Freedom of movement with Aus, NZ and Canada, post Brexit?

[Mackerz]

www.canzukinternational.com/category/free-movement

This is interesting. As part of a post Brexit trade deal, Britain and Australia are considering relaxing immigration controls between the two countries.

Isn’t Australia the favourite place for Brits to emigrate to, even with immigration controls?

We could potentially have the Aussie equivalent of Brexiters whinging about all these Brits coming here to claim benefits and steal our jobs, in the future!

Yes, Aus, NZ and Canada are the top places that Brits emigrate too.

It makes sense, given the historical ties and language.

Australia has freedom of movement with NZ, although NZ citizens who moved to Aus after 2000 don’t have the right to claim benefits. Aus can also deport NZ criminals. So we might be looking at something like that, rather than the freedom of movement we currently have with the EU.

I’m married to an Aussie, from the Australians I know they would not be happy with this at all. I’d be very surprised if Aus agreed to it.

I have an Australian passport, as well as a British one and have lived there a few times. The Aussies I know are typically very welcoming of Brits. Not so keen on non white, non native English speaking immigrants though.

It works both ways - a lot of Aussies and NZers move here too, usually on a working holiday or ancestry visa though.

A lot of Brits are non white, I can imagine how welcome Brits with West Indian/African/Asian heritage would be.

I think there are 1 million British citizens exercising their freedom of movement rights and living in the rest of the EU. There are 3.6 million EU citizens living in the UK.

If some form of freedom of movement between CANZUK is brought in we could end up with more Brits emigrating. It isn’t just the language that’s similar, it’s also the legal and regulatory frameworks - this makes skilled migration between the 4 countries easier. I can move between Aus and the UK and work in similar level professional jobs. I couldn’t do the same thing in any EU country because I only speak English and due to the differing legislation - moving to the EU for me would mean a drop in salary and living standards. Moving between CANZUK would allow me to have a similar type of job and living standards.

Australia, NZ, UK and Canada are similar economically. There isn’t as much of a push factor for people to move between the countries. When the Eastern countries joined the EU there was a big push factor for many of their citizens to move to the wealthier west.

I've heard mutterings since 2016 of some kind deal with those three countries. I think it would be great actually, not that I'd want to move to any of them, just that especially for young people wanting to experience working abroad without the worry of visas running out it would make things much easier. What I suspect would happen though is that a lot of Brits would emigrate and not so many would come the other way. The Aussies I know all went home, bar none, whereas I know of several Brits who never came home.

I think it was the volume of Eastern European’s moving here that gave the Brexit movement the push it needed to win. Before Eastern European accession I don’t recall freedom of movement being mentioned.

My above post reads like I’m a Brexiter - I’m not. I’m just thinking aloud.

I think there would be less permanent migration if some kind of CANZUK freedom of movement was implemented. As @zafferana said, it would give young people the chance to live and work abroad.

Brexiter types would struggle to get their knickers in a twist about it.

This is interesting. As part of a post Brexit trade deal, Britain and Australia are considering relaxing immigration controls between the two countries

Why couldn't it have been done before ? Nothing about being in the EU stops the UK allowing more people from Australian in. Or Canada. Or New Zealand. Or indeed anywhere.

@SerendipityJane

I don’t know. It’s the first I’ve heard of it. I saw the link I posted above on Facebook and thought it was interesting.

@nancy75 erm? But these countries are less racist than Britain...I come from Australia for instance and the only racist people there are British baby boomers.

@zafferana

The Aussie government has actively encouraged immigration from Britain for years. It was £10 poms and then it was the easy to get 457 visa (as long as you were earning more than £30k).

I’d say more Brits move to Aus and stay. I knew a lot more Brits in Sydney than I do Aussies over here.

@SerendipityJane There are already more opportunities to move between these countries and of course this has been achieved without trade deal. Obviously the immigrant discussion comes up occasionally during trade talks though.

@Mackerz that was under the white Australia policy, they don’t do that anymore. Now they want migrants who will earn good money and pay high taxes. They’ll only be welcoming a certain kind of Briton.

@bogglesgoggles

Do you live in the UK? It might be because I have both passports but I don’t think Aussies class Brits as immigrants and vice versa. Possibly due to history, language and cultural similarities.

Yes, Aussies come here to work on work holiday visas, but then the vast majority of them go home - even the ones on ancestry (4 year) visas. I know of a couple that stayed actually, but one of those is now in the process of going home (after 16 years!) and the other is a dual citizen who only moved to Aus as a teenager, so he feels like the UK is as much home as there. As for Brits - they love the sunshine and it's like Australia just has this draw for some people. NZ and Canada - not so much. I have one British friend who was obsessed with Canada and she married a Canadian and is raising a family there, but I think she'd move back here if she could. Her DH's job though would not translate to the UK, which is why they've stayed there.

@BogglesGoggles

That’s why I mentioned the current 457 visa. Easy to get for anyone earning around 30k who speaks fluent English. Aus gets educated, culturally similar, tax paying immigrants from Britain.

Actually, I’ve only ever lived in Sydney and Melbourne, so I can’t speak for other areas, in particular rural areas.

@zafferana

The Aussies and one Kiwi I know in the UK have stayed for love. They often talk about moving home though. I understand that as despite having both passports I never felt at home in Aus as my family are mostly in the UK.

@SerendipityJane As I understand it, the UK made it harder for people to come to the UK from those countries (including on working visas) post EU as the government was getting pressure to cut down immigration numbers and as they couldn't stop immigration from the EU this was a way to minimise it.

@Mackerz I’m Australian living in Britain. Anyone who is an immigrant is classed as one, first generation are usually referred to as British/whatever decent Australian, second generation tend to just be called Australian. Australia is very very different to Britain. There was also a period post federation when Australia was very keen to separate itself from Britain. Then there was significant resentment over Gallipoli. Then waves of immigration from other countries. People who have moved over from Britain are definitely not Australian until they’ve assimilated, just like everyone else.