Moving to Australia - What do we need to know? Please help

Bettyboop

Hi all,

We have decided to move to Australia for good. We hope giving ourselves a year to get organised will be enough. Passports are not an issue as my husband holds an Australian passport.

What are the do's and dont's? Do you know of anyone who has moved for good? If you have any tips or moneysaving ideas please share them. We will be very thankful ; ).

Thanks all.

Bettyboop

Anyone? please.

Andybez38

Dont really have any advice. My best mate moved there (emigrated) in January this year with his family. He said he loves it and wish you and your family the best if and when you go.

Incapuppy

If you google 'British expats in Australia' you should find several very helpful websites/forums.

karendb

My sister, her partner Steve & 14yr old son moved to Perth about 18mths ago from the UK. It took them nearly a year to settle in, even though Steve's brother & wife live there and were on hand to give them help. They found a great school, both got jobs very quickly (apparently the Aussies really like the Poms because they work hard - it must be one of the few places in the world where the Brits are considered to be hard-working and reliable ) and after 3 months of working were able to get a mortgage on a lovely house. They still work hard but enjoy a better standard of living than they would in the UK).

Perhaps the one piece of advice they would give is to give yourself a holiday of a few weeks when you first move there as you'll find it difficult to do so again for quite some time.

Enjoy!

hazelmere1

Have a look at www.pomsinoz.com ask any questions you have on their forum. Its the best place to start by far. We're going through the same process , now its just the wait for a case officer . Only 6 month wait up till now :mad:

Bettyboop

hazelmere1, Good Luck with everthing. Whereabouts are you looking at going?

BenL

There are some books listed on Amazon on how to do it.

Would be nice, I am sort of debating it myself.

Just been having a look at the list of jobs that they are looking for on the skills website.

I think I can get in under one as some skills match what I do but the title isn't exactly right.

Bananabelly

I am Aussie, and just moved back after 5 years in the UK so might be able to help a little.
Moving your stuff is expensive, I shifted stuff from about half a small 3-bedroom house back (38 items/boxes) and it cost me 1700 pounds including insurance. This is about the average cost though, and I went through ANglo-Pacific who were recommended to me and were excellent. They pack everything for you and deliver door to door. It took about 3 months. It was still worth it because I had stuff that was irreplaceable, and it would have cost more to buy everything (including a lounge suite and sitting room furniture) again.
Having said that, be selective in what you take back, I have opened boxes to find some real junk and wondered what I was thinking when I put that in??? There is certain stuff you can't take back too, like tvs and alcohol, and garden stuff is difficult (and it will be inspected by customs in oz). Housewares are definitely cheaper here, so is linen, and clothing is generally.
Erm...at the risk of making enemies I have never heard anyone here in oz say the English are highly regarded for being hard-working and reliable. However, aussies are more laid back and easy to get to know I think, than people in the UK. Don't get me wrong, I have great English friends from my time there, but people are a little more reserved generally and it took me longer to get to know them.
The lifestyle is definitely better, eating out is soooooo much cheaper than the UK (I paid for a decent meal for 6 here which cost around 80 pounds! Unheard of in London.) and there seems to have been lots of public holidays since I've been back! As another example, I spent last weekend on a houseboat paddling down a river. The houseboat was luxury with a spa etc and cost us the equivalent of around 120 pounds for the whole weekend - 3 nights (food etc included). Bliss!
You should bring chocolate with you, english chocolate is far better (though I have discovered supermarkets here that sell Green and Blacks!). I miss Monsoon and Next and that kind of stuff, the fashion is behind the times here, and the TV is not as good. But since you can be outdoors doing stuff more it doesn't really matter!
If you have more specific questions please post them. The only other thing I will say is be prepared for the home sickness, because it can be a killer. I still get nostalgic when I see pictures of London on TV or whatever, and have missed seeing 2 of my friends babies who were born after I left. Australia is not a perfect place to live either, there are still problems like racism, poverty, and even bad weather which people in the UK don't seem to realise (ie it is not all like Neighbours. Sorry.) I just think people romanticise it a lot, especially after the end of a long UK winter...

hazelmere1

Hi , bettyboop . We're being sponsored by the Vic government for a regional visa so we're looking at anywhere in regional Vic which is anywhere apart from Melbourne basically. Good luck also with your move. Do you need a spouse visa ?

bargainbird

Hi cant really offer any advice... but my cousin moved out last year and runs a curry delivery business, better and cheaper than those over there (in Sydney).

All the best, you lucky beggars