Moving to Brisbane... maybe... questions!

[Twotabbycats]

Years ago we thought about moving to Aus as skilled migrants but the moment passed and we are now too old. However DH has just been offered a sponsored job on a temp visa for 2-4 years and we are considering going. We both have family in Brisbane (aunt and cousins) so I think it could work out quite well! Anyone know if temp visas can lead to permanent ones?

We are currently in France, DH in IT - he is a contractor and not working at the moment... unemployed 4 months and worried, we are living hand to mouth as have house in bloody expensive area that we love and want to keep if at all possible. He is looking in other cities as well (has weekly commuted before) and had interviews but got nothing so far. He has been told the Aus visas could only take 6-8 weeks so it could all happen frighteningly fast. We have a big mortgage but we hope to rent house out so it is cost-neutral. (It is a worry as we'll be relying on the rent to pay the mortgage, selling is also an option although we always imagined staying here. And yes we know there will be hoops to jump through to come back post-brexit).

Anyway salary is less than he would expect here but a bird in the hand, etc, plus it would be a fab opportunity. He's been offered 140,000 Aus dollars a year - is that enough? I know tax is going to be about 30%. Due to some bad luck several years ago we have debts to pay of about £1,200 a month and will have to keep our private health cover (currently £1,100 a month but no excess unless I go over my medication allowance!). My health is not good and I am hoping I'll be well enough to do some freelance work but realistically we won't be able to count on a regular salary from me. No kids, just me and him. I did put the figure into a tax calculator and I think we'd be left with something over $8,000 a month. So a bit more than $4,000 after paying the above. If rent was a conservative $2,000 that doesn't leave much! Do we have to pay other contributions? Pension? Could we lower our health insurance? Currently with Bupa global (cover worldwide apart from USA) but I think there is BUPA for Aus? I can't really change providers as I have so many existing conditions.

Could we afford to rent a house on that, preferably in a quiet suburb? We are very rural here and I'd miss having a garden if we were in a flat. Obviously I've looked online at rentals but it's hard to know what other costs will be. We'd probably need a car but a cheap one would be OK.

Also how much would we need to get set up over there? How much to move stuff? We will get some relocation with his job but it might only cover flights and a hotel for a week or so. We could probably stay with relatives for a month to ease ourselves in.

And on the health subject, will I even get through the medical? I have a lot of conditions (high bp, endometriosis, arthritis, back problem, MH issues, non-recovery from accident) but they are all stable and controlled with meds.

Am really on the fence about whether we should go. It's very daunting just thinking about moving (we have so much stuff!!), dealing with letting house, etc and I think that aspect and the money is holding me back from seeing what a great opportunity it could be.

We are also leaving ageing parents - his are 80 and his father is ill, and my Dad died a year ago, so not great timing. We don't see them that often but obvs would be less often if we were in Aus.

Thanks for any insights!

[GrinAndTonic]

$140000 is a perfectly acceptable amount to live on. A lot of people live on a lot less and have a good lifestyle. $8000/month is more than enough unless you want to live a expensive champagne lifestyle :-)
Where is he going to be working? You might not have to live in Brisbane itself You could live on the Northern parts of the GOld Coast or Southern end of the sunshine coast or around Moreton Bay. Public transport isn't great but it's not horrible. You can also live in the surrounding areas if you want a more rural lifestyle. Parts of Beaudesert and Ipswich are quite rural and you can get a four bedroom house with acreage for around $350/week.
Furnished places dont really exist so you will need to buy furniture etc. I think you need to look at how much it will cost to ship things over and then compare to how much it will cost to buy everything new (from ikea etc). However you can buy practically everything from the buy/swap/sell pages on facebook these days.
I can't really comment on your visa and medical conditions but they are quite strict. However your husband earns enough to cover any issues and you have PHI so thats a bonus.
BUPA is here also so maybe talk to them about it. Australia has a reciprocal agreement with the UK so you can get medicare (NHS) coverage for some things. Have a look on here www.humanservices.gov.au/individuals/enablers/rhca-medical-care-visitors-australia#a1
Brisbane has a lot of expats and quite a few mumsnetters too.

[HerRoyalNotness]

You don’t be very hard pressed to pay everything else on your 2k a month leftovers

Is your company offering an expat deal or local? Pension is paid on top of salary, not sure what % it is at now, but it’s 140k + x% which goes into a fund. Dependant on your visa you can take it with you when you leave.

If you’ll be on local conditions, it might be better to sell your house, pay off your debt and start fresh.

[Twotabbycats]

Thank you both so much for taking the time to reply.

Am relieved to hear it sounds like enough money. I know lots of people live on less - I was just a bit worried that 1/3 - 1/2 our take home pay would be gone on insurance and debt. Don't want a champagne lifestyle but would like to have enough to enjoy life and come back to Europe occasionally.

Also good to hear that the pension is probably going to be on top of the salary. DH will speak to employer tomorrow. He just had a brief conversation with them on Friday, last thing for them. It's been a long weekend thinking about it all! His employers are in the town centre but he will be going out to clients - will mostly be in Brisbane he thinks. We have friends on the Gold Coast so have visited and liked it so living there could be a possibility; will also consider inland.

I think it will be an expat package - we'll be on the new 482 temporary skills shortage visa. Can possibly lead to PR but we won't know straight away - I don't think anyone can say how things will pan out as it's a pretty new visa! So hoping not to burn all bridges and keep our keep our current place in case we have to come back.

We have checked the Australian Bupa site today and it looks like we could pay quite a bit less if we switched to them so will give them a call. The medical stuff is a pain as even if all goes well I know I will be spending a lot of time in the early weeks finding new doctors for everything so I can continue with my medication.

[HPandBaconSandwiches]

Brisbane is split by the river. It’s absolutely vital to know which side he’ll be working. The centre could mean either and you really don’t want to get it wrong!

We moved out to the Brisbane area 18 months ago. Shipping the entire contents of a large 4 bed house cost about £7000 I think. Your husband should negotiate a deal to include shipping, visa costs and sometimes even the first 3 months rent. Staying with family at first is a great idea so you can have a look round.
The commute from Gold Coast to Brisbane will destroy his soul, don’t consider it would be my advice! There’s only 1 road and it’s horrible.
Living costs are a bit more here. Electric bills are huge. But offset by cheaper petrol etc. Have a look at Coles or Woolworths online (main supermarkets) to get an idea of food costs.
Bupa have a lot of exclusions. Have a look at HIF.
I’d speak to a good migration agent about your health conditions to see the impact on a visa.
Your arthritis will usually feel so much better here, with the climate

Brisbane is a fantastic place to live. Good luck!

[IvyFluids]

Yep, Ive had to drive both the M1 and and M25 and would rather poke my own eyes out with a spoon then drive the M1 again. It is as HP said "soul destroying".
Oh and there is a quasi serious north/south rivalry. I'm a south side girl and have been my entire life and rarely head to the northside. It's a weird place

[ToesInWater]

I live in Sydney (and love it) and would always say if you have a chance to come here for a few years then go for it but if you are hoping to stay long term you do need to be aware that having medical needs can seriously impact your chances of getting permanent residency. I was at a work thing yesterday where the speaker was an immigration lawyer/migration agent who reiterated that people often have PR applications rejected on medical grounds. You also need to be confident in your sponsor. DH had a job before we arrived but it turned out to be nothing like what he was promised. The employer's attitude was a rather smug "you have to suck it up as otherwise you will lose your visa"; we were really lucky in that we had applied for and been granted PR as skilled migrants before we arrived but that info clearly hasn't been passed down the chain so they were very surprised when DH resigned after five days as the IT contract market was hot. We have friends who had 28 days to leave the country when they lost sponsored jobs and couldn't find alternatives.

[chloeb2002]

You will need to check your offer for details.
For both our pays our superannuation (pension) isn't on top of our pay. I'm a nurse, DH is in I.T.
$140k with quite large debts to lay off isn't huge. Sorry to be the mean one.
But living off $4000 a month isn't much. I know you have no kids but you you will have power bills, water, private health, running a car just for starts.
Nearly half will go on rent. Another half on bills. That will only many leave $1000 to live on if you don't have super taken off.
I too would sell a house. Clear your debts and start afresh.
The medical for migration will need you to prove you can add to society. Be it as a child going to mainstream school then work or as an adult go to work. That's their main interest.
In our Medicals we had to work hard to get one of our children through! I had a battle because I was overweight. So the biggest tip is that you need to be employable.