Questions about moving

[Aravenola]

Have so many questions hope you all can help. 1st off i took the skilled migration prelim test came out at 140. I currently live in The U.S., i'm 25 and single. Looking basically to get out of here into a better climate and a change of pace. I live in Wisconsin and let me tell you its freezing here and snowing all the time.

I work in the retail industry right now i work as a home theater installer. Basically mount peoples tvs on their walls and also set up their new equipment and show them how to use it. I work for Best Buy the company has said they plan to expand to Aus. but not sure when.

So my questions are -

Do i keep all my belongings ie: car and whatnot and bring them with me? Or sell them off and buy when i get there?

Jobs I have looked at the job postings is it easier to just post a resume or go through an agent and have them handle the visas and jobs and what not?

Have many other questions but this is a start. Im looking at moving to Sydney .

[kaz101]

Hi Aravenola,

Welcome to the forum.

If you bring in a car there are a couple of things to consider - the cost to ship it here and depending in the car there is also a luxury tax to pay here as well. We moved from the UK and brought our 1971 Mustang. It didn't have a luxury tax but it did need to be steam cleaned, and when before the road inspection it's had to have several things done to it so it can be used on the roads over here (it should be on the road this month).

Things will be slightly cheaper here for you initially due to the exchange rate but that will disappear when you start earning Aussie dollars. Depends on what you have. Our stuff was old because it took us 2 years for our visa and then to sort out some other things so we didn't bring much with us other than personal things. Sydney is one of the most expensive cities in Australia so beware of that if you decide not to bring things.

Because my husband is Irish, and I'm British and we have property in various places, and a couple of businesses we decided to go through an agent.
Most companies won't give you a job here unless you have a permanent residency visa.

I'm assuming that the points test was based on a skilled independent visa?
There are many visas but you won't want a regional one if you want to move to Sydney.

Also take a look at the helpful websites at the top of the forum since that may have some stuff of interest there for you.

Hope that starts you off,
Karen

[Bevdeforges]

Just a quick note regarding the car - don't forget that in Oz they drive on the "other" side of the road, and cars there are right hand drive. (Kaz had the advantage of coming from a right hand drive country - though I don't know if her Mustang was a US one or a UK one.)

When I lived in the UK for a year, I found it much easier to get used to driving on the other side in a right hand drive car. Something about sitting in what you think of as "the passenger side" with a steering wheel in front of you that constantly reminds you. In any event, in your situation I'd consider getting a car after you arrive.

[kaz101]

Our car is a left hand drive car (originally from the USA). We are used to sitting on the wrong side of the car to drive it now It just means that you have to drive further back so we can see more, especially when overtaking. At least the Aussie roads are wide enough to take the car

However with some cars they may insist that the car be converted to a right hand drive. Since our car is considered a classic it didn't fall under those rules.

Most people don't bother importing their cars...

Regards,
Karen