Emigrating to Australia

bridiej

robowen wrote:

Do you need to get a visa if you're going on holiday or just looking around the place with a view to emigrating ??

rob

Hi Rob, Sorry I only just discovered this thread so it's probably too late now, but I will reply anyway

Yes, you do need a visa before you can come even for a visit, you can apply on line, it's not very much and they last 3 months, although you can apparently extend them if you have mitigating circumstances.

Personally we used a migration agent (Thinking Australia) and can't recommend them enough. They can help you right through the process and double check all your documents before they send them off to TRA or DIMA, as well as answer general questions you might have. Worth every penny (their fee was about £1500 but this is a couple of years ago now, this doesnt include TRA or DIMA fees).

There is of course good and bad here as any country. The capital cities tend to have more of the trouble, I know in Perth they have "bashings", shooting/stabbing (normally between rival bikey gangs) and in the nightclub district problems with people who've been drinking. Where we are in Bunbury though you hear the odd thing but not on a regular basis.

Sydney last year had race riots which were heavily publicised, and of course having more people in Sydney and Melbourne there are more criminal incidents. Also Sydney and Melbourne have large expat communities, not only Brits but also Chinese, Asian, Indian etc etc etc. Perth has mainly Brits but the ones that want to tend to group together in certain suburbs. Where we live there are few Brits, which is what we wanted!!

Another downside is drugs, and burglaries tend to be more common than in the UK mainly associated with druggies. Again, more of a problem in the big cities although we did have someone with a drugs factory in a caravan on the front lawn in the next town! But like anywhere, these things just happen I guess, part of life unfortunately.

Dont know about racism, I've certainly never noticed it although they do tend to use some old fashioned words for people with darker skin that arent PC in the UK anymore. At first it's a bit of a shock to hear people saying it but you get used to it and, at the end of the day, we choose not to use the words ourselves. Also never had any anti-POM sentiments, most people seem pleased that you've come over as they are all too aware of the skills shortages, especially in this neck of the woods.

Anyway, enough waffle, PM me if you want any further info and apologies for late reply - have been very busy and not logged on much

sandieb

The travel visa for Oz is available on-line here http://www.eta.immi.gov.au/

I was in Australia last year for a month - Melbourne, Adelaide, Uluru, N Queensland and Sydney and never saw a single spider (and I looked hard!)

Wonderful country, wonderful people - laid back with a brilliant sense of humour.

Can't wait to go back to visit.

rosegarden

We lived in Melbourne for just over seven years, but came back to the UK four years ago. It's a great place with great people and the food in Melbourne is to die for.

The reasons we came back though were because missed family and friends, also we have a special needs child (was diagnosed with Autism there), we found there was no support education-wise at all.

Medically it was faultless. When you go to the doctors, you hand over your Medicare card and sign a form, so you don't pay for a visit to the doctor. If you have to see a specialist, the same thing applies, but you have to pay the bill, then claim most of the money back from Medicare by taking the bill to one of their offices, they are like shops in virtually every shopping area. The dental side of things - for me and the 2 kids is cost about $90 for a check up. Dental isn't covered by Medicare, but private medical cover can cover some areas, but it is quite expensive per month.

When you first get to Oz, you think that everything is really cheap because of the value of the pound to the dollar, it is. Once you start living on dollars though, the cost of living is probably not very much different to here. Some things are dearer there, some things are cheaper. You have to pay quite a bit of stamp duty when you buy a house. You also have to pay stamp duty when you buy a car (new or used), the amount varies from state to state, so you have to take this into account as stamp duty is on top of the advertised prices.

If I can help anyone, let me know.

RG

bridiej

rosegarden wrote:

When you first get to Oz, you think that everything is really cheap because of the value of the pound to the dollar, it is. Once you start living on dollars though, the cost of living is probably not very much different to here. Some things are dearer there, some things are cheaper. You have to pay quite a bit of stamp duty when you buy a house. You also have to pay stamp duty when you buy a car (new or used), the amount varies from state to state, so you have to take this into account as stamp duty is on top of the advertised prices.

Very true, I would say we were better off because DH was on better wages than the UK but now he's taken a pay cut to do his apprenticeship it's about the same. It's easy to get carried away when you first arrive and see $$$thousands in the bank (I know a few people who've overspent!) but you need to keep a sensible head on, and things like stamp duty you need to take into account as they can add up.

As for spiders, yes, you see the odd one in the house (not the dangerous ones) but no more often than you saw house spiders in the UK. Redbacks are everywhere outside, but again you dont often see them, just their webs, and if you spray regularly that keeps the numbers down. Most of our spiders live under the edges of the fence, but I dont go anywhere near there anyway.

Havent see a snake yet (apart from a dead one on the road I think), I know people who've lived here all their lives and never seen one.

You do get free eye tests on Medicare though!

Kimberley

My brothers mate moved to 0z 5 years a go after he married a 0z girl. My brother has travelled to 0z 3 times each year since to visit him. He is in the process of applying to emigrate out there, he has money in the bank to buy himself a house, though he is considering buying a business out there with his mate instead.

I want to emigrate out there myself, but have no proffesion, although i'd be willing to do a course on a good proffession to be accepted. I know you can get family visas to emigrate if you have family living out there, but how does this work? How long does my brother need to live there for us to get a family visa to emigrate there as well and do we still need to have a proffessional qualification on a family visa?

acemoola

Try aussiemove.com. My OH has been offered a job and 407 visa in Perth, but we've never been and dunno what to do. Aussiemove has an excellent discussion board and live chat room, where you can have every question answered.
Best of luck

Frugal_Fox

Ooo - us too! We are thinking about emmigrating to Oz.

We've been thinking about emmigrating for about 3 years now. Friends moved to Queensland about 2 years ago and love it - and are not coming back... Her parents have also moved out there and now live next door!!

We've checked with the immigration website and we could get in - my other half is a nurse.

The only thing that stops us is wanting to be debt free before we go, plus I may miss my family. Although my mum says just to go for it. I shall be keeping an eye on this thread!!

pavlovs_dog

does anyone know what became of robowen? last activity on MSE was months ago

robowen

pavlovs_dog wrote: »

does anyone know what became of robowen? last activity on MSE was months ago

I've been taking a break from here for a while !
I've visited Oz...loved it, and have been steadily going through the process of applying for a visa to emigrate .

I got my visa and will be going over on Aug 22nd. :j

Thanks for asking :beer:
Rob

AussieLass

alexjohnson wrote: »

As do Australians to London, I note!

They eventually go back though.

Congratulations Robowen on your visa. :beer: What state are you planning to settle in?