Emigrating to Oz
Discussion
I have been thinking about this for a few years now and as a friend of mine bu55ered off to oz yesterday I am 99%certain I am going to do it.
Nothing particulary wrong with my life at present but just fancy a change.
I am looking at a skilled migration and being in IT I get maximum points.
So anyone have any expereince with this sort of thing?
Nothing particulary wrong with my life at present but just fancy a change.
I am looking at a skilled migration and being in IT I get maximum points.
So anyone have any expereince with this sort of thing?
I lived in Aus for a while - although didn't stay in the end.
GREAT country. If you are young and in IT you'll love it. I can recommend Sydney as a nice place to live. Public transport is good - you shouldn't need a car other than because you want one. Its connectivty and lifestyle are world class and it has decent weather.
What are you waiting for!
GREAT country. If you are young and in IT you'll love it. I can recommend Sydney as a nice place to live. Public transport is good - you shouldn't need a car other than because you want one. Its connectivty and lifestyle are world class and it has decent weather.
What are you waiting for!
I was meant to be on plane to Australia in March on a Working Holiday Visa with a job already lined up (to convert to a full visa when I was out there) but due to an unfortunate change in circumstances I can't now go.
Go to the Australian Goverment site and do the points test, you then have to IIRC pay a fee to the board and go through a test/interview to get the visa.
Mail me offline if you want more info.
Claire
Go to the Australian Goverment site and do the points test, you then have to IIRC pay a fee to the board and go through a test/interview to get the visa.
Mail me offline if you want more info.
Claire
Australia's full of English people, I came here to get away from them 
You will need a car though, well I guess it's not essential, but highly desirable, since your on Pistonheads I would deem it essential.
Not everyone likes Sydney though, some prefer Melbourne because it's more european in feel (apparently), Brisbane was recently rated most boring city in the world, further up the qld coast and it becomes something like an Australian version of Miami, full of a strange mix of retirees and vain beach posers. Perth is another nice place that is popular with English immigrants I've noticed, fairly isolated but a bit closer to the rest of the world (well plane tickets are slightly cheaper to the UK from there anyway).
Best to try it while you still can though, I know many who have come over and wanted to stay but can't because they left it too late and were then too old for the immigration rules. If you don't like it you can always go back, but if you leave it too late then you probably won't get the chance at all. Nothing ventured nothing gained and all that I suppose.
You will need a car though, well I guess it's not essential, but highly desirable, since your on Pistonheads I would deem it essential.
Not everyone likes Sydney though, some prefer Melbourne because it's more european in feel (apparently), Brisbane was recently rated most boring city in the world, further up the qld coast and it becomes something like an Australian version of Miami, full of a strange mix of retirees and vain beach posers. Perth is another nice place that is popular with English immigrants I've noticed, fairly isolated but a bit closer to the rest of the world (well plane tickets are slightly cheaper to the UK from there anyway).
Best to try it while you still can though, I know many who have come over and wanted to stay but can't because they left it too late and were then too old for the immigration rules. If you don't like it you can always go back, but if you leave it too late then you probably won't get the chance at all. Nothing ventured nothing gained and all that I suppose.
I am heading back out to Sydney (or Melbourne) after I finish uni. I recently returned from a university exchange session in Sydney and loved every minute of living in the city. The general viewpoint of most people I talked to was that Sydney is more brash and "in yer face" where Melbourne is quieter and more subtle and I personally think that this is a fair comparison. I preferred Sydney and would love to be back there now... all my friends from uni are going back next weekend and I am stuck in the cold 
if you do go for it, try and keep your house here (if you have one), just in case you don't like it. aussie money is worth about a third of uk money, so you'd need a lot of saving if you wanted to come back and get a property. if you find you like it, you can always sell your house after a while.
Fortjefferson said:
My neighbours emigrated to NZ last year, they were back within 6 weeks !!!
A lot of peolpe come back, at least 50% who go to NZ come back before 2 years. is a foreign country even if they speak English, go with eyes open, prepaird to change and accept an alternative culture.
Personaly I think your mad for coming back in 6 weeks, I'd give it 6 months minimum to settle, but we love it in NZ and (at the moment) aint coming back.
Fortjefferson said:
I think emigrating go's like this:-
If you are going to something better, then go. But if you are trying to get away from something then don't. My neighbours emigrated to NZ last year, they were back within 6 weeks !!!
Well it is NZ, and NZ is crap (for some anyway) I find most people here in Europe and the US have this really rose tinted view of NZ as a real exotic and wonderful destination, about 95% who go there find out it's not quite as their fantasy expected and go back, everyone in Australia already knows its crap and wonder why on earth anyone would want to go there
Out of interest the largest number of immigrants to Australia come from NZ, the UK is number two, I think Ireland was third.
littlegreenfairy said:
I've just looked at the conditions to get a permament visa - you have to prove you are clear of TB, Hep B and HIV/AIDS and not be too overweight.
Why on earth are we not that strict over here?
Quarantine procedures are fairly strict to try and stop lots of diseases from getting in, can't be too old either as we already have lots of old people and they will bankrupt the country because there isn't enough young people around to take up the slack.
If you try and sneak in or overstay your visa, immigrate illegally in anyway you get thrown in a virtual concentration camp in the middle of the desert for a few months before being deported.
You also can't have any drug conviction, at all. One of my mums friends married a scotsman who had a minor marajuana possesion conviction 30 years ago and he still isn't even allowed into the country!
It's all rather ironic for a country that was essentially founded as a convict colony for all of societies rejects, guess they are getting their own back
Though even China requires a HIV test if you are going for longer than a 3 month holiday.
For the older members there used to be a retirement visa available for over 50s (I think) as long as you had private health insurance, an income and capital above a certain level, you could stay on a rolling four year visa. The amounts of capital and income have been raised very significantly recently, though. You now have to be pretty well off.
lightstepper said:
My sister has just moved over there, my uncle moved over there and my gran moved over there.
Tney all say its hot but fantastic - looks like I may have to follow the family tradition
I scored 135 out of 120
Where did you check your score? I can't find the section of the immigration website - maybe that means I've failed already?!
R988 said:STEP OUTSIDE ! ! !
Well it is NZ, and NZ is crap (for some anyway) I find most people here in Europe and the US have this really rose tinted view of NZ as a real exotic and wonderful destination, about 95% who go there find out it's not quite as their fantasy expected and go back, everyone in Australia already knows its crap and wonder why on earth anyone would want to go there
NZ is as fantastic as you want it to be. Anyone who expects it to a cross between Essex, Yorkshire, Essex, Essex & Essex . . . should never come down here, even for a holiday.
motco said:I'm sure you didn't mean that to be offensive, but at 45 I'm not ready for pipe and slippers just yet!
For the older members there used to be a retirement visa available for over 50s (I think) as long as you had private health insurance, an income and capital above a certain level, you could stay on a rolling four year visa. The amounts of capital and income have been raised very significantly recently, though. You now have to be pretty well off.
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