Marisawright

I don't know if your hubby would contemplate it, but I'd be starting the job hunt within a month or two of arriving, so with a bit of luck, you'll be able to move before your eldest starts high school. The good thing is that Australian companies won't judge him for wanting to change jobs so quickly, because everyone understands how expensive Sydney is, and they will probably have a little laugh at the naive migrant who thought commuting from the Central Coast every day would be fine. If you hankered to move up to Queensland, you could even consider looking for jobs further up the coast - Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Ballina. They are all small places so work is not plentiful, but it's much easier for a tradie to find work there than an office worker.

Tulip makes a good point. You are not going to implement this plan for several years, and no one can tell whether your strategy will be feasible by then. It's clear from the extremely long waiting times that Australia is trying to discourage parents from migrating. Parents are a drain on the country's tax system because old people typically require more medical care even if they're fairly healthy, and will need very expensive care as they approach death. Some other countries (the UK for example) have virtually closed their doors to parents of migrants. At one time, Australia was so desperate for new migrants, they were prepared to carry the expense of the parents as well. Now, Australia is no longer desperate - in fact it's overwhelmed by people wanting to move here, so it no longer has to make concessions. The ability of people to arrive on a tourist visa and then stay permanently is a loophole. Immigration has been gradually closing loopholes, so that one may be closed by the time you want to take advantage of it. For all those reasons, it's probably best to assume that your parents won't be able to move to Australia with you.

He would know about Capital Gains Tax in Australia but it's very unlikely he'll be knowledgeable about UK tax. Once you're resident in the UK, the British tax office might want to take a chunk too. We've had people on these forums who relied on their existing advisers on tax, and it all ended in disaster. There's really no substitute for using someone who knows both systems thoroughly. Like I said, if I'd got it wrong, it would've cost me an extra $30,000 in tax and it's not worth that risk. I'd suggest contacting Alan Collett and getting him to do the calculation he suggests. Then you know exactly where you stand.

Bear in mind that it's sensible to book a holiday flat or Airbnb for the first four weeks after they arrive, so you're not going to need anything for that period. I think it makes sense to send stuff well in advance, because it's usually easier to "camp" in your UK home, especially if you can borrow bits and pieces from family, than manage without stuff when you move into your new Australian home.

Lots of people commute to Newcastle from the Central Coast, but they drive. From The Entrance to Newcastle is about an hour. The good news is that if you're only renting, he could start the job in Alexandria then look for a job in Newcastle, and he'd be able to commute up there in the short term until you find a place closer to his work. Whereas if you focus on Sydney, he'll have that commute forever. I had colleagues in Sydney who had been transferred from our Newcastle office. They refused to move their families from Newcastle and commuted the three hours on the train every day (while looking for other jobs!). They felt Newcastle was so much better for bringing up their children. That has always stuck with me. The Eastern Suburbs are the posh part of Sydney. Most families live out West, but it's a very long way from the beach and it gets very hot and sticky, unless you go all the way up to the Blue Mountains - in which case he'll have an even longer commute. I'm from Sydney - actually Scottish, but lived there for over thirty years. We sold up and went to the UK thinking we might retire there, then changed our minds. Sydney is now so expensive, we can't afford to live in a respectable suburb - so we've moved to Melbourne.

Each of you has their own visa so you all have to validate individually. I remember when we had our visas granted, we had only three months to make the move.

Do not bring a bank draft. Transfer the money electronically, it is much safer. You can join Moneycorp through these forums. If you are not familiar with using an online system, don't worry: their telephones are actually answered by people who do the job, not just call centre drones, and they are very helpful. What you will do is open an account with Moneycorp, transfer the money into it, then it will sit safely in that account until you have your Australian bank account set up. Do not close your UK bank accounts as they can be extremely useful for all kinds of reasons.

You'd be mad to try to get a rental before you arrive anyway - you'll end up with a dump. If you are coming for a better life then I'd forget Sydney altogether. Newcastle would be a much better bet, more affordable, lovely beaches, a much better environment to bring up kids and there are reasonable job opportunities. I know he's got the job lined up already but I'd suggest he keeps trying for something in Newcastle or Wollongong.

If they became residents of Australia, they would be entitled to be paid their pension under the social security agreement, HOWEVER while they are on a bridging visa, they are not a resident of Australia. They are temporary visitors. If they were in Australia on holiday from Norway, they would continue to get paid their pension by Norway, so I'm guessing that's what would happen. However, they would also cease to be residents of Norway, so you would need to check with the Norwegian government website if that would affect the amount of their Norwegian pension. There has been a lot of discussion on these forums about the extent of medical coverage under the reciprocal agreements. In November last year, the Government cut back on what was covered under the agreement, so that "elective surgery" is no longer covered. Given the government's aggressive stance against unskilled migration, I'd say they are likely to make it more restrictive in future. You should also check if becoming a non-resident of Norway would affect the validity of their Norwegian Health Insurance. If their Norwegian Health Insurance expires because they're non-resident, then they lose access to the Australian system too. I can't find it now, but there is a thread somewhere about an elderly woman who was deported because her health costs were considered to be excessive. So that is something else to worry about.

It's fine to apply for a partner visa while on a student visa. A partner visa allows you to study so you'd be able to continue your studies. Your parents are more of a problem. Arriving on a tourist visa and then living on a bridging visa for the rest of their lives is not as easy as you think. They won't have to pass a medical until they'get the grant (which will probably be never, as they're not likely to live another 30 years), so their health is not a problem from that perspective. However, on a bridging visa, there are limits to how much coverage they would get in the public health system. It depends on the country they're coming from. You need to check that out, because if they have health issues, the cost could be prohibitive. That is why the contributory visa is so expensive - because once they have the contributory visa, they are entitled to full health care and pensions like any other Australian. The fee is meant to compensate the Australian taxpayer for that cost. Even so, the waiting time even for the contributory visa is getting longer - I believe four or five years now. They also have to pass a medical. It's probably best to consult an agent with experience of visas for people with health issues such as George Lombard.

The IT field is being flooded with graduates from India and Asia so I'm not sure that's the best option.

The Movecube is supplied by a removals company called SevenSeas. Usually, you would pack it yourself, but they do offer a service where they will pack it for you (for an extra cost of course). I don't know of any other companies who offer anything comparable. https://www.sevenseasworldwide.com/en-au/moving/movecube/international If you don't use a Movecube, then you can either send individual boxes (SevenSeas can do that too), or you can use a shared container service. A shared container is where the removalists come and pick up your boxes/furniture and put them in a huge shipping container along with other people's stuff. The snag with that is that it can take a long time, because they won't ship the container until it's packed full so you might be waiting for two or three other families to fill it up. Also there's more chance of things going missing because everyone's belongings are in the same container (although they do make an effort to segregate them). Whichever one of those three you use, the removalist company takes care of all the customs paperwork.

The small Movecube won’t fit big furniture, it’s good for sending all the odds and ends

What borders? There should be no problem crossing borders - the problem is that it's a one-way hire. The smaller hire car places won't have an office in Coffs, so they have no way to get the car back - that's why they won't do it. You'll need a big company like Thrifty or Avis, and of course they're more expensive. Why not just fly?

A general observation - take as much of your existing belongings as you can. I know the shipping sounds expensive, but replacing everything can be worse. It's not just the cost of replacement, it's the effort and time. You've got a lot on your plate when arriving in Australia, and it's another big stress to kit out an entire house from scratch. If your furniture isn't worth bringing, then at least invest in a Movecube or two, and bring all the small stuff. Because we don't normally have to buy those things all at once, we don't realise how much they add up to. It's a worthwhile exercise to get online and do a test shop. If you're happy with cheap stuff, you can try kmart.com.au. If you want quality things that will last, try myer.com.au and petersofkensington.com.au. Remember you'll need towels, bedding, pots, pans, crockery, cutlery, Tupperware, cleaning stuff (mop, broom, dustpan...), bathroom stuff, and then there's all the small electrical goods like vacuum cleaner, hairdryer, toaster, kettle....you'll be amazed how many hundreds of pounds you have sitting in your cupboards! What complicates it further is that you're in a strange country where you don't know where any of the shops are. If you're not in a major city, then you'll have a long trek to even get to shops which sell furniture and household items. If you're undecided about your furniture, do a test shop online, preferably with a company that exists where you're going (for instance, there's no point checking IKEA if you're in country NSW, because they won't deliver).

Apart from getting the visa (which should be fine IMO), they need to plan it carefully. For instance, check insurances to see whether they will be covered, leaving their UK home unoccupied for six months (maybe getting housesitters is an idea). I know someone else who wanted to do this, and they wanted to keep a car in both countries, but they had difficulties buying and insuring a car in Australia because they weren't resident. Look into travel insurance for six months, it's possible to get when you're older but is harder to find. Will they live with you when in Australia?

Your only hope is to gain the experience in your own country.

I'd say you need to consult a reputable agent immediately. I know it costs money, but the question is, how important is this to you? If you f** it up because you get bad amateur advice, it could cost you a lot more than an agent's fee. There are some good agents on these forums including @wrussell and @Raul Senise I'm no expert but I'd think that if you've been made redundant, your own 457 application is null and void, which means the bridging visa attached to it is cancelled, too. Is there any way to contact your ex, to see if they can provide evidence of when they notified immigration of your separation?

There are rules but basically, a company can't sponsor someone unless they've proved they can't get a local candidate, so obviously it's got to be a skilled job - if anyone can do it, they can find someone locally. It's so easy in hindsight, if you'd included him in your original application he could have visited to validate his visa, then he'd have had five years to make up his mind. Too late now, unfortunately. It's a very difficult one because to get any kind of skilled visa, he needs a qualification AND a few years' experience in his chosen trade - so realistically, he's got four or five years till he can apply, and it's always possible the rules will change, and the trade he's chosen might have different requirements or be off the list altogether. Thinking aloud, I wonder if one strategy would be for him to come to Australia to do his study, in which case he could get a student visa. You would need to check the fees as they're often very expensive for an international student. When his course is complete, he would still be young enough to get a Working Holiday Visa, which would enable him to stay in Australia for two years (if he does the regional work), which might give him enough work experience to get sponsorship or apply for PR. It might not work out but at least he'd get a qualification and he'd have four or five years with you. I'd be consulting an agent.

Good luck with the move. You'll be fine, especially because you've got your dancing as a way into the social scene. There's plenty of salsa around Sydney and it's a beautiful city. The only snag with Sydney is that housing (whether renting or buying) is so expensive. It's like London, the cost is head and shoulders beyond anything you'll pay in the rest of the country. However, coming from London, you'll be used to that! Do make sure you look into the tax implications of renting out your house. I know it's tempting to keep a London place because it would be a good investment, but once you're a non-resident, it can cost you in tax. There is a double taxation agreement between the UK and Australia so you won't be taxed twice, but you will have to submit a tax return in both countries for as long as you keep it. Also check out the capital gains implications in both countries when you eventually sell - getting that wrong can cost you thousands. The best thing is to find a tax agent who knows the tax regime in both countries, who can run through the scenarios for you before you go. It would be awful to leave it till you've left the country, then find it's going to cost you a fortune in tax because you're no longer a UK resident!

The main thing is to be sure you understand the tax implications of selling the unit. It would be worth contacting Alan Collett and paying him to do the calculations he mentions - he knows his stuff. Everyone's circumstances are different, but as a for instance: when we were thinking of going back to the UK, I had an investment unit. If I sold it while we were still resident in Australia, the tax was about $30,000. If I'd waited till I'd arrived in the UK, the tax would've been $60,000. And that's only the Australian tax office - once I was living in the UK, the Inland Revenue might have wanted a slice as well, but I never looked into that - the Australian tax was bad enough! As for transferring the money - it's not as bad as it sounds. I used Moneycorp. i confess, i did get into a tangle trying to use their online service, but that was just me being dumb. What I liked was being able to ring them up and talk to a real person who actually does the job, not just a call centre operator. They had me sorted out in no time and I've used them for transfers ever since.

I wouldn't think many would have gone from student visa to a 188, since you'd have to be a pretty mature student to qualify (I understand you need either substantial business experience or a heck of a lot of money).

I don't think it matters which states are doing it now. Where one goes, the rest are likely to follow, and you can bet they won't advertise the fact before they start doing it. Therefore people need to be conscious it could happen, no matter which state they're going for. Of course there are people who apply with complete honesty and then have a genuine need to relocate. That's what the release process is for. As the OP says, IF you apply for release, you will usually get one. It's hard to imagine anyone who applies for a 190 isn't aware of the obligations that go with the visa. If they deliberately flout that obligation, they deserve everything they get - especially as doing the right thing (ie. requesting a release) is so easy to do.

Ask your agent. Another agent replied above to say 12 months.

While you're an Australian resident, you get a tax concession for capital gains tax. Once you leave the country, you lose that concession. The result is that you'll pay DOUBLE the amount if you wait and sell after you leave.