A list of things you need to do before you emigrate - Parts 1 to 2

[Dolly]

Before we moved over, I spent months getting the below list together. It's really a work in progress as it changes and can be added to on a daily basis!

FLIGHTS

Get quotes for flights

Make sure you get increased baggage allowance in Writing (usually 40kg Eastbound, 64k Westbound)

Cheap Worldwide Flights and cars, Discount Hotels, Bargain Holidays to Dubai, America, Australia and Thailand
ASDA Travel - find cheap holidays, flights, hotels and travel
Travel to Australia & New Zealand with Austravel, the holiday and flight specialist - AUSTRAVEL.COM
CheapTickets: Cheap Flights, Event Tickets, Hotels, Rental Cars, Vacations, Cruises, Concert Tickets, Sports Tickets
Expedia.co.uk Travel > Book cheap flights, travel, hotels and package holidays
ebookers - Cheap Flights, Hotels, Car Hire & Holiday Packages
Flight Centre UK | Cheap flights, holiday packages, hotels, car hire, touring and travel insurance
www.leestravel.com
www.octopustravel.com
Book cheap flights, hotels, car rental, city breaks and package holidays with Opodo
Quest Travel long haul tailor made holidays
Trailfinders - The Travel Experts
TRAVELBAG: Deals on Cheap Flights, Hotels, Holidays and Tours
Holidays and flights to Australia, cheap flights to New Zealand, Hotels, Holidays and Tours Worldwide
Cheap flights & hotels | car hire | package holidays - TravelSupermarket UK

Prepare your belongings to be shipped. Get at least 3 quotes.
Doree Bonner Doree Bonner | UK and International Home Removals and Secure Storage
Crown Relocations Crown Relocations U.K.
PSS International Removal Company
Robinsons The Business and Home Removal Company - Robinsons International

EMPLOYERS
Give formal notice to employer and make sure you get P45 and work references

BANKS/BUILDING SOCIETY

Request credit references from bank, building society or any other lending agent

Once you’ve arrived in Australia your credit profile will in effect start from scratch. Make sure you source as many credit references as possible before leaving the UK so that you can use them as evidence that we are creditworthy. Your bank, building society and any other lending agency should be able to provide a reference. You may find a reference from your mortgage company will also be helpful.

You won’t be able to get a credit card in Australia until you get employment

Request up to date statements on any endowments, pensions and investments

Ask your doctor, dentist, optician, schools to prepare hand-over files

IMMUNISATION RECORDS FOR CHILDREN

Obtain a letter from your doctor confirming your child(ren) immunisations are up-to-date and give dates as they may be required for school and can also be requested for family assistance.


MOVING YOUR PET:
Pet travel services and pet boarding - Airpets Oceanic London UK
Airpets, Willowslea Farm Kennels (Heathrow), Spout Lane North, Stanwell Moor, Staines, Middx TW19 6BW (01753) 685571)

Golden Arrow,
01588 680240 (they don’t have a website)

Ruislip Kennels
Tel: 01344 424144
Fax: 01344 861460
e-mail: info@ryslip.com
The Ryslip Group Ltd | Welcome

Organise temporary accommodation in Australia for a couple of weeks.

Organise all birthday cards and presents for the next 3 months

UPDATE CV

There is not a huge amount of difference between a UK CV and an Australian Résumé. The content is by and large the same but the Australian version often tends to be a bit longer.

Most CV's will not need to be changed much to make them suitable for the market. Read through your existing CV and look for anything which is likely to cause confusion, internationalise your CV, and think of any negatives an employer may see in your CV and offer an immediate explanation to counter them.

Change the word CV to Résumé (and make sure it’s spelt correctly with the accents on the e)

Check for any commonly used UK acronyms, are they used in Australia?

Add a one line description of the companies in your employment history

Explain any gaps.

Give reference to your Permanent Residence

Set spell checker to Australian/English and make sure you run a check before sending the final document.

REFERENCES

It is standard in Australia to attach relevant references to your CV. Before leaving the UK it is a good idea to contact any potential referees and ask them to write a generic reference for this purpose. In the main body list referees with contact details, and attach any references to the back of the CV using a paper clip. As well as showing that you have nothing to hide, time differences may often mean that it is difficult to contact your referees during normal working hours so attaching your references offers a solution.


Inform employer and get P45 and references

Inland Revenue P85
Take these with you (for each adult), then complete and send them back to the UK within a couple of weeks of being in Oz to ensure that Revenue and Customs are aware we have left the UK and now Tax Resident in Australia. The form is designed to help you claim back any tax when we have left or about to leave the UK. This can be downloaded here:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/p85.pdf

Order a phone card from: MelbourneConnect.com.au -- Prepaid Phone Cards to call from Australia
Works out at 1 cent per minute. Go Beyond card is the better choice.


CHANGE OF ADDRESS
Give your change of address to:

Banks
Passport office
Pension company
Inland revenue
Insurance brokers and accountants
Shares

DVLA
The DVLA require that you have a UK address on your driving license, so it may be advisable to change the address to that of a friend or relative who could forward any necessary communications to you, before you go.

RE-DIRECT POST
Arrange all post to be redirected

Royal Mail offer national and international redirection services for your mail for a variety of time periods. You can either apply in person at a Post Office or online and allow a few days for the service to be activated . You can renew online if you find that you wish to continue the service longer after the initial period ends. We signed up for a year and it cost around £70.


For more information visit www.royalmail.com and select redirection services.

It is cheaper to get mail redirected to another UK address, so if we are confident that we will need very little of our mail we could see if we have a trustworthy friend or relative who is willing to have it redirected to them and will forward on the odd piece of relevant mail.

If you get the mail redirected internationally make sure that you have one address that you can access for the entire period of the forward, as you cannot change it. If you expect to be transient during this time it may be better to have the mail forwarded to an Australian friend or relative, or to set up a PO Box. The only difficulty with a PO Box is that we will need to open it once you are in Australia.

For more information on a PO Box with Australia Post visit:

Welcome To Australia Post

Ship your goods

Whichever option you have chosen for shipping make sure everything is clean before the shippers arrive, as customs in Australia will not accept foreign dirt.

The timing that shipments leave varies with each individual case. Some choose to ship early and stay with relatives/friends/make do with things they will then dispose of, whereas others will choose to ship at the last minute and wait for their possessions to arrive at the other end.

Re Christmas decorations: on box write ‘tinsel, tree ornaments or fairy lights’ NOT ‘christmas decorations’ – and mark ‘No Pine Cones’. The customs guys will be on the box like greased lightening otherwise.

Make sure all the files on our computer are backed up

Make a copy of everything on our computer and keep it with our important documents, preferably in a separate bag to our computer.

If you are leaving your computer behind and using a new one when you arrive it is worth making two back ups of your files and keeping them in separate places just to be sure they are safe.

Start packing non essential items

(Part 2 to follow....post was too big so had to split it!

Dolly

[Dolly]

Prescriptions

Get enough medicine to cover until you can see a doctor in Australia.

Be aware that some destinations en route may have restrictions regarding bringing certain medications into the country so check this beforehand.

Collect hand-over files from doctor, dentist, optician, schools etc.

Arrange some private health cover for Australia if required/desired

Pay off any outstanding debts

Close any surplus bank accounts and destroy unwanted cards

Shred and dispose of any personal records you are not taking

Ensure all your relevant paperwork is in a travel file

CANCEL: Ask for refunds where applicable
Car insurance: Get a letter confirming No Claims Bonus
Car road tax
Standing Orders/Direct Debits: make sure they are cancelled with the bank as well as the company
All utilities (gas/electric/telephone/community charge) cancel in writing
Broadband
House insurance
Car Insurance
Sky TV
Newspapers
TV licence

Request references from credit card companies, banks & mortgage lender; request up-to-date statements
(financial statements useful when going for a rental)

Sort out family allowance

Buy currency for the trip

Ensure that your possessions are on their way

Check in with the shipping company to ensure that everything is going to plan

Organise transport to the airport

Take final gas/electric meter readings and send details to suppliers

Get PHOTOCOPIES of:
Birth certificates
Marriage certificate
Passport bio pages including visa page (handy for employers)
Mortgage statements
Driving Licence
Utility bills for the last 6 months (to show regular payments) – will help in rental search to show good payment
Savings accounts
Bank statements

Then scan onto a stick

Arrange for a NATIONWIDE credit card: no fees for international purchases (remember, you won’t be able to get an Australian credit card until you have a job)

Get an Australian bank account sorted

Get a school report file together

Sort out Ambulance cover before you go: (this will depend on which state you go to. Some states have a levy, some states have an annual fee. Here’s the link for the Ambulance Service in Victoria Membership Home - Metropolitan Ambulance Service

Make a note of useful UK telephone numbers, i.e. bank customer services etc (the International number)

Set up an independent email address (Hotmail or Gmail etc) and transfer your existing address book over before we move) – also save to stick. Remember that if you’re with, say, Pipex or Virgin you won’t be able to use that service in Oz therefore all your contacts and stored email will be lost.

Arrange a rental car for when you arrive (but NOT from the airport as the cost is extortionate). A taxi into Melbourne city is around $50 and pick rental up from a regional office. Check out Europcar,.they are normally the cheapest rental from the airport.

Info Pack for rental

• If you have a relative in Australia ask them to write a character reference
• Copy of bank statements/utility bills/mortgage statements
• Get a reference from UK estate agent stating how well our house has been maintained and what kind of people you are
• If you have a rented, ask the estate agent for a character reference stating that you paid rent regularly and on time every month
• When applying for a rental, write a covering letter explaining why you currently don’t have a job (i.e. just landed). Mention in it you’ve had a mortgage for ‘X’ years and you have PR/or you’ve rented for ‘X’ years etc
• Take passports with you
• Front up with cash for 3 months advance rental (we did, but it wasn’t needed). There are usually quite a few people going for the same property so offering to pay in advance may clinch it for you

PO Box or other Postal Address for the first 4 months (visit a Post Office to do this)

This is a bit of a catch 22 situation! You will need a long-ish term postal address in Australia to be able to setup your Bank Accounts, Medicare, Centrelink, Drivers License, etc. If you have a friend or relative, ask them if you can use their address. PO Boxes can be used for general mail and are available in most post offices but they are like gold dust. NOTE: You can’t set up bank accounts, Centrelink etc with a PO Box as your address.

Now, take a few deep breathes...... !!!

This is intended for guideline purposes only (and comes from my own personal experience).

GOOD LUCK!

Dolly

[Deeba]

This is a special thanks to Dolly, although she has guided the move of a family from UK to Australia but its ok I am in Pakistan and reading about what you have writtn so much help. Thanks

[Janice]

Hi Dolly,
That info is great. I take it you have made the big move.. Where abouts are you in Oz? Do you have any contacts or info about nursing by chance?
Thanks Janice

[Dolly]

Hi Janice,

Yep, took us about 3 years from thinking about it to actually moving over, but we emigrated last October. Absolutely loving it here. We did a reccie trip a couple of years ago and toured around to see if we could find a place we'd like to settle in. We ended up on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. It's beautiful here.

Sorry, I don't have any contacts in nursing but what info are you looking for?

Dolly

[Janice]

Dolly,
Since e-mailing last I went to an expo in Edinburgh and was offered a sponsership deal in West Australia, however we dont know if we wanted to be in WA as we orginally looked at Queensland, so I have also got an interview next friday for queensland health, see what they offer.
Just difficult to decide what area would best suit our needs as we have three small boys to consider. As we have never even been to Oz it is difficult to make such choices..
Do you have any advice on certain areas?
I find that people from Perth love it and vice versa..
Janice.

[Dolly]

That's fantastic news Janice!

I'm guessing you're in nursing? Although the Queensland Health gives it away Why I say that is that when we were going through the emigration process we went to one expo in Earl's court and went twice to the Sandown expo. We found on each occasion that if you weren't in the field of nursing or mining, then job wise it was a real let down.

A friend of mine went to the Earls Court when we did and got offered sponsorship by a company in Melbourne (he's something to do with geology working for an oil company). He’s now moved over to Perth and loves it, but still misses the Melbourne lifestyle.

I have friends in Perth and also in Queensland. There’s only one friend who doesn’t like where she is and that’s Perth. She lives north of Perth (Hillary’s area) and hates it. She said there are too many British people there. Re Queensland, if you go further north to the Townsville/Cairns area then be sure you love hot, humid weather (practically all year round). What I love about Victoria is that we still get seasons.

At the end of the day, if you’re trying to choose a state where you want to live firstly ask yourself what climate would you like to live in. We were originally thinking of Perth but came to the conclusion that it was too isolated and temps can get pretty high. Hence why we are in Victoria! This is just my personal opinion. I know people who absolutely love Perth.

Keep us posted on the job front. You are VERY lucky

Dolly

[Janice]

Hi again,

I have had a bit of a downer of the jobs front, someone who lives in Perth was advising me to be careful about accepting a sponsership deal, as it is quite alot of responsiblity the job that I have been offered and I will be tied in for a year.. Don't much fancy the added stress of a high pressure job as I think I will be under enough stress..
God dont know what to do now. Originally when we started looking at Oz we looked into Victoria as a girl from our area moved out there, but she commutes 3hours for work. Is Victoria near to Brisbane? How far away are the two? Could I work in Queensland and commute to Victoria?
I do like the heat but am used to the cold north east so I think it would be too mcuh of a shock moving straight into that heat.
Is Victoria very expensive to live? , Buy houses etc? cost of living.
Would Victoria have own health links for jobs in nursing?
Sorry to bombard you with questions buut you seem to know the score having been through the process.

Thanks again Janice.

[kaz101]

Hi Janice,

Originally Posted by Janice

I have had a bit of a downer of the jobs front, someone who lives in Perth was advising me to be careful about accepting a sponsership deal, as it is quite alot of responsiblity the job that I have been offered and I will be tied in for a year.. Don't much fancy the added stress of a high pressure job as I think I will be under enough stress..

But balance the fact that it's for a year and you can get in more easily - the last part being less stressful. What happens after a year?

Originally Posted by Janice

God dont know what to do now. Originally when we started looking at Oz we looked into Victoria as a girl from our area moved out there, but she commutes 3hours for work. Is Victoria near to Brisbane? How far away are the two? Could I work in Queensland and commute to Victoria?

Victoria is on the south coast and Brisbane is further north than Sydney. Unless you fly every day I don't think it would be commutable. Looking it up it says it's 1669 kms between them or 19 hours driving time.

Originally Posted by Janice

I do like the heat but am used to the cold north east so I think it would be too mcuh of a shock moving straight into that heat.

That's why we didn't move to Perth or Queensland. Admittedly we didn't even visit Queensland but Perth was too hot for us and we would always have been inside with the air con on! However we like South of Perth but still preferred South Australia (Victoria can be a little too cold for us).

Originally Posted by Janice

Is Victoria very expensive to live? , Buy houses etc? cost of living.
Would Victoria have own health links for jobs in nursing?

Check out the link in the "PLEASE READ..." sticky since I've added property in there now too. Melbourne CBD can be expensive but other parts of Victoria will be cheaper. It really depends on what lifestyle you want. Melbourne must have loads of good hospitals but I don't know anything about nursing.

Regards,
Karen

[Dolly]

Originally Posted by kaz101

(Victoria can be a little too cold for us)

For us too at the moment!

Dolly