In the middle

Hello fellow expats!

I am seeking some advice please on relocating from the UK to Australia with my partner and two children.

I am a qualified UK midwife and my partner is a construction project manager. Both of these professions show on the skilled worker lists for Aus and I was wondering about the process of obtaining a permanent residency visa.

So my questions are:

How long roughly does the application process take? Do we have to be sponsored by an employer to be able to move? Do you need a job in place before arriving?
Would it be easier to obtain visas if my partner and I were to marry or is this irrelevant?
Will our children just be added on to my visa if I obtained permanent residency? If so will they be able to attend state schools?

I'd also like to know what areas in Aus are better for families? My children will be 15 and 10.

Finally, how straight forward is property buying? I hear it's competitive and expensive. Do you recommend renting initially?

I'd love to also hear about your experience relocating your family. Was it the best decision? How did you find adjusting to the heat and culture? Any tips on how to make the transition easier on children?

I really appreciate your time and support!

​

Pollyana

Firstly you need a good read of the Immigration website https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visa...sa/visa-finder as there are many options, both sponsored and otherwise.

Its not relevant whether you and your partner are married, de facto is considered equal to marriage in Australia.

Whichever of you is the main applicant (and being a nurse you probably have the easier route), your partner and children would go as dependents on your visa. Your children must attend school of some kind, there are numerous fee paying schools (far more than back home) but also state schools in all areas.

Can't advise on property buying, never been able to afford it. I hate the climate, and don't fit in to the culture so I won't attempt to advise on lifestyle stuff in the slightest. Not having seen any of my friends or family since before COVID, I now can't wait to get out of here
However there are many families for whom the move has gone well, and if you spend some time reading the Australia forums you will gain a lot of good and useful info about the place. Just remember it is a vast country, with many extremes, and there is no "best" area, because of those extremes. It is also now an expensive country, not like it used to be when compared to the UK, and the whole migration process will cost you many thousands of pounds - upwards of £25,000 is often mentioned these days.

It might be an idea to have a consultation with a registered migration agent to explore the best option.

quoll

No you dont need to be sponsored by an employer and chances are you won't get a job until you are here anyway. Be wary of temporary employer sponsored visas, they sound too good to be true, if you can swing one, and that is because there are a lot of pitfalls - they're generally only for 2 years and there is no guarantee that you would be able to apply for permanent residence at the end of that. Temporary visa holders in some states have to pay school fees - upwards of $5k pa per child.

You wouldn't want to be faffing around with a 15 year old's education really- the final 2 years of Aus education are yrs 11&12 and Yr 11 generally starts with kids who are just 16 or just about to turn 16 so that could be too tight a time frame for you to make a move. You would disadvantage a child if you tried to hop in half way through the 11/12 course, especially if they have aspirations for Uni (which is almost a lay down misere here, degrees are required for most things it seems). Equally, if you were able to negotiate the minefield and have the 15 year old start year 11 as they turned 16, then you had to return to UK, they would be disadvantaged because their yr 12 scores dont translate that well to Uni entrance requirements and they could either have to do a transition year or start A levels again - and their status would have changed from UK student to international student for Uni and that is expensive.

There is no "best" place - it's a bloody great place and what suits one person would not suit another. As I sit here in 10C weather, heat isn't a problem all over and all year (but it is a bugger in the summer) - air conditioning is your friend if you can afford to run it. Choose the place to live because of your ability to get a job there I reckon. Usual rule of thumb - though perhaps not as vital for nurses as some other professions like teaching - there are more vacancies in the places that people dont want to live in. The more regional you go, the cheaper tends to be the accommodation but perhaps that isn't ideal for a construction manager. The big cities are horribly expensive these days - Sydney is a millionaire's playground and Melbourne isn't much better - most Aussies live in the burbs and that can be pretty soul-less. You won't get a house as soon as you get off the plane - mortgages require jobs and longevity so renting will be your first option - but in order to get a rental (which is also highly competitive) you will probably need to start off in an Airbnb or similar for a month or two.

Regarding your visa - definitely talk to one of the MARA registered migration agents to see what your chances are. It may cost a bit but it will be a drop in the ocean compared with your overall spend to move here.

Good luck.

In the middle

Thank you both so much for taking your precious time to respond!! I really appreciate your wisdom 😀!!
lots to consider - thank you.

spouse of scouse

Hi in the middle. Just a couple of things to add to the good advice you've already been given.

Re. visa processing times, it varies according to the visa/s. You'll be able to see the processing times for each type of visa you're eligible to apply for by following the link Pollyanna provided. For example, if you're eligible to apply for the Skilled Independent Visa (subclass 189 - points based), then that's the 'best' one because it's a permanent residency visa, you can live and work anywhere in Australia, you don't need a job offer, and you can in fact work in any job once you have this visa. You need to be invited for this visa, the main applicant needs to be under 45 years of age, and the processing times are between 23 - 39+ months.

Re. where to live, as Quoll has said it's a bloody big country. I've found over the years that people who don't live here sometimes don't understand just how big it is, so have a look at the map below, which superimposes a map of Europe and the UK over a map of Australia. I live in Perth and a direct flight to Sydney takes over 5 hours.

We humans are very mobile and it's common for us to want to move to another country, for all sorts of reasons. They vital key is to research, research, research. Your and your partner's reasons for wanting to move, the reasons why you think the country you've chosen will meet your, your partner's and your children's needs and wishes, financial considerations of visa applications, flights, jobs, setting up and living in this new country, an 'exit plan' if both partners, or even more complex, if only one partner wants to move back home - these are all issues that need to be discussed and thoroughly researched if a migration is to be the success you want it to be. Hope this helps a bit and good luck.

verystormy

With regards to visas, my advice is to speak with a good registered migration agent. There are a couple who post on here regularly who have very good reputation

arkon

Save your life, don't bother!

Amazulu

Go for it!!