[ddavid]

Hi All

Well we have arrived in our new homeland in Sydney.
What a great feeling going thru immigration and been told "welcome to Australia"
My Wife is pregnant and we were very nervous as we had not informed IMMI but there was no problem,and we were wished the best with our new arrival.
One piece of advice,planning makes it so easier,we have hit the ground running.
We started looking at somewhere to live straight away and been able to view property during the day gave us a big advantage.
Everything comes unfurnished so bring everything you need from home.
Furniture though is cheap which helps.
We bought a cheap car and a cheap sat nav/gps(a must******)
Medicare applied for,now the priority is to get a job and we have started to contact recruit agencies.
Weather is great so that helps and everyday we get up we have a checklist of things to do.
Attitude is so much more laidback than Europe which helps,
Any questions or looking for advice please fire away.

David

 

[royen]

Congratulations! Great to know that you got adjusted so quickly.
I am also planning to be there by October.

I would love to hear your experience regarding the kind of temporary accomodation you chose. Was it booked when you were in UK itself or did you search for temporary accomodation after you landed in Sydney?

All the best for your job search. I wish you good luck.

Regards,
Royen

 

[srn_29]

Hi David,

Congratulations to you for stepping in Aus. I just cant wait for my turn & I can imagine the feeling "wow" :clap2:

Everything comes unfurnished so bring everything you need from home

I thought that there were many furnished houses, this comes as a surprise to me. I hate to carry all the stuff from here. How did you go about the rentals?

Medicare applied for,now the priority is to get a job and we have started to contact recruit agencies.

Please keep us posted about the medicare and recruitment agencies. My best wishes to you...

 

[kaz101]

Congratulations on the move David.

srn_29 - check out the real estate websites before you move to check what percentage of places are furnished or unfurnished.

Regards,
Karen

 

[ellisa]

Hiya David

I wish you all the luck in world and hope you are happy!! We move the 6th Dec and i can't wait. Keep us all posted on your ups and downs...ellisa

 

[anj1976]

congratulations david, its nice to hear happy words

 

[Halo]

Hi All

Well we have arrived in our new homeland in Sydney.
What a great feeling going thru immigration and been told "welcome to Australia"
My Wife is pregnant and we were very nervous as we had not informed IMMI but there was no problem,and we were wished the best with our new arrival.
One piece of advice,planning makes it so easier,we have hit the ground running.
We started looking at somewhere to live straight away and been able to view property during the day gave us a big advantage.
Everything comes unfurnished so bring everything you need from home.
Furniture though is cheap which helps.
We bought a cheap car and a cheap sat nav/gps(a must******)
Medicare applied for,now the priority is to get a job and we have started to contact recruit agencies.
Weather is great so that helps and everyday we get up we have a checklist of things to do.
Attitude is so much more laidback than Europe which helps,
Any questions or looking for advice please fire away.

David

Get a decent internet PLAN as you will have to download decent TV viewing as OZ TV is awful. (In Melbourne TPG have decent plans $49.99 for 80Gig) - Yes, we are capped here. :boxing:

 

[mrmsml]

Congratulations and welcome to OZ. :clap2:

Hi All

Well we have arrived in our new homeland in Sydney.
What a great feeling going thru immigration and been told "welcome to Australia"
My Wife is pregnant and we were very nervous as we had not informed IMMI but there was no problem,and we were wished the best with our new arrival.
One piece of advice,planning makes it so easier,we have hit the ground running.
We started looking at somewhere to live straight away and been able to view property during the day gave us a big advantage.
Everything comes unfurnished so bring everything you need from home.
Furniture though is cheap which helps.
We bought a cheap car and a cheap sat nav/gps(a must******)
Medicare applied for,now the priority is to get a job and we have started to contact recruit agencies.
Weather is great so that helps and everyday we get up we have a checklist of things to do.
Attitude is so much more laidback than Europe which helps,
Any questions or looking for advice please fire away.

David

 

[ddavid]

When you arrive,take a few days to adjust to your surroundings and get over the jet lag,then hit the ground running,
While people will suggest lots of places to live,unless u are buying choose "Eastern Suburbs"it is convienent to everything.
Renting:Real Estate, Property, Land and Homes for Sale, lease and rent - realestate.com.au and www.domain.com.au
Decide what you can think u can afford and set up target list.
Forget about the set up viewings i.e 12pm Sat,as you cannot compete with someone who lives in Sydney with refs etc.
Ring Agent and ask to see property straight away,he will normally a have a set of keys,You now have a big adv,as you can see it during the day,if you like place put an application in straight away with refs,2nd looks on property it will be gone.
If you are hiring car,(bayswater very cheap)make sure u get a sat nav(gps)u will not get around with out one.
I would suggest buying one because u will find u cannot do without it(tomtom one aus$200)
When meeting Agent at property be there on time,they wont wait around,even for 1 minute.
I do also suggest buying a cheap car,www.drive.com.au(ford falcon or holden commodore,both made in Aus so able for high temps)
Woolworths or Coles will get u your shopping(baby nappies good in Woolworths)
Each day make a list of things you need to do and gps will get u there on time
We have done all above and it has made our live so easy,we are only here 2 weeks but it feels longer.
Please feel free to ask any Q as I have received invaluable info from other members.

David

ps dont bring any foods in luggage as Customs are ruthless and you will be searched for hours at the airport

 

[Sally Anne]

Congrats on your move David, are there stories behind your comments on being held up by customs and estate agents not waiting for you? sounds like you know from experience?!

 

[ddavid]

Congrats on your move David, are there stories behind your comments on being held up by customs and estate agents not waiting for you? sounds like you know from experience?!

Just watching at the airport in Sydney and the customs to certain passengers saying if only you had declared it we would have let u go 3 hours ago,
With relation to the estate agents,yes we turned up 2/3 mins late and they had gone or had a serious attitude.

 

[twinkle-toes]

great tips, david. and welcome to australia!

i fly in 40hrs (eek!) and i'm kinda apprehensive..

 

[GazN]

Hi, welcome to Australia.

I've been here about 8 months now and am thoroughly enjoying it.

Here are a few comments on some of the posts above from my experience when I first arrived.

Medicare was extremely easy for me to sort out - I just popped into the local Medicare centre filled in a form and was given a temporary card. The real one arrived in a week or so. Ironically enough my wife, who is Australian, didn't find it so easy as she was a returning Australian and had to show proof that she intended to stay. Luckily, among the paperwork we had brought with us was the shipping receipts and insurance cancellation letters, so she used those to prove that she had left the UK permanently.

Also, everyone we dealt with was happy to take a letter from the hotel we were staying at while trying to find somewhere to rent as proof as address, and everywhere was happy to send any mail to my work address. That includes the RTA for my NSW driving licence - sorted out in a lunchtime (DVLA could learn a few lessons there...) I brought my UK mobile phone with me and kept my account for a month or so, and everyone we dealt with was happy to dial a UK number to get in touch with me.

The biggest issue we had was with trying to get enough identity points for rental. Without any Australian rental and credit history, it was virtually impossible to do. Once again, we just used UK bank and mortgage statements and anything that we could find that showed that we were regular payers. Before we left, we had saved enough money to be able to offer around 6 months rent in advance if we needed to, so we told the rental agents that too. In the end we didn't need to - our paperwork was enough and our application was accepted. I think the lesson is to bring as much financial and ID paperwork with you as you can. Almost everything was conducted by email, so we quickly found the local internet cafes and used a local copy-shop to scan documents onto a memory stick.

I hope some of the above might help anybody recently arrived or on their way soon.

Gaz.

 

[ae6]

Hi, welcome to Australia.

I've been here about 8 months now and am thoroughly enjoying it.

Here are a few comments on some of the posts above from my experience when I first arrived.

Medicare was extremely easy for me to sort out - I just popped into the local Medicare centre filled in a form and was given a temporary card. The real one arrived in a week or so. Ironically enough my wife, who is Australian, didn't find it so easy as she was a returning Australian and had to show proof that she intended to stay. Luckily, among the paperwork we had brought with us was the shipping receipts and insurance cancellation letters, so she used those to prove that she had left the UK permanently.

Also, everyone we dealt with was happy to take a letter from the hotel we were staying at while trying to find somewhere to rent as proof as address, and everywhere was happy to send any mail to my work address. That includes the RTA for my NSW driving licence - sorted out in a lunchtime (DVLA could learn a few lessons there...) I brought my UK mobile phone with me and kept my account for a month or so, and everyone we dealt with was happy to dial a UK number to get in touch with me.

The biggest issue we had was with trying to get enough identity points for rental. Without any Australian rental and credit history, it was virtually impossible to do. Once again, we just used UK bank and mortgage statements and anything that we could find that showed that we were regular payers. Before we left, we had saved enough money to be able to offer around 6 months rent in advance if we needed to, so we told the rental agents that too. In the end we didn't need to - our paperwork was enough and our application was accepted. I think the lesson is to bring as much financial and ID paperwork with you as you can. Almost everything was conducted by email, so we quickly found the local internet cafes and used a local copy-shop to scan documents onto a memory stick.

I hope some of the above might help anybody recently arrived or on their way soon.

Gaz.

Thanks for the very helpful advice. I am heading out in January and its the rental that was bothering me first off (and then of course jobs) I'll certainly bring mortgage and bank statements too and hopefully they'll be accepted.

Thanks again.
ae

 

[ddavid]

A very beneficial letter to bring is one that shows you own a house in Uk/Ireland,
This gives big piece of mind to Landlords.
As mentioned look at properties during the day,and get an App in on anything you like,you will not get all boxes ticked.

 

[srn_29]

Hi david,

Thanks for keeping us updated, all the very best to you.. may god bless you...

 

[twinkle-toes]

Been here for a week and I love this place! Great weather, friendly people AND i'm moving in to my unit tmrw!

lovin' it! =)

 

[cooldude]

Congratulations! Great to know that you got adjusted so quickly.
I am also planning to be there by October.

I would love to hear your experience regarding the kind of temporary accomodation you chose. Was it booked when you were in UK itself or did you search for temporary accomodation after you landed in Sydney?

All the best for your job search. I wish you good luck.

Regards,
Royen

Hi Royen,

Have you tried getting concessional one way airfare and excess baggage which you get as migrant???

CD

 

[ddavid]

Hi Royen,

Have you tried getting concessional one way airfare and excess baggage which you get as migrant???

CD

I can only speak for myself,but waste of time,no value.
Airlines will allow you 30kgs per person and charge you whatever the fare is when you book it,so no advantages for been an imigrant.

 

[hari999999]

ddavid..........
Good Informations and Tips by you. Its very useful .
Can we bring medicines from our own country.
Does we have to disclose that at airport
Thankyou