going to Oz in the first place - we ended up using the same removals Wridgeways/ John Mason. Good luck......oh and don't do like we did (for the sake of kids education as exams loomed) return to UK in mid January a depressing time of year at the best of times!!!
Guest MSTO Posted May 17, 2011 Posted May 17, 2011 Hi, first time poster! I'm Sam, I live in Adelaide with my husband & 2 girls. We have been here for 5 years in June. Dd1 is 7 & dd2 is almost 3 and was born here. I have been happy here up until a couple of months ago, when I realised how much I miss my dad in the UK! Dh has never been settled, but makes the most of it for the rest of us. Today we have decided to return to the UK for good in the next couple of years, the sooner the better really. Reasons - other than above - is that we are seeing a huge difference in the education system for dd1. It seems too relaxed & laid back. She is doing well, but I can't help thinking that it isn't enough for her. There is no national curriculum, there is a huge difference in what they are taught state by state. There is hardly any or no world history taught here, so they will never know their British heritage etc. There is hardly anywhere to take the children without having to take out a mini loan for a day out! I have struggled at Christmas each year, it just isn't the same. I can't get used to it & I long for my girls to see a 'real' Christmas. All this was just semantics until a few months ago, as I said! But each time I talk to someone at home it just makes it worse! What I really need to know, is where to start! What do I need to do? I am usually very organised & work off lists, but I need help to compile a list to work off. I am told that we can choose either a UK or Aus passport for dd2. But that is as far as I get! We also have a dog that I am told is coming back too :wink: ANY help anyone can give would be gratefully received! Thank you! Hi We moved back from Adelaide last year after 5 years there. We had 2 children 3.5 and 1.5 when we returned. They were both born there although our eldest was born whilst we were temp residents therefore he was British and held only a British passport. Our youngest got automatic citizenship as we were then permanent residents when he was born although when we applied for his passport we applied for both British and Australian. We applied for Citizenship the year before our return and our eldest was on application therefore we are now all citizens. It took us a year from our decision to go home until we actually left but that was only really because we had my parents coming for a visit so couldnt really do anything until they had been and gone. Once they had left which was Feb, we put the house on the market which luckily for us sold at our first open. We used Wridgeways to ship our furniture back and they were excellent. Although they were not the cheapest they did match the cheapest quote. My husband managed to secure a job here in the UK before we left Oz which was also ideal. We landed back in the UK in June, bought a house and by Sept we were in our new home with my eldest starting pre-school. It has been a wonderful year being back and now love being alot closer to our friends and family. To be honest we totally appreciate England and how much there is to see and do, we actually look forward to a weekend of doing nothing as most weekends are taken up catching up with friends/family days out etc. As much as Australia is a lovely place it is just not for us and I know the decision to move back was right for me and my family. I hope all goes to plan for your move back and if you need any help, do not hesitate to ask. Good luck.
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