Rabeah

Hi Conandviv, I don't know the answer to question No 1. Question No 2 the attached travel facility of 189 is valid for 5 years (the visa itself indefinite), but your initial entry has to be made no later than 12 months from the issuing date of either the police checks or medicals (depending on which one is made 1st). Of course, husband would be allowed to work, but could struggle if he doesn't bring along an Australian trades recognition certificate as many employers don't trust foreign trades papers not officially recognized by the appropriate Australian authorities like TRA. The age of 49 I don't know if that's a problem as Australia allows migrants up to the age of 50 to be attached to a visa but that's a tricky question other members might know better.

Can't wait to see Aldi in Adelaide! Loved it back in Europe/Germany. Cheap prices, very competitive and bringing these kind of arrogant and overprized Australian supermarket chains to an end! We do it like soo_the_panda, pit stop in Melbourne & Sydney and all that fabulous chocolate etc. in our luggage.

It's important to tailor every cover letter and the career objective and personal profile of your resume towards the selection criteria of the particular job advert. Don't send out mass applications without tailoring because that would only be a waste of time! Just my 2 cents.

That's something we were told before we came: never leave shoes or clothes outside for a long time and not checking what might be inside. And Aussies also put their socks into their shoes inside the house, just in case that nothing hides inside. I think your friends sister shouldn't know better because nobody told her that here in Australia people even wouldn't turn a leave upside down without work gloves on their hands (children here never play with leaves like children in Europe do for example due to the fact that nasty spiders could be underneath). We had a young but ugly huntsman hanging outside of our 2nd bedroom window in our 1st year. A few weeks later I was cleaning the window inside in our 1st bedroom and this particular huntsman fell apart while I was pulling up the blinds!!! We have fly screens for every window and both doors and I still don't know how this guy managed to come inside maybe through a small whole in the wall. So I squashed the huntsman while he or she was relaxing in the warm bedroom....

ECLM is right, many young graduates with no work experience in their field or through knowing the right people will never ever find a suitable job here. I know many elderly people whose well qualified children couldn't find a good job and were forced to move to Victoria, NSW, Switzerland, UK etc. That's why many graduates move interstate or like the TO back to England. There's nothing wrong with it. Studying long and hard and not finding a decent job had made many young South Australians contribute to the 'brain drain'. It was and it is very hard not only to find a job in SA/Adelaide, it's even harder to remain in the job. When I think of my job as a casual/casual work force, increasing part time jobs due to cutting working hours to the bones in many industries even in the high demand aged care sector (others already mentioned the closure of Holden). In contrast to ECLM I love Adelaide and Australia and hate the European weather. But that's the only disagreement I have. People who cannot cope with different opinions and negative experiences shouldn't read 'returning back to the UK' threads.

Congratulations. Wonderful how everything had fall into place for you!

DIBP is very strict and with stringent conditions there is definitively no way out.

Yes, the first people would definitely disagree with me. But the topic was 'migrants'.

There is a big misunderstanding here. Everyone living in South Australia is a migrant or the child/grandchild of a migrant. Everyone you'll meet is at least partly a migrant! SA was always a free settler state whereas in other Eastern States like NSW or Victoria there were convicts with a long migration history over many generations. This statement is off the point when you look at Australian history. Of course you can only communicate with migrants and the good thing is the longer people live here the more they can give advise and tips regardless talking about of positive aspects or negative ones coming here.

There is a misunderstanding in some posts here. Water in Adelaide is definitively not hard at all, we don't have limestone. We used to have very hard water where we came from overseas but not here. Also I can prove it: buy a fully automatic coffee machine included a tester for the hardness of water like we did. The water has Australian rating 2 (out of 4) which is medium soft water. The coffee machine itself was originally adjusted to 4, the common water scale for most European water.

You'll survive drinking water from the tap. It's not that bad like I had it in Sri Lanka on holiday where it was nearly prohibited for tourists. We usually don't drink from the tap, but I did it once, it was okay.

Good luck ali. Sounds very innovative and it's good to have a 'second leg'.

Good luck to you Kenny.

Perth and Adelaide used to be 'sister cities', they are very similar regarding their CBD. I've visited Perth Dec2013/Jan2014 and living in Adelaide. Perth is more modern and up-to-date and has great highways whereas in Adelaide the rental market is not so overheated like in Perth. In Adelaide you'll find cheaper accommodation and better quality houses to rent or to buy whereas in Perth you'll have more competition and lower standards in housing or the good houses are very far on the outskirts of the city. In WA you've to travel far distances to see the highlights outside of Perth apart from Fremantle which is awesome.. In Adelaide the Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Victor Harbour are on the doorsteps of the city. Both cities have beautiful bicycle lanes, very well established ones and also both have beautiful beaches and nature. I love both cities and could live in both of them, besides Perth seems to be more overcrowded at the moment as I've spoken to my relatives living there. Perth has the best Botanical garden and a fantastic view from there over the Swan River and Indian Ocean, but when people live on the outskirts due to affordability they hardly see any of it. Adelaide seems to be the better choice to start a living in a new country. But like many said before depending on the job situation for you both.

This budget is completely over the point, I don't see Australia been in a financial crisis in comparison to European countries. Now students, families, commuters with cars and pensioners start saving more to compensate all the nasty things which means a cycle of less spending, economical downturn and again escalating supermarket prices for everyone thanks to the fuel excise replacing the Carbon Tax.

Congratulations! Well done and an example how important PR really is, especially in uncertain economic times.

Congratulations to you and thanks for this really good information

The universities advertise job just because they have to by the way. It's just an official announcement process. They would never employ a single migrant when they don't see how they can take advantage of it!

GilliJ, don't let this influence your relationship. Remember, you and your partner have to get through to it together and don't let external circumstances destroy your marriage. It's not always a person's fault, not finding a decent job here. Sorry, but 42k is a average salary here, don't know what you're doing, but hubby and me are in the same merit bracket and happy with it. The networking factor is really hard here, I agree, because when nobody lets you join in the 'glass ceiling' hangs low here in Adelaide.

It's even harder to do 'anything' when other migrants with the same skill set are able to pick up a skilled job. Like mentioned before it's a quite good short term solution but in the long run off putting. Upskilling in case no job is available is also a good advise, Aussie employers are very keen on Australian qualifications. Last but not least bring your resume into Australian format.

I don't think this forum is negative at all. It's realistic and down to earth. The family the TO mentioned who would avoid Adelaide and instead initially wanted heading to Perth, on the sisterwebpage perthpoms the content is quite the same like here. New migrants who struggle to find work. Migrants who don't know anybody in a new city (Perth or Adelaide) and figure out that both cities are 'not what you know rather than who you know'. By the way most migrants do the same mistake, not only in Adelaide. Coming to a country they have never been to! Internet research and third party reports are not enough, good qualifications and skills are also not enough, because in Australia employers tend to have an obsession with national recognised certificates. Aussies are not interested in overseas trades papers etc. They trust their own system and when migrants want to join in many of them have to adjust and are forced to up skill with 'Aussie qualifications'. I doubt that anyone would form a view only from a internet forum! By the way, what person 1 might perceive as negative could be completely different from another person's view in this ever fast changing Western world.

I've forgotten to mention that in my opinion Foodland is the best Australian supermarket chain, they have more choices and much more European stuff than Coles and Woolies. Australian retail doesn't like competition though it would bring many new jobs and lower prices for consumers.

Like said before a forklift licence has to be redone once arrived here. Australia has it's own OHS legislation 'high risk work' which are not transferable from the UK/Europe. Forklift and high risk work licence are combined here and cost about 360 bucks. You'll get a separate 'driving' licence for that with photo and validation dates, because the forklift licence has to be refreshed every 5 years.

Prices at coles and woollies have dropped significantly in Melbourne and Sydney wherever Aldi is close by. About 5 % at least and it makes the shopping more interesting as I find the supermarket chains here in SA really boring...In Europe Aldi offers Australian wines, cheaper than here!

As I knew it from Europe Aldi is great and has also Australian wines in its European branches, not only 'full of bogans', even millionaires shop there. What adelaidenow stated is not only completely wrong it's very judgemental. Aldi is in Germany, Austria, Denmark etc. In Sydney and Melbourne prices have dropped significantly since Aldi joined the supermarket chains, about 5 % and more coles and woolworths went down wherever Aldi is close by. I'm looking forward to more competition as the big chains here are very boring and I really miss the variety of supermarkets we had in Europe!