Queries for a newbie

[anj1976]

Hi all,

I am from India, my husband is a system administrator(IT Sector), we just filed our papers to apply for ACS certification.

Our agent, AK Migration, told us it will take close to one year, so we are all prepared to wait that long.

I have been reading online about OZ forever now. Accidently i bumped into this site, and i must appreciate your effort to make things easier for those with a dream to move to a new place for a better life.

I have never been to australia, same goes for my husband.
I am 31 and my husband is 28, he fits in the skilled worker category and scores good enough to have a sure shot approval.I am writing so much to make sure i don't leave out on things that some of you would want to know about us.

i had certain things that have been bothering me, and i did not get that information anywhere on the net.
Thought, its best to ask from those who are more than willing to help.
Though we still have a long way to go before everything falls in place but these are the things that i wanted to know

1. What all should i carry with me and what all should i leave behind. Since we are allowed just 40KG per person, i plan to carry clothes, a few utensils, linen, curtains and shoes. Out of which i plan to clean my shoes before throwing them in the bags and getting the rest dry cleaned just to make sure we don't face any trouble after landing there. And i don't plan to ship things from here to OZ, its best i believe to buy them as and when u make enough from your earnings and start afresh. Why bother with the customs and the quarantine and all if you can make life easier by disposing here and buying again there.

2. I got gastric banding done about a year 3 months back, the result has been very good in terms of weight loss. i am down 40 kgs in just this much of time. What worries me is, what when i plan for an adjustment after i reach OZ. and how much would the doctors charge for it. Since i know Laparoscopic banding started off in OZ, i do not doubt the doctors but will the medical insurance people object looking at my state. i am perfectly fine and in no way has banding affected my day to day life. I just eat less and loose weight.

3. people told me that pressure cookers are way too expensive in OZ, so carry those with lots of fittings and fixtures, is that right? because carrying a pressure cooker would mean a kilo of weight added to my luggage.

4. I am still confused about the area that we wish to go to. I am from Delhi, and it has extreme weather. summers time it hits 44 degree and winter time it is as low as 4 degree. and i love winters more than anything else. so i would want to go to a place which is relatively cold/ pleasant and not so hot, since both me and my husband are winter born and we hate summer. (and mind it, delhi summers ranging up-to 44 degree).

5. My husband plans to go there one month before me, so that he can manage looking for a job and then i follow, is that the right thing to do or should we both come together. whichever is a better option in terms of money saving, we will do that.

6. i have some jewelry /shawls with me, we just got married on 8th Feb. 2008 and we have some stuff that i got form my parents. and being an Indian, these things have an emotional value attached, how safe is it to carry jewelry? and how should i do it? Should i carry some and leave the rest back home with mom or take it all with me with the fear of being robbed... i am confused.

7. How much money do you think we should carry with us to lead a comfortable one month while my husband looks for a job, and finally get one and waits for the salary which is post one month of starting to work.

8. My husband has some 4-5 suits. Is it advisable to carry them? I don't know what is the dressing culture there to work. If he has to be in formals, he would rather carry them since they are very new.

9. I am an advertising professional, running my own partnership firm for close to 7 years, what should i expect for myself from OZ in terms of job, I do not have any qualification in my profession and i would not have any papers except for a partnership deed to prove my work record. Should i carry client references? I do everything, form pitching for a client to taking a brief from them for design work, designing, copy-writing and finally print production(since we are only into print media). I am so confused about what i would be doing once we land there.
This is rather a long list of things to ask at one go, i would rest my queries for maybe the next post.

Cheers
anj

[kaz101]

Hi Anj,

Welcome to the forum.

What part of India are you from? My husband has family in Calcutta (Kolkotta now?) and we were out there for a family wedding some years ago. It was a wonderful experience.

Congratulations on your wedding!

Originally Posted by anj1976

1. What all should i carry with me and what all should i leave behind. Since we are allowed just 40KG per person, i plan to carry clothes, a few utensils, linen, curtains and shoes. Out of which i plan to clean my shoes before throwing them in the bags and getting the rest dry cleaned just to make sure we don't face any trouble after landing there. And i don't plan to ship things from here to OZ, its best i believe to buy them as and when u make enough from your earnings and start afresh. Why bother with the customs and the quarantine and all if you can make life easier by disposing here and buying again there.

Just make sure you know the prices of items that you need to replace. In comparison to the UK we didn't find things that much in Australia once you are earning dollars.

We brought clothes, shoes and a few light items since we were only allowed 20kg luggage. The rest of our things came over in a container from the UK.

Originally Posted by anj1976

2. I got gastric banding done about a year 3 months back, the result has been very good in terms of weight loss. i am down 40 kgs in just this much of time. What worries me is, what when i plan for an adjustment after i reach OZ. and how much would the doctors charge for it. Since i know Laparoscopic banding started off in OZ, i do not doubt the doctors but will the medical insurance people object looking at my state. i am perfectly fine and in no way has banding affected my day to day life. I just eat less and loose weight.

I don't know about this one. Medicare only covers basic things and most people have private medical insurance. I know that a lot of insurers don't cover past illnesses, but as you say the gastric band is not an illness.
There is a website that advertises on tv called iselect. It may be worth contacting some of the private medical insurers on there and see what they say so you can budget for the cost.

Originally Posted by anj1976

3. people told me that pressure cookers are way too expensive in OZ, so carry those with lots of fittings and fixtures, is that right? because carrying a pressure cooker would mean a kilo of weight added to my luggage.

Depends what you can expensive. I had a quick search through google and came up with this website for kitchen warehouse. That will give you some idea of price.

Originally Posted by anj1976

4. I am still confused about the area that we wish to go to. I am from Delhi, and it has extreme weather. summers time it hits 44 degree and winter time it is as low as 4 degree. and i love winters more than anything else. so i would want to go to a place which is relatively cold/ pleasant and not so hot, since both me and my husband are winter born and we hate summer. (and mind it, delhi summers ranging up-to 44 degree).

The further south you are the colder it is here. Since your husband is in IT then Melbourne may be worth looking at or Sydney depending on where your husband can find work.

Originally Posted by anj1976

5. My husband plans to go there one month before me, so that he can manage looking for a job and then i follow, is that the right thing to do or should we both come together. whichever is a better option in terms of money saving, we will do that.

We came out here together but we had both already been out here, and had even bought a house here from a previous trip. If we couldn't sell house in the UK we were thinking that my husband would have come out here first, but we sold it before coming out here. I'm not sure that it's make any difference to your costs.

Originally Posted by anj1976

6. i have some jewelry /shawls with me, we just got married on 8th Feb. 2008 and we have some stuff that i got form my parents. and being an Indian, these things have an emotional value attached, how safe is it to carry jewelry? and how should i do it? Should i carry some and leave the rest back home with mom or take it all with me with the fear of being robbed... i am confused.

I always carry anything valuable in my handbag or hand luggage. I know it's obvious but they don't leave my side until I'm on the aircraft.

Originally Posted by anj1976

7. How much money do you think we should carry with us to lead a comfortable one month while my husband looks for a job, and finally get one and waits for the salary which is post one month of starting to work.

We had bank accounts and money already set up before we came over so that wasn't so much of an issue for us. It depends on where you are going to live since you'll have to pay for rental or hotel fees as well as living costs (see cost of living thread)

Originally Posted by anj1976

8. My husband has some 4-5 suits. Is it advisable to carry them? I don't know what is the dressing culture there to work. If he has to be in formals, he would rather carry them since they are very new.

I think this depends on the workplace. Some places like suits here, whereas in other places it seems to be shirt and trousers. If he's working in the CBD (central business district) I would assume he'll need the suits.

Originally Posted by anj1976

9. I am an advertising professional, running my own partnership firm for close to 7 years, what should i expect for myself from OZ in terms of job, I do not have any qualification in my profession and i would not have any papers except for a partnership deed to prove my work record. Should i carry client references? I do everything, form pitching for a client to taking a brief from them for design work, designing, copy-writing and finally print production(since we are only into print media). I am so confused about what i would be doing once we land there.

Would you want to have a job or start your own business here? I would bring anything that will support you getting a job, so yes bring references.

Hope that helps!

Regards,
Karen

[anj1976]

Hi Kaz, nice of you to reply, but yeh,
i think most of times we know things too well but we want others to tel us what should be done, it is easier to follow than to choose your own path. at-least that is what human behavior does best.
anyway, i am from New Delhi, and well, being the capital it is less cluttered than calcutta. in-fact, you should visit india again sometime and i assure u, if i am still in delhi, i will take you places and show u around. you should visit jaipur, rather, the entire rajasthan, its beautiful, the culture and the people, everything is great there.
Back to my queries, thanx tons for the reply, i did not get any reply for good 15 hrs and i was wondering if at all i asked too may questions, rather, weird questions that r way too foolish to answer. :P.

.................
U c, india is way too cheap in everything. a pressure cooker would cost us nowhere more thn 800 indian rupee, one A$ equals 38 India rupee, so u can imagine how it is. for approximately 22-30$ you can get a decent pressure cooker. we get potatoes for nothing more thn 10 indian rupees for a kilo, which means in a dollar you can get 3 and half kg.(that too during summer time when potatoes and other veggies become expensive-winter time potato rates drop to 3-4 Rupee per kg).
so price wise there is a difference,
i tried comparing, most of the electric appliances and households are priced more or less the same so i would rather buy there, i dont want to spend on shipping the goods only to find them broken or being charged a bomb as tax/duty on them. so electrics i am leaving back home.
and clothes are plenty which i guess wud cover most of luggage space, and thn i hv some dozen and half or maybe two dozen shoes that i am in love with and want to carry all. and of-course my perfumes, which count upto 30-40... i am going crazy just thinking about all the money that i hv spent/wasted all my life collecting things which i wil have to either give away or pay a heavy price to carry along.

.............
Melbourne always sounded good, since we are young and melbourne i believe(from what i have read), is a lively place with a lot of action. the weather isnt too much of a hassle, the 4 seasons in a day is not something to worry about... i am though not too keen to go to sydney since i have heard more of negatives about sydney thn positives.
the traffic jams and the chaotic life is what i am running from.. we get plenty of it in india, also, it is way too expensive and competitive.
............
Someone told me(a friend who moved to melb from india 2 years back), that they carried 3-4k(3000-4000 A$) when they came that time, and it was enough to start with. and then the wife took up a part time till she got a permanent job and the husband too got in a decent job within a week and a half. i guess a week is what it takes to get a decent job and further on, one can switch as and when you get a better opportunity. i just wanted to ask if 3-4k is enough for the initial month or so. out of which we wil have to pay for our initial rental/hotel/motel and the rental and advance for the appt that we finalize. my lawyer told me that approximately it takes 1200-1500$ for a decent living per month. i ask you all this becasue incase we have to carry more thn this, we wil have to manage our finances and make sure we are not short of money once we reach there. i dont want to carry less and regret later.
and i would also want to tel you that we are not looking at luxury in our initial days there. so no way are we going to rent an accommodation in a star hotel. it would have to be the cheapest that we can get, on this basis could you give me an approximate figure of very basic spending.
.....................
And finally about my work, i plan to withdraw my partnership here very soon so that i can get a hands-on on a job. just so that i am prepared to work under someone. my long term plan(if you ask me), would be to start painting in my free time. it is something that i have been wanting to do forever now but never got enough time to even buy a canvas or for that matter buy colors. till thn i wil be working and not doing my own thing, i have had enough of business and i am done with it. for a change would love working for someone else. surely my line is such that you need to know the place to really fetch work, i am talking about business development, or i can take up client servicing, and before that learn a bit about the working trends of an advertising agency there.

i have done enough of R&D, and i have my mind working overtime with nothing but australia on it.. neway, we still have a long time to go before we finally move there.

You can say, we are preparing ourselves for the worst to come and expecting the best to happen.

Thanx for every bit of information you provided,
looking fwd to a reply

Anj
PS. there r lots of spelling errors, excuse me for those, i am so used to writing scripts in short form... :P

[kaz101]

Hi Anj,

Don't forget that the moderators (myself & Dolly) and several other forums members are in Australia and there is a difference in time zones. If we're at the computer the reply may be quick but sometimes it will be a while. Today (Friday 25th) is a public holiday here for ANZAC (rememberance) Day.

I don't know what shipping companies there are in New Delhi but the ones we had in the UK were very good. Only one thing got broken and that was something I'd packed myself

Depending on where you are in Melbourne there will still be traffic jams although possibly not as bad as in India. I remember being in very long traffic jams in Calcutta.

We spend about $800 a month on food and bills for 2 people. You need to add your rental costs (there is link to property websites in the "Please read..." post) and also any transport costs (tram, train, possibly hiring a car). When you rent you'll be asked to place a bond and that may be a months rental. So really you need enough to cover 2 months rental at a minimum.

If you are looking for really cheap accommodation search for backpackers accommodation in google for Melbourne since that will be cheap.

Regards,
Karen

[anj1976]

Hi Kaz, no no i wasn't complaining for the late reply, i understand the time difference. I can understand how irritating the traffic jams in calcutta be. i haven't been there but have heard enough about the chaotic city that it is turning out to be.
yeh i have been going thru the rental sites, infact since last 6 months, this is exactly what i am doing, after much r and d we decided for OZ. what i can see is that the rentals for a single room accommodation are not more than 200-250$, IF YOU ARE LOOKING AT a pool and other recreationals within the society/appartment complex, then the rental is not more than 350/pw.
yes, i am aware of teh bond and the advance rental. it can go upto 3 weeks to a month rental in cses wehre there r more thn one family trying to pitch for that particular accommodation. if we go very tight on our spending, the amount comes to nearly 3oooA$ including a month rental advance. so that makes it 4000 for comfortable living for a month and half to two months.

OK another thing, how much did you pay for the freight? how much is the normal for shipping good from one place to OZ, UK would be more since it is furthr away from India. since india is almost Mid way, it would be much less thn UK. but just for an idea, how much was it for you or few others?

and as for backpackers.. is it really safe, since all our belongings wil be with us. ofcourse we wudn't want to share the room, also i saw othr options, i dont remember wut it was called, but you cud rent a room and live with a family for a week or so, and then there was bed and breakfast. are these options as good?

[anj1976]

a friend of ming from Melb told me about today being a holiday in australia.

i haven't seen many Indians here???? most of the people are from UK, and countable few from the US.

[anj1976]

Another thing, how easy is it to get medicines for day to day use? since i have a lap band, i am on multi vitamins(A to Z-compound and calcium and Vitamin E), these are a must for me since i eat much less thn a 4-5 year old. i was planning to carry normal painkillers, anti-flu-viral tablets, and some others for which we do not require a prescription. in India is is very easy to get medicine from teh shelf, except for the ones which are prescribed for specific ailments, all are available without prescription. will it be the same there as well or do we need prescriptions for something like a cramp soother during the period days or an anti biotic for a common cold& cough... i get an upset stomach very often because of my eating habit. and the doctor prescribed some laxatives etc for those days. again, laxatives can be picked off the shelf without anyone questioning you here. what is the scenario there?

[kaz101]

Hi Anj,

For freight it cost us about 6000 GBP from UK to Australia for a 40ft container.
If you search google you'll find some websites that will give you online quotes. I was told to make sure the removal company are FIDI (International Network of Quality Movers) and FAIM (quality standard for international movers). There may be a removers association for India too - I don't know about that.

I've never used a backpackers place but I mentioned it because you mentioned costs.

Melbourne is very multicultural with a lot of Chinese and Greeks there. I don't know it well enough to tell you about any Indian communities.

Vitamins and laxatives can be bought off the shelf in pharmacies and supermarkets.

For anti-biotics I think you'll have to get a prescription but I'm not sure since I haven't had to use them since I've been here. For every visit to a doctor you have to pay. I think this varies where you live (I know it was discussed on another thread a while ago).

Regards,
Karen

[anj1976]

Hi Kaz
Thanx for the prompt reply,
I have just read of all the options for accommodation at various places, i think i must have gone thru almost all websites with information on immigration and those for migrants just moved there.
and if you say you haven't used any anti-biotics in 9 months, i must compliment OZ as a germ free country. That was exactly what a lot of my friends told me that we don't fall sick here much.

I will go thru the movers and packers from here to OZ. And once i find out i will pass on the information to you so that you can give the same to those who might need help from u regarding the same.

Thanx a ton, lemme think of anything else that is bothering me.

Cheers