Down Under Expo Hmmm

[Guest ladybird]

Just got home from a weekend in Leeds primarily to visit the down under expo. It kind of was how I expected but at the same time not! I had an online assessment previously which said I had 120 points then the one we had there said I only had 110 but not sure why! Two people said I'd be better off lodging a permanent visa and then switching to state sponsership which kind of confused me as they waffle so much you get lost in the facts!

 

The fact that you can talk to people was good but i felt like i was just filling in forms and will be bombarded with leaflets for the next few weeks

 

I was disappointed with the seminars as the things i really wanted to know about was how the healthcare system works and the schooling system, granted not everyone needs to know about schooling but it's a major deal for those of us who do need to know and neither subject was touched upon by anyone.

 

Also i would have liked to talk to someone about the cost of living and what you have to pay for so we could have some sort of comparasion to here.

 

Having said that it was good when we got talking to a few other visitors to the expo and talking about our experiences. Whilst wandering around it was really easy to get swept along in the whole 'australia's a dream and you could be living it' type thing and we both felt really enthusiastic but now we feel deflated as not sure going helped at all!

 

It just seems so hard to decide what to do and we haven't started any visa proceedings (can't afford it anyway at the mo lol). We've been thinking and talking about it for 5 years now will it ever go away or are we going to have to just take the plunge and try it?????

 

More research needed i think!

[Guest JoTanCalOwen]

Hello ,

You are not alone, we went to the Expo, at Manchester last week, we had a similar experience to yourselves, we did get some useful financial information but as you stated, schooling was not touched by anyone, healthcare neither in way of provision, anyway...

Basically with regards to schools, I am aware that secondary schools charge a fee about January time as I believe that is the start of their new school year, the fee covers books, tech and so on, trips outside school are extra, each school fee is different, people on here will be able to give you a better insight.

healthcare, you need to have private insurance and ambulance insurance and i think a basic family insurance is or can be taken from the main wage earners wages before payment a bit like our NI contributions.

Food prices vary as anywhere does, we were there only briefly in Sept, depending on what you look for you can get your bargains, did not notice 3 for 2 etc, but I do not believe there is enough competition for such promotions. Beef / steak seemed cheap whereas chicken we did find expensive, fruit and veg depending on time of year and where you go can be cheap also.. as I asid this was Sept last year so the economy may well l have changed a bit,

Visa process. Some people have gone through the process without using a migration agent, if you are of an age where you have the time to look round, save, get advice etc it may be that you can do it without an agent, we did not and do not have time on our side, we used an agent and yes they can be expensive, we got two quotes they were both around £3500 - £4000 to receipt of the visa for a family of 4.

 

All I can say now is good luck with it all,

[Guest ThompsonFamily]

Oo i glad someone else felt the same as we did, we went to the expo in leeds on saturday and have come home with more questions than we went with. I have also posted a thread to similar effect if you want to check out any of my responses.

Good luck with what you decide;)