Tiggs+Graz

why does not selling your house give you a safety net? I never understand when people say this. It is not as if you can just move back into our house anyway it if you came back - after all there is going to be someone else living there.

ectomorph

Obviously if things dont turn out right in Aus you will need to give your tennents some period of notice but if you sell and then have to buy again it could cost you. Sorry, thought this was obvious and didn't need an explanation.

Sprucie

Thanks Tiggs + Graz

A lot of people do think we're mad - I do see why, but we've got to the stage where we've weighed all of the options - over a period of 2 years so not an impulsive decision - and just thought sod it -

I have a 2 hour commute to work, my husband wants a new challenge, i'm desparate for a change of scenary, and if we lose £5k in the process (the WHV was only £60 and the flights for two we've estimated at £1500 - and if i'm working we don't need lots of money to stay there for a year) i think that a year in Oz is worth it.

If things don't work out then whats a year in the grand scheme of things - granted we won't have a house to come back to - but then we won't have anything tying us to come back to the UK.

Would love to hear from people that have done the same

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Sprucie

We can't afford a house like ours anywhere in England - and living in a small town in the midlands doesn't offer many job opportunities - keeping our house would be a hindrance rather than safety net we feel.

One of the reasons for our talks on emigration was that if we sold our three bed detached house and moved closer to my work we could only afford a 1/2 bed flat - we probably wouldn't be able to afford anything in London - so we wanted to live close to a city with job opps with reasonable house prices - australia was first choice, if they don't have us i'm sure Canada will, or Spain.....

The weird thing is the more i've replied to posts on this thread the less worried i am and the more determined i am to go

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chris96

You should think about getting a student visa, at least you have a little more chance should you not get sponsored.
I know you have a WHV but you could still apply for a student visa abd your WHV will then be null and void, it don't take long to get this visa.

mr edwards

i am having the same problem i am a hgv driver and not on the skills list. yet i phoned up the company who i want to work for and he siad if i can get out here i can start straight away.i know i have to take my hgv again but no problem.i think if you can prove you can do the job well enough thats when you can ask for your new boss to sponser you..well thats my idea ..after reading your threads i think thats what i am going to do and if it does not work out at lest you gave it your best shot.and you get to have year in oz...it is annoying that their is jobs out there for people like me and you but cos you are not on the list they say NO! good luck

Centurion

The thing about my application to AIM was proving that I directed other managers, not just supervisors, but a number of other managers with other reports from supervisors/team leaders into them. Age was nothing important in the application (I was 32).

Migration agencies didnt really want to know when I first approached since CEO of your own company was hard work I think, out of the norm since applications to AIM are normally from national company execs. So I got a HR specialist firm to write a report for me and then enclosed heaps of evidence to AIM and the application was sucessful. Then of course the agents were only too delighted to take my cash...

I wonder if you've instead considered, and whether it is an option, but one of you studying in full time education in a nominated job. Its been done before. Sounds a whole lot less frightening than coming on a tourist visa and a WHV which wont allow you to get a long term job.

I hate to sound critical of your plan but do you really expect to be able to find a job in sales with a company who would be willing to spend $000's on sponsorship of a pom. Its not an area lacking in people already. I would personally just hire a PR or aussie citizen.

GinaUK

I just wanted to add an example to what Centurion said above: If you search the board for a guy called Paul&Nic: He was a taxi driver. They sold their house. He came out with his wife and two teenage kids on a student visa (very quick to arrange).

He is studying hairdressing (a course at a particular college that has DIMA approval). He has no intention of working as a hairdresser. But - unless DIMA suddenly change the rules - after doing the course for 18 months he can apply for PR for himself and his family.

Because he has the student visa, his wife can work 20 hours a week.

So, this is another option to bear in mind for getting into Oz and getting PR. It's not iron cast, because one might fail the course or DIMA might suddenly change the rules - but it seems less risky than the WHV approach (or, you could ahev it as a second option if the WHV approach doesn't work out).

Gina

Tiggs+Graz

Why do brits have this thing about having to own your own house? You go to oz is doesnt work - you come back and rent. Why would this be a problem? Even if you bought again it wouldnt have cost you anymore than it would have done to move from one house to another in the uk - a thing that people do all the time without others suggesting that they would be wasting their money.

Tiggs

Tiggs+Graz

Actually my cousin did just this. In the UK she was a buyer for one of the big supermarket chains. She is single with no kids and she went to oz in September (i think it was) last year on a WHV. She got rid of just about all of her worldly possessions (rented in the uk so no house to worry about). She spent a few months travelling (did the whole east coast thing) and not long before Christmas was offered a job in Sydney with a company who are going to sponsor her for her work visa. So it does work out for some people!

Tiggs

Jockstar

I'd second that. Go for it. You get one life. Enjoy it. BTW there is always jobs. Legal or otherwise. It happens all over the world. Good luck.

pumpkin blossom

I had been planning on doing exactly what you are doing (selling the house though, I have heared too many horror stories about houses being rented out).
I wouldn't be able to get a working visa though, so we were just going to bum about for a year, but we have a dog and didn't want to bring her all the way out there to maybe have to bring her back.

I don't know if this would be an option for you, but both my work place and my other halfs work place offer career breaks, so were planning to do this, and then would have had a job to come back to if it had not worked out.

I had not realised you could get residency after doing the courses such as hairdressing though, I will look into that.

Good luck, you only live once, go for it!

Pollyana

Bear in mind that if you are caught working illegally you can expect to be deported, and will have a tough job ever getting back into Australia.

Jockstar

Have you tried NZ?

Sprucie

Thanks guys for all of your replys

We have looked into every visa - my husband is quite prepared to go back to college or to a TAFE to gain a student visa, but we thought it may be easier for him to apply for the visa when he is out there and can approach the appropriate college - he also gets a chance to think what he'd like to do (whilst i work on my working holiday visa). As a trained chef (albeit 20 years ago) he's thought about trying to get a job in that (although he'll have to start at the bottom) to get a visa (as cooks and chefs are on the MODL list). So i do think we have quite a few options but we felt that it was better to get out there and weigh up all of our options before making any firm decisions.

If you've been through the AIM system Centurion i may look into that again (again nothing to stop us applying for PR and going out on a WHV whilst we wait - the only thing we'll have to do is go on a holiday to get our visa's validated - sure we could manage that ). I was put off by the migration agents stating how hard it is - i do manage 7 managers both in sales and marketing each having their own team of staff. i think they said that i was a borderline case - could you recommend the HR agency you used to help compile your information?

Jockstar - we tried NZ first but just missed out when the points system changed December 2004 - our EOI was sat in the pool for months as we were 10 points short.

Well we had the estate agents in at the weekend and we hope to put the house on the market next weekend. Fingers crossed we get a quick sale, then i can start working my three months notice!

Thanks again for all of your replys and support

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