aatucks

hi,

I have lots of questions but this is all doing my head in, please help.

We've recently (in the last few weeks!!) started talking about moving out to australia. It would be myself,my husband, 3 children, 1 dog and 2 cats!
So far I've looked into the visas and we have been told that we could get a permanent residence visa because of my husbands work and on the points system.
Do we have to go through a company to get this or just through a bureau?

What "things" would we need to do to get the visa? Tests etc?

How much does it all cost?

Which area is best to live? We would like to be near a city but not in it and also as near as possible to the sea. Obviously near good schools and as my husband and children are all sporty, near a easily accessible sports centre.

How much does it cost from start to finish, vaccines, health checks, flights quarantine, etc. for a dog and 2 cats?

How much does it cost for shipping belongings over?

Basically I would like to know absolutely everything about moving, from start to finish, if not for anything else than saving money for an expensive move!!

hope someone can help x

aatucks

Bit concerned that so many people have viewed this but no replies!!

scrubbedexpat055

Hi,

Have a read through some of the information in the section called Immigration, Visas & Citizenship. There is lots of information in there that will help you get started.

Good luck

aatucks

I've been looking through since i first posted, still a bit confused, especially with this change coming on 1st july!! thanks though, I'l keep ploughing through it all.

Bermudashorts

You posted at 4am in Australia so that is half the board in bed and it is quiet at the weekend anyway..

So you have put a lot in one post, might be worth splitting your visa questions and posting those in the immigration forum and leaing hte lifestyle questions in here.

So for visa a couple of things that need doing before applying are the skills assessment and most people need to take IELTS (English test) to get the required points. The system is about to change though and you are not going to have time to apply before thenso from first of July you would need to lodge an EOI (expression of interest) and wait to be invited to apply.

As previous poster mentioned, read the stickies on the immigration forum where there is more detail on the new process.

Lifestlye. There is no "best" area to live, if there were, everybody in Australia would be in one place. If you look at a map you will see that most of the cities are on the coast, so it is not hard to find somewhere to live near the sea. Good schools? Again they are not only found in one place.

I think your questions are too vague for anyone to really be able to help, try to narrow it down yourself first of all, then when you know you want to live in, say, north Perth, people can help you with schools. The main deciding factor for many people, is where will they be able to find work, there was only one option for us, Sydney, so that narrowed things down a lot for us.

Costs. Back of an envelope to get the visa and move yourselves, a container and pets over, I think you would need best part of £20k.

Dorothy

Do you qualify for a visa? Who told you that you qualify? www.immi.gov.au is the definitive source. If not, the rest is moot.

moneypenny20

Follow Dorothy's link and down the left hand side is the Visa Wizard which will work out if you are eligible to apply for any visa. However there's seriously no point in doing that until after 1st July. The SkillSelect info has been given prior to 1st July but there will be many other changes that won't come out until then.

As for the rest of it, best advice to working out where to live is to study info on all states/territories and decide what sort of would best suit you, there's no point someone suggesting WA if you can't stand hot and dry if you prefer humid, or suggesting Tassie if you don't like the cold. Also more importantly is working out where work is likely to be easier to find; IT for example is obviously everywhere but there are probably more jobs available in Sydney and Melbourne.

You are being vague but it's understandable so don't worry but I would wait and see what 1st July brings before going any further.

bcworld

Doing it all yourself is also an option...you don't have to use an agent.

brits1

Hi,

We migrated on the permanent residence scheme and did all the form filling in ourselves and also arranged health checks etc, that was a few years ago now so not to sure on the costs but I do know it was a lot cheaper than going through agencies, if migrating now we would still do it that way. Costs on migration is different for everyone as it all depends on what your taking ie furniture, flights, stop over's etc if you have a budget then you have to stick to it. If your choice of "States" is work related rather than where you want to actually live and down to construction etc skills then the two "States" I would choose would be Queensland or West Australia as these two States are booming from the Mining Industry and the knock on effect that has. Back in the day we just picked Countries in the Commonwealth out of a hat then did the same with the States when we picked Australia out of the hat lol it worked for us then but we have changed and would now consider what the lifestyle would bring to us as well. Try not to worry about loads of things at once, make a list if you can....on the for's and not's in regards from the move, then which State, ie weather, work, lifestyle...the States are different in most of those requirements, if you choose the migration route then you have to work out your budget ie for the move expense then the eventual home buying which as does here in the U.K make a difference to where you actually want to live and what you can actually afford. Good luck and the best wishes in whatever you choose to do.

aatucks

Thanks everyone, I realise I was being a bit vague, sorry!

I filled out a form online which told us that my husbands occupation and the points would make us able to get a 175 (I realise this is now changing) and someone from global visas, which is mara registered, rang me and confirmed the 175 visa. They didn't inform me that everything was changing on 1st july though.

My OH is a pipefitter/plumber and when i have searched for jobs they were all over Australia but alot seemed to be in Melbourne. I'll do lots more research though and post my visa questions on the correct board.
Thanks again for all your help.

bcworld

Just bear in mind that these online eligibility questionnaires are sales tools for the migration agents. If your OH's career history is extensive and can be easily documented you might have no need to use the services of an agent. If you're prepared to spend some time on it you could save a lot of cash.

An agent can be useful if you think it might be difficult to provide the evidence to meet requirements, or, for example, there are specific health issues with any of the applicants which might be scrutinised by imimgration.

aatucks

Thanks bcworld.

My OH has been in the same job, worked for the same people since he was 17 (hes now 31) what sort of evidence would we need to produce?

None of us have any health issues and of course we are all fluent in English apart from the fact my OH has dyslexia, I was told that for the english test as long as we had a letter from a doctor stating that hes dyslexic it would be ok.

His job is on schedule one of the SOL list and he has 14 years experience and relevant qualifications, although we are having trouble finding his certificates, we will be sending off to get more copies. What other paperwork do we need so he can inform his employer?

Thanks again

Alfresco

Moved this to the Immi forum as it is more related to that.

aatucks

thanks, I'm new to this so wouldn't have a clue how to do that!!!

Alfresco

No worries. Just ask your questions about immigrating on here (this thread), and you'll get fairly good advice.