Hello,

I'm 43 years old and my wife is 41. We have three young sons aged 8, 5 and nearly 2.

We looked at emigrating to Aus in 2007 and visited Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. We loved Perth and Sydney and thought that if we did make the move it would be one of those two states.

At that time we only had one son and thinking back we should have pursued our Visa application; however family ties to the UK made us reassess our lives and we stopped the process.

Recently one of my wife's old friends contacted her, they moved to Aus in January this year. They love it. It made us think that due to our ages, this was our last chance, if we don't do it now we could end up regretting it for the rest of our lives.

My wife is a CIMA qualified accountant, we would be basing our application on her qualifications.

I am a police officer who has currently served 12 years in the job. I would like to transfer to Aus police but they no longer sponsor UK officers like they used to in the past. I would have to apply once we obtained the permanent residency visa. Something which I would do if our application is approved.

My wife and I although born and bred in the UK are of Asian heritage. a police officer colleague of mine transferred to Aus police in 2008, he is of English heritage and married to someone of Asian heritage. He found the police in WA so racist that he decided to come back to the UK as he could not stand hearing racist jokes especially since his children were mixed race.

I have been told that Aus has the mentality of England in the 70's. Is this the case? Anyone in Sydney or NSW aware of how the job market for accountants is? Would my wife find it difficult to get a job over there?

I'm not sure what I would do, i have many skills as a police officer which I'm hoping would allow me to get a job in some sort of investigation role for a council or maybe in security if my application to Aus police was not successful.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Apologies if I have posted this in the wrong section, if so can a moderator please move it to the correct section.

Cheers

Unless your heritage is from what the UK calls the 'Far East', you aren't Asian over there.

Don't even get me started on what my Korean/Aussie wife says in the UK when they use the word here

It's never too late to move, but if you didn't move in 2007, why bother now if you both have secure jobs in your early 40's? Getting a Visa for yourself will be the biggest issue and a lot has changed in Australia too. It's all new for your wife's friend, so it's no surprise they love it now. I have a friends who recently made the move and they thought it would be easier, although one of them is Australian. For some it works, but I wouldn't just go because you think you'll regret it. If you have a good life now and your families in the UK, just start enjoying it.

I have been told that Aus has the mentality of England in the 70's. Is this the case?

You'll probably need to be more specific if you want an answer to this. What 'mentality' are you talking about?

i'm thinking....

Thanks for your replies guys. Moses, with regards to a visa for me that wouldn't be a problem as my wife would be the main applicant.

Why do we want to go if we didn't do it in 2007? Well life has changed, yes we have secure jobs but it was a dream for us to do it before. It's a scary proposition when you have a secure life but it's something we had always wanted to do.

With regards to the 70's question, that was about the racism that people have mentioned to me. Yes I appreciate that it will be in every country but from the experiences of my friend it is more open there than it is here.

Personally I'm not too worried about that, I've dealt with my fair share in the past, just wanted to know if anyone on the forum had views on this topic.

Many thanks.

If you've already made your decision, there's nothing stopping you. All I can say is be careful and ask yourself what you expect from a move. You'll have to spend thousands before you even get there and in general you'll have the same life in a different place (work, bills etc.). Most people move for a better life with more money and if that's not the case, what's the point. Do you own a home in the UK?

Hopefully BermudaShorts will see this as she is an accountant, but I believe the prospects for accountants have been turned upside down since your visit in 2007. Then you could expect to walk into a job no trouble - now there are many thousands of unemployed accountants chasing very few jobs. Sorry.

Try to make contact with the recruiting department of the two police forces you are considering joining. Have them put you in touch with a serving Asian officer and ask him or her how they are finding the attitude of their colleagues towards them. They are the only people that can truthfully answer your question.

I was in the Metropolitan Police Recruiting branch for a number of years and I would never attempt to answer the 'how will I be treated by other police officers' question. We would put them in touch with serving officers from the same ethnic background so they could get an honest answer.

Don't be afraid to ask. I am sure that the Police in Oz would love to have you apply once you've established yourself.

Also, if you end up in Melbourne it's a giant cultural melting pot. I wouldn't honestly worry about racism here. A lot has changed in Australia since the 1970's.

The one thing you should worry about are the crazy house prices. The weakening Aussie Dollar will help you a little now, but house prices in Melbourne and Sydney are in full-blown bubble territory. I know of a couple who moved from Glasgow to Adelaide in 2012 with their two kids (10 - 12 years old) and have since moved back to the UK because they found their standard of living had regressed. They'd gone from being a typical middle class couple in Glasgow to not being able to afford a house in a suburb with a good school in Adelaide. Australian house prices are crazy right now. They're currently being driven higher in Sydney and Melbourne (but mostly Sydney) by wealthy non-resident Chinese buyers; a good chunk of whom are allegedly trying to get their cash out of China ahead of the anti-corruption crackdown by President Xi Jinping.

I personally think there will be the mother of all property crashes here by the year 2020 (This forum is not the place for the economic thesis that supports this view. For anybody who is interested, a book called "End Game" by a gent named "John Mauldin" has a chapter devoted to Australia and her property boom, and that was published in 2010 - the same risks are still present but are now magnified). However, I wouldn't bank on any meaningful falls any time soon. With interest rates now falling here, if anything, the bubble could inflate much further over the next 12 - 18 months.

So in a nutshell, if you're looking to come soon, you should really do your homework on where you'd like to live and if it will be affordable - especially if you'll be leaving a comfortable and settled life behind in the UK. The grass isn't always greener on the other side (especially not in the summer here ), and you may inadvertently give up a lot. Then again, if it's something you'd both really like to do, then it will be a life experience and at least you'll then know you gave it a shot.

Totally agree with house prices and that's why I asked if they own a home in the UK. Certain parts of the UK are pretty pricey too, but it is crazy in Australia. Of course it can work, but you don't want to struggle for 3 years and then start all over again back in the UK. The money you've wasted could have paid off the mortgage earlier, would have got you nice holidays, or could have been saved for kids education and so on. There's always someone trying to tell you that they have a better life (example your wife's old friend) but I wouldn't be bothered too much and the next time she rings, why not tell her how amazing your life is.

Many many good points from you all. I appreciate you taking the time to respond. we may carry on with the application which I am led to believe could realistically take about 18 months for approval.

At this early stage we would be paying a few hundred pounds for qualification certification, IELTS test etc.. The big decision maker will be when Visa fees require paying if we are approved.

Do consider what happens if you don't accepted into the police and that there are a lot of unemployed accountants here.

I reckon you would find Melbourne and Sydney to be considerably less racist than Perth as they are bigger cities with more multi-culture.

Almost everyone I work with (corporate environment) was not born in Australia.

Aussies generally are very welcoming though if you fit in with all things Australian.

BB

Seriously? Have you even been to Perth?