Young, Married UK Couple thinking about moving to Oz

[KellySilvey]

Hi there

We are a young UK couple 29 and 31 thinking about moving to Oz for a couple of years and wanted to get any advice or experience from others who have done the same.

We are visiting Oz this year for 4 wks(fly out boxing day) and going to Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Whitsundays and Brisbane- this will be my 1st trip and husband 3rd ( he has family in Hobart -aunties and cousins and has wanted to move for years).

I am liking the idea of an adventure and living in a different country to experience a different way of life but am also worried a little about the realities. Here in the UK we are doing ok and not struggling as we both have good jobs(I work for as a Senior PA for a Investment Bank in London and Him a Telecomms Engineer with over 10 years experience) and am wondering if we would be able to get work and also what visa if any we could get?? We would only rent out our beautiful 3 bed 3 storey townhouse as i would never sell up unless i loved it there!

Also to not sound so pathetic im petrified of Snakes and spiders so suppose maybe moving to Oz would be stupid??

How have others found the experience and is it a much better way of life??

Thanks for listening xx

[matjones]

We are a young UK couple 29 and 31 thinking about moving to Oz for a couple of years and wanted to get any advice or experience from others who have done the same.

Hi Kelly,

Dolly has posted a great list of things to check if you are interested in moving to Australia.

Thinking of emigrating?

We are visiting Oz this year for 4 wks(fly out boxing day) and going to Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Whitsundays and Brisbane- this will be my 1st trip and husband 3rd ( he has family in Hobart -aunties and cousins and has wanted to move for years).

I'm sure you will have a great time.

I work for as a Senior PA for a Investment Bank in London and Him a Telecomms Engineer with over 10 years experience) and am wondering if we would be able to get work and also what visa if any we could get??

You will need to look at the Skilled Occupation List and see if your skills match any of those required in Australia.

Australia Immigration uses a points system based on a variety of factors including age, profession, education, experience, language skills etc. If his skill is on the list, then it is good that he has the 10 yrs experience. It is also good that you are still under 34. Having a relative in AU can also help if you do not meet the required pass mark for General Skilled Migration ( subclass 175), family in AU could sponsor you (subclass 176), but you still need have a skill thats in demand.

Also to not sound so pathetic im petrified of Snakes and spiders so suppose maybe moving to Oz would be stupid??

Me too, more so the spiders, but I figure the quality of life in AU will be much better, and will offset the occasional nasty encounters with spiders

How have others found the experience and is it a much better way of life??

Australia has always been high on the list of best places to live and raise family, especially compared to UK and US. If you qualify for a visa, go for it.

[kaz101]

Originally Posted by KellySilvey

Hi there

Hi Kelly,

Welcome to the forum

Originally Posted by KellySilvey

I am liking the idea of an adventure and living in a different country to experience a different way of life but am also worried a little about the realities. Here in the UK we are doing ok and not struggling as we both have good jobs(I work for as a Senior PA for a Investment Bank in London and Him a Telecomms Engineer with over 10 years experience) and am wondering if we would be able to get work?

Have you checked out the 'PLEASE READ.....' post towards the top of the forum?
That has links to job sites which will help you tell what your industry is like in Oz.

Originally Posted by KellySilvey

and also what visa if any we could get??

Again if you check out the 'PLEASE READ.....' post then that has links to the visas and even the visa wizard which has the most common visas.

An important decision is whether you want to be sponsored (either by a state, employer or family) or whether you want to come in as a independent skilled migrant? The sponsorship is quicker to process the visa but may take longer to find initially for an employer. The independent skilled migrant can work anywhere, at anything, whereas with employer sponsored you are committed to a job for about 2 years.

The visa website go through all this under the individual visas.

Originally Posted by KellySilvey

Also to not sound so pathetic im petrified of Snakes and spiders so suppose maybe moving to Oz would be stupid??

If you do a search on spiders you'll find you're not the only one who doesn't like them! It depends on where you move to as to how many snakes and spiders you see - for example snakes are not common in cities.

Originally Posted by KellySilvey

How have others found the experience and is it a much better way of life??
Thanks for listening xx

We moved from the UK in July 2007 and it's been the best move we've ever made.
We both love it here.

However it really depends on your expectations - life it what you make it, no matter where you are. If you move out here with no support network ( as we did) you have to get out of your comfort zone and go out and meet people. They won't come to you (most of the time)

I did loads of research to find an area where we wanted to live (we were restricted by jobs since we're both self-employed), what clubs we wanted to join, the lifestyle we wanted to lead. My husband used to commute (by van) 2 hours each way to South London, and now it's less than 15 minutes to any client and that's the change we wanted.

Think about what you want - weather, friends, job etc. and then see what areas suit you.

Also check out the 'Cost of living' thread so you have an idea of the every day costs.

Another thing to mention is that Australia still has bills to pay, taxes, some dumb politicians and that sort of thing. Some things are the same where ever you go

Regards,
Karen

[Dolly]

Hi there,

Welcome to the forum.

Sounds like you will have a wonderful time on your trip over. Really envious of you going to the Whitsundays! Hope to get there at some stage too.

Basically, moving halfway around the world is, in itself, a bit of a life gamble. No-one can say if they will like it or loathe it. That only comes with time spent here doing normal, everyday stuff.

My OH had a good job back in the UK, and with a family as well - boys were 13 and 15 when we moved over - the gamble that his job would pay enough for us to survive/would he like the company etc was huge. But, that's part of the whole process....it's not just filling in countless forms (in triplicate ), endlessly waiting for something to happen, hoping you're ticking the right box or giving the right info etc etc etc, it's also mentally getting your head around the fact of the huge change that's about to happen in your life.

Also, if you can keep your apartment back in the UK until you've made up your mind if you like it here or not is a fantastic option. I wish we could have afforded to do that but we needed the money this end to buy a property. I have to say though in some respects for me, it was a good thing. Although it broke my heart to sell our house it broke an emotional link, a safety net if you like. If we hadn't have been as lucky as we have so far and not settled it could have been an easy option to just pack up here and return to the family home.

Ramble over.....just ask away with any questions, there's always someone on here who will help and point you in the right direction.

Dolly

Doh...forgot to mention the spiders and snakes! I was, and still am, the worlds worst arachnophobe. I hate them with a passion. I've had countless sleepless nights if one has been in our bedroom and for some reason the OH has 'missed' it and it's dropped on the floor and scurried off somewhere (getting queasey thinking about it!) but over here although the spiders can be huge and venomous I've just looked at it that it's a fact of life, no matter how much I worry myself over them, they will still be here. The key is to prepare your home against attack LOL so, get your property sprayed inside and out, set mortein bombs off every so often and you will be fine. And check your car sun visor as they tend to sneak behind them and have on many occasions dropped onto the unsuspecting drivers lap whilst driving!!!!

Snakes? Well we do get them here in Victoria, but they aren't as prevalent as say FNQ, Brisbane etc. The weather there suits them more to the weather we get here (It's the crocs you have to worry about)

[amaslam]

Everyone else has mentioned answers but there's one more thing and that's emotional health.

I think even the most pro-AU people who love being here have that sadness when they miss home and family. To me it was quite acute the first 6 months but now I'm fine (but that's 5 yrs later). Be sure to prepare yourself for some of that sadness as well. Also I find it's more sad in Winter time AU when it's dark at 5 PM and you don't sleep for at least another 5-6-7 hours, and when it gets dark here, I mean pitch black dark. But it's not as cold as the UK so evening walks are a very real possibility here (quite refreshing at times).

To be honest I'm a bit jealous that you get to hit Whitsundays and Tasmania on your first trip down, I still have to go to those places

Originally Posted by KellySilvey

Hi there

We are a young UK couple 29 and 31 thinking about moving to Oz for a couple of years and wanted to get any advice or experience from others who have done the same.

We are visiting Oz this year for 4 wks(fly out boxing day) and going to Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Whitsundays and Brisbane- this will be my 1st trip and husband 3rd ( he has family in Hobart -aunties and cousins and has wanted to move for years).

I am liking the idea of an adventure and living in a different country to experience a different way of life but am also worried a little about the realities. Here in the UK we are doing ok and not struggling as we both have good jobs(I work for as a Senior PA for a Investment Bank in London and Him a Telecomms Engineer with over 10 years experience) and am wondering if we would be able to get work and also what visa if any we could get?? We would only rent out our beautiful 3 bed 3 storey townhouse as i would never sell up unless i loved it there!

Also to not sound so pathetic im petrified of Snakes and spiders so suppose maybe moving to Oz would be stupid??

How have others found the experience and is it a much better way of life??

Thanks for listening xx