Thinking about it

[butchir]

Hi All

I'm a newbie here. Been having a browse but thought I would post a few questions running about my head.

Here's our background -

My wife and I are newly married, however we have been discussing AU for a while. My wife graduated as a nurse last year and has had about 12 months post reg experience (6 months each in 2 roles) and I have 11 years experience working within the Hospitality Industry (Hotels).

We both spent 6 weeks travelling round AU last year after MrsB finished Uni and I got a small career break and loved our time there. We went to WA, Sydney, Canberra, GC and Airlie Beach & Whitsundays. Loved It and cant get the place out our head since we got back.

My aunt said see how we feel once we get home as if we go back to live it wouldnt be the same as we were on hols and we understand that but we just loved it and the whole outdoor lifestyle - BBQ's, beaches, parks. Sitting out in the evening having a drink and just chilling out.

We are thinking about looking at MrsB getting a sponsored visa to get us over to see what we think before perhaps looking a PR and I will piggyback on that.....thoughts?

We have had discussions about where to try and we both loved WA which is where my family are, however her family are on the East Coast. I feel WA may give us a more laid back life that we are looking for and better chance at housing.......am I right?

We have loans that we would still have 3 years left to pay if we do move next year and doing a bunk is not an option for us we want to pay them back.......

That leads to kids, we do not have any but we are both around 30 and looking to have them within the next couple of years......do we stay here while we clear the slate then move with perhaps a baby or our preferred thinking is move now and see what happens before being settling with kids? How would paying back £600 a month repayment back home eat into our living even if we had about £6k in savings to help us settle and help pay these off for a couple of months while we get ourselves settled?

We would obviously miss our friends and more importantly family, however we have family over there that will help us settle etc but we feel its too an exciting adventure not to give a go and we can come home if we do not like it.

We are not going to investigate further until the new year anyway but just wanted to put our story out there for some help/advice.

Thanks in advance.

[kaz101]

Hi butchir,

Welcome to the forum.

In the 'PLEASE READ...' post there is a link to the DIAC (Dept of immigration) visa wizard which may give you some pointers.

If you do a search on here for nurses there have been quite a few nurses moved over to Australia but I can't remember the experience or requirements for that.

You can be laid back anywhere you want to be WA is a big place but most people tend to settle either around Perth or below it. When we were choosing where to move to we thought about Perth but felt that for us it was a little isolated since I wanted to be able to get to other cities. Although we are in a regional area we still have access to Adelaide and Melbourne either by plane or 5 hours drive.

Think of the exchange rate when it comes to paying things back in the UK. If you are paying back £600 that's around A$1200 (depending on the exchange rate). The exchange rate is low on the Aussie side at the moment but I've known it to be 2.5 or 3 which means that you need to be paying back $1500 or more for the same £600.

Check out the cost of living post (if you haven't done so already) and also check out the real estate links for property rentals / sales to see what your monthly expenses would be.

When you move you won't have a credit record so you need to build that up from scratch which may mean paying a bigger deposit when initially get a rental. Check out some of the recent posts by members who have just moved over. Most of them are paying out more than they thought - personally I don't think £6k (only about A$12,000) will go very far.

How long will it take to get jobs? Even if your partner is sponsored what will they be earning? These are all things to consider and I think on the DIAC site it says something about bringing over money to last 2 years since you won't be getting benefits in that time.

I'm not trying to be negative - just pointing out things you need to consider to make sure that your move (if you decide to move) goes smoothly financially.

Regards,
Karen

[anj1976]

Hi Butchir

welcome to the forum Karen has already suggested a lot, once you are done with the initial R&D i am sure you will have a lot to ask/share, give us a shout and someone will assist.

cheers
anj