mohogony

Do you live in a tree house in the middle of a rainforest outside Brisbane.

mohogony

Alot of the negative posters here tend to exaggerate the negative things. If OZ wasn't a great place to live there wouldn't be 1.3 million Brits living here . l think you said you can work from home, so if if you don't need to live in a large city for work then maybe look at some of the coastal areas in the country 1 or 2 hours outside a city as well.

Pollyana

Snakes do venture into the outer suburbs of Brisbane often. Places like Samford and The Gap often have them, and there are plenty of snakecatchers around.

Many so-called negative posters are actually just realistic. Just because ours is a less positive experience than that which some other people have, it isn't any less valid, or less real. Its just different.

quoll

We have had the occasional snake in suburban Canberra and spiders (and also, unfortunately, cockroaches) are endemic. The redbacks dont seem to come inside but the huntsmen do, as do the whitetails.

I guess I dont get the "new life" bit - your life is what you make of it wherever you happen to be living it - I thought we only got the one! If I could get a new one I would like one with a few less miles on the clock.

If you are after adventure then by all means give it a go. Dont do it for the kids, they will make the best of their own lives wherever they may be - be aware though that many young Aussies cannot wait to escape once they have done with education and many never come back because the options elsewhere are so much better both socially and career wise.

You do have to be very careful with moving teenage kids - it is quite easy to screw up their education and it is also potentially quite expensive if you arrive here, say, as a permanent resident and then plan on going to university (local rate fees but up front payments with no loan help).

As J n R said, come for a visit and ignore all the bling but just concentrate on living a life in suburbia here and see if it floats your boat.

Neil52

You might joke about it.....but

MDawson

No I lived in a place called Springfield Lakes (Springfield) not far from Ipswich(Queensland)
It cost us $50 dollars for the snake man to come and remove the snake.
Why would I make this up, scared the crap out of the whole family.

I could get my wife and kids to verify it .

Springfield Lakes is a relatively new development about 30 mins drive from Brisbane (post code) 4300. I would say there were about 500 homes or more in Springfield Lakes alone.

Why not tell prospective migrants the truth ?

MDawson

The UK is targeted by the Australian government for migrants , especially skilled migrants, they have adverts on TV and in Newspapers asking for Brits to basically re-locate to Oz.

Not all those migrants end up happy ever after , there quite a big percentage who would like to return but just can't due to financial commitments and the longer you leave it the move back is just tooo hard.

Lots of British people just see the photos of Sydney and the Beaches in Queensland and lots of sunshine and seem to think this will solve there problems , moving to Oz is not a fix for a lifetime , believe it or not Australia can be a miserable place for some ....not all , but more than most people realise.

Just telling my truth thats all.

mohogony

sorry it was just a joke about the tree house, l did'nt mean l did'nt belive you, l guess probably becasue Brisbane is semi-tropical there must be lots of snakes up there.

MDawson

Thats OK mate ,
I probably do live in something the size of a tree house now accept it's made of bricks and on the ground in Derbyshire UK....and yes we are not rich due to the big move back , but we are very content.

Cheers.

Hutch

With kids the ages you describe I can't help thinking you've left it too late. I was fortunate enough not to have to worry about visas, but as others have said, if you don't get an application in before your son turns 18 he'll need to get his own visa. Since he's only 18 he'll have none of the work skills that visas require and is therefore very unlikely to be able to get one. Your two oldest kids are also at a notoriously difficult age for moving and while they may be seduced by the 'Neighbours' image of Oz, once the reality of leaving behind mates they've known all their lives for a future of uncertainty sets in, they may well have second thoughts.

I'm not one to piss on anyone's dreams and I'm very happy with living in Australia, but I think you've got to be extremely pragmatic in cases like this, with older kids and with next to no actual knowledge of this country. At the very least, do as others have said and come visit. It will be hard but try not to treat it like a holiday - take a good look around the suburbs, do a family shop in a supermarket, try the trains and buses, have a look around used-car lots.

You should also check out the tax implications of your husband earning GBP if he's going to retain his UK customers. My wife's a web designer with lots of clients still in the UK, nearly four years after we emigrated. Her tax is an absolute nightmare with accountants required on both sides of the planet. Just one of the many things to consider.

Beachband

Any big decision you make.....must be as informed as possible.......after that, the decision will still be a hard one to make........just more informed.

KellyAndSteve

Well, thanks everyone, you have all given me TONS more to think about!

MrCro

Last time I checked with Immigration there was a "last remaining relative" visa which I was told my brother could enter on as both our parents are deceased and without points assesment or waiting time for PR.

Surely if the whole family are on a visa then the remaining adult child would be classed as last remaining relative of that familty unit and therefore not subject to the usual skills criteria.

Australia has very strict compassionate rules within immigration law and is therefore surely not that harsh that they would leave a family member in UK and say "apply when you have the work skills and 3 years experience mate!"

Pollyana

Remaining relative MIGHT work, once the rest of the family are all permanent residents, but professional advice would be advisable. Australia doesn't let in family members just to be compassionate though, they would have to meet all the other requirements.
http://www.immi.gov.au/migrants/family/115/

rekkymech

We've just started looking into it, we have 2 kids 8 and 6 and a black labrador 16months. Must admit you are braver than i, if we do take up with it i really do want to be settled in by early secondry school age so nows the time if any for us