Mark.n.Mel

Hi Guys and Gals,

Well, as you will see this is my first post on this forum, so I hope I have posted this in the right place...Apologies if that is not the case.

My Family and I,

Me - 31 - IT Engineer
Partner - 37 - Homemaker
Teenager 1 - 15 (nearly 16)
Teenager 2 - 13

Are looking to emigrate to Australia, we have considered this for many years and considering many different countries such as NZ, US etc and after the research we have done decided that Oz looks to be the best place for us.

However - this is where our thoughts kind of stop being ordered and become somewhat jumbled...

We have started the migration process with a migration agent.. who has been able to answer some of our questions but I cant help but feel they may be biased due to having family in areas they have recommended. If any one can advise or at least point us in the right directions I would appreciate it...

As mentioned above, I am an IT Engineer, not really specialised and have gained nearly 10 years experience of most facets of IT from Systems Management, Network Security, Network Admin etc and my current role is that of Technical Consultant. I have been told that Melbourne is the most promising area to go to for IT jobs, however I have researched and Adelaide and Perth seem to be quite promising - based on the wages to cost of living ratio.

Can any one give me their thoughts on where would be better?
Are there any recommended areas to live in either of these places? I am no millionaire so it would need to be affordable - sorry to be vague but finding decent property websites for Oz has been a nightmare.

I am using seek.com.au for job searches but are there any other decent sites?

Cheap car rentals? Where to go for these?

Repeat prescriptions in the UK - how do these work in Oz?

Are you better using Medicare or should you get Private Medical Insurance?

How much is council tax, broadband, do you have to pay for TV licences etc?
What are Gas and Electric rates like? Cable or Satelite TV etc

Sorry I know that there is quite a bit here and I appreciate any and all advice and I am sure I can think of more things to ask, but will have a rest for the moment.

I have looked through most of the forum and can see a lot of conflicting information hence why I am asking again - I am sorry if this seems silly but obviously we have a lot to account for over the near future and I want to try and have everything straight in my head!

Oh....is coffee really that expensive, I looked on Blue Banana and nearly pooped myself - I drink coffee like a fish does water so would almost certainly be bankrupt very soon in OZ! lol

Kind Regards
Mark.n.Mel

Bermudashorts

I expect your migration agent is most surprised to be fielding your lifestyle questions, they normally just do the migration stuff.

I actually think you are quite premature with your questions, it could take 2 years to get a visa and it is usually better to focus on that at this point. Anyhows here are my comments:

I am not in IT but it is often said that Sydney and Melbourne are the best places to go but I am sure there are jobs in all of the major cities. Seek is ok for getting an idea of what is out there, nearer the time contact some agents but there is really no point doing that yet. They will not be interested in you.

For car rental just shop around at the time, the same players you will be familiar with operate here. Again nothing to worry about 2 years in advance.

Prescriptions - no idea don't have them.

If you earn over a certain amount as a couple, can't remember how much maybe 150k-ish then it makes financial sense to get private health as if you don't you will be charged a levy which will be higher than the insurance. You would enrol for medicare as well.

We rent so don't pay council tax. Gas and electricity will depend on usage obviously, we have paid about 200 last couple of quarters. TV package is about 80 a month and broadband about 50. I have not noticed coffee being any more expensive than UK coffee.

Mark.n.Mel

Hi, thanks for your quick reply...I know it is a bit early as yet, however my migration agent said that if I secure a job over there he can have us living in Oz in 12 weeks so I am trying to work out where to concentrate my searches. Plus we are planning on coming over on a holiday visa to start with once our house is sold here.

My agents seem to be good people - they are really being extra useful if that makes sense?

Bermudashorts

You are selling your house and moving to Australia on a tourist visa. what about school for the children? They can't go to school on tourist visas for more than 3 months as far as I know.

I must admit I assumed you were going for skilled migration in my earlier response. You would seem like a possible candidate for that. There are lots of IT people on BE so maybe they can come along with more specific details of agents. It is not unheard of to get sponsorship from overseas but it is not common either.

Good luck.

Buzzy--Bee

Mate

Melbourne or Sydney for IT jobs and I would say Melbourne is better for comms jobs.

Coffee is $2 before 11am where I work at Southgate, $3 after. Melbourne lives on coffee - most business meetings are done over coffee.

Peter Chiam is a specialised IT migration agent. He posts on here as PTLABS.

BB

quoll

You might want to take care you dont muck up your kids' education. Kids generally start their final 2 year assessable course when they are just 16 or just about to turn 16. The school year starts in February (if your soon to be 16 year old has a birthday before 30 April this year they would start year 11 right now - and really cannot afford to miss much of that 2 year course) so you may not have the luxury of time on your side. If then, it all goes pear shaped, you have buggered up their chances of getting back into the UK system as well.

Mark.n.Mel

I apologise, it appears I should have put more in the initial post...pardon my ignorance.

The two children (My Step Children) - one is about to finish Senior school and will be looking at going to college - if the migration process takes two years then he will be looking at starting University - the Migration agent said to include him in the visa just in case he decides too come with us and not go to Uni in this country. If we are able to go sooner then fantastic, but he will stay with his Father until he has finished college the other child wants to finish school in Australia if possible, although again if the process takes 2 years (even 18 months we would wait the extra 6 months if needed) then she will have finished senior school also and be on the run to start college.

I was told by my migration agent that the whole process will take around 18 months to 2 years...for a Skilled Migrant Visa - but if I get a job offer in the mean time, he can move us on the 457 visa within 12 weeks? The holiday visa and then work was an option given to us by our agent but I dont really know too much of the ins and outs of it concerning the kids etc as I am primarily looking at the Skilled Migrant....

We have looked at Melbourne and I am not too struck on what I have found out about the place so far although I am sure it is a lovelly place to be, I dont know and cant comment for certain without visiting the place but it just does not appeal so far....
Sydney again - Looks lovelly, however Property prices are bordering on completely ridiculous to absolutely comical compared to the wage bracket from what I have seen so realistically I do not think that would be feasible at the moment until we have saved up more capital...

This is one of the reasons we were primarily looking at Perth and Adelaide - whilst they are not the cheapest places to live in, they certainly look the most family friendly, and the cost of living to salary ratio is more favourable than say Sydney, Melbourne etc - I could be completely wrong of course going by what I have seen on TV, and managed to find myself - hence why I am asking the Expat Experts that are you guys - as you have done what I and my family dream to do

Buzzy--Bee

OK well here's my advice from someone in the same career as you who has emigrated to Australia 4 years ago and made a complete success of their emigration -

- somewhere that looks a nice place to holiday may not fulfil the requirements of a great place to live
- the most important thing about emigration is having an income. Everything else is a pipe dream without this. Without an income your emigration will fail no matter where you choose to live, so this should be the first criteria you base your decision on.
- Have a look at these two threads about Melbourne, our reccie 5 years ago and our update a few months ago. And have a visit here too. I'm sure Melbourne isn't for everyone, but it is probably the most likely place in Australia for you to fulfil the income criteria.

Melbourne Reccie -

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=413388

5000 post update -

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=673936

BB

KJCherokee

I think the first thing to consider is why you want to emigrate. What is it about your life in the UK which you want to change, and what is it you are hoping to find in Australia? The answers to these questions will, to some extent, determine where you decide to go.

For example, if you want to be able to surf every evening and weekend there is no point in going to Adelaide which is miles away from decent surfing beaches. If you want forest walks just outside your back door then probably Melbourne and Sydney are not the best places. If you want to escape the English weather then maybe Tasmania is not a good choice: however Brisbane is very humid in the summer and that may not suit either.

Agreed that you need an income as a high priority - but presumably you are not coming out here just to earn money in the same conditions as you already have in England, but because you want a major change in your lifestyle.

Mark.n.Mel

Everything!

A better work / life balance, I want to work to live not the other way round. I want the best for my family in lifestyle and opportunity

All sound great to be honest but I am not built for surfing....

who doesn't? Especially where I live at the moment, you need shares in Wellys and Rain wear


Agree completely.

Mark.n.Mel

This has been extremely helpful and very informative...Great posts. I may well be discounting Melbourne to early...only time will tell though.

Thank you for this one

bcworld

Work / life balance isn't something that improves by moving to Australia. Some people find theirs is improved, others worse. It's something you have to take control of yourself - one thing about emigrating though is that it's a great opportunity to try and make those changes.

I'm an IT consultant and I find working hours much the same as in the UK - when there's deadlines or stuff hitting the fan, work / life balance goes out the window, other times it's very rewarding for little effort. The lesser amount of annual leave here counts against the work / life balance story, certainly for me anyway.

verystormy

There are IT jobs in all of the cities of course, though i get the impression that Sydney and Melb are the centres of it. Perth is much more a centre for mining.

There arent really any such thing here as repeat prescriptions and the drugs may be more expensive than the UK depending on the drug. But others cheaper. I use asthma uinhalers and can get them over the counter without a prescript for less than a UK prescription. So a win there.

Medicare is a bit like the NHS so you would get it - need it for a doctors. Lots of people have private as well as Medicare doesnt cover things like ambulances which can be hundreds of dollars. There is a tax rebate available for people who take out private cover and some employers give private health as a perk.

A 457 visa would allow you to come out earlier than 2 years and normally from getting a job to being on a plane takes about a month.

We dont have TV licences

Cost of living varies a lot by state and even where you are in the state but - and this causes lots of debate on here, i say that Australia is 2.5 time as expensive than the UK. So to have the same standard of living here you need to earn 2.5 times in dollars what you earn in pounds. So if you currently earn 50k pounds you need to earn $150k dollars.

elice_in_oz

Another thing to consider, is that if the children do want to study in Oz, they are more likely to apply to unis/colleges in Sydney or Melbourne as there is certainly more choice of these in the 2 largest cities. Ther would be no point settling in Adelaide and finding the kids need to go to Melbourne to study

As others have said, before selling the house and coming over, make sure you have visited and researched. We didn't but we were young, childless, and had nothing much to lose. We were also very lucky that it all fell into place for us, but not everybody gets the breaks we got

paddyo

I wish!!! The times quoted from the IMMI website say between 6 weeks to 3 months...but some strike it lucky and others strike it bad. My initial 457 Visa took 11 weeks and that was for my company who have a full and fluid Visa processing team and so no undue hold ups company wise, it was just IMMI who took their time. My renewal last year took 4 weeks in total!!!
Other side of the coin is a colleague of mine who's 457 Visa took 18 weeks, partly due to his own prospective employers not doing the right things.
I would always use the 3 month guide as it allows you to plan things, and believe me 3 months goes very quickly when you need to sell/lease, leave/start schools, pack/unpack, etc etc.