ScouserJohn

Hi all,

I posted a while ago about maybe moving to Oz, just depended on the job offer etc.

Well, after a few months, I assumed that nothing was coming from it, and put it out of my head.

Today the company let me know that they would like to make me an offer, which is subject to negotiation.

So, they have offered me $50k as a base salary, (which is around $20k less PA than I asked for, but it'll be negotiated) and "Relocation", they're asking me to come back to them with what I want for the relocation package. (They're paying for the Visas)

And so, I turn to you fine people.

I currently have a 4 Bedroom house (rented), a wife and 3 boys (6, 2, 6 months) and all of the associated junk that a family acumulates.

Does anybody have a decent referal for a removals company so I can get some quotes for shipping from Liverpool to Melbourne?

Can anybody help me with taxes etc to? I'm working my take home salary to be around $3k PCM.

What is the average cost for a 4 bed house (to rent first obviously) in Melbourne? What are the good/bad areas?

What else should I be looking for?

I estimate currently about £3k to relocate all of our belongings, which (from what I've read here) would probably be enough to pay for everything again in Oz and not have the worry or wait of shipping?

And I'm also expecting the flights to be paid for.

So, All in all, I'm looking for anything between £4k - £5k (around $10k) for my relocation package.

Is there anything I'm missing? Anything I should look out for?

Does anybody know if relocation paid is a tax write off in Oz? I'll be coming over on the Skilled worker program.

And finally, is $50k enough for a family of 5 to live on (if the negotiations go badly! )

Cheers for any advice you can give.

John

XDA

Hi

We have just booked John Mason to relocate all of our goods from a 4 bed house and this has cost £3608. Melbourne is cheap to rent a house a good site is domain.com.au to get some ideas.

Amazulu

I would say no. For your sized family, with an average mortgage of say $300k, I reckon you would need a household income of $80k to live comfortably.

ScouserJohn

$80k seems attainable, at the moment the wife doesn't work, and I'm fairly certain I'm not going to buy a house in the first few years anyway (with being an immigrant etc)

I'll check out the rental links! thanks!

scrubbedexpat020

John

Check your salary against something like http://www.hays.com.au/forecast/default.aspx

or do a search using one of the sites to see the market rates http://www.jobsearch.com.au/

Expenses are (off top of head from two years ago):

Application £750
Medicals £300
Skill assessment VETASESS £100
Moving £3500 (PSS)
Flights one-way $1736 (S'pore from Manchester)
add 10-15% for your budget.

when you arrive
allow $150 per night (food and room)until you get a house. Depends on how quick you are but I would allow a month max.
taxi from airport $100 to Ringwood (25km east of CBD (city-centre)). To city-centre $50.
Car $50/day to include insurance http://www.carhire.com.au/

I reckon you need to cover off costs of $25k to get you here and see you through the first month.

Others will give you more up to date costs.

Ian (plastic scouser)

ScouserJohn

Cheers mate.

They've come back again and want me to set something up in Ballarat.

I'll get an increase in salary (TBD) and all relocation costs paid (amount TBD) in exchange for committing to them for a couple of years (again, TBD)

They're going to provide somewhere to live for the first month, pay for Visas (and all associated paperwork/costs), so I don't need to worry about those costs. I'm estimating having £2k - £3k of my own to go over with, but obviously that doesn't mean I want to spend it!

I'm getting them to pay (on top of the above) for flights for me and the family (£1500 - £2000) and either the relocation costs paid to me, or them to pay for the removals. (I'd rather get the money, sell everything I have and use the total to buy the things in Oz when we find somewhere perm, rather than hope and wait for them to arrive.

I'm working on a tax estimate of 25%, but I'm not sure about NI, healthcare etc.

So, anybody in Ballarat? What's it like? And how useful is the 'My Choice' voucher scheme?

JAJ

What kind of visa? Temporary or permanent?

ScouserJohn

Perm, with Citizenship to be applied once we're there.

From what I can gather moving to a more rural area can 'half' the time it takes to get citizenship, which would be nice.

JAJ

For citizenship it makes no difference where in Australia you live, sorry. Are you sure you're not confused between temporary residence/permanent residence/citizenship?

What's the permanent visa type? ENS, RSMS or something else?

amabokke

Ballarat is great. We (me, wife, 2 kids) have been here for a year now.

It's a regional city of around 85,000. Only 1H10min on the train to Melbourne.

Everything you need is here. It's especially good for schools.

The winter's are a little cold but it doesn't last long.