Living here v Austrailia 2015/16

Started by Gold, July 29, 2015, 11:21:04 AM

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Gold

I know there's a similar thread re USA but anyway....

If you've hit 30 what's the story with securing a VISA?

Would you recommend it? Steady job and house but woman (under 30 and not married) busting to go for a year next year (at least, possibly life).

Both professionals.

Know few boys out there but not too many. Would miss family and club and seriously concerned about leaving secure (v good) employment and renting house out but never did it before and a total change to a warmer climate and different way of life is appealing when you think the alternative is going in and out of town to work for rest of my life without taking a chance. Would say could easily get in with football team and have a good life. Lack of security concerns me though.

What about the VISA and what are people's thoughts?


"Cheeky Charlie McKenna..."

macdanger2

I'd definitely recommend trying it, as far as I recall, the visa isn't a problem until you're over 35.

Personally, it wasn't for me - I found the Australians very racist and a lot of the media very tabloid. It's also a long from home if your parents are getting older.

I know plenty who love it out there though, obviously the weather and the lifestyle that goes with it is a huge plus.

IMO, in the future you might regret not doing it but you're unlikely to regret taking a change and going

Milltown Row2

Had my wife's cousins staying with us for a couple of days recently, they have been in Oz for the past 4 years and fecking love it.. she is a mid wife and he's a HGV driver before they headed over..the Mid wife was set up with a job very quickly and the husband got a job reasonably quick, since working in Oz he's home all the time, whereas when he was a driver here he's have been away for a couple days a week

They have teenage girls who more or less adopted quickly, they have been in rented accommodation for 4 years but now looking to buy as they have applied for citizenship, think it helps with tax and getting a mortgage easier.. they won't come back, well settled and love the lifestyle Oz gives them... but its always family which is the hardest thing for them but they have built up a great rapport with ex pats as the Aussies stick to their own and don't get on with people from these shores, Oh they live on the Gold coast area

My Brother has been in Darwin for the past 4 years also, building game, but as for settling there I don't know if he will, still living the 'working holiday' mode i.e partying most nights!! but loving it.... I never thought he'd go as he is the youngest and I felt would just have the hardest time away from parents but thankfully he's proved us wrong

None of us are getting out of here alive, so please stop treating yourself like an after thought. Ea

AlriteHorse

In Perth myself. Actually just back from a decent trip back home. Can't say I was too sorry leaving though think that's more to do with me going back again in a few weeks. Things are thankfully picking up though I can't see myself moving back there permanently.

The way of life is what appeals to me here. I love it though obviously different strokes for different strokes. Was glad to get out of Sydney though that had more to do with work than anything else.

Age doesn't seem to be that big a barrier for Visas as I know a good few middle aged families who have landed over though I'm not sure if circumstances are different there or not. Anyway, you'd be best touching base with an Immigration Agent here who can answer a few basic questions and then you can decide whether it's worth chasing or not.

If you don't know any immigration agents and wary of getting a cowboy, a mate of mine is one over here. Happy to recommend him if you PM me.
Allez les bleus! Forza azzurri!

JimStynes

Quote from: Milltown Row2 on July 29, 2015, 12:37:14 PM
Had my wife's cousins staying with us for a couple of days recently, they have been in Oz for the past 4 years and fecking love it.. she is a mid wife and he's a HGV driver before they headed over..the Mid wife was set up with a job very quickly and the husband got a job reasonably quick, since working in Oz he's home all the time, whereas when he was a driver here he's have been away for a couple days a week

They have teenage girls who more or less adopted quickly, they have been in rented accommodation for 4 years but now looking to buy as they have applied for citizenship, think it helps with tax and getting a mortgage easier.. they won't come back, well settled and love the lifestyle Oz gives them... but its always family which is the hardest thing for them but they have built up a great rapport with ex pats as the Aussies stick to their own and don't get on with people from these shores, Oh they live on the Gold coast area

My Brother has been in Darwin for the past 4 years also, building game, but as for settling there I don't know if he will, still living the 'working holiday' mode i.e partying most nights!! but loving it.... I never thought he'd go as he is the youngest and I felt would just have the hardest time away from parents but thankfully he's proved us wrong

I found this to be the complete opposite although I lived in Perth for a year. A lot of Irish go and drink in Irish bars, hang around with Irish people only, play gaelic football etc.  I went with the intention of not getting sucked into that lifestyle and tried to live an Australian lifestyle. The wife played gaelic football and I played Aussie Rules for a full season and made some great mates. The lads at the AFL club could not have been nicer to me, inviting me around and my wife around to their houses for BBQs all the time and brought us surfing etc. The lads at the football club even brought me up the coast on their end of season trip for a week and refused to let me pay for anything. One of the lads was actually quite a famous WAFL footballer and I didn't know until after I left that he went and got me set up with a job and paid for physio treatments etc for me that I thought was free at the time. There has been a few lads over this direction and have visited and I would keep in contact with a good few of them on Facebook and whatsapp. Sport is definitely the key to making a good bunch of friends in Australia.

With regards to the lifestyle, it is class! I love the sun and heat so the weather and outdoors lifestyle was great for me. I rarely put the TV on and spent a lot of time at the pool or at the park. Lost a load of weight too! They're sports mad and I found the Aussies hardworking but relaxed at the same time. Not stressing too much about things. It is bloody expensive though so a well paid job would be essential! Ive visited the Sydney, Melbourne and Geelong so can't comment on how the lifestyle would be to live there but I know I didn't ilke Sydney that much. After I saw the sights it just seemed like a big busy city like anywhere else in the world. Melbourne was great but again a bit too big and busy for me to say I could live there.

It's a bloody long way away though! I wanted to stay on in Australia but the wife wanted to come home because she missed her family and I would say I would have eventually been the same one my parents get older. It's not like New York where you can get a on a direct flight to Ireland and be home within 7 hours. It's upwards of 30 hours and more travelling with ridiculously expensive flights.

One thing that did annoy me and as someone has already said was racism! Casual racism I would call it. Not even aware that they're being racist.

The Subbie

I'm here 5 years now and would echo a lot of what Jim has said.

I've found the Aussies sound to work with and live alongside.

I play on an over 35's soccer team and it would be a good mix, 3or 4 Irish, 2or 3 English lads and the rest Aussies, all sound fellas and once a month there is a family day down at the pitch where all wives kids etc come down and look at the daddy's trying to relive their youth and have a bbq and a few beers, we've got to know a good crowd and found the Aussies to be very supportive and ackowledging of the fact that we are far from home and don't have a family support network.

Lifestyle is good, I'm home every evening at 5, it's start early finish early here. Apart from football the weekends would involve going somewhere with the kids, loads to do on that front and lots of it free if you know where to go.
I was lucky with work in that the company I worked for at home transferred me over here and the Mrs who's a nurse found it easy enough to get work also.
The thing is though it's not all surfing on Bondi and bbqs, you have to work hard here, it's expensive , very expensive.
We live in Sydney and to be honest I had a thought about a year ago 1/2 way thru a rewarding period of work in Queensland that maybe, I might, buy a house in Sydney, but now, no chance, median house price in Sydney is over $1 million
Throw in school fees as well and the expense is only going to snowball in the coming years

I do find it easier to save money here though and even with the weak $$ we are still saving more per month ( a f**king lot more!) than we ever would at home.
Ultimately the plan is to stay another 3 or 4 years and move home with the price of a house in the arse pocket with a bit more beside it.
Overall it's a great country with great people that has given me a hell of a lot, there's a few wankers of course but that shouldn't put anyone off coming here

Apart from family and friends the things I miss most are the long summer evenings at home, the football, fishing and shooting with the boys from home , proper chips , mallons sausages and proper dry wit!!

Premier Emperor

The Australians are far worse for the Paddy jokes than the English or Americans. A few of them are ok, but the rest are obnoxious.

Deep down they're still a British colony and they try too hard to pretend they don't like their colonial overlords. D4 people are the same, trying to talk up their rugby and cricket rivalry with the English, who they secretly love.


Mickey Linden

I was there for a year and a half. Spent most of it in tea gardens and c**k n bull. Absolutely had a class oul time to myself. Would recommend it to any young Irish person. Enjoy ur self when ur young.

ThroughTheLaces

Like most I came here 'for a year'.  Almost 5 years later and I'm still here. Absolutely love it but find my time possibly coming to an end in the next year or two. No matter what its just not home. Lifestyle is hard to ignore, no financial worries, great weather and brilliant social life. Regardless of whether you're at the top of the pay scale, bottom, or somewhere in between, I know of very very few people (maybe nobody actually) that struggles here.

With regards to Visas as far as I know the rules haven't changed and once you hit 30 you cant apply for a 12 month working holiday visa. Your best option is sponsorship (4 year visa). If you get sponsored with a company you must work for them. If you leave then you have 90 days to find a new sponsor. Your partner will go on your visa and is left completely free to work for whoever she wants. Likewise if it was her to get sponsored you would go on her visa and leave you to work anywhere. I think the cost for both of you is circa $5000 (that's using a migration agent, which I would recommend). In the grand scheme of things if you're coming out to a job you would have that made back in no time so its a small investment. Employers are supposed to pay for that but I know a lot pass the cost on to the employee. Completely against the law I would imagine but I just sucked it up (along with about 30 other boys) and paid it. Small price for a 4 year visa. After you are sponsored with the same company for 2 years they can, and probably will, nominate you for Permanent Residency. I got mine this year so will hold out and get my citizenship next year and reassess the situation again.

All in all I find the people friendly, maybe not so much in Sydney because there are so many Irish. At times it feels like you are walking down the local street. My parents visited this year and could not believe the amount of people that you were stopping in the street to talk to or came over to you in a bar. Really is home from home which is why I don't miss it as much anymore. But more and more are going home as well, and I would be pretty sure that's where I'll end up soon enough too!
The apple never falls far from the tree.


ballinaman

#10
Spent the guts of 18 months in Sydney working a few years ago after finishing University, had the sponsorship visa sorted but place wasn't for me. Luckily I had the option to get home. Money was all relative, you'd earn more but cost of living was high at the time. Made a good solid group of mates over there, mostly engineers and QS's who were over there before I arrived which was great, some serious trips up to the Gold Coast, Kiama, Lake macquarie, F1 in Melbourne ect....weather was grand, love the sun but winter was shite, definitely not sunny all year round if you're thinking it's like Home & Away....
Racism is ridiculous there, couldn't believe the stuff you'd hear at work. Bit of a pseudo english/american culture also, nothing to it really, no depth, hard to explain it.
Also...hearing the secretaries in work nasally voice saying "Ha ya go'eeen?" 50 times a day used to drive me bananas....not that I'd be a person to be irritated by much.... :P

Also...thump this p***k if you get the chance  >:(


Canalman

Met a guy I used to play football with home at Christmas from Melbourne.

He was saying that the Aussies are sick to the gill teeth of the Irish over there telling them the property crash is coming. He laughed and said the same pre 2006 guff is being spouted over there............. fundamentals are good, we are different, property always goes up, getting on the property ladder, tv programmes ,  etc.

He reckons tough times ahead and he is not sure how a recession pans out in Australia.


From my time in Oz I can tell you it is a myth that the Aussies don't work hard.......far from it from what I saw anyway.

Sound  people imo  but the bad uns there  are to be avoided at all costs.

lfdown2

Spent 4.5 years there, back exactly 1 year loved every minute of it but Dublin airport in January became too much - lived in Brisbane where the winters are unreal, don't get the same 'Irish' weather of Melbourne/Sydney, at the same time we are delighted to be  home.

Very much each to their own but I would say you only regret what you don't do!

stephenite

Came out for 1 year, still here coming up on 10 years.

If you don't do it - you'll regret it forever. If you do it and decide it's not for you, no major harm done.

blewuporstuffed

Spent a year over there living in Melbourne, working as  an engineer for a sister company of who i worked for at home.
Absolutely loved Melbourne and there are still times when i regret coming home so soon.
I still have a bunch of friends who where out there the same time as me (7/8 years ago now) who are still there and dont look like they are for home anytime soon.
Spent some time in Sydney and would much prefer Melbourne, but thats more of a personality thing.
Sydney/Bondi seems to be full of people just looking to extend their  student/partying days. I found Melbourne much more of  a'liveable' place. particularly if you are into sport. (Melbourne cup/F1/austrailian open/AFL/Rugby etc all mainly Melbourne based)
I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow doesn't look good either