allthejs

Hello everybody, I have been following your threads and gaining valuable information for a good few weeks now and have become addicted!

We have just given the go ahead to the Visa Bureau to act as our agents and for the first time since we had decided to go ahead with a move to australia, I am excited!. It is a really big move for us, as I am sure it is for alot of people. We have five children ages 12, 7, 4, 2 and 1 and I hope we are doing the right thing by moving them. Some days I have doubts and then others I know it is the right move. Is everybody like this?

My husband is in a very good job here, we live in a fantastic house with an acre of land, (ideal for the kids), I don't work (am a full time mum!)and I keep thinking why do we want to leave that behind? Then on the other hand I think the future of my children is important and at the moment Australia is coming ahead of england and the fact that my husband will be able to get a day job (currently works shifts all over the place) and spend more time with us is also a bonus. We really want to have time with the kids while they are still small, we know that time goes very quickly.

What I am trying to say is that I really do know in my heart that it is the right move, but am still having doubts. I will be leaving behind my parents and sisters (who I am very close to) to follow my husbands dream which is also becoming mine. Are doubts in everybodies minds?

Sorry to rattling on about nothing in particular, just really wanted to air some thoughts. Thanks for listening

Jacky xx

Ste&Dawn

Hi Jacky and family, Welcome!

Hopefully you will find this forum to provide you with a minefield of information and you will become a daily addict before you know it! It starts to become your extended family, great to share your thoughts with etc...

I have two girls 7 and 10 and OH has been wanting to make the move for a long time. It has taken me a long time to get my head around it all and have now decided its time to make the move. We are hoping to get out to Brisbane next summer for that "better lifestyle".

I sometimes have my doubts like yourself, but I'm sure they are no more than everybody else on this forum There will be alot of stresses along the way, but wil be the start of a great adventure!

Good luck with your journey and look forward to hearing from you on other threads.

Dawn and Ste

suesk

hi jacky

Thats the 1st step done its a very daunting experience 4 us all and its a very long roller coaster ride we are still in the early stages.

Wish you loads of luck on your journey.

Keep us informed
Sue

travelbug

Hi Jacky and family
You wont be the first or the last person on this site to say that they sometimes have doubts about what you're planning to do. I do myself! We've had our medicals now and are in the final waiting game for our visa's.
Like you, i will be following my partners dream and am dreading leaving family and close friends behind, but we are also thinking of the future for our two children......
All i know is that i would rather take the chance whilst we're young enough to do this than sit back in 20 years time wondering "what if......."

People get plenty of support on this site......so if you need any reassurance, you'll be inundated with offers from the many kindhearted posters....

VikkiL

Hello and welcome,

I think that we all go through this stage at some point or another but its just such a good opportunity isnt it? Like previous posters, we dont want to get to 80 and say "if only we had gone" and "what if?".

Grab your chances with both hands and give it a go!!

flump

Hi Jacky

Your thoughts are similar to so many of us on here! still its nice to hear that others are feeling the same.
We only really thought about the whole emigration process after a holiday to florida, we enquired about moving over there(USA) as we have family there but it is quite difficult to get in, so the next step was, new zealand, we looked into that and decided it wouldn't be best for hubbies skills so then we moved on to australia, we were dead set on it this time last year and a few months passed by, summer arrived and we had a change of heart, we like our life here,we have a great social network, the kids are happy (we have 4, so alot of feelings to consider) hubby has good job, nice house etc, etc, what more could we want?! I sometimes ask my self that now.
But... we are just about to post the tRA off.
Yes, we decided to do it, there is something that is saying we have to try it, not just for us but for the children, can't really explain that bit but i'm sure alot of you know what imean. we have alot to give up but hoping that there is alot to gain out of it, not just for our benefit but for the whole family.
Hubby and I have both decided that this is the move we want to make, be sure its what both of you want to do, i'm not sure if its wise to follow anothers dream.
good luck and keep us all posted
Claire
xxxxxxx

Jacque

Good for you Jacky (great name by the way - mine is just spelt differently) and I hope that your dream turns out for you all.

Wow! You have your hands full with four children, though an acre of land would at least keep them busy with gardening?!

Where are you considering moving to in Oz?

joho

Hi there, good luck and welcome.

Because of some recent threads about agents/agencies can I ask you are they a fixed fee visa agency or pay as you go. What are they charging you. I am sick and tired of seeing people ripped off on here from different agencies and make it my mission to try to stop people making a costly mistake. Most good agents charge around 1000-1300 pounds for their services this includes skills assessment and visa, but does exclude visa application fee, skills fee and meds it is purley agent fees.

If yours is a lot more or not fixed think again.

Just trying to be cautious.

jo

herrchook

There must be hardly any potential expats who don't have doubts so it's perfectly normal. We've had ups and downs (sometimes in the same day ) but at the end of the day, we remember why we're doing it and it ALWAYS makes us smile .

We're moving out of our beloved house this week and into a rental before flying out to Australia on July so my stomach is currently sitting somewhere near my throat but if I can just get this next couple of weeks out of the way and hand over the keys I'll be fine. Once we're actually out of our house, we can really start to plan and move on.

Good luck with your visa application and welcome to BE

allthejs

Hi everybody, thank you all so much for the warm welcome

I am pleased to see that I am not alone when it comes to nerves I know that all the feelings I keep having are all perfectly normal but it is still nice to have some people to share them with.

Herrchook, good luck with the move hun. I am sure everything will be fine and like you say once the house is gone you will then be able to look to future.

Jo, the agency we have decided to go with are the Visa Bureau, quite a good company by reputation and their head office is in Adelaide where we are hoping to go. We will be paying as we go with the initial payment of something like £1400 to begin with. My husband has dealt with all of the phonecalls and he said he felt really at ease with the man he spoke to and has asked alot of questions and had great responses from him. Thanks for the concern hun, much appreciated

Jacque, (great name me thinks too!) we have been thinking of Adelaide, looked at a few places including Perth and Melbourne, but for some reason keep coming back to Adelaide. Do you have any thoughts on it? Oh by the way I have five kiddies! And yes they do keep me extra busy

Claire, not sure I am just following hubbys dream. I think it is fast becoming my dream too, I just take a little longer the make sure its the right one. Like you said, lots of feelings to consider and I put mine last! We are you thinking of going to?

Dawn & Ste, Sue, travelbug and Vikki, thanks for the welcome Its great to know that other people have nerves too

Anyway, folks, I now have four little boys shouting for yet more breakfast and a little girl running around with no nappy on!

Will call back later for some more avid reading

Jacky xx

Jacque

Hey Jacky

I've only been to Adelaide once but have friends who've grown up there and they think it's a great place

Nice and affordable, too, when it comes to housing. Check out this site for more info on Adelaide if you haven't done so already:

http://www.southaustralia.biz/move/a...le_housing.htm

Good luck with it all- moving is always an exciting time!!

joho

initial payment 1400 pounds you are mad. I paid less than that for everything stop it now before its to late.

see this
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ght=bad+agents
and this
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ighlight=agent
and this
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ighlight=agent
and this
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ighlight=agent

ditch them get agent with fixed fees. There are many recommendations on this site. We used george lombard but alan collett, go matilda and ian harrop are also recommended.

Jo

allthejs

Thanks Jacque, have put the site into my favourites so I can have a look later when kids are in bed! They can be mightly distracting during the daytime

Jacky xx

allthejs

Hi Jo, you have me worried now. We have been told that the whole package will cost in the region of £4000 which includes the cost of medicals for seven people and police checks. I think I will get onto them today and ask for a breakdown of costs. Maybe I am wrong when I say £1400 for first stage, hubby has been dealing with it so maybe I heard him wrong Certainly hope so now.

Will read the threads again at a slower pace and see if I can get some more info. The Visa Bureau were actually recommended to us by a friend as well and she was very happy with their service and costs.

Jacky xx

joho

I really dont want to worry you that was not my intention. But 'initial costs' sets warning bells off with me. My agents fees were approx 1000 pounds then 875 for visa app, 250 for skills ass, 300 for meds for 5 and that was it. I hate to see people stung. Please dont take the thread I just started as an insult to you its just something I feel stongly about. They could be fine.

Jo