Our story
 

I am new to this site so please bear with me - the story is long.

In 20002001 we (husband and I) visited my brother in Sydney. We then decided we would like to live there and to cut a long story short, we applied for a residency visa using an agent based in Sydney. He was very helpful. We got the visa in 2002. We had 9 weeks to get ourselves to Oz!

We sold our flat but it fell through on the Thurs before the Sat we were due to fly out. Left details with the solicitor to sort things out. Got oursleves on the plane without thinking. We were going to stay with my brother in Sydney for a week or so. He had now just got himself a job in Canberra! So we ended up there and staying with him for 3 months waiting for the flat to sell as we had very little money.

When we had applied for the visa, Oz were looking for IT professionals so we thought that as my hubby is an MCSE and MCT and had a few years of training experience, he'd get a job quite quickly - WRONG!! I work in finance but I am not a qualified accountant.

Once the flat was sold, we rented a place in Wollongong. Still no jobs. Come June 2003, we moved back to the UK. As neither of our families had room to put us up, we ended up renting a friend's caravan for 3 months. We got ourselves jobs and rented a house for a year and then bought a place of our own and have been here for just over 2 years.

Now the vias is running out (in NOv 2007) and here we are reconsidering going back. Hubby is now 50 and I will be too in April. My brother is going on a fellowhip year to Canada for a year with his family and quite happy for us to rent his house for that time but he wants the market rate for rent which is about AUD 450 a week! We will have use of his car etc. But he needs to know by end of Feb. The prospect of moving into an area and house that we know is great but since coming back my mother has been admitted into a home as she has dementia, dad lives on his own but is quite reliant upon me, father-in-law is elderly too.

If we go (and I am more keen on it than hubby) then we are selling up again with about 20k equity, we will be giving up our jobs, be away from our families etc and yet the pull to move is really strong for me. If we don't do this now, we will never have another chance.

A friend told me that she was watching a programme recently where it was mentioned that if you are 50+, it is virtually impossible to get a job. So, here we are again and we could still end up in the same situation. I am more adventurous than my hubby but even I am feeling unnerved by the prospect of not having a job.

Any advice, ideas, thoughts, etc.??

Thanks for reading.

Re: Our story
 

You only want to move back to OZ if you know you can get a job there, is it possible to apply for jobs in OZ while your living in the Uk, and if you get a job downunder, immigrate, if you can't get a job stay in the UK. Maybe talk to employers or jobnetwork agencies in OZ to ask hem about your chances of finding work and how hard it is for people over 50.

Re: Our story
 

How about re-mortgaing your house and renting it out for a while. You could get a buy to let mortgage. That way you'll have a bit of cash to come over with, and if it doesn't work out you can always go back. If it does work then great, sell your house.

I think you've got too much to lose to just sell up and move and should leave yourself with a get out clause for a little while until you've tested out the job market. You could start applying for positions now, but to be honest most employers won't even acknowledge your application until you are in the country so that may be a long shot.

Treat it more like a 6 - 12 month working holiday and see where you are after that. :)

Re: Our story
 

You could always try a different job until you get one in your own field of work.

Re: Our story
 

Maybe don't sell your house in the UK and leave your furniture there, rent a house in OZ for 6 months and if you can't find work in OZ in that time it would then be cheap and easy to move back to the UK
because no shipping cost or costs of buying and selling houses.

Re: Our story
 

We have looked into renting our house but the difference between the mortgage payments and the rental would be about £500 a month and we won't have that sort of money to fund the mortgage here.

I think the best would be to bite the bullet and go and then look fore any jobs to start off with so that we do have some income. But it is a scary prospect as my brother would still like his rent paid and we would have to earn a lot more to pay the rent, the bills and also live.

Does anyone know the North Strathfield area outside Sydney? Any idea of rents there? My brother's house is a 3 bedroom house with a garage and a swimming pool. He is close to the local amenities and the train station (and the Olympic Stadium).

I guess the excitement of going and the worry of it are both 'sat' on the same fine line of anxiety.

Re: Our story
 

We all feel like that at some stage. It's a huge thing to do and until you 'jump' in you really don't know how deep it's going to get.

If you are willing to take any job until the right one turns up then I'm sure you'll be fine. You may even find something you really enjoy doing more than what you do now. :)

Re: Our story
 

Credit where it's due...giving it another go after a failed attempt is very brave of you. I personally think your crackers....but please don't let that put you off, i hope you make the right decision. Good luck.

Re: Our story
 

Just one thing you might want to consider is NOT renting your brother's house. I know it sounds like the easy option, but if you're paying market rates, then why not look at other smaller (cheaper) properties too. You haven't mentioned whether or not you have children, but if not, then it might be more prudent to rent a smaller property and save the money, especially as you are concerned about getting jobs.

Just a thought.

Best of luck making your decision, it's a toughy.

Gill

Re: Our story
 

Thank you everyone.

I think you are right - first of all we need to make sure that we don't rent from my brother. Although his place is familiar and we will have use of all his house, it will be too expensive for just the two of us (we don't have any children). I think initially we need to rent something small and get ourselves settled with jobs etc. Then we can decide where we live and how much we want to pay in rent. Ideally, I think, my husband would like to end up in Wollongong but it is really imperitive that we both get jobs first, where we can get them. Then location can be decided upon.

I am scared but not as much as my husband. The prospect of leaving family and friends again is very daunting but I am looking at it from the point of having a better life in terms of leisure. Here we have a nice house in a nice place (nothing extravagant) but all we do is pay the bills. We don't have alife becuase we can't afford it and if we could, the weather dictates what we do. I was born and brought up in Nairobi, I love the sunshine, the space, the outside culture and all the things that Oz is able to provide.

Nerves, nerves, nerves... still thinking and considering but need to get out skates on so that we can plan better than we had the opportunity to do so last time....

Re: Our story
 

I think renting somewhere small and cheap sounds eminently sensible.
Has anything changed in your qualifications/experience since the last time you were there that makes you think it will be easier to find work this time around?
If not then you may have to be prepared for a hard slog, and if at all possible keep all avenues of return open so that you don't have to take a big step backwards if it doesn't work out.
Hats off to you for considering a second try though :)

Re: Our story
 

Has anyone given it a second chance and succeeded, or not? It would be good to hear of your experience the 2nd time around.

Re: Our story
 

Might be worth posting that question seperately to get a decent response.:)

Gill

Re: Our story
 

Finding a job should be your number one priority.

When you have money everything else will fall into place. Without it, you will end up miserable and back in drab uk.

Therefore, move where you will find a decent job. Wollongong is hardly the IT capital of Australia - try Sydney or Melbourne next time.

There are many people earning a very tidy income, but you've got to be prepared to work for it. The hard-working, Australian work ethic is world renowned.

Re: Our story
 

:rofl: :eek: :lol: