Mr.May

Hey everyone, looking for some advise. For a couple years now I have been looking to move down under, I now have the savings and means to do so (13,500). I have narrowed it down to north of Brisbane.

I have my JIB CSCS gold card and have been self employed for the last 9 years, Also pretty good at my job and have a turn over off around 45k. No gf no kids, But have a mortgage here which I will keep and rent whilst I'm away, in case I decided to come back. So I'm looking to know a few things after reading up.

Work

1. As long as I have my gold JIB card the TRA will accept my qualifications and allow me to work or will i need any additional training?

2. I'll need a working visa for £350 is there anything else i will need ?

3. What happens after my visa runs out ?

4. I see there tax system works the same for the employed with the super being there version of National insurance. But how does it work if i want to be self employed ?

5. How much would I realistically be looking at earning and how much will i come out with after stoppages ?

6. Ill need an Australian bank account to keep my money separate from that from over seas?

Living

1. Looking at places to rent they seem to be between $250-$350 per week depending on quality ect.

2. What other things do I need to pay for ie council tax, tv license, home insurance do they need any of them ?

3.How much would gas and electric be ?

Driving

1.I understand you dont need insurance unless you want to go fully comp as its part of the 'REGO' you pay

2. do they have things like MOTs

3. Is there any other expenditures apart from REGO and fuel ?

4. Hopefully if i decide to stay there I would like to import a car from the uk an e46 M3 how would this work and how much roughly would it cost ?

5. is there a limit on how many cars you could import ?

General Living

1. What other cost of living are there ?

2. What is the cost of food like ?

3. Electrical goods are they similar prices to what you expect here ?


Cant think of any more questions atm but thank you for you time reading this.

old.sparkles

Crikey - where to start.

If you are moving down under, you need to make sure you can qualify for a skilled visa - you will need to get your skills assessed with Vetassess or similar, be able to reach the points required, and all other criteria. Skills assessments cost around $2800, visa costs for a single adult are around $3500 - add in medicals, police checks, flights, etc,

If you are just coming for a holiday and want to work while here, the working holiday visa is a fine idea. You can travel around, see the country, etc for a year. You can extend this to 2 years if you work in certain regional areas - info on DIBP site. What you wont be able to do though is work as an electrician. This is a licensed trade. To obtain a license with overseas qualifications you need a skills assessment, gap training and Australian work experience. With the skills assessment, you can get a supervised workers license that enables you to enrol for the gap training and gain work experience.

So - first things first - are you moving or are you having a holiday?

Mr.May

planning to try it for a year or so see how i like it then come back possibly sell up here and go back to live

Bermudashorts

There really is an awful lot of questions for one thread, you might be better breaking it down a little bit so as to not put people off. I don't think I have seen so many questions in one go for years!

Let's do visa first, because I just cannot cope with everything at once. Are you aged between 18 and 30? In which case a working holiday visa might be a good visa to try before you buy so to speak. After age 30 it is not possible to just try things out, not unless you can find an employer to sponsor you anyway.

Mr.May

I'm 27 in the up coming months. Well any input is welcome as ideally I would like to have a similar quality of life over there as I do here.

Bermudashorts

Well they are both first world countries so you can reasonably expect a similar quality of life. Go for a working holiday visa and see what you think.

jad n rich

Too many questions but this one needs answering.

If you dont take car insurance and hit another car and or kill someone, would you consider your 13,500 will cover the amount of legal costs you may have with people suing you for costs and compensation, dont think they will leave it at what the qld gov covers for injury!!

If you dont want comprhensive fine, but insure yourself against damage to others.

Would you travel in USA without insuarnce.....

Oh and electrician, Licences lots on the forum about them

goldchoccycoin

Hope that helps!

old.sparkles

I wrote a long reply to this post last night - right when Telstra decided to do an upgrade and took down the NBN network.

Anyway, check out Vetassess site for info on getting skills recognised - https://www.vetassess.com.au/skills-...and-factsheets

Alternatives for UK sparks are Future Skills and Vic Uni. To qualify, you need to show a mix of qualifications and experience - and only skilled experience is worth points down the road with DIBP. There is more info in the electricians part of the forum - Electricians - British Expats

One thing to bear in mind is that each state also sets its own requirements when it comes to licensing so Google can probably help find QLD's

verystormy

The reality is, you are going on a 12 month holiday and nothing more - it is what it says on the tin.

All states require a mix of things in order to gain a license for an electrician. This will normally include working as an assistant for a period - usually about a year. So, given you are only staying 12 months and can only work for one employer for 6 months, it might not be practical.

My advice, go, have a nice holiday, travel around and see Australia, do some work of what ever you need to keep your funds topped up and then, when you come back, if you think you like the look of it, look at more permanent visas

bcworld

Not really, no. CTP (compulsory third party) only provides coverage for the medical bills of other drivers in accidents you cause. It doesn't cover you for damage you do to their vehicle. So if you are in an accident their insurer might seek to recover costs from you.

skinnygeorge

If you are coming for a year forget work as an electrician. It will take months to get a licence. You may get work as an electricians mate, with pay to match!. $25000 est on your 13500 may tide you over for about 6 months, with rent,buying a car etc and living. As suggested. Maybe try a years work visa and do the backpacker/fruit picker route. See if you want to commit. Then go for it. If you owned the BM for more than 12 months there is a good chance importing it will make you money. All the homework you can find on here somewhere. Remember this is a very expensive place to live and you want the best job you can get to live well. So if you holiday/work visa it could be tough, As a well paid spark you could be very comfortable indeed.

spouse of scouse

Yes. I was in a nasty accident, other driver at fault. He only had CTP, so while my injuries were covered by that, my insurers chased him for the $10,000 repair bill to my vehicle.