Safin

Theres a fairly recent thread running on here (Leaving your parents behind) about this. It brings tears to my eyes, but it well worth the read.

It may help you understand her point of view and it may help her identify her fears and maybe allay some of them.

Things like visiting (frequency, duration, financial ability to do so, health ability,and work commitments all to consider) make a big difference in the choice.

Having done it I have I agree with other posters its stressful enough you have to both be in it together.

renth

Maybe Coopes could spike his wife's milk and when she comes around she'd find herself in Pacific Pines, or Joondalup.

Hutch

While you should of course enjoy your trip here - please make an effort to get a feel for real life in Australia. If you're thinking of moving to Sydney, for instance, travel down town in the morning rush. Sit down with a real estate agent in the area you want to move to and ask for current advice on the rental/property market. Do a shop in the supermarket comparable to one you'd do at home.

I remember watching one of those 'Wanted Down Under' or similar shows a year or so ago. There was this couple who were thinking of moving to Sydney and in the segment of the show in which they wanted to give them a feel for everyday recreational activities - they sent them up in a helicopter on a scenic tour of the harbour! I was sitting there thinking, 'oh sure, practically every day we go on scenic helicopter rides'. Not saying you'd do that, just that there's a *very* different feeling between visiting somewhere on holiday knowing your little house is right where you left it - and arriving in a new country knowing nobody.

Sounds like my missus. She never wanted to visit here, but as my parents are getting on a bit (and live here in Oz) she told me we'd better go and see 'em before they died. Harsh but fair. So we came out on holiday and she totally loved the place. Then we came out again for a couple of months trial living with my parents (and believe me - it was a trial) before we finally moved here permanently in 2006. I think a lot of the time it's the fear of the unknown that holds people back.

spartacus

Divorce.

asher

here is the link http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ghlight=alborg

Safin

ta - I still haven't worked out how to do that

Stella340

My two cents worth (or 5 because there are no 2's) is that you might want to take a look on the working abroad by profession forum. Teaching is not easy to get into over here and if your wife was reluctant to come over in the first place then the mountain of paperwork to complete and number of hoops to jump through in order just to register as a teacher over here will not make her feel settled.

Plus after all that registering you then have to do 20 days continuous teaching or 40 days relief teaching BEFORE you can apply for a teacher rating (level) and apply for permanent jobs. Oh and then when you apply for permanent jobs you have to consider moving within the state you're living in.

It's probably the first time that I've thought back to the UK and thought 'I wish I still worked at my old school'

Oh but the sun was shining today so I tried to think about that whilst driving 40 mins home from my day relief teaching.

Just another thing to think about and I wanted to tell you it through eyes that are most definitely NOT hidden behind the rose tinted at the moment.

Stella
P.S I'm in QLD so obviously different applications system work in different states.

Stella340

Gah, and after ALL that whinging I forgot to say I'm talking about Primary teaching. If she's a secondary teacher then ignore all of the above because it's not the same

Good Luck

Stella340

Note to self - read the replies first!

gary stewart

We went thru the process in 2006 and were just waiting on the visa when we decided we had to go on a recce trip.Spent three weeks there had great holiday but my wife decided it wasn't for her which was hard to take at first and took a while to accept but Iam glad she was honest rather than go thru with it just for me then hate it and it all go wrong.It's not for everybody but I would go on a holiday first then see what she thinks.Good luck

Gaz

daddyofthree

I'm in a similar situation mate. My wife has bee very negative about moving for the past 6 months, especially about family, friends, kids' friends, type of house, finance and child support. However, I asked her to stop being bloody negative and to only make comments that are positive for one month. Stragely enough she has a much more positive outlook on Aus at the moment although she does keep on telling me how settled our kids are and how many good friends they have here!
I'm sure we will move but I'm hoping Aus can sell itself. If not then we will return together.

EvannTel

Oh I'm not sure - when my (now ex) wife came here many many years she made it far worse than that!

coopes

QLD is the preferable place and she is a primary school teacher. The amount of hours and paperwork she does is huge, she is always working even going in to school at weekends !!!
We both also have to drive about 45 mins to work and if we have to do this I would rather a nice bit of sun on our backs

I did'nt say a word about it last night and then she brought it up . Her comment was 'whats the currency in Australia'. Bless her.... I know....I know, but it's a start

Kapri

I can totally understand your wife's position.
I wanted to live in Australia - in fact my visa application has been lodged since February.

My Dad died last month and now I won't go because I don't want to leave my Mum (although she lives 3 hours away from me ).
It was easier leaving when Dad was alive because they had each other.
Having watched my Dad die I wouldn't want to be on the other side of the world if my Mum became ill.

For me making sure my Mum is ok is more important than emigrating. For others it may not be. I knew that realistically there's no way I'd be able to afford to make yearly trips back to see her just as I can't afford to make yearly trips to Australia now.

louie

Are her parents skilled or retired? Could they come too? Would you want them to?

If she is an only child or only has one sibling and they have a reasonable amount of money and are healthy, they might look at a CPV, but there would probably be a delay of three or four years before they could come, unless they would qualify for a visa on their own merits.

I can't see my parents doing that, but there are plenty on here that have followed their children to Oz.