What are the main reasons for returning to UK?

[CGregory]

Hi all,

 

Living in UK and currently considering a move to OZ.

This has probably been covered already and I appologise if it has been but I'm new to this forum.

 

I'm very interested to hear from people moving back to the UK as to what the main reasons are.

 

thanks in advance

 

Claire

[mcmillsa]

We have lived here for 4 years absolutely loved the first 2 and thought it was forever. Went for a visit home after 2 years enjoyed it more than I thought I would and it set off the homesickness, then my dad got ill. He passed away last November and after the third extended visit home I realised where I wanted to be and it wasn't in Australia. We wanted to spend our life with my family and friends and have the kids with their Grandparents who are left not away from them.

We have excellent jobs here good income but for nearly two years have had the ache to return home which hasn't gone away. Nothing against Australia it has been good to us but I so miss the English culture my family, my life long friends and so much more.

I am concerned about the work etc that is why it is taking us so long to return but I keep having to remember we will be a long time back so enjoy the rest of our time here.

No regrets though, don't think to hard about it or you won't do it we just said lets go and applied and went didn't think of any consequences you can't. Its harder to return in our circumstances than it was to come here.

[Sunshine111]

Been away 10 yrs, did a holiday works visa for a year, went back to UK but couldn't settle after a year, so returned & travelled & lived in NZ /OZ. Glad we did it, fantastic experience & would have regretted it if we had not of done it. Met lots of fantastic people along the way & learnt alot our ourselves.

 

Going home now, because I guess really we feel we have exhausted it. Seen more of those countries than UK. Also had a couple of kids in last 5 yrs & it just feels right to go home. Also if I am honest, we enjoyed the first couple of years in Perth, the weather & blue skies being the main thing but after 5 yrs, we feel we have actually ran out of new things to do! Time for a change & for our children to grow up with their family.

 

If you decide to go for it, treat it as an adventure rather than a permanent move. Have a plan about what you want from it & review it! Good luck:)

[2tigers]

My marriage broke down and with small children, with no help and very little finances life was very tough and depressing. I tried and tried to settle in AU but it just wasn't for me, I began to dislike many things and yearned to just get home to my family, friends and familiar environment.

 

I have since visited AU and enjoyed it, but can see that home for me is the UK, I love it at home, watching the children with family is just brilliant and no amount of sunshine, or promises of a better life can replace that for me.

 

There were many other things I disliked and missed from home, but basically this was my reason.

[Quoll]

Been here 32 years 3 months and 24 days and would be home in a heartbeat - I just want to live somewhere where I "belong". For me the first 10 years were fun, we went everywhere, saw everything, got settled etc and I wasnt hankering to go home at all - it was like being on a lovely holiday. Second 10 years were ho hum, nose to the grindstone, raising the kids etc but with a view to the light at the end of the tunnel. Last 10+ years have been "get me out of here" but, married to an Aussie who wont leave, the bars have clanged shut. Always that feeling of being here with my head telling me this was home but my heart knowing that it wasnt.

 

For me it is the belonging, the sense of history, the countryside, the variety within a few short miles, the greeeeeeen, the blazing colours of the hedgerows that change with the season, the weather, the proximity to different cultures, west end theatres, Christmas carols at Kings, markets, sense of humour, supportive communities - the list is endless really but it culminates in a sense of joy once I fly over the channel and a feeling that the world has lifted from my shoulders for the few short weeks I am there every year.

 

Add to that, the fact that I am an only child with parents heading for 90 and needing more and more help, I have one child who is getting married to a Londoner who will never move outside the M25 and who has a fabulous job which offers him better prospects than he could have achieved here in this little pond.

 

Bottom line, it is where I "belong"

[paddymacs]

Been here 32 years 3 months and 24 days and would be home in a heartbeat - I just want to live somewhere where I "belong". For me the first 10 years were fun, we went everywhere, saw everything, got settled etc and I wasnt hankering to go home at all - it was like being on a lovely holiday. Second 10 years were ho hum, nose to the grindstone, raising the kids etc but with a view to the light at the end of the tunnel. Last 10+ years have been "get me out of here" but, married to an Aussie who wont leave, the bars have clanged shut. Always that feeling of being here with my head telling me this was home but my heart knowing that it wasnt.

 

For me it is the belonging, the sense of history, the countryside, the variety within a few short miles, the greeeeeeen, the blazing colours of the hedgerows that change with the season, the weather, the proximity to different cultures, west end theatres, Christmas carols at Kings, markets, sense of humour, supportive communities - the list is endless really but it culminates in a sense of joy once I fly over the channel and a feeling that the world has lifted from my shoulders for the few short weeks I am there every year.

 

Add to that, the fact that I am an only child with parents heading for 90 and needing more and more help, I have one child who is getting married to a Londoner who will never move outside the M25 and who has a fabulous job which offers him better prospects than he could have achieved here in this little pond.

 

Bottom line, it is where I "belong"

 

Ah Quoll I am sorry you sound like you are trapped and yet you are so good to the newbies when they arrive I believe you met suzanne and co from Dublin recently ;-) I have been reading your posts for months and it is clear you dont like Aus but didnt know you were there 32 years. I dont do much on here as we still waiting to hear back from Act (hoping it will be soon) and I dont want to get to involved until we know what we doing but I hope we can meet one day and from what I can see you are meant to be in Aus you are really helping everyone on here stay strong and if you really want to be in the UK keep focusing on it have you read "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne if not do a google search! :hug:

[MARYROSE02]

You sound as if you are in a prison within a prison. Do you think you will ever be 'released?'

 

I would have beenin my 33rd year myself if I hadn't gone back for so long - 3 Nov 1978 was my original 'incarceration' date. Perhaps I have just become institutionalised![

 

QUOTE=Quoll;1137446]Been here 32 years 3 months and 24 days and would be home in a heartbeat - I just want to live somewhere where I "belong". For me the first 10 years were fun, we went everywhere, saw everything, got settled etc and I wasnt hankering to go home at all - it was like being on a lovely holiday. Second 10 years were ho hum, nose to the grindstone, raising the kids etc but with a view to the light at the end of the tunnel. Last 10+ years have been "get me out of here" but, married to an Aussie who wont leave, the bars have clanged shut. Always that feeling of being here with my head telling me this was home but my heart knowing that it wasnt.

 

For me it is the belonging, the sense of history, the countryside, the variety within a few short miles, the greeeeeeen, the blazing colours of the hedgerows that change with the season, the weather, the proximity to different cultures, west end theatres, Christmas carols at Kings, markets, sense of humour, supportive communities - the list is endless really but it culminates in a sense of joy once I fly over the channel and a feeling that the world has lifted from my shoulders for the few short weeks I am there every year.

 

Add to that, the fact that I am an only child with parents heading for 90 and needing more and more help, I have one child who is getting married to a Londoner who will never move outside the M25 and who has a fabulous job which offers him better prospects than he could have achieved here in this little pond.

 

Bottom line, it is where I "belong"

[Quoll]

You sound as if you are in a prison within a prison. Do you think you will ever be 'released?'

 

I would have beenin my 33rd year myself if I hadn't gone back for so long - 3 Nov 1978 was my original 'incarceration' date. Perhaps I have just become institutionalised![

 

 

 

LOL, no no parole. But he knows that if he kicks the bucket before I do then I will be out of here before he is cold!!! You get less time for murder these days!!!

[CGregory]

Many thanks to you all for your open and honest replies.

 

This gives us a general idea and further considerations as we are only in the early stages of deciding whether Oz is the right move for us.

 

Claire xx

[Quoll]

Ah Quoll I am sorry you sound like you are trapped and yet you are so good to the newbies when they arrive I believe you met suzanne and co from Dublin recently ;-) I have been reading your posts for months and it is clear you dont like Aus but didnt know you were there 32 years. I dont do much on here as we still waiting to hear back from Act (hoping it will be soon) and I dont want to get to involved until we know what we doing but I hope we can meet one day and from what I can see you are meant to be in Aus you are really helping everyone on here stay strong and if you really want to be in the UK keep focusing on it have you read "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne if not do a google search! :hug:

 

Ah yes, I am a nice person:arghh:, I meet lots of people and hopefully give them a bit of helpful information from time to time. I guess I am a bit bemused by it all as I came here knowing no one and just got on with it - in the same way that we went to PNG knowing no one and just got on with it. In lots of ways it was much easier because there wasnt all the angst ridden stuff that comes with today's knowledge and constant communication with what you have left behind. It wasnt until I discovered boards like this one that I found out that Poms were actually seeking Poms as friends - hello, what happened to moving out into the community and cosying up to the natives.

 

When we came, we came because DH had a good opportunity, we sold the house, gave away most of our stuff and posted 39 (I think it was) parcels of books by surface mail and even remembered, somewhat belatedly, to get a visa for me and the DS (it was collected the morning of the day we departed!) all within about 6 weeks.

 

Actually, I am hoping that DH will see the fragility of my parents this trip and agree to go back so we can support them. He has a 94 year old mum here but she lives down in Ballarat and he has 3 brothers within cooee so he is essentially redundant in the help department there. With our house renovations almost done he is making occasional comments which give me hope.

 

I think anyone coming here just needs to keep in tune with their feelings and make definite decision points about where they want their lives to go next. It is so easy to get suckered and desensitized into the comfort zone and then all of a sudden there is no escape for a whole range of reasons - usually financial, educational or emotional - when the grandkids come along - and you realize that you have missed the boat. Most people are going to be just fine for most of the time.

[CGregory]

Quoll,

 

Hope all works out for you.

 

Claire xx

[LaraBond]

We moved from Kent to Brisbane 6 months ago and regret it right from the start. We came on a 4-year business sponsored visa and we are probably better off than many as our relocation expenses were paid by the company and my husband has a good job with a similar salary as he had in London.

Like everybody, we miss our friends and relatives, the familiarity of life, the quaintness of it, old architecture and a picturesque countryside. But more than anything we miss social security, free NHS and cheap prices.

 

Our first shock was the cost of living and prices in general. I guess it is OK to come for someone when they are young, in good health and no children, but once you are past you end-thirties, it can get pretty tough. The cost of living here, the food is double the price of that in the UK. Can you ever imagine bananas, cherries and vine tomatoes costing $13 per kilo in high season? I forgot what they taste like! We never had to scrimp and scrape on food in the UK and we could buy clothes and household stuff pretty cheap back home. Have you ever seen a cooking pan in a department store for $400? I have not bought a thing here since we came and I regret we didn't bring more!

But the worst thing happens when you get ill. We did not expect that with a reciprocal health agreement and a private health insurance you still end up paying loads. I was unfortunate enough to get something as trivial as an ear infection. It took me 5 visit to a GP (you pay about $30 each time) and a visit to a consultant (I paid 50% fees which cost me another $150). Many prescriptions are private and could cost a fortune. But the worst thing is the absence of the NHS dentists here, they are all private. I tried to complete all my dental work in the UK before I came here but it turned out that my old root canal problems re-appeared big time. Guess what, within 2 months I spent thousands here just on the root canals at a regular dentist, a root canal specialist quoted me here nearly $3,000 per tooth and new crowns would cost $1,500 each!!!

 

 

 

Now after only 6 months I cannot wait to go back to the UK to sort my teeth out, the alternative is to travel to some other countries but unfortunately my treatment would require several visits. We can’t go back for the first 2 years as we would have to pay back our relocation expenses and pay again to ship everything back home. In a nutshell, if we knew all this beforehand, WE WOULD NOT COME HERE

[MARYROSE02]

It's sad that you can't go back and spend some extended time with your parents. In 1996 I lost my job after 15 years and I was devastated - probably the closest thing i've had to a relationship (That is SAD!)

 

The one good thing that came out of it was going back to England for an extended holiday and helping my parents. My Mum had an accident and passed away in 1997 then I looked after my Dad until 2005. If I hadn't lost that job I probably would not have been able to do it.

 

Now I wonder if I was stupid to come back here, chucking in a good job. I got used to living in England too. I miss some of the same things that you talk about - the countryside in particular, living in a village in The New Forest.

 

on the other hand, my brother is here and I've no close family left in England. The beach is conmpensatioin for the village and I get to watch every Spurs game live on TV with other fans!

 

Ah yes, I am a nice person:arghh:, I meet lots of people and hopefully give them a bit of helpful information from time to time. I guess I am a bit bemused by it all as I came here knowing no one and just got on with it - in the same way that we went to PNG knowing no one and just got on with it. In lots of ways it was much easier because there wasnt all the angst ridden stuff that comes with today's knowledge and constant communication with what you have left behind. It wasnt until I discovered boards like this one that I found out that Poms were actually seeking Poms as friends - hello, what happened to moving out into the community and cosying up to the natives.

 

When we came, we came because DH had a good opportunity, we sold the house, gave away most of our stuff and posted 39 (I think it was) parcels of books by surface mail and even remembered, somewhat belatedly, to get a visa for me and the DS (it was collected the morning of the day we departed!) all within about 6 weeks.

 

Actually, I am hoping that DH will see the fragility of my parents this trip and agree to go back so we can support them. He has a 94 year old mum here but she lives down in Ballarat and he has 3 brothers within cooee so he is essentially redundant in the help department there. With our house renovations almost done he is making occasional comments which give me hope.

 

I think anyone coming here just needs to keep in tune with their feelings and make definite decision points about where they want their lives to go next. It is so easy to get suckered and desensitized into the comfort zone and then all of a sudden there is no escape for a whole range of reasons - usually financial, educational or emotional - when the grandkids come along - and you realize that you have missed the boat. Most people are going to be just fine for most of the time.

[JaneDavid]

Been here 5 years now and the cracks are beginning to appear. A lot of it for us is this constant onslaught of bureaucratic stupidity that touches every part of your life. The need for a licence or permit for just about everything you do, it's driving us mad. And before some well meaning individual tells me it's the same in the UK now. NO ITS NOT. I have been back recently for a few weeks and apart from the fact they're in the middle of a major recession, which I hasten to add, are the rest of the World not much has changed.

Then there's the issue of striking up friendships, i've seen much written on this subject on PIO and in a nutshell I would say forget it, you may as well go and bang your head against the nearest brick wall. Our small circle of friends consist of a few fellow Brits and some South Africans. One thing we're all in agreement on is that you are unlikely to get to call an Australian your friend,

My husband works in the electrical industry and obviously had to sit various exams to get the several licences required. However when he got out there into the real world only then did he find that the quality of workmanship is abysmal, not only that but the practices and materials they use here are 1960's UK. (for anybody who understands these things, they only stopped using porcelain rewirable fuses in the late eighties early nineties)

So what to do, well I suppose we'll give it some more time and then make a decision, but I think one thing for sure, If we could have our time over we would look at somewhere else or stay put in the UK but definitely not Australia.

[TerryDXB]

Living in UK and currently considering a move to OZ.

 

Claire - I think you need to figure out exactly why you want to move to Oz? Why not France, Italy or Canada?

 

I'm constantly amazed by the number people who come to Oz on little more than a whim and then find they don't like it here. Despite the similar language, it IS a foreign country with its own diffferent ways of doing things and not all are better.

 

List the things you like about the UK, the things you don't like and then try to figure out whether or not they will be different enough in Oz for you to make a go of it. Things like missing family are intangibles and need to be addressed.

[Guest Meizpod]

I've come across three guys here who after around 10 years in oz returned to the Uk and after a while and massive expense came back here again, they were well and truly caught between the two places. However what was common was how migration interferes with the mind and confuses place with time. Returning 'home' can never be a return to how things were as some appear to hope, they will not be returning to youth and not to the same place they left, that place has moved on and no airline ticket will ever get you back. In melancholy moments I do miss real pubs, decent Indian restaurants, comedians that actually make you laugh, good music, quality TV (e.g. 'Life on Mars') and a conversation that does not involve a wobbly ball but I could never return as my kids were born here and this is their home. If I need a mid life crisis I won't blame Australia I'll buy a motorbike like everyone else does.

Paradise doesn't exist, but I'm sure Queensland is closer to the mark than south London.

[Guest Ligs]

We moved from Kent to Brisbane 6 months ago and regret it right from the start. We came on a 4-year business sponsored visa and we are probably better off than many as our relocation expenses were paid by the company and my husband has a good job with a similar salary as he had in London.

Like everybody, we miss our friends and relatives, the familiarity of life, the quaintness of it, old architecture and a picturesque countryside. But more than anything we miss social security, free NHS and cheap prices.

 

Our first shock was the cost of living and prices in general. I guess it is OK to come for someone when they are young, in good health and no children, but once you are past you end-thirties, it can get pretty tough. The cost of living here, the food is double the price of that in the UK. Can you ever imagine bananas, cherries and vine tomatoes costing $13 per kilo in high season? I forgot what they taste like! We never had to scrimp and scrape on food in the UK and we could buy clothes and household stuff pretty cheap back home. Have you ever seen a cooking pan in a department store for $400? I have not bought a thing here since we came and I regret we didn't bring more!

But the worst thing happens when you get ill. We did not expect that with a reciprocal health agreement and a private health insurance you still end up paying loads. I was unfortunate enough to get something as trivial as an ear infection. It took me 5 visit to a GP (you pay about $30 each time) and a visit to a consultant (I paid 50% fees which cost me another $150). Many prescriptions are private and could cost a fortune. But the worst thing is the absence of the NHS dentists here, they are all private. I tried to complete all my dental work in the UK before I came here but it turned out that my old root canal problems re-appeared big time. Guess what, within 2 months I spent thousands here just on the root canals at a regular dentist, a root canal specialist quoted me here nearly $3,000 per tooth and new crowns would cost $1,500 each!!!

 

 

 

Now after only 6 months I cannot wait to go back to the UK to sort my teeth out, the alternative is to travel to some other countries but unfortunately my treatment would require several visits. We can’t go back for the first 2 years as we would have to pay back our relocation expenses and pay again to ship everything back home. In a nutshell, if we knew all this beforehand, WE WOULD NOT COME HERE

 

My first post so hi all :biggrin:

 

Thank you Lara for that, we're in a very similar situation just now, hubby been offered a 4 yr business sponsored visa job to Perth/Darwin and at the moment we're jumping at the chance so we can be together as a family for at least the next 4 years. He contracts at the moment.

 

There is little information available to us so far as it is all just starting to get off the ground but my major worry (apart from our 11 yr old daughter's education) is that I'm diabetic and the cost of insulin etc and whether it is covered by the company.

 

We'd be the same with the company paying relocation expenses etc and the fact we would have to stay a minimal time to avoid paying them back. I really am running hot and cold on this at the moment. Obviously the blue skies appeal along with hubby being at home every night and having a 'real' family experience rather than him off working for weeks at a time BUT on the other hand the expense, the medical issues and the endless blue skies will probably wear thin pretty quickly going by past experiences.

 

Guess I'll just have to play it by ear for now.

 

and Quoll you have my sympathies, my grandad spent 50 years in Oz and all he wanted at the end was to come home to die, unfortunately he couldn't get insurance to travel and never saw his homeland again. He never forgot it, never lost his scottish accent and always considered it home. He always said he should have come home 20 years before. :sad:

[Quoll]

There is little information available to us so far as it is all just starting to get off the ground but my major worry (apart from our 11 yr old daughter's education) is that I'm diabetic and the cost of insulin etc and whether it is covered by the company.

 

 

I'd be worrying about your 11 year old's education as well. 4 yrs puts her slap bang in the middle of her GCSE course so you may want to reevaluate closer to the time and ensure that if you do decide to move on to UK after NT, that she is there and ready to begin her course at the right time.

 

Good luck, sounds like an adventure and welcome to PIO

[Guest MonsterMunch]

We've been in Sydney for nearly 18 months. We never came over here with a view to emigrating permanently; it was always a 2-year-poss-extend thing (with work) but always said we'd make a decision on staying or going when we needed to... Well, that point in time came sooner rather than later when I found out in April we're expecting our first baby in December, so we're heading back at the end of August.

 

Our life in Sydney is nice - we've carved out a nice and convenient lifestyle here: short commutes, nice bars and restaurants on our doorsteps, easy-ish access to some lovely beaches and national parks, nice flat etc etc etc. Work-wise we're doing really well here, and me and my OH both have job offers coming out of our ears! Financially it's great too (good old LAFHA, but even without it we'd be fine) and will have managed to save close to $90k by the time we go home!

 

However, I knew right from early on that we wouldn't be here forever. We had talked about staying for PR and citizenship to give ourselves the flexibility of coming back later, but we won't get to that point now, and I'm not fussed in the slightest....

 

So why are we going back? Well, the baby is the main reason. I want our parents/brothers to be part of our baby's life - not just faces on Skype. I want to be close to them during this exciting but daunting time, I want their help and their love around us. As a 457 visa holder, I don't get state maternity pay, meaning I'd be able to take 52 weeks off as leave, but my employer only pays 6 weeks full pay, 6 weeks half pay... What with Sydney rents being high, that would soon eat into our savings (specially as I'm the main breadwinner and LAFHA-claimer too). So I doubt I'd be able to take the full year. I also wouldn't have the option of working part time (not permitted on a 457) after maternity leave. In the UK, I'm looking at taking 13 months off (full paid initially, then gradually phases out, but there will some pay the whole time) which includes a month of annual leave. Plus I'd be able to go down to 3 days a week, and have the kind help from parents for 1 or 2 days of that for childcare. Here, the baby would need to be in nursery 5 days a week, which isn't really what we envisaged for our family life.

 

Friends/social life is another reason. We both miss our friends from back home a lot and whilst we have made friends here in Sydney, it's not been easy and I particularly miss that closeness and banter you get with childhood friends. I went home for 10 days last year with work and my phone did not stop ringing - here I barely use it! I'm used to being surrounded by people that I know and love inside out, not just people who we happened to have met and don't really know. I don't have anyone who's house I could just pop round, no one who I'd call for a random natter.

 

Lack of choice is something else I dislike here.... The options for lots of things are limited (clothes, food, weekends away, holidays abroad, concerts) - either due to lack of availability or price or both. We recently had a long weekend in Cairns and it cost us about $2000 and the hotel was one of the better ones and was pretty chintzy/frumpy in all honesty. I know that sounds materialistic, but it still frustrates me. I look on the Sydney Time Out website for inspiration of what to do some weekends and it leaves me cold. On the London one there are always tons of things I'd love to do. And whilst there are some lovely beaches etc to visit, once you've got over the palaver of getting there (must be by 9am on a hot weekend or public holiday otherwise you can't even get in the car park), there's not much variety or difference (in my opinion) between one or another.

 

Service in cafes and restaurants in my experience is dire. Pubs are modern, bright, school-canteen or con-club affairs in my view. I miss decent telly. We don't watch a great deal, but there is rarely anything decent on.

 

The healthcare I've received during my pregnancy so far has been all over the place. Perhaps I've just been unlucky, but wait times to even get an appointment have been ridiculous, wait times just before the appointment are ridiculous, blood tests get lost, GP/midwife/ultrasound department tell me different things, and you have to pay for (some of) it! OH's had a quote for root canal and a crown - $4000! Thank god it's not causing him too much pain and we can wait until we get home...

 

I also think it's really 1970s and 80s as soon as you get outside the main parts of the city, really frumpy and dare I say, backwards (in terms of how things look and attitudes and characters).

 

I dunno - I guess I sound really negative.... I don't feel negative per se against Australia, I just know that I couldn't live here long term. OH would like to consider coming back later in the future, but he's yet to explain why. Yes, work and money have been better here, but as far as I can see, that's the only real benefit to us.

 

Who knows if we'll settle forever in our little town in the UK? I'd like to think we'd work abroad again at some point.

 

Hope this hasn't put you off! My advice to anyone moving would be to just play it by ear - don't make too many committments too early, otherwise you'll beat yourselves up for changing plans or feel like a failure if you don't feel you can see it through. We'd travelled in Aus (backpacking) about 5 years before we moved out here, so we kind of knew what to expect - though as EVERYONE on here will also tell you - visiting and living are completely different experiences.

 

Good luck

[Sydney]

We moved from Kent to Brisbane 6 months ago and regret it right from the start. We came on a 4-year business sponsored visa and we are probably better off than many as our relocation expenses were paid by the company and my husband has a good job with a similar salary as he had in London.

Like everybody, we miss our friends and relatives, the familiarity of life, the quaintness of it, old architecture and a picturesque countryside. But more than anything we miss social security, free NHS and cheap prices.

 

Our first shock was the cost of living and prices in general. I guess it is OK to come for someone when they are young, in good health and no children, but once you are past you end-thirties, it can get pretty tough. The cost of living here, the food is double the price of that in the UK. Can you ever imagine bananas, cherries and vine tomatoes costing $13 per kilo in high season? I forgot what they taste like! We never had to scrimp and scrape on food in the UK and we could buy clothes and household stuff pretty cheap back home. Have you ever seen a cooking pan in a department store for $400? I have not bought a thing here since we came and I regret we didn't bring more!

But the worst thing happens when you get ill. We did not expect that with a reciprocal health agreement and a private health insurance you still end up paying loads. I was unfortunate enough to get something as trivial as an ear infection. It took me 5 visit to a GP (you pay about $30 each time) and a visit to a consultant (I paid 50% fees which cost me another $150). Many prescriptions are private and could cost a fortune. But the worst thing is the absence of the NHS dentists here, they are all private. I tried to complete all my dental work in the UK before I came here but it turned out that my old root canal problems re-appeared big time. Guess what, within 2 months I spent thousands here just on the root canals at a regular dentist, a root canal specialist quoted me here nearly $3,000 per tooth and new crowns would cost $1,500 each!!!

 

 

 

Now after only 6 months I cannot wait to go back to the UK to sort my teeth out, the alternative is to travel to some other countries but unfortunately my treatment would require several visits. We can’t go back for the first 2 years as we would have to pay back our relocation expenses and pay again to ship everything back home. In a nutshell, if we knew all this beforehand, WE WOULD NOT COME HERE

 

 

I've read your post a couple of times, and from what you have written it appears you can go back to the UK anytime you like as long as you pay your company back for your traveling expenses. So what's stopping you ?

You sound dreadfully unhappy, and you didn't mention one positive thing about being in Australia. Bananas are expensive at the moment because of the floods and storms that caused all the destruction to the farmers a few months ago. You really don't have to pay $400 for a kitchen pan, I certainly never have, and you must have known Australia didn't have a social security/national health system like the UK, no other country does.

The high dollar and the low north-sea peso make comparing the cost of living extreme, that's true, but you must have had some inclination that things would be different from the UK. I'm trying to take something positive from your post but you take the wingeing pom thing to a whole new height. Sounds like you did little or no research on relocating to Australia, and I wonder if the "free trip" was the incentive for coming.

I hope you post again when summer kicks in and the weather turns "unexpectedly" hot and new season cherries double in price. You do realise it's unlikely that Brissy will have a white xmas this year ?

I'm presently in the UK and although bananas are only about $2 a kilo, I manage to supplement my diet with other things. The UK economy and standard of living is really quite dire for the majority who live here, and will become much worse when mortgage rates inevitably rise. Come home mate the country needs you, and Oz doesn't deserve you. You might get back just in time for the next recession.

[tea4too]

I've read your post a couple of times, and from what you have written it appears you can go back to the UK anytime you like as long as you pay your company back for your traveling expenses. So what's stopping you ?

You sound dreadfully unhappy, and you didn't mention one positive thing about being in Australia. Bananas are expensive at the moment because of the floods and storms that caused all the destruction to the farmers a few months ago. You really don't have to pay $400 for a kitchen pan, I certainly never have, and you must have known Australia didn't have a social security/national health system like the UK, no other country does.

The high dollar and the low north-sea peso make comparing the cost of living extreme, that's true, but you must have had some inclination that things would be different from the UK. I'm trying to take something positive from your post but you take the wingeing pom thing to a whole new height. Sounds like you did little or no research on relocating to Australia, and I wonder if the "free trip" was the incentive for coming.

I hope you post again when summer kicks in and the weather turns "unexpectedly" hot and new season cherries double in price. You do realise it's unlikely that Brissy will have a white xmas this year ?

I'm presently in the UK and although bananas are only about $2 a kilo, I manage to supplement my diet with other things. The UK economy and standard of living is really quite dire for the majority who live here, and will become much worse when mortgage rates inevitably rise. Come home mate the country needs you, and Oz doesn't deserve you. You might get back just in time for the next recession.

 

I think you are being a bit harsh Sydney. People leave one country to move to another for a wide variety of reasons and will have all sorts of expectations. Some people will do more research than others, but most I guess will expect to feel that their life overall is ‘better’. If they don’t feel that way it is perhaps more likely that they will focus on what they judge to be the negative aspects of the experience, whether they moved to Australia, the UK or anywhere else in the world.

 

In your own post you state, “The UK economy and standard of living is really quite dire for the majority who live here” and I have to say that is not my personal experience. The UK is working through the consequences of a worldwide recession, and times are definitely not easy with rising costs and job insecurity. But within my own circle of family, friends and colleagues I have not witnessed the ‘dire standard of living’ that you refer to. As you are currently in the UK I accept that this may be your experience, but your quips about the

type of people Australia/ UK deserve were, I felt, unnecessary and unhelpful on a forum called MBTTUK, designed to be helpful to people considering a move back to the UK. Just my view.

[Guest Meizpod]

A 457 visa is for a working visitor, returning home is just the end part of the process. Loyalty is for your homeland and nothing can ever be better than home. This has nothing to do with a permanent migration. Migration is an almost desperate act, it takes into account the loss of all that is familial and familiar, but for some reason or reasons, moving to a new country seems a great idea. It is almost an obsession. A 457 visa is usually an easy (usually all expenses paid) jolly for a few years, there is no commitment to give it a go or attempting to create a new life. Migration is a blind, hopeful leap into the dark of an uncertain future with no work, place to live or financial safety net, which is slightly different from being met at the airport by a Holden Statesman driver holding a card with your name on it. What a migrant has is a beautiful ray of hope for a better life in a new land, an excitement about the life story to unfold, for better or for worse.

Good luck to 457ers I hope you enjoy your stay, but may I suggest that when you return to the UK and visit those relatives, you know the ones that have the house and decor you think is tacky, don't tell them - its not very polite.

[Guest mozziebite]

Hi all,

 

Living in UK and currently considering a move to OZ.

This has probably been covered already and I appologise if it has been but I'm new to this forum.

 

I'm very interested to hear from people moving back to the UK as to what the main reasons are.

 

thanks in advance

 

Claire

 

Hi Claire

I think reading some of the posts so far its obvious you must do some research into medical care and the general cost of living! Plenty of books on Amazon...and if you have kids check out education costs, if any, being on a 457 was over $4500 - but hey he knew this before we went cos we checked it out.....

 

Its all relative, the cost of living in Sydney is very high but the salaries are higher, balances it out, just try and stop reverting the costs back to pounds, from the minute you get there and you will be fine, and if you want to be in Australia that much you can get over the cost of bananas I am sure!

 

Anyway the reason we came back was unhappy kids not settling, we might of still been there otherwise. Believe me, there is plenty to like about Australia, the way of life, relaxed beachy culture, the weather and in general the people are more happier with their lot than the Brits. Sometimes staring into the bottom of my wine glass I wish it had worked out for us. Remember for every person who comes back there will be heaps more who stay and love the place - hope whatever decision you choose is the right one!

 

Good luck

[Guest51810]

christ its a good thing me and dave dont like bananas then!! lol :biggrin:

[Sydney]

I think you are being a bit harsh Sydney. People leave one country to move to another for a wide variety of reasons and will have all sorts of expectations. Some people will do more research than others, but most I guess will expect to feel that their life overall is ‘better’. If they don’t feel that way it is perhaps more likely that they will focus on what they judge to be the negative aspects of the experience, whether they moved to Australia, the UK or anywhere else in the world.

 

In your own post you state, “The UK economy and standard of living is really quite dire for the majority who live here” and I have to say that is not my personal experience. The UK is working through the consequences of a worldwide recession, and times are definitely not easy with rising costs and job insecurity. But within my own circle of family, friends and colleagues I have not witnessed the ‘dire standard of living’ that you refer to. As you are currently in the UK I accept that this may be your experience, but your quips about the

type of people Australia/ UK deserve were, I felt, unnecessary and unhelpful on a forum called MBTTUK, designed to be helpful to people considering a move back to the UK. Just my view.

I can't argue what I said sounded a wee bit harsh, I'm just not sure why this guy is still in the country. Not much more to add about that, but there's millions would swap places with this nutter in a heartbeat.

The UK isn't doing too well at all. If you're not affected by the high inflation, growing unemployment and the prospect of interest rate increases then you're one of the fortunate few, and good luck to you.