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Moving to Sydney in 9 weeks - HELP! To do list??

Moving to Sydney in 9 weeks - HELP! To do list??

Old Feb 8th 2017, 12:46 pm
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Default Moving to Sydney in 9 weeks - HELP! To do list??

Hello! My husband has just agreed a job transfer to Sydney from the UK and the move will be happening very soon so I need to get organised! Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as would a comprehensive to-do list.

A few bits of information:
He will be on a 457 visa

We have 2 children aged 4 and 6 who will need a school place (I understand this might not be possible for my 4 year old who is currently in reception in the UK. Will turn 5 before the end June cut-off but might be very young in her year there?)

We luckily have some family there who we can stay with initially for a few weeks.

The plan is for my husband to start work beginning of April so he will head over a few weeks before to try to organise things at that end whilst I organise the move at this end and the children and I will arrive mid-April. I'm not sure how long visa will take though as we haven't started the application yet (will do next week once a few work details have been confirmed). If necessary can we go over on a holiday visa and then transfer? Or should we wait for visa to come through before packing up our lives, just in case??

Does anyone have a shipping company recommendation? We will probably only take one smallish container. We will also be shipping our car.

We are looking to rent either in Eastern Suburbs or Northern beaches areas. Does anyone know which schools are likely to have spaces available? I will email a few but would help to narrow it down if anyone has recently gone through this in these areas.


My head is spinning slightly and I really don't know which end to start at!

Really appreciate any advice!
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Old Feb 8th 2017, 12:49 pm
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Default Re: Moving to Sydney in 9 weeks - HELP! To do list??

Our son applied July 2016 - the 457 visa took 10 weeks. They told him anywhere from 5-12 weeks when he applied.
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Old Feb 9th 2017, 4:25 pm
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Default Re: Moving to Sydney in 9 weeks - HELP! To do list??

hi,

For finding a shipping company check out FIDI website for a list of FAIM certified international removal companies that serve your area to make sure whoever you're using is fully qualified and independently vetted for international moving.

There are lots more tips about choosing removals companies and your different options over on our vendor forum for International Removals advice. Hope it helps!
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Old Feb 9th 2017, 7:10 pm
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Default Re: Moving to Sydney in 9 weeks - HELP! To do list??

Shipping will typically take about 10 weeks door to door with customs clearance etc. You will find that school fees will be charged for your children on a 457, even in state public schools. Your 4 year old should be able to go into Kindy, but you will also pay for that too.

What kind of car do you have ? Unless its a 'special marque' its not worth the hassle in my opinion. Jags, Porches, Lotus, Aston etc all worth bringing, but your daily drive will have a poor resale value as a grey import and the compliance procedure can be a pain. Do some research first and check prices on carsales.com.au or redbook.com.au
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Old Feb 10th 2017, 12:56 pm
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Default Re: Moving to Sydney in 9 weeks - HELP! To do list??

On the car front - pretty sure you can only import if you are entering on a permanent visa, plus as Spuddyo says, the cost and hassle of it even if you could import, would only be worthwhile for something special.
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Old Feb 10th 2017, 5:11 pm
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Default Re: Moving to Sydney in 9 weeks - HELP! To do list??

Just be aware, you are not moving permanent. A 457 is a temporary visa with no automatic path to anything else. It will be valid for between one day and four years. So plan shipping with that in mind.

I believe NSW charges 457 holders for education. I think it is 4K per child per year, so it might be worth checking private schools.
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Old Feb 11th 2017, 12:21 pm
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Default Re: Moving to Sydney in 9 weeks - HELP! To do list??

Thanks for all the replies!

I am aware that we would need to pay for state schools. I think the church schools are around the same price but are not really for us. The private schools are substantially more expensive though (and I understand difficult to get into as well?) so I think we will go down the state school route despite the cost. Please correct me if I am wrong about the private schools.

Regarding the car, it is a "special" car so my husband claims that we could sell it for more in Australia so therefore worth the cost of transporting it. I didn't realise that we would need to be PR in order to take it over though, so thank you for that, I will look into it further.

We are shipping over some furniture for a relative in sydney so will fill that container and put the rest into storage over here for now until we know how long our move will be for. We are fairly minimalistic so thankfully don't have too much stuff!


Thanks again and please keep the advice coming. Even little bits of information are very useful!
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Old Feb 15th 2017, 6:08 am
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Default Re: Moving to Sydney in 9 weeks - HELP! To do list??

On the school thing, it's worth noting that NSW has one of the highest rates of redshirting in Aus. My son started kindy a few weeks ago (at the start of term 1), but he'd already had his 6th birthday (he's a January baby). He's not the only child in his class that is already 6/is going to turn 6 this year. It might be worth discussing with a few schools to see whether they recommend holding back or continuing with school? As an alternative, preschool might be an option for her? (Not daycare, a proper preschool with a program, which fosters school readiness.)

Last edited by Geordie George; Feb 15th 2017 at 6:11 am.
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Old Feb 15th 2017, 7:41 am
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Default Re: Moving to Sydney in 9 weeks - HELP! To do list??

Originally Posted by Geordie George
On the school thing, it's worth noting that NSW has one of the highest rates of redshirting in Aus. My son started kindy a few weeks ago (at the start of term 1), but he'd already had his 6th birthday (he's a January baby). He's not the only child in his class that is already 6/is going to turn 6 this year.
Completely depends on the child, we thought about it but it was very obvious that it would have been silly to keep him in kindergarten for another year. His birthday is in January, one of the youngest in the class and has just finished his last year at primary with straight A's and won a scholarship so I can't say I believe in holding back unless they were demonstrably underdeveloped or immature.

I know a lot of Sydney private schools are selective and can be hard to get into, but ultimately money talks and you'd be surprised how easy some are to get into from just a phone call mid-term.

As for public schools - I think they are obliged to take your child if you live in the zone.
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Old Feb 15th 2017, 7:42 am
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Default Re: Moving to Sydney in 9 weeks - HELP! To do list??

Thank you for your reply Geordie. I might be looking in the wrong place but the only preschool options I can find are full day ones (8-5:30) and they are incredibly expensive (over $100 per day). I'm not sure we could justify this cost as I won't be working. In the Uk they have 1/2 day nurseries which are 3-4 hours long. Do they have an equivalent of this over there? My son getting a school place is a lot more important and I wouldn't mind "homeschooling" her for the year but I'm concerned that she won't be able to make friends then if everyone in her age group is in kindergarten/pre school. Are there other social groups that she could join that aren't full day ones?

Regarding the primary schools, are the school days 9am-3pm in Sydney? How much sport do they have as part of the curriculum? Here in London they only have 2 hours per week which is way too little for my active boy! Do schools tend to have good access to after school clubs?

Thanks again!
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Old Feb 15th 2017, 8:05 am
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Default Re: Moving to Sydney in 9 weeks - HELP! To do list??

Thank you sr71. I agree with you. Out of both of my children the older one would have benefitted from starting year later (so Sydney move will be perfect for him as he gets held back a year without the stigma attached to it) but my younger one is really thriving at school and I feel it's a shame to hold her back. That said she is quite shy so I worry that she will find it intimidating being the very youngest in the class (early June birthday so will be 6 this june, only just within the cut-off).

Can anyone shed light on the cost of private school fees? We will need to pay $5000 per year per child for public school so it it isn't too much more we would definitely consider it but wouldn't be able to pay if it's similar to London pricing.

Also we don't automatically get a place even if we live in the school zone unfortunately as we don't have PR status. It's up to the schools discretion to decide if they accept us (which they would only consider once we have a 1 year rental lease) so I'm not quite sure what to do about that! If we have a 1 year rental lease and don't get a school place in that district what do we do then?? Gosh these moves were so much easier before we had kids!!
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Old Feb 15th 2017, 8:16 am
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Default Re: Moving to Sydney in 9 weeks - HELP! To do list??

Originally Posted by TillyRooC
Can anyone shed light on the cost of private school fees? We will need to pay $5000 per year per child for public school so it it isn't too much more we would definitely consider it but wouldn't be able to pay if it's similar to London pricing.

Also we don't automatically get a place even if we live in the school zone unfortunately as we don't have PR status. It's up to the schools discretion to decide if they accept us (which they would only consider once we have a 1 year rental lease) so I'm not quite sure what to do about that! If we have a 1 year rental lease and don't get a school place in that district what do we do then?? Gosh these moves were so much easier before we had kids!!
Fees can be substantially more for private schools, primary fees up to $20k and up to $35k for secondary. There are also many independent schools which are going to be a lot less - maybe $5,000.

Might be worth researching the schools prior in areas you are interested in, give them a call and discuss realistically whether you can enroll your kids - you might get a conditional agreement to enroll based on showing a lease. Primary schools are generally good, I don't think it's worth the extra for private schooling.
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Old Feb 15th 2017, 8:21 am
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Default Re: Moving to Sydney in 9 weeks - HELP! To do list??

Whoops I spotted a typo. My daughter will be 5 in June, not 6!
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Old Feb 15th 2017, 7:13 pm
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Default Re: Moving to Sydney in 9 weeks - HELP! To do list??

Originally Posted by TillyRooC
Thank you for your reply Geordie. I might be looking in the wrong place but the only preschool options I can find are full day ones (8-5:30) and they are incredibly expensive (over $100 per day).
We are $150 per day. Good pre school though. Worth every cent.
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Old Feb 15th 2017, 8:30 pm
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Default Re: Moving to Sydney in 9 weeks - HELP! To do list??

Originally Posted by Beoz
We are $150 per day. Good pre school though. Worth every cent.
Is that a preschool or a daycare?

Community preschools tend to be much, much cheaper. They're often run as not for profits, which means they rely on parents to help with things like property maintanance. They tend to operate school hours (9-3ish). My children's preschool was about $45 per day (compared to my son's daycare, which was $120ish). I preferred the ethos of the preschool - it's a proper pre-school program, designed to promote shool readiness. Not just somewhere that looks after children, which might have a bit of a school prep program on the side. My two went to the Jack and Jill Kindergarten, Hornsby. But there are lots of them - have you changed your browser to .com.au? Might help with searches.

Redshirting has been discussed a lot on here over the years. A good while ago (I think it was) Japonica, who found figures. About 40% (from memory) of NSW parents held children back. That will have increased. Those children are not all immature/not ready for school. Parents hold back for a huge variety of reasons (in our case, thinking about how old a child will be when they will leave schooling and uni-readiness; it's a long, long-term plan!). I mentioned it only as it might be worth considering how mature your child will be judged by his/her peers.
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