yogita_dabasia

Hi everyone,

We are fairly new to this and I have previously posted under "current processin times".

So, we applied for subclass 136 visa and finally got grant letter with entry date 8th Nov 2007 (Left a long while between Meds (done Sept 2006) and PCC (done May 2007).

Anyway like many of you excited people so are we!!! Equally we don't know where to start. So for anyone moved to Perth, please tell us where we should visit in terms of searching for homes, schools and jobs. Our kids are 4 and 2, and hubby is IT DBA/Project Manager and I work as a Bank Manager in London with HSBC.

We intend to fly on 24th Aug and are heading for Perth initally. During 3 weks we hope to cover Sydney and Melbourne as well.

So as people on this website have been extremely helping, supporting others, we hope someone responds to this. We need to know surburbs to travel to, and where jobs are based, and proximity to surburbs from City.

As we have never been to Australia, and with a suddenly planned holiday (just last week we had no holiday planned for this year, and on 8th Aug found out we got the visa, my world has turned upside down!!!) with 2 young kids, I am extremely nervous as well as excited. We are desperately researching on the net before we leave, but all your comments will be very very much appreciated...

maverik1979

first of all think about where you will be working, from the sounds of your jobs, you will be in the cbd, which means you probably dont want to be too far from the centre, having said that perth traffic is nowhere near as bad as londons, so if you were 20-30km away its not as bad as it sounds, then pick the suburbs within that radius and check them out, just drive round and get a feel for the place, all schools info can be found on the net, so once you've found a suburb you think is ok price wise, check out the amenities, and go from there, a lot of brits seem to go north of the river, but really its up to you

go to www.realestate.com.au and put in what you can afford and what asize house you would like

alternatively to get a better idea of what suburbs are where click this

if you want to look for jobs go here

pauline dublin

Hi
congratulations on getting your visa check out website aussiemove.com it gives details about suburbs schools etc. best of luck with the move.
Pauline

yogita_dabasia

Wow, there is excellent info on these websites, thanks so so much!! Also, does anyone know if UK driving licences are valid in Australia?

hoofie2002

Yes - in WA I think you have 3 months to convert it [not sure if its 3 or 6] to a WA licence. You won't need to sit a test; you just go to the licensing office, have your picture taken, pay your money [5 years worth is best] and you will get a licence in the mail.

If you intend to live in Perth, your OH should start contacting the agencies etc. [I presume he will be working first]. There are lots of them and if they know he will be in Oz on a certain date, you will find they will be much keener to talk to him.

One note of caution; it could take a lot of effort and time to secure a rental to live in the Perth rental market is mad at the moment so bear that in mind - bring lots of documents re previous rentals/property owned/references/bank statements etc to make life easier.

Best of luck on your move.

SeaninOzalready

All I can say is you are very brave to be uprooting and moving to a place that you not event visited before.

I would suggest a reccie trip at least to have a look for yourself...

Very Very brave,,

yogita_dabasia

Hi Seanin,

We are just planning a holiday heading for Perth then, Sydney and Melbourne, so these 3 weeks are more seeing what is there, and where we would like to settle. We are not up-rooting just yet!! God, I couldn't do that with 2 young kids - not knowing where I'm going...The visa is valid for 5 years so we are just going before the initial entry date to find out where we would like to settle.

yogita_dabasia

Well, we’ve been back to UK now for a week, and to update – we LOVED Perth!!! So much so, we stayed there for over 2 weeks and skipped Melbourne completely!! We went to Sydney though, purely for the holiday. Perth was fantastic and was everything we were expecting and heard about. We concentrated particularly NOR for houses and schools, though we both will probably have jobs in CBD. We saw Dianella, Darch, Madeley, Alexander Heights and seem that we will settle around the Darch area. Now all that remains is when!! I am looking at 12 months, though OH says 24 mths and it would make more sense financially (will be keeping our house in UK initially). Any comments/views on NOR, particular suburbs to be shared would be appreciated.