Thinking of moving with my young family to OZ

anthony_moran

Since the down turn I've pretty much been living month to month. Surviving but with no real quality of life. I'm married with a 2yr old son and with one on the way.... I've a longing to set up a new life in Australia and to give my family a better quality of life and provide a better future for my children.

I have an Hon. deg in IT and have a number of skills that appear on the SOL. A friend with an identical deg recently obtained a 4 yr business visa without much problems so would hope I would be in a similar boat...

Basically I'm trying to find out info from people in a similar family situation who moved to OZ, how did people find the move. What are the pros/cons? Was there one person in the relationship who was more keen on the move - and how did you decide to make the leap of faith?

Also, what would the average monthly expenses be taking into account rent, food, childcare etc... Is there anywhere were i could find prices of the above?

I'd love to hear your experiences...

mandrake04

Try

Britishexpats.com or pomsinoz.com

There are more family orientated threads over there.

woolymammoth

anthony_moran wrote: »

I have an Hon. deg in IT and have a number of skills that appear on the SOL. A friend with an identical deg recently obtained a 4 yr business visa without much problems so would hope I would be in a similar boat...

Basically I'm trying to find out info from people in a similar family situation who moved to OZ, how did people find the move. What are the pros/cons? Was there one person in the relationship who was more keen on the move - and how did you decide to make the leap of faith?

Also, what would the average monthly expenses be taking into account rent, food, childcare etc... Is there anywhere were i could find prices of the above?

I'd love to hear your experiences...

i'm moving to Aus myself this march. And though I don't have a family i'm bringing with me, i can tell you a few things from my experience, or just my opinion.

Like here, any degree will serve you well, as long as you have good and relevant experience in that field. A 4 yr visa might not be too hard to get if you have the right skills, but moving a family complicates matters. You want to consider something more permanent for them and for you, like a skilled visa, state sponsored migration, etc., i'm not a migration agent, maybe someone else here will give you better advice on that!

As far as costs go, Australia is not far off Ireland in the grand scheme of things. Some things are cheaper, some are more expensive. Depends on the city you want to live in!
http://www.numbeo.com/

about 10 yrs ago, my dad told me that when i was only a baba back in the ever interesting 80's, he applied for, and got, full permanent visas for our whole family to the states. My mother didn't want to go, and it was left to expire. Personally, i'm glad! but my point is, if you're seriously considering this, do not exclude the missus, because what you both want will affect the visa you apply for, and ultimately your happiness together and success in moving.

as mandrake says too, those forums will probably have more suitable info for you, if you haven't read them already!

best of luck.

Jumpy

Remember. Rent is WEEKLY.

Dont go looking up rental websites thinking "Thats cheap".

Also it rarely comes furnished when you rent family style houses.

Feelgood

anthony_moran wrote: »

I have an Hon. deg in IT and have a number of skills that appear on the SOL. A
.

I can't comment on moving the family, I can however tell you that IT is booming down here in all areas. If you have your head anyway screwed on, you should be able to swing a good enough job that would allow you to comfortably provide for your family. It really depends on your skillset.

And yes the quality of life is 1000 times better

Zambia

1000 times thats a big call? Where did you live in Ireland Mountjoy?

CiaranC

Feelgood wrote: »

And yes the quality of life is 1000 times better

Rubbish

greenprincess

I cant realy comment on what it would be like to bring a family over here but the Aussies seem to be pretty child crazy!
I have seen on the Australian immigration website that they do job fairs in London, where companies looking for Europeans go. So they would sponsor you, so at least you would have great stability once you got here if they were to sponsor you.

Feelgood

Zambia wrote: »

1000 times thats a big call?

Not really mate, I lived in a small rural town back home where I spent my Monday to Fridays getting up at 6am to spend 2 hours in bullshit traffic to get to Dublin to work for an employer that worked me 45-60 hours a week for peanuts just to spend another 2 hours in traffic to get back home at 8pm at night too fcuked to do anything. Game of footie Saturday morning, few pints in a dead local on Saturday night followed by a 3 in 1 on the way home. Sunday morning lye in followed by the same miserable existence all over again.

Now I live in the centre of a thriving city surrounded by beautiful women and weather with any amount of restaurants and pubs. Takes me 20 minutes to get to a 37 hour a week job where I finish at 4pm everyday and am free to do one of the 1000 things on offer in Oz, beaches, biking, running, whatever your creed is.

My life has completely changed since I got here, for the first time in about 10 years I am enjoying my life and look forward to getting out of bed everyday. Something I never had at home. So to rebute your statement nah its not a big call at all mate, not from my point of view anyways

anthony_moran

Thank for the feedback... FeelGood and Woolymammoth - Are there specific Jobs websites that cater for Sponsored jobs etc? Is there a list of companies that are signed up to the employer sponsored scheme?

I'm 32 with 11yrs IT development and project management experience, are there certain cities/areas that have a greater need for IT professionals or are all major cities open to me?

Sorry if i'm asking silly questions but although i've considered moving abroad for some time this is my first time looking into it.... I feel like i'm searching in the dark for the light switch!

Feelgood

There are plenty of job websites anthony, the most popular one is seek.com.au which would include jobs that are offering sponsorship.

Peoplebank are a huge IT agency that offer sponsorship for certain skillsets too. Check out their website:PeopleBank

Obviously the bigger the city the more jobs on offer, in our particular field
I found that most jobs tend to be around Sydney and Melbourne. The ones offering the best money are anyways!. Though yes all cities are completely open to you!.

There are two options you have, a) apply for permanent Australian residency.
Anyone can apply for this, costs money and can take upto 2 years. I'm not well informed on this but there are plenty of chaps here that are that can advise you.

and b)
Get a sponsored job know as a 457 visa. Everyone seems to think that this is a given and simple when really it is actually a pretty hard thing to achieve - particularly from Ireland. You really need to work for an employer over here and prove yourself before they offer to sponsor you. Saying that if you have a very niche skillset or skills that are high in demand, you might get lucky and find an employer willing to sponsor you from home. It's not impossible, I got sponsored over a phonecall. Just keep lashing your cv out there and see what happens

woolymammoth

anthony_moran wrote: »

Are there specific Jobs websites that cater for Sponsored jobs etc? Is there a list of companies that are signed up to the employer sponsored scheme?

I'm not too sure. I never really looked in to the whole sponsorship thing. I know that it takes some money and effort on the company's part to sponsor someone. If your skill is in demand so much that it's difficult for them to find someone in australia to do it, then you're more likely to get employer sponsored. But do not pin your hopes on employer sponsorship! Look at all the options. i think Immi have a part of their site to help you figure out a visa that suits you.

anthony_moran wrote: »

are there certain cities/areas that have a greater need for IT professionals or are all major cities open to me?

All the major cities are open to you. Obviously the larger cities will have more options. best bet is to sift through seek.com.au for jobs you're qualified for, you'll get an idea where all the jobs are.

Zambia

Good man Feelgood.

In your case 1000 times is not far off the money.:)

mandrake04

if I were in your shoes I would forget about 457 sponsorship thats a young single or couples game, real PR is far more suitable for families.

You would be up for school fees & steep medical insurance and would be entitled to next to no benefits ... and if you lost you job you have 28 days to find another sponsor. Its all very risky and expensive ...even in the short term.

Like I say that my opinion ......but apart from Skilled PR your other option is Employer Sponsored PR which would be tight enough to find a sponsor.

d.pop

Hi Anthony, i'm in a similar boat with a wife and 2 kids under 3. We haven't moved yet but i'm flying out of Ireland at start of March with wife and kids to follow later in year when i get set up.
The guys are spot on about pomsinoz and british expats they really are more orientated towards family immigration and you'll find a lot of info in there.
like i said we haven't moved yet but i spent 2 years in Oz 10 years ago and myself, wife and kids have been over and back several times over the years visiting my 2 sisters. Both the girls have children and swear it is the best place in the world to raise a family, healthy outdoor living etc...The last 2 times we were over we were looking at Oz from this point of view and everything seems to be about the kids, bit of a cliche but the aussies really do see the kids as the future.
The guys are right about the visas as well, we went for independant skilled permanent residency which if you qualify is 100% the best option, barring voting you are essentially an Australian with no work restrictions. With kids this is def the way to go, maybe apply for citizenship after 4 years? Nice present for your kids, they'll thank you for it even if you return to Ireland later in life.
I've been harassing my sisters for 12 months about costs of living and between them and pomsinoz the general consensus seems to be that a family of 4 with 2 cars will need $750 to $1000 a week after tax to survive, for a single earner this will put your required gross salary at $80-90k +/-. I might stand corrected on this but there the figures we've been operating on (of course more drink/trips/fancier cars etc changes that).
I don't know what the work situation is like (will update in March) but damn it it's got to be better than here, apprx 5% versus 13% unemployment....my recollections of working in OZ were that any 'real' degree was highly regarded and you get the recognition and renumeration you deserve, not crapola and abuse you get here (sorry rant over).
By the way our skilled independant migration visa application (civil engineer) took 6 months and cost about €3500 inc medicals etc, however that was last year before the process changed, don't know about waiting times or cost now but i understand it could be 12-24 months?
Anyway hope this is of help, see ya in Oz....

dave011

Hi, i am 32 years old, i am too old for a working visa in australia, i have a level 7 qualification in electronic enginnering, has anyone any advise on how i could get a visa now, or is it to late for me?

Jumpy

What is a Level 7? Is it a degree?

Jumpy

Just looked it up, its equivalent to a masters.

Jumpy

Also how long have you been an Electrical Engineer?

Jumpy

Look here as well http://www.visabureau.com/australia/sol.aspx

Electrical Engineer is on the Skilled Occupation List.

You might be in luck if you can get enough points.

jackbhoy

Jumpy wrote: »

Just looked it up, its equivalent to a masters.

Really? I thought level 7 was old diploma, level 8 is hons degree and 9 is masters?

woolymammoth

hetac levels explained: http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:QPisKCC-noIJ:www.hetac.ie/docs/HETAC%2520Named%2520Awards.pdf+hetac+levels+explained&hl=en&gl=ie&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgdVCCPS1Zpx7jaAQducVfENBCyzkfWb3HDO0qKOLI2tNe409lD9FIHNwkcQsMxHHyk8_o-J0nfoX8mEY1xXb-8exbNEERQuEt7VB978sVUJ54iFuz_t6gKkrdKT6lItl9TFx_f&sig=AHIEtbQ2HqCT2_gkCIuZ4F0Yk_vXrMVZ4w&pli=1