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Hi guys,

Great forum! I am desprate to move my family from the U.K to Australia, i am fed up with the U.K and want a better life for my kids, i have a 5 year old and a 2 year old, i am married also, i am 27 and my wife is 28

The problem is, i dont have any family or friends living in Australia, and i wouldn't know where to move to, what part of Australia,i was thinking maybe Perth? i need to think of what would be best for my kids and the best way of life for a family also job opportunities for my wife and myself, i am a carer for the disabled and elderly and my wife has just finished her degree and is looking for a teacher training role, would these jobs get me a visa? can i throw a few questions out there for anyone in the know

Can my Dad come with me? he is 61 years old

can you migrate to Australia if you have no family?

Do you need £10k in your bank to move?

Do you have to have a credit score check before you can get a visa?



The main reason i am moving is to give my wife and kids the best way of life possible and i am fed up of ' Broken Britian' and it's only going to get worse! i would really like to find somewhere not to far from a beach and not to far from a city....... dont want much do i!! lol....



Im sorry for sounding like a total newbie!!! but i dont know where to start!!

Thankyou for any help/advice you can give!

thanks guys

Paul & Family

Dear Desperate,
Welcome to the process of migration. It can take a while so be prepared to be patient. To get an idea of eligibility take a look at booklet 6 available at
http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/booklets/1119.pdf

You can get an idea as to how many points you can generate. We are looking to move to the Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane. Good luck.
Cheers,
H.

Why not go there for a holiday to see what it is like?

Its a long way to go and a long process only to find out you don't like it!

BUT...we love Perth, been there 3 times and can't wait for our Visa to be approved!

Don't rush. We rushed, and wish we hadn't bothered. We're worse off over here (Perth). Property has plummeted and we've suffered our first real loss on our home (down $30K in 8 months, and falling), interest rates are massive, our shopping bills are TWICE what we paid in Adsa, and petrol is absolutely rocketing. I find crime here is WORSE than in the UK too, we've never had our house sprayed with graffiti before we came here. How I wish we'd have stayed at home. Now we're priced out of returning at all. Too many people think it's the land of golden opportunity but it isn't any more. Sorry, but do think very carefully.

Just out of interest, what part of Perth you in?

quote:

Originally posted by Cheryl007:
Don't rush. We rushed, and wish we hadn't bothered. We're worse off over here (Perth). Property has plummeted and we've suffered our first real loss on our home (down $30K in 8 months, and falling), interest rates are massive, our shopping bills are TWICE what we paid in Adsa, and petrol is absolutely rocketing. I find crime here is WORSE than in the UK too, we've never had our house sprayed with graffiti before we came here. How I wish we'd have stayed at home. Now we're priced out of returning at all. Too many people think it's the land of golden opportunity but it isn't any more. Sorry, but do think very carefully.

I think you will get good and bad areas in every location in the world.Maybe a move to a different suburb would make all the difference.
'Interest rates are massive' a quick google says Uk bank base rate-5%,-Aus 7.2%-A bit higher yes, but a decent return on savings as well!
You say petrol prices have rocketed-Shell's average price for fuel in Western Aus is about $1.54 per litre-That's 75 pence a litre!-about 45 pence a litre cheaper than the Uk!!!
'Property prices have plummeted'-$30k loss is only just over £15k, and Uk property prices have-on average dropped more than 15k, so how are you priced out of returning to the Uk?
If you came back, you would probably say Aus was better!

quote:

You say petrol prices have rocketed-Shell's average price for fuel in Western Aus is about $1.54 per litre-That's 75 pence a litre!-about 45 pence a litre cheaper than the Uk!!!

It's not fair to say that that $1.54 a litre is equal to 75 pence - that would only be true if you were using pounds to live on, or were visiitng Oz from the UK when you would find a lot of things to be cheaper - but not as cheap as when the exchange rate was $2.40 to the pound. The cost of anything can only be compared to how much you earn in your respective country and not compared between countries purely by exchange rate.

Petrol has rocketed here - just like it has in the UK. In Jan 2004 it was about 90c a lite (in Sydney) - today it is $1.63. That is an increase of 80% ! I recall petrol costing around 80p a litre when I left the UK in late 2002 - an 80% increase would put it at around 1.44 per litre so the UK has a bit to go yet to catch up with the Oz increase ! By the way supposedly 80% of the UK petrol is excise duty and tax - not so here in Oz !

As for house prices, it is not true that all of Oz is suffering house prices dropping. Sydney is generally quite stable and in most areas is still increasing in value.

Remember that Perth has been through quite a significant increase in a relatively short time so it would not be surprising that prices would hit a peak and start to fall again.

Anybody remember UK prices in the late 80's ?? And what happened to them in the early 90's ?? These things happen and we just have to grin and bear it and not plan to move until they go up again !

James - we're in Ellenbrook, a lovely, beautiful suburb, but with hundreds of new houses standing unsold and restrictive covenants stopping new retailers from setting up here. That's why our property's gone down so much. Never experienced it before. And Mongoose - the depreciation is why we're priced out of going back. All the equity we brought with us went on flights, international removals, rental while we looked for a house, new (second hand) cars, etc...and to do all that again, in reverse, is impossible, by the time we'd paid off our mortgage here (plus some more for the depreciation and fees) we'd have nothing for a deposit. And the bit of UK where we came from (and would return to) hasn't dropped house prices at all; we often look on Rightmove. And there's no doubt about it, groceries in WA are appalling, and the likes of Aldi aren't allowed in. So yes, we would definitely have stayed at home had we known what we know now.

quote:

Originally posted by Colin Hanna:

quote:

You say petrol prices have rocketed-Shell's average price for fuel in Western Aus is about $1.54 per litre-That's 75 pence a litre!-about 45 pence a litre cheaper than the Uk!!!

It's not fair to say that that $1.54 a litre is equal to 75 pence - that would only be true if you were using pounds to live on, or were visiitng Oz from the UK when you would find a lot of things to be cheaper - but not as cheap as when the exchange rate was $2.40 to the pound. The cost of anything can only be compared to how much you earn in your respective country and not compared between countries purely by exchange rate.

I agree-But-Friends who have moved to WA (Clarkson)have absoloutly no doubt they have way more disposable income now than they had in the uk 6 months ago.that's before our fuel hike, car tax banding changing(Mines gone up to over £400 a year!), and that's just motoring-I wont even start about the 'community charge. stealth taxes ec' He is earning around $1200 a week employed at the moment (Plumber)and after the conversion rates, he had nowhere near what that income would buy him in the UK.
Fuel was 95p a litre here for ages-Now it's £1.25, and that's in about 4 months-so were not far behind you!
On a side note-Cheryl-Why aren't the likes of Aldi etc allowed?

Dunno Mongoose - they're all over the rest of the country. Apparently now, whatever is stopping them (Maybe the triopoly of IGA, Woolworths & Coles) is being discussed by the WA state government so they might be allowed in in future, heck knows when though. This is a funny state - it's so behind the rest of the country.

Well I am living about 2 hours SW of Sydney, have been here for 3 years. Came out with a job to come to (occ in demand and worked for Aussie company.)

I now only work part time, own a 5 bed 10 acre property with 3 horses-lifetime dream, compared to small bungalow in Surrey.

Yes, cost of living has risen here as well as in UK but most ex pats make the mistake of always looking back and comparing to the UK.

Things are different here, much better in my opinion, kids have a ball, and the beach is always free.

Cate.

My husband and i live in victoria, approx 1hour from melbourne. The beautiful wine area, victoria weather wise is a lot like the uk in that we get 4 seasons with a lot hotter summer. We have been here just short of a year and we love it. I agree with Colin, you can not compare pounds to dollers. Australia is a huge country so depending on what state you live in you will pay more for all amenties. Hubby and i love it over here, we should of done it years ago. We have been here just under 1 year, both have brand new cars, live like kings and have savings in the bank, i have my hair done every 4 weeks which i could never do in the uk. Its little things that make a difference, i wake up to kangaroos on my front lawn every day, its fantastic. I got a job 2 weeks after arriving, there are plenty of jobs depending on what you do.

If you going to do, do it while your still young and dont leave it too late!!!