Uturn

Thank you. I have sent you a message with their details. So is my understanding of the current guidance correct - that WA is not sponsoring offshore applicants for 190 visas? Thanks.

Hi. I was hoping to get some advice on this point. I’ve been speaking to a registered migration agent about migration specifically to Perth. According to them we qualify for a 190 with 90 points for WA and have advised us to proceed with signing up to their service. However, my concern is on reading the WA website it still seems to state that they are only sponsoring 190 visas for people already residing in Australia and that a job offer is required (we aren’t in Australia and don’t have a job offer.) I’ve asked them for clarity on how we can apply given this guidance but they keep dodging the question. Is there additional information that migration agents know about offshore sponsorship for 190 visas that just isn’t published, or are they just working on the basis that they expect 190’s will be open for offshore applicants soon and hedging their bets? I’m really uncertain on whether or not to proceed. Any insights you could provide@verystormy would be much appreciated. Thank you.

Thanks folks. I will try that.

Hi Everyone Hoping you can offer some advice as I haven't been able to find any solid discussion online. We previously applied for and were granted a 189 visa. The visa expired in March 2020 and we did not move to Australia due to a number of personal reasons. I am looking at reapplying for the visa, but wanted to know whether any consideration is given based on having already gone through the process previously and having obtained a visa? Or is it that you are treated as a completely new applicant? Does anyone have any experience in this area they could share? Thank you

When I analyse my fears / concerns I think it primarily comes down to worry that I won’t find suitable work when we get there. In every other way I just can’t wait. It’s the fear of leaving stable and financial sounds jobs in the UK and moving to a location where from what I can tell there isn’t a great deal of IT management roles. I know we could consider another state, but Perth is really where we want to be.

Really sorry to hear that FOL, I didn’t mean to pry. I can imagine moving so many times really taking its toll on a person (and their bank balance.) Since we decided last week that we are making the move, I have had a constant feeling of anxiety, to the point that I’m not hungry and feel quite sick at times. It’s such an emotional rollercoaster. It’s really odd, as I’ve wanted to move for so long and now I’m secretly hoping that my wife will day at some stage that she’s changed her mind and we should just stay in the UK.

If I may ask, why have you moved 3 times? My wife says that if we don't like it there or it doesn't work out with jobs then we can just move back. I'm loathe to go down that path as I'm not sure I could afford to move back; and i suspect that if we do I will only want to move back a few years later. Just interested to know if the 3 moves you had were down to lack of work, missing family, or something else? Thanks.

I’m just going off of a Google search. If it only takes 6 weeks then that’s great Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's what I was afraid of. I guess I'll just try to get into a longer term rental as soon as possible. Thanks.

Thanks verystormy, appreciate the information. Its all very nerve wrecking. But that makes sense, and I guess I thought that's how it would have to work, just wasn't sure if I was missing a trick somehow.

Follow-up question: If you go into a short term rental initially, like through AirB'nB are you still able to register your children at a school that falls within the catchment area of the rental? Thanks

Hi. I am hoping that folks with experience of renting in Perth are able to help me with some information. We are looking at moving to Perth in January 2020 (family of 4.) I am trying to work out how to handle renting a property when we first arrive. We are having our house goods and furniture shipped, which will take between 10 to 12 weeks. So I guess we need to initially rent a furnished place for that period, but do landlords on sites like Domain generally let their properties for that short a period? Also, how do people usually handle it when their goods arrive? Do folks usually rent a furnished place until their goods arrive, and have them delivered there. Then move to an unfurnished rental and have their goods moved again? Appreciate this may be a daft set of questions. I'm just trying to work out how I minimise cost while at the same time ensuring we have roof over our head and land up in a good catchment area for schools. Thanks in advance for your help.

Thanks gar374; I'll contact John as my next step. The info you provided was really helpful, thanks

Hi I've noticed from the forum that a lot of folks on here have used or do use MoneyCorp as their preferred foreign exchange provider. I've started researching the different options to work out the most cost effective way of transferring cash from the UK to Australia. It appears as though the rates and charges offered by companies such as TransferWise and CurrencyFair are better. Has anyone had any experience using these other providers or are there any others you would recommend or suggest? Thanks

Has anyone had a quote for a 40ft container recently? We've had a quote from John Mason, quite is £6.6K. Seemed really professional and friendly. We are going to approach some other movers, but thought I would get a quote.

How old are your kids? We have 2.5 year and 7 week old.

I feel the same way, rather stay here a little longer and then save as much as possible. Speaking with the OH last night, we are thinking of booking our flights for Jan of next year. Would be nice to spend one last Christmas in the UK, and then go straight into summer in the New Year. Like you, I also want to save as much between now and then to help see us through until we have jobs. We don't have any family over there, and only a few friends, so having money is essential. The dilemma we are battling with at the moment is whether to sell or rent out the UK property. I like the idea of renting it out and having that investment in the UK, but if we had to sell say a couple of years later I believe there would be all sorts of tax implications and we would loose money. Would also be nice to take the equity now over to Aus. Not sure what we are going to do, I think we need to do more research on the tax implications. There are also so many other things to think of. As an example, our UK pensions. Having worked in the UK for so long, we dont want to loose our UK pensions, so need to investigate how we keep that going. Then there's what to sell and what to transport over there; I need to investigate the rules on that too. I was thinking of buying this book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/living-working-australia-David-Hampshire-ebook/dp/B00A2QTVEI/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426241900&sr=1-1&keywords=living+and+working+in+australia A few people have said to me that it will tell me everything I need to know about what needs to be done before leaving to settling in Aus. I think I'll buy it and perhaps start a thread on this forum sharing what I have learned. Maybe it will be of some use to others.

Wow, thats not great - really sorry to hear that. We were notified of our visa's being approved today. Up until now my OH didn't seem that interested and I think secretly was hoping it would all fall through. However, she is super excited now. I'm pretty excited too, but stressed out thinking about job opportunities and the decline of the Aussie economy. Its really unsettling thinking that we are going to sell everything and effectively start all over again in a new country and with two young kids. Really hope your OH comes around. I suspect she will, and just needs a little time. It's a massive change, I suppose we just have to deal with the anxiety until we are down under, then I'm sure things will just slot into place.

Congrats! We were informed today too that our visas had been granted. Really excited, but also extremely nervous. We don't have any jobs lined up, but know we need to choose a date and get moving.

Took a month for us

After several months of my wife and I debating whether we should consider Australian emigration, we have decided that are going to start the visa process. We are fairly confident we will obtain visas, and are working with a reputable & registered emigration agency/agent. We presently live in the UK but are originally from South Africa. We have a good life here in the UK, good & stable jobs, a beautiful daughter, a lovely house and good amount of disposable income. Our reason for wanting to move is purely for the sake of our daughters childhood. We both have fond memories of growing up with long summers and an outdoors lifestyle. Despite being in the UK for 12+ years, we have not been able to adapt to the long winters, so our primary reason for moving is the weather. I still have moments when I think to myself that the sensible decision would be to remain in the UK, but I am quite excited about the prospect of starting over in a new place with a warm climate. I have no real reason for sharing this post apart from 'voicing' my excitement. I suppose it would be really useful to know whether there are folks that have moved to Perth that had good jobs etc prior to going and whether they have managed to replicate that in Perth?

Thats what I was thinking

Thats great DavidM. Please do share your experience when you return. My wife and I are going through the Visa process, so we aren't planning to go to Perth until we have our visas. With the cost of travel we wanted to save the trip for the visa activation. I'll certainly post any further relevant information i come across on this subject.

Apologies for my delayed response. Unfortunately there was very little information that came out of the seminar. The representative from the WA government seemed to downplay the comments about the downturn and almost insisted that there is still a shortage of labour in the region. I caught up with him after the seminar, and when mentioned that my wife was an accountant and I IT Management, he seemed to think we would have no problem finding work. Of course, there's no guarantees and he isnt necessarily in touch with recruitment opportunities in those areas. We have some friends that live in Perth having moved there about a year ago. We have been checking in with them quite regularly to understand how the job climate there is changing, and they seem to think that most of the press about fewer jobs is grossly over exaggerated (bad news sells). Not sure what to believe myself but its good to see that there are still some positive views.

Yes, I have been reading about that in the press the past few months. Its difficult to get a good idea on how severe the downturn is going to be (I guess nobody really knows), the press articles seem pretty mixed at the moment. I'm attending a seminar in London next weekend and the WA government are one of the speakers. Hopefully they will spend some time talking about their expectations for the economy.