Hi there just wondered if anyone can tell us if we are making a big mistake moving all our family to Oz.
Hubby got a job in Perth he is a carpenter we are being sponsored on a 457
The problem is we have 7 kids on is 16 looking to start an apprenticeship 4 are if school age and two under 4 .
We have little money only enough to get us there and set up ie furniture a few months rent up front and buy a cheap car.

We do not keep up with the jones and live a simple family life spending time together and living simply just wondered if you would do this in our shoes.

We rent a home at the moment and will never be able to buy a big enough house over here for our size family hubby originally from South Africa and he really misses the weather and the outdoor way of life and I must say so do I

We are not shy of working just want to know what our chances are of making a success of living in Oz with such a big family and no help ie child benefit and so on. On a 457 we get nothing even have to arrange medical cover.

I think youve got all you need to survive...the love of 7 wonderful children and a job offer for a hard working husband...you'll love the outdoors lifestyle over here...it costs nothing to go to the beach,park bush for the day with a picnic/bbq and theres so msny new places to explore so you wont be bored!
By the way we have 4 children here and 1 in UK.

Hi, you will have the same chances to do well in australia that you have anywhere else really. Some things are cheaper, like petrol, some things are more expensive. The houses here tend to be bigger so that will definetly benifit you, the further out from the city you get the cheaper and larger the houses you get. Its possible to rent a big house here for the same cost as a smaller house in england might cost for example.


The weather and outdoor more active lifestyle is the main difference, although I dont have kids myself I think they have a much better quality of life than back in england. I was never surfing or playing on the beach all the time when I was a kid !

So really if you are prepared to work you can do well in australia like you can anywhere, its just that here the better weather, better roads and more opportunities make it easier.
Hope that helps

Just be careful on a sponsored visa. My close friends had to go back to uK as the sponsor didn't do what they said they would. They paid him $700 a week but they left after 3 months. He was a carpenter too. Not sure exactly what went on, but they took them to court.
Good luck anyway.

Hello there and welcome to BE,
I believe it isn't money that helps you make the most of and enjoy a new life in OZ, it's more about how determined you are to make it work- by viewing your post i can see you aren't afraid to work and that you aren't a materialistic family, by putting this i mean you come accross as a family that put happiness and a better lifestyle before keeping up with the Jones' as you put it, Well done for that its a quality to be proud of

We have 3 children (ages 7,5,3) and are hoping to be in Perth for July 2008, like you we only rent in the UK and are making sure we have enough savings so that on arrival we have enough for at least 2months rent, bond, bills and food, school uniforms, furniture and a cheap car (petrol, rego etc), my husband works for an Australian based company who he will continue to do so once we are there so although we will have his wage coming in more or less straight away we have the same concerns as you and want to make sure we can manage, after hours of searching the internet and getting ideas of cost of living and setting up home out there we know we can,

If you have managed in the UK as a family of 7 im sure you will in OZ although like you say about your childbenefit where you will lose out i think that there is so much to do in Perth like the beach, the sea, all the parks etc they cost nothing but give you hours of fun, keeping the children happy and giving you all the sunny lifestyle you are wanting, if you arent fussy then buy furniture from garage sales etc, its a cheap start and you could always upgrade as time goes on,

Good luck with your plans,
Debbie

Aside from the best wishes of some, I'd be very careful. How will you pay for school fees ? Housing costs are relative to wages and equally out of reach for many in Australia, interest rates are rising etc.

This is not a cheaper country to live in by any means but only you can decide what is best and what you can afford according your circumstances.

In fact it entertained me last night on the news there was piece saying that Australian tourism had suffered since the strength of the pound/US dollar had weakened to the Aussie buck.

There was this stupid cow from the UK saying that we're cutting our holiday short and going to Thailand for a week since Australia wasn't as cheap as they thought.

Do people think we are some third world asian country or something ???

Whatever you decide, best of luck.

Hi

As someone else has mentioned just be careful with the cost of schooling. I was of the understanding (but could be wrong) that you will have to pay for your children to attend a state school. I was talking to a gentleman the other day and he pays $4000 per year, per child. Also the cost of childcare is expensive $45-55 a day.

If you manged in the UK Im sure you will cope in Australia.

Best of luck

You will not have to pay for state schooling in WA on a temp visa.[Although you will have to find about $50 or so per kid per year for materials]. But the comment about childcare is true, it's expensive and can be hard to find.

I'd like to know where your kids go to school for only $50 per year in WA.

Hi

We're on a 457 in Brisbane. You are able to get an allowance called the 'Living away from home allowance' LAFHA for short. This is a calculation based on your rent per month and living expenses per person. This is then some how calculated and reduces your taxable pay. It can make a big difference to what your husband will bring home. The schooling could be expensive in QLD we're lucky and don't have to pay but I know that in NSW you do but not sure about Perth. But even here there are the uniforms to buy which you have to get from the school in most cases and all the stationary , excercise books, pens, pencils, glue, etc for each child.

If I were you and really wanted to come to Oz then maybe hold out and go where it going to be a bit easier, where schooling costs are not an issue. You maybe surprised once you start looking that there maybe other opportunities in other area's.

You have to be aware that if for any reason the sponsorship is removed, he looses his job .... you have one month to either gain another sponsor or leave the country. I do belive that it is the sponsors responsiblity to pay for flights back to your home country.

Health care is ok, the UK have an agrement with Oz and so any health care that is deemed neccessary is covered as long as you go to a normal doctors / clinic / health centre and not a private hospital. I maybe wrong but I think that 457 sponsors may ahve to pay for private medical insuranc aswell. We went the other day for 6 yr olds ear infection, no problem, straight in, meds cost $18 I think, can't quite remember.

The 457 can be good, it comes through fast, but your on shaky ground and if you don't like your employer or he doesn't like you then it can end in tears. You are not able to just leave and find another job ad take you time about it. People/workers it seems are not as protected over here as we are used to in the UK. So we get lulled into a sense of 'everyone will do right by you', but there are some horror stories.

Is carpentry not on the skills list. I think it is. If I were you and had the responsiblity of 7 kids I'd wait and get the PR visa and then your future is in your control. At the end of the day even putting food on the table and clothing a family costs.

I know this sounds quite negative and its hard when you just want to be here and you have an offer on the table. But last year OH came over and was sponsored. We were to follow, but the company was a nightmare and he hated it and felt so trapped. In the end it all went wrong and 2006 was not a great year for us. I know someone else here in Oz that is in the same situation and is going through the very stressful time of securing another position and 457 visa so that he can leave the company he is with.

Gosh, I ranted on a bit, but its a big move. Take some time, we're originally had an offer in Sydney, schooling would have costed alot, the housing was soooo expensive and we really wanted to be in Brisbane. We took a risk turned it down and held out for what we really wanted and the greater chance of success for us as a family. I'm pleased to say that so far its all good, but OH will still feel better once that PR visa is granted.

Good luck with what ever you do.

Me too, I have just forked out $150 for Katie, haven't got Lols list yet and uniform is going to cost me a couple of hundred bucks too.

Employees can provide LAFHA but I don't believe they are under any obligation to do so. I don't really know how all that works so I might be wrong about that. I just don't think you automatically get LAFHA.

And if the OP would qualify for a permanent visa then they should definitely go that route instead of the 457.

Thanks for that I guess you are more than qualified to give an opinion considering you have 5 kids we are a close family and Love is the main thing I try to teach my kids not material things.
They are all so looking forward to being able to play outdoors all year round instead of just 6 months of the year as they not too keen on wearing coats gloves and so on.
OH employer seems very genuine and is sending us lots of leaflets and so on for the costs of day to day living we don't mind used furniture and as long as we can live close to the coast and keep a roof over our heads and full tummys what else matters.
Thanks again you have given me hope and the determination to live the dream.

Any idea how long you have to live in oz on a 457 before you can apply for permanent visa employer is keen to get him working and then change over to permanent resident ASAP
Thanks again Tracey

If you are eligible for a permanent visa now, why not apply for the 175 now and go over on the 457 while you wait for it to be processed? It would mean that you all have to leave the country when the visa is about to be granted, but in about 8 or 9 months you would have your own permanent residency and not be tied to an employer. Speak to a MARA registered migration agent about your options here. There are lots of them out there and I would probably recommend either Alan Collet (Go Matilda) or George Lombard. Both can be found by searching for their usernames. Their contact details are in their signatures, so you can send them an email.

Just a small aside here, but you say your kids are looking forward to being able to play outisde all year. I can tell you that in the middle of July here in Perth it's bloody COLD! My family moved from Canada, so know a little about cool weather and can honestly tell you that I have never been so cold as our winters here. My kids wear coats & I wear gloves in winter. Summer it's too bleedin HOT to go outside at times, so that's out, too.

Just my 2 cents worth, but I would think long and hard about uprooting your family if you don't have much to fall back on. Make sure you keep enough in a savings account to get you all back should things not work out here.

Best of luck with your decision

Hi,

My husband is being sponsored on a 457 purely to get him over to Oz (Brisbane) as quickly as possible. The migration lawyers will then bang in a request for a PR visa when we arrive, & which we have been told could take up to 10 months. We have 2 sons aged 8 & 13

Downside is that, during that time we will not get LAFHA as we will have shown intention to stay permanently, but hopefully within a year we will become entitled to full benefits etc.

We will rent at first, then buy after 6 months or so. If the PR comes through within 6 months of buying a house (which it hopefully will) we will still be eligible for the first time home buyer's grant.

As far as med costs go, I am just about to start looking into private schemes, though the advice on the agreement with the UK on necessary treatment was helpful.

Even with the job offer and a fair bit of equity from our UK home (when it eventually sells!) I am nervous so I can't begin to imagine how it must be for you. I have to agree though that there is a lot of free entertainment available in Oz and people seem to entertain more in their own homes rather than go out. I know some things are much more expensive there but if you lead a simple family life (as we probably will) I believe that, on the whole, we will spend less as a family. Good luck on whatever you decide though, it's not an easy decision and even after you make it, there will be highs and lows.

Ren xx