Family of five looking at moving to Aus
 

Hello any advice would be perfect. I currently work as a mechanical maintenance person and my partner is a Matron (advanced nurse practitioner) she has already been offered a few jobs and we are pretty certain her job will be able to get us to most places in Aus. We live comfortably in the UK both paid well but we have always wanted to make the move to Australia for the laidback lifestyle and the sun. We have three young children age 3-5-7 so my question is what area would be the best for a young family starting a new down under?

requirements-

- We want to be somewhere close to a beach
- Good schools
- Not a big city but not a ghost town neither
- Reasonably priced houses (to buy)
- An area with low crime rate
- Somewhere that has somewhat of seasons not Perth for example that is constantly sweltering.
- Somewhere which has a manufacturing industry close by.

Also one last question We have our house to sell so probably have £120,000 to move with but don’t really want to rent for a long period of time. Do you need residency before you can apply for mortgage or do you need to be there and employed so long before the bank even considers you as we have a big deposit would that matter?

thanks for any help whatsoever we are just starting our journey to immigrate so even a few towns to look at would be brilliant.

kind regards

Danny.

Re: Family of five looking at moving to Aus
 

I'm afraid you want rather a lot with not exactly a big budget to play with. Anything near a beach will demand top prices. Probably better to look at easy access to a beach rather than living close to. Australian real estate is among the world's most expensive. Pretty common for many to take on a very substantial loan. Lending rules have been eased, but probably to your benefit to stay within what you feel comfortable with.
Check carefully the area. Drugs are a real issue in Australia, even in smaller towns. Australia has a serious ice/meth problem which is hard, near impossible to tackle it would appear. I've first hand experience of this and meeting with a friend last night, she had the police break down the door of her neighbours, after ongoing complaints of drug manufacture. (a very good area of Perth as well)

As for Perth, it's only three months a year that the heat can be overwhelming. (Brisbane probably too humid during the hot months.) (Sydney too over priced ) It seems to suit a lot of UK migrants in the past, although it has become far more cosmopolitan over recent years. Perhaps Adelaide might suit? Laidback life? A bit of a quaint term these days I'm afraid. Australians in many areas work among the longest hours of any country and have taken on close to the highest personal debt in the world. But the sunshine and beaches can give an illusion being laid back. In reality there is little between the UK and Australia these days outside of the weather.

Re: Family of five looking at moving to Aus
 

Ooh Matron,
Have you looked into any mining locations?
I guess everyone want to live near the Beach and work which is why those locations are expensive.

I think big city or ghost towns are the only alternative :)

Re: Family of five looking at moving to Aus
 

I think you are going to have to compromise with more than a couple of things on your list. At first glance I would say Wollongong or Newcastle maybe. Or perhaps Geelong down in Victoria or the LaTrobe valley but all of them will miss one or more of your "desirable points" .
As long as you are a permanent resident with a steady job you should be able to get a mortgage but your deposit probably isnt going to be that substantial once you factor in moving and establishment costs.
I'd forget about the "laidback lifestyle" too - Australians have fewer days rec leave and longer working days than UK I believe and if you are desirous of climbing a career ladder then a lot is expected of you. I used to joke that my public servant husband, back in the day was a 5 to 9 er (5am to 9pm most days!) but he was rather committed.

Re: Family of five looking at moving to Aus
 

Further info on housing costs. I've been looking at buying into property on the Sunshine Coast. Not really cheap these days, but found a place of interest but the fees around the purchase just got e mailed earlier today. More than $13,000 a year strata fees and $3,000 plus council fees. Place a short walk to beach and in the high $800,000 range. Just an example of the costings out here. Quoll mentioned Newcastle which though has risen in price due to popularity could still be worth a look. Geelong as well . Speaking with a young nurse (mid twenties) the other day, she totally expected to having to rent for life with the cost of housing now. I'm now thinking Europe would be a better proposition .

Re: Family of five looking at moving to Aus
 

Thanks so much for the reply it’s appreciated. I didn’t mean a beach front house haha I just meant coastal living not in the outback 😂 we have a friend who lives in Townsville QLD and have been looking around there looks really nice house prices are a bit cheaper than Melbourne and Sydney. We are both on the wanted skills list and plenty of jobs in our chosen fields so I think finding work would be pretty easy (ish). My partner has already been offered a few opportunities already but it’s pointless just yet as she has only just started registering her qualifications. Our biggest concern is the PR visa we thought sponsorship would be pretty straightforward but after a lot of research seems like it could be a pain. Ive already used my one year holiday visa ten years ago when I was 20 so we need the PR especially selling up in England With three young kids I couldn’t risk not getting one and having to come back to nothing after a couple of years it’s all or nothing for us. Any advice on the best route to go through for obtaining one would be much appreciated. Again thanks for the reply any help from someone who has done it means a lot.

Re: Family of five looking at moving to Aus
 

Hi Danny and welcome to BE. There are other members with more knowledge of visas than I, and hopefully they'll chip in with their comments, but I know enough to hopefully start your research at least.

The very best visa is the Skilled Independent subclass 189. This is a permanent residence (PR) visa from the get-go, and allows you to live and work anywhere in Australia. There are only some skilled occupations that qualify for the 189, so the first thing to do is find out if you or your partner's occupation is eligible to apply for this particular visa. As well as having an occupation on this list, applicants must also have their skills assessed by the relevent Australian industry body, meet a 'points' test, and pass health and character criteria.

So for starters, can you tell us more about your occupation, which you've identified as mechanical maintenance. Exactly what sort of work is it and what qualifications do you have? For example, 'Airconditioning and Mechanical Services Plumber' and 'Airconditioning and Refrigeration Mechanic' are a couple of the occupations on the 189 list. If you can tell us a bit more about your work we might be able to point you in the right direction of info that will help you decide if you could pass the skills test.

Same for your partner , if you can tell us a bit more about her qualifications, ie 3 or 4 year degree etc. It may well be that her skills are the ones to make her eligible as the primary applicant, with you and the kids applying as dependents. I don't know a whole lot about assessment of nursing qualifications but I know there are a few people here who do.

Re: Family of five looking at moving to Aus
 

Great thanks for the help. Yes I have a HND in electrical mechanical engineering. But for the past 8 years I have been a cnc machinist. My partner is a nurse with a masters but also has a degree in midwifery. Our plan was to go over on her visa as she has more opportunities than I do although there does seem to be plenty of jobs around Brisbane for me. Ive already looked into metal machinist first class assessment I think I have to complete before I can work over there. My partner has started her registration with aphra but has to pass some sort of English test first which I thought was abit odd as we are English but hey ho 😂

Re: Family of five looking at moving to Aus
 

You might consider somewhere like Bunbury or Busselton in the South West of WA. Whilst both have city status, they are more like large towns. Houses are still very affordable, there are many good schools, well paid work nearby for both of you (particularly in Bunbury), low crime rates, lovely rural areas nearby that will provide you seasonal delights and festivals, and most importantly, there are the magnificent beaches. Well worth consideration.

Re: Family of five looking at moving to Aus
 

While I like Bunbury and visit quite often, it is not without crime issues. It was the biggest meth/ice country location in WA a few years back with near to top house break in rate. (Country WA rather impacted badly by this scourge) Official figures show some improvement but still a stretch to term it has low crime rates. I've looked in Bunbury at houses as well. Now the same deals as a few years back but I agree it would most likely tick more boxes than not for the OP. Bunbury is pretty near the beach wherever you live. It has a train link to Perth City , only an hour and a half drive from City. It doesn't have the same high temperature as Perth usually and is close to some South Coast/Country attractions.. One could do worse. Busselton is far smaller not sure about the employment prospects but not too fat from BY which maintains an industrial base of sorts. All in all probably the best locations outside the Metro area?

Re: Family of five looking at moving to Aus
 

I originally got my skilled visa as a psych nurse. I'm sure your wife will easily get a visa. It is good to get permanant residency independent skills visa as it gives you more freedom. If you come on a working visa you may be more tied into working in a certain place. It took me about a year and a half to get my visa (back in the 1990s) It was a case of one step at a time - it involved having qualifications assessed, transcripts of education, medicals with very specific Drs, police checks etc. It was a very easy process that guided you through each step. It just took a little while to complete. But once I had it - it was great as it meant that when I arrived in Australia I had the freedom to live and work where I wanted. So if you have the time (which with the current covid situation and lack of flights) you probably have - then it may be worth starting the process. We lived in Perth for 5 years, and I became an Aus citizen - but now back in the UK - but considering a move again to NZ. Which reminds me - if you get permanant residency it also gives you the right to live and work in NZ too. When we lived in Perth some of the cheaper areas to live were South of the City - Rockingham, Manduarah etc. However this was in the early 2000s and prices may have rocketed since then! Good luck on your journey. Sounds like you will both easily find work.

Re: Family of five looking at moving to Aus
 

If you think Perth is too hot then I might give Townsville a wide birth.
It was a nice place when I visited a while back, but personally I think it's too small to live. Don't forget the distances here, it's not like you can drive for 30mins and be in a big city, it's more like 24 :)

Re: Family of five looking at moving to Aus
 

Thanks for the advice something to definitely look into, we are planning to fly over soon as the restrictions are lifted my cousin lives in Sydney so we have somewhere to stay and have given ourselves three places to visit before we decide. We like the sound of Townsville as we also have a friend who lives there with kids similar in age to ours which would make a huge difference when immigrating to a new place but isn’t a sticking point so thanks for the advice something to look into.

Re: Family of five looking at moving to Aus
 

The whole ice/meth situation is a little off putting but most places have their issues, think it would be hard to find a city without a drug problem. After speaking with an agent yesterday who sorts out the whole process he told us that obtaining a visa in 2021 is going to be near impossible we are deciding to focus on getting my work permit sorted and getting my partners registration completed so once the visa situation improves we can get going was hoping to be there by next Feb for the start of the school year for the kids but seeming less likely the more we speak to people. Little disheartening but the more time we are in England the more money we can save for the move. Thanks all for comments and advice it means a lot and given us something to think about.

Re: Family of five looking at moving to Aus
 

More than a little off putting and we are looking to sell up and move out of close city location. Just unsure where as of yet as it is everywhere. We're not talking just drugs here, but the potential for extreme violence. I suspect 2021 will prove a difficult year to move. Probably 2022 will prove feasible, is still desired. Although nothing wrong with England, especially when virus is contained.