bpf

Looking for people's opinions really, my wife has been to Oz a few years ago and as we are looking at emigrating to Brisbane, has anyone emigrated without having visited the country beforehand. If so how did they find things when they got there?

christmasoompa

Crikey! I don't think I could spend £25-30k on moving my family to a country without visiting it first. But I'm a researcher and a planner rather than a 'fly by the seat of my pants' kind of girl, so just wanted to pop by and say you're super brave to even consider it. I guess these days with the internet and Google street view it's not as much of a leap of faith as it used to be.

Best of luck, I hope it's everything you're looking for when you get there!

brits1

Hi , We did the exact same thing lol, it was in 1998, we had never visited, the internet was not used it was all news papers and books for info, we did not know a soul there either, in some ways it was a good thing as we litrally had a "clean slate" so to speak, we decided WA as we thought it would be nearer to fly to other countries overseas, it sounded like a Med climate and not so busy as the other main states. We went on a PR visa, my DH found work at first as a labour (long story as the one guy in Perth who could sign off on my husbands skill an Electrician was ill so we had to wait until someone could replace him and this took a couple of months until then my DH could not work as an Electrician) we soon purchased a home, we arrived in the October and had bought a home in December and then a car, I started work some months later and from then on we did really well, we moved a few times and changed jobs quite a few times, my DH found work in his "old" occupation in HSE, we knew so many migrants who went through the same thing in that period and we all "did well" but we found at times years later (when people could afford holidays to visit families in Aus) thought that they could come out and have what their families had worked hard for straight away or some could not settle and said "it's not like when we use to visit" some also settled well. Check if you able to migrate first and I would only do that if I knew my skill was required and that there is actual work for when you arrive (Aus is so much more expensive these days) or that I had a large amount of money to live on for a while if you did come on any other visa. Good luck and all the best if you decide to go for it.

bpf

Thanks for your responses, I am an electrician so would hopefully get in with a skilled visa, we would have some money through the sale of our house so will be ok for a while if work was hard to find.
There's still a lot to consider before we make our decision.

carcajou

I would recommend a visit beforehand, just to scope out the job market. Australia is a country where employers need to be able to put a face to a CV - you won't get far sending enquiries from overseas.

We moved here from the Middle East. I had been before but my wife hadn't. But after we decided to move here, we made three "scouting trips" to get ducks lined up before making the permanent move.

Piminie

My husband did exactly that in 2003. Got a partner visa through now ex-wife (citizenship by decent) & moved out lock, stock & barrel without either of them ever having visited the place. He was in IT so set up his own business on the Sunshine Coast. Did well enough to live comfortably with the 3 then 4 children. He only left because the ex wanted to move back to England. They split & she has now gone back. He loves the country so much we are now looking to move out hopefully next year.
He says it lived up to his expectations & then some. If you have any contacts, stay in touch with them. They will be useful once you get there.
Follow your dreams & your instincts. If you listen to others to much, you may doubt it & never do it.

brits1

My only advice is that depending on which state your looking into make sure there is a lot of work ie I think Queensland still has a good economy for the "skills" set, Perth I believe is not fairing so well and we do have friends in trades, Brickies, Electricians etc who are either on very few hours or are out of work. The last thing you need to be doing is spending your money to live on whilst out of work, it's okay for a few weeks or so but you will need a good deposit for a home as like in the UK homes in decent areas cost and the last think I would want to do is move overseas to an area that is not so great because of a dwindling lack of funds (we knew plenty who did this in Perth, some moved up the property ladder after a few years and others moved to other states or some stayed where they were but moaned about the area a lot of the time lol and some went back to the UK eventually. I cannot say enough in this current climate in Aus about really doing your homework on your Skill, even if it is looking into a State you have not thought of or holding off until work picks up again as it will. My husband went on his JIB Electrical qualifications and soon became an A grade licensed Electrician but "things" are done differently now, hopefully some Electricians in Aus can point you in the right direction. Good luck and all the best with whatever your decision

Still Game

Many people do go out without a 'reccie' - trip out to check out the different areas, jobs, houses etc.. many love it and it's worked out for them and there will be others who it didn't work out for at all.

You say your wife has visited, so you're not totally going blind, what did you wife see/visit and what are her thoughts?

As someone mentioned above, research research research. It is much easier with the internet these days, although you can't believe everything you read / see and there really is nothing like being there in person especially when it comes to houses and areas.

Once you've figured out if you're eligible then look here www.seek.com.au and www.realestate.com.au - do bear in mind some jobs on seek could just be agencies trying to get CV's in. Keep an eye on jobs and housing prices over a year if you can. Go onto supermarket websites in Australia and do comparison shops online - a good feel for how much things cost although it will differ from week to week and area to area.

Research and make a list of agencies you can contact. Communicate with any contacts you have and put the feelers out. Make it known to everyone you can think of who may be able to help. Utilise linkedin - send a note to your contacts on there to pass on your CV to anyone of use.

skinnygeorge

We did in 2008. I had been to Victoria some 18 years before. But brought my wife and two boys to QLD. As an electrician your license is No1 priority. Which getting in QLD is a right Royal pain. I used a back door route to get mine in Adelaide then got a QLD for $70 I believe this is still an option as a colleague did it more recently but things change. Work demand is sporadic. I took months to find a job, though was looking for a more specialised field for a while. I have a friend who had lived here some years before and this made many things easier. Its a very different society, if you liked the pub you will miss that for sure. But we all see the World in different ways and unless you are living in semi rural GB on 50,000 pound a year now, then you would probably love it.

bpf

Thanks for everyone's replies.

Can I ask how you got your license in Adelaide, I've looked into getting it in QLD and it does look and long drawn out process, for somewhere that's supposedly crying out for tradesmen they do make things hard for people wanting to help out 😜

scot47

The £10 migrants did not have that option - and the first settlers definitely did not !

skinnygeorge

Search on here in the Electricians threads. I did read you can't do it now, but as I said a guy at work did last year. The people are called Peer veet. You need a trades recognition which I got from the TRA in Victoria. Basically the TRA stuff you do for your visa goes to them, but you do it again for a license, don't ask me why. I did a course with Peer, basically you do a work book to learn the AS3000 wiring regs(18th edition iee eic simplified) about 200 questions which I did in about two weeks,wasn't rushing!. Then flew down to Adelaide for a couple of days to do the exam and get the South Australian license. From which you get a Qld one for small fee. As usual things change, and there is interstate recognition now. I think you can do work in Qld with a Nsw license. The chance of getting work before a license is remote as far as I know. It is a joke really. You also need an annual 1st aid/ LV rescue cert. you need a license to use the toilet here pretty much and it does not show itself in competence or quality. We need to wear arc flash clothing and you can't work within 500mm of live single insulated cable. How we are expected to approach the toaster in the kitchen I don't know. Is the UK as bad now. Good luck. Dave

old.sparkles

UK sparks are issued an OTSR on completion of a skills assessment, and every state now requires a period of supervised employment to progress to a full license. PEER do still do gap training though, and can sign off on your log book of work evidence to gain full license.

brits1

My brother and in laws are Electricians and all are earning good money, there is plenty of work around the North West and other counties, my nephew likes to travel and he is all over the UK on some really interesting jobs.

Sue8

I had visited oz before In the 80s to the East coast but emergrated in the 90s with my 2 small children and h to WA didn't know anyone n jobs n house no anything and it worked for us till went pair shaped 13 years later.
So advise take the gamble onky you can make it work good luck.