Dilemna! Should we stay or go

[Guest ozziespurs]

I have been doing research as we have permanency would we qualify for Family Tax Benefit Part A and B and would we also be entitled to Rent Assist and Education Tax Refund. Don't want to sound like i'm sponging but after working out Estate Agent fees, Aclass licence fees, flights etc looks like we will only have about 10/11k to get by on till employment comes along although working it out hopefully would get 967.54 a fortnight in benefits from FTB and rent assist do you think that is possible Once again thanks for all your advice as OH is still dead set against and every bit of ammunition helps.

[julie-ruth]

I feel for your situation.

 

Now I'm no expert so don't shoot me down, but with a PR visa, it lasts for 5 years doesn't it ? When are those 5 years up ?

 

If there is no rush then hang on a couple of years, I don't get the jump now or you'll regret it strategy from a lot of other people, but I think your in a strong position and can wait for a better time.

 

As I understand it the UK is probably in it's worst point of the economic cycle, Australia is still on the slope into recession, whilst not as bad as the UK we will get worse even after the rest of the world starts to pick up (it's just a matter of understanding our place in the economic cycle), your house price is probably at it's lowest, whilst ours are just starting to decline, the exchange rate may hit $2 to the pound soon so what money you have will last even less here. 9 months to a year down the road could swing back to $2.40 to the pound, that's a 20% increase on the value of your money. I'm going back to the UK in 4 months time and have already put half of my capital into pounds to take advantage of the exchange rate.

 

It's a big decision to come over here but as I say your in a strong position to take your time if you wanted. Only hindsight tells us if we made the right decision..

 

Whoops very sorry I miss-read your post, you are quite right and I was having a dizzy blond moment even though I'm not blond, actually I re-read your post and thought it was a very intellegent post with a very realistic view.

 

Julie

[julie-ruth]

It is for life if you never leave Australia. However your permanent visa will have an expiry date and once it runs out you then have to get a Resident Return Visa if you want to travel overseas, else they won't let you back into the country. RRVs last for 5 years and to renew them you have to have spent 2 years out of the last 5 in the country. I know because I had permanant residency, then we came back to the UK (no regrets) and because my RRV has expired I now have to get a Spouse visa (as advised by Go Matilda) if I want to go back and live. It's not a problem but a lot more hassle and more expensive than an RRV. Next time I'll make sure I get citizenship, I'm in the stupid situation where all my family (husband and children) have Aussie passports but at the moment I have no right to live there!

 

Hi Anne chatted to hubby about this last night am I right in thinking if your here on a permant visa and your here for 4+ years and your under 16 at the end of it you automatically become Aussie Citizens, so basically my younger kids become Aussie citizens kids or is this only the case when one or both parents take the Citizen test.

 

Julie

[Guest fuji70]

I feel for your situation.

 

Now I'm no expert so don't shoot me down, but with a PR visa, it lasts for 5 years doesn't it ? When are those 5 years up ?

 

If there is no rush then hang on a couple of years, I don't get the jump now or you'll regret it strategy from a lot of other people, but I think your in a strong position and can wait for a better time.

 

As I understand it the UK is probably in it's worst point of the economic cycle, Australia is still on the slope into recession, whilst not as bad as the UK we will get worse even after the rest of the world starts to pick up (it's just a matter of understanding our place in the economic cycle), your house price is probably at it's lowest, whilst ours are just starting to decline, the exchange rate may hit $2 to the pound soon so what money you have will last even less here. 9 months to a year down the road could swing back to $2.40 to the pound, that's a 20% increase on the value of your money. I'm going back to the UK in 4 months time and have already put half of my capital into pounds to take advantage of the exchange rate.

 

It's a big decision to come over here but as I say your in a strong position to take your time if you wanted. Only hindsight tells us if we made the right decision..

 

You make it sound like we're on a big dipper and we'll be flying up out of recession soon. It could be years before the UK recovers and we really haven't hit the bottom yet.

 

As I understand it, Aus banks are more tightly regulated and the country has closer industry ties with Asia. As much as recession will have a direct effect in Aus, I don't see it as being anywhere near as bad as the UK, or as long lasting.

[Guest Thongs Rule]

You make it sound like we're on a big dipper and we'll be flying up out of recession soon. It could be years before the UK recovers and we really haven't hit the bottom yet.

 

As I understand it, Aus banks are more tightly regulated and the country has closer industry ties with Asia. As much as recession will have a direct effect in Aus, I don't see it as being anywhere near as bad as the UK, or as long lasting.

A apoligise for going off thread but.

 

Once you understand that you can't have endless periods of growth without a recession it is possible to see it as a big dipper. From everything I've read though it is expected the UK will have at least 2 more quarters of decline (this actually puts the UK into Depression - 4 consecutive qtrs of decline) and then it will start seeing growth.

 

Then just because there is growth doesn't mean the world is rosy again, but it does mean it's not getting worse, and your right it will take many years for unemployed to get back to work and to feel anything like it was 18 months ago, but things will improve bit by bit, and whilst it's improving there we may still be declining here.

 

So all i was suggesting if it's possible to wait 9 months - 1 year and the UK stops quantative easing, the exchange rate will start to slide back in favour for the brits, and as our house prices are likely fall a little over the next year it could prove to be a better time to migrate.

 

But it's all a gamble to try to ensure you get as good a start as possible.

[Guest scottster]

Hi all Scottster again, have just been told in order to get my state sponsership through need all my forms back for monday 31st march, wife is now dragging heels as we both have good jobs and mine has now been took of the critical list (refrigeration engineer) so she feels ther may not be many opps out there, we havent sold our house yet but mrs is saying if we dont go within 12 months not going at all, We dont have a bad life here and live in a gorgeous part of Wales Question is am I just emigrating for the weather only as my quality of life here is not too shabby (OZZY if I had sold my house we would risk it tomorrow) but I suppose easy to say in my shoes. i know only I can make decisons but any reasons would be greatly appreciated:skeptical:

[Guest lynne]

If you have sold your house and have your visa than you are in a positive position to go.

 

You normally have 12 months to validate your visa. This date is taken from your police checks or your medicals which ever comes first.

 

England is in a recession and will continue to be in a recession for several years. I asked a question 15 months ago. Will Aus go into a recession and I was told no. House prices have dropped in Aus. People are finding it more difficult to get jobs. Some people with trades aslo suffer a delay in getting a job of there skill because they have to get Aus certificates. I believe the recession will hit Adelaide more severely that other states in Aus. You need to find out if your husband will need to do additional training to be able to work in his trade and how long that training will take.

 

If you are going to validate, it would be wise to stay in Adelaide for 12 months than review the situation. As it costs a fortune to validate. I think it cost us (family of 5) £7,000- £8,000 pounds to validate.

 

During that 12months if you save your money than if you do stay in Adelaide and buy a house than hopefully the conversion rate will be better, the prices of houses would of come down.

 

Your husband may need to get a different type of job than he normally does to bring in a wage at the beginning. If you go over with this attitude it would be helpful.

 

If you have a good standard of living in the UK and a good income, schools etc than Adelaide will be less appealing. So you need to think carefully.

 

Adelaide is not paradise it still has it problems graffiti, young people driving too fast, drink and drugs.

 

Everyone says Adelaide is better because it has beeches. If you live by the beech than it becomes less appealing. We had a house by the beech for 5 years and we would visit the beech infrequently.

 

Good luck in what ever you choose.

[Guest ozziespurs]

Hi thanks for all your advice it is a very tricky one as i can see where hubby is thinking but it is quite important year for our 3 children as 10 year old son is starting upper school, 13 year old daughter is doing really well and starting maths gcse course next year (1 year early) And also 16 year old son starting new college course so if we leave it a year we will be upheaving all 3 kids in quite important year. Also because we will have to go into rented on leaving here rental market quite expensive compared to

what our mortgage was, so looking at flights yesterday and furnished rental on arrival so if anybody knows of any furnished accomodation please let me know. tried roos rentals but nothing for september Thanks once again for all advice.

[Anne B]

Hi Anne chatted to hubby about this last night am I right in thinking if your here on a permant visa and your here for 4+ years and your under 16 at the end of it you automatically become Aussie Citizens, so basically my younger kids become Aussie citizens kids or is this only the case when one or both parents take the Citizen test.

 

Julie

 

Hi Julie,

 

I really don't know anything about this but I looked on the Australian immigration website and it said

 

 

"People under 16 years of age should:

• be a permanent resident, and
  
• be living with a responsible parent who is an Australian citizen and who consents to the application.
  

If the person applying is living with a responsible parent who is not an Australian citizen, the person needs to demonstrate that he/she would suffer significant hardship or disadvantage if he/she did not become an Australian citizen."

 

So they would still have to apply, it wouldn't be automatic, but they don't need to take a test. My kids are Australian Citizens by Descent as although they were born outside Australia, one of their parents is an Australian Citizen. We filled out an application and got an official certificate back for each child.

[Guest LordLucan]

Can somebody please give some advice, we've just excepted offer on house and they want to complete by 13 may I am now quite scared as i have heard recession is hiiting oz and their is not much work for sparkies. Our dilemna is do we go into rented and stay or do we take a chance and move, as we have lost out quite a bit on house and are now only going to have limited funds. We have 5 children all who are going to be in education, we also have a 136 permanent visa. Please help as i am now quite scared, I do really want to go but must put family first as OH has a good job here. THANK YOU!

Follow the dream. The permanent visa will make all the difference. You don't want to look back in 10 years and wonder.

[Guest ozziespurs]

Follow the dream. The permanent visa will make all the difference. You don't want to look back in 10 years and wonder.

 

Do you know what the job situation is like in adelaide as it looks like we will only have about £11k when we arrive to pay for rented accomodation. Have asked on another thread but as yet no answer, any info would be appreciated. We would aim to come over about Sept/Oct time and he would have to get licence first so would hopefully want to find work Oct/Nov time do you think work situation will get better or worse by that time.

[Guest caoimhe]

Also I am a qualified dog groomer do you think that will come in handy out their.

 

One thing I have noticed since getting here is that the Australians are VERY into pets especially dogs so I reckon you should be able to get work

[Angela]

Personally I would sell & definitely come. Have no regrets & give it a go. Its hard initially but it does get easier. We knew coming here would be a lifestyle change & expected a financial change. Pete is right, just get things as you go along, priorities are your family & finding work.

Good luck.

[Diane]

Read this other current thread very carefully before making your decision! http://www.pomsinadelaide.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9285

 

Also, I would say that people with teenagers generally do find it harder to settle here - particularly those around 16-18: they find that the school system is very different, and their school mates have already got well established friendship groups so it's harder to fit in initially.

 

Obviously this is not true for everyone, but I find it curious that on one thread people are saying "don't emigrate if you have good jobs in the UK" and on this one they are saying "give it a go, you'll never know till you try". Well, you might never know but on the other hand, if it doesn't work you'll have given up good jobs and a good standard of living and might not be able to slot back into that!

 

I think with only $22k to live on for a few months you may struggle initially - a car/cars will set you back about half of that straight away, then you have rent (at least $1000 a month for unfurnished, double that if you need furnished to start with), then there's all the food stuffs that you have to replace in your cupboards that you couldn't bring here, school fees (lower for state schools but still there) and any sports clubs subs that your kids want to join, new uniform, rental bonds... I reckon that money will soon go!

 

If you're only emigrating for better weather, I'd book yourself a few weeks holiday three times a year in Spain or Florida!

 

Only you can decide what's best for you and if someone says "oh Australia won't suffer as badly in the global recession" then I'd like to know where they bought their crystal ball as I could do with one of those myself!

 

Diane

[Guest SA Great]

Everyone says Adelaide is better because it has beeches. If you live by the beech than it becomes less appealing. We had a house by the beech for 5 years and we would visit the beech infrequently.

 

Beach!

[lorluc]

I have been doing research as we have permanency would we qualify for Family Tax Benefit Part A and B and would we also be entitled to Rent Assist and Education Tax Refund. Don't want to sound like i'm sponging but after working out Estate Agent fees, Aclass licence fees, flights etc looks like we will only have about 10/11k to get by on till employment comes along although working it out hopefully would get 967.54 a fortnight in benefits from FTB and rent assist do you think that is possible Once again thanks for all your advice as OH is still dead set against and every bit of ammunition helps.

 

You intend to claim FTB when you arrive, they will want to know what you have earned in the UK during the aussie tax year.......so if you have worked out the above based on no income....then your figures will be misleading.

 

The Australian tax year runs from 1st July till end of Jun 30. So if you planning to arrive around october time, then they will want to know what you have earned in the UK since 1st JULY....both of you.

 

The other thing to bare in mind is your older child. If he decides to get a part-time job whilst studying......and earns over a certain amount (not sure what it is...think around $11K)....you will not be entitled to FTB for him.

 

Many people have been caught out by this.........i know people who have had to pay back thousands as it was assumed that being in fulltime education gives you the right to claim...yes it does...but once that child earns a certain amount...you are not...

 

My eldest daughter worked part-time whilst studying.......we opted to defer claiming for her until the end of the financial year. We could then see how much she had earned....if she was under then we made a claim. They then pay you a whole years worth in one go for that child.

 

Lorraine

[Diane]

I think if your other half is dead set against it too and you prevail, then if there are problems finding work, it's going to be you that gets the blame isn't it? It's not all sunshine and flowers and everyone has tough times, I'd think very carefully before making a decision that isn't wholeheartedly what both partners want.

[lorluc]

Can somebody please give some advice, we've just excepted offer on house and they want to complete by 13 may I am now quite scared as i have heard recession is hiiting oz and their is not much work for sparkies. Our dilemna is do we go into rented and stay or do we take a chance and move, as we have lost out quite a bit on house and are now only going to have limited funds. We have 5 children all who are going to be in education, we also have a 136 permanent visa. Please help as i am now quite scared, I do really want to go but must put family first as OH has a good job here. THANK YOU!

 

This is purely my personal opinion..... If I was leaving a good job in the UK to come out here, with no job lined up in Australia, with limited funds, 5 kids in tow, with all the uncertainty at the moment.....I WOULDN'T!

 

We came out here nearly 4 years ago.....I reckon in the first few months having to get ourselves sorted with cars, (spent around $25K on cars), 3 x kids school uniforms and fees (state school), things we needed to buy (even though we shipped the entire contents of a 4 bed house over) and also to live off the money we had brought over to pay rent, bills, etc..etc...until we were in proper employment.....reckon we got through about $40K! Yeah, probably could have done it alot cheaper...bought cheaper cars for a start...but we decided to get decent ones from the outset....cheaper in the long run..

 

Sometimes, i think it is hard to actually grasp the enormity of what we are doing here and the financial cost it can bring.....

 

I with you luck with your decision.........

[Guest kangomik]

to get a look at what jobs are around in adelaide have a look at

 

www.alljobs.com.au

 

I am shocked, theres hardly anything in my trade, last year there were stacks.

[Guest Aussie pat]

Re Lorraine's reply above (sorry it was too long to quote) we've elected to wait until the end of the year before we claim from Centrelink. As our income is a bit up and down at the moment we didn't want to get into debt with them. They warned us that this was a real problem for people whilst things are settling down after moving from abroad. I realise we miss out on the regular payments but we will get a cheque for a lump sum when the time comes.

[Guest ozziespurs]

I understand what you are all saying and i am happy too stay for a while but our other dilemna is that as we didn't all validate visa we have got to sponsor our children, our agent has assured us this will not be a problem as they will just have to do meds again but as Ben our 16 year old will be 18 June 2010 we need to get his sponsorship by then as then we will have problems. My worry is that things ain't going to get any better by then if anything they may get worse, we can't save as where we are now going into rented housing we will be paying more than we did on our mortgage.

I would also like to add it is not just the weather that is attracting us, we have had this dream for many years and after we lost all our parents it has spurned us into action. We have several reasons for making this move.

1 The laid back lifestyle which we experienced first hand when we came over in Feb.

2 We will feel safer about letting teenage kids out, i know OZ ain't crime free but it's safer than the uk

3 The outdoor living is healthier for everyone

4 OH would probably travel less to work as he is now doing 6 hours a day

5 We could spend more time as a family

6 No longer have these long drawn out winters as my 8 year old daughter gets quite depressed in the winter time through lack of sunlight.

7 We will be nearer to the beach

We applied for visa in Aug 07, put house up for sale in jan 08, sold feb, 08 fell through march 08 recieved visas April 08 and been trying to sell house since so it has been quite hard and frusrating for all of us. So you can probably understand why this is causing quite a bit of distress for us all especially the children, we will stay for the time being but our concern is how long.

[Guest kangomik]

Piece of string question that one. no one will have the answer i am affraid.

 

I reckon your reasons are spot on, pretty much the same as ours.

 

You get less sun hours here in a day, i mean the daylight hours are shorter, but with the sun being more visible than in the UK then you feel 10X better.

The kids have fun, and are happier playing outside, or at the beach with less financial distractions.

 

When we sold up we cleared our debt and rented, the rent was well over double our mortgage, if not triple. Yet i found we had more cash because we had cleared the debt.

 

Good look with the decision, your either going to have to wait for the timeline to dictate the state of play or take the plunge with both feet.

[Guest Beverley]

Hi, I was just chatting a sparky friend of mine the other day. He says there is always work for electricians. You have come so far - the final step is always daunting. That said, only you and your family can make that final decision.

 

Good Luck

Beverley

[Guest ozziespurs]

I really want to make the move but now every body is saying stay put and we may not get family tax credit i am even more confused now than ever, If their are any sparkies out their can you please post me or email me, if he could get a job before we moved that would be perfect but he ain't going to get a job offer while we're in the UK. Thanx again

[Guest tooeasy]

I am a sparky working in sa and you would be very lucky to get a reply from your cv let alone a job offer while you are not in oz there is work out there granted not as much as 6 months ago but I have not had a problem with finding work (touch wood) and have recently left a job for a better one

I would have no reservation about leaving the uk to come to oz even now as the lifestyle here is so much better my kids are a lot happier even our our stroppy teenager

but in the end its up to you so good luck on your decision if you need any help just drop me a pm