Moving to America or Australia

[userpoppyseed]

How easy is it nowadays to emigrate to America or Australia has a British Citizen?

My brother is wanting to emigrate with his wife and 3 young daughters to one of the above as has friends in both places and just generally sick of the UK. He's a builder by trade so classes as having a specialised skill? Him and his wife are both 37. Kids are between 4 and 12.

I have heard Australia is notoriously difficult to enter even with a sponsored work visa and since the pandemic they prefer to recruit from within the country now but dunno how true that is. Not heard much about America.

iasservices.org.uk/emigrating-to-australia/

America is harder to get into than Australia!

Why on earth would anyone want to move to that prison island?

Having experienced both I'd say Australia is infinitely preferable to the USA but to get a visa you do need a specialist skill that is in short supply.

I'd say Australia over America every single time. As a builder (certified?) I reckon he'd stand a good chance of getting in. Young children are considered the future, not a burden, as they might be in the geocentric 'west'.

I think we're mistaken in thinking America is 'like us', like Oz and NZ - due to English; but, to my mind, Germany is far more like us than America. It is a very different culture.

He needs to be aware that much of Australia's weather/climate makes parts of it increasingly unliveable, tho.

I'm encouraging my DSs, dual Uk/Oz, to consider Canada.

If he passes the skills requirements he should find it easy enough, as there is a shortage of builders in Oz at the minute. I am in Perth and there has been a shortage of builders for ages as so many houses are being built.

And as for prison island, don't make me laugh!

Make sure he takes daycare/schooling costs into account. The daycare fees in Oz are extortionate if you don't qualify for CCS, and the public schools will charge for non-citizens.
Needs to be realistic about his budget too- Australian rent and housing prices are all quite high.
States will vary with costing but still...
(Based in Sydney)

Seriously?

I'd go for Australia over the US but it depends which part of Australia.

My sister lives in Melbourne which is lovely

It's harder than it used to be to emigrate to Oz (as opposed to holidaying), a lot does not transfer easily or cheaply including pension, heath care cover etc.

Would be almost impossible for a Brit to relocate to the US as a builder with no close family links.

Oh good it's time to bash other countries again!

Unfortunately the US doesn't have a points based route and basically, there's no real route for tradespeople.

Huge shortage of builders in Australia and they can charge whatever they like at the moment. Australia has a skills-based path to residency and citizenship. I’m not sure if it’s easy to navigate.

hHe’s get next to no chance coming to the US as a builder. I assume, if he’s in the UK, he builds with bricks? Most buildings are not made of brick here. It’s also not a skill that’s in short supply. We have enough construction workers (which is what we call builders). People from the UK usually have better luck with Canada than the US, from what I’ve heard. The vast majority of immigrants to the US come through the family-based route. Even employment visas don’t necessarily lead to permanent residency. The small number of work visas for the US that are available each year are massively over-subscribed. It’s about one visa for every 4 or 5 applicants who qualify. A builder is unlikely to even qualify.

I wouldn't move to either one of those places, I'd try and dissuade him.

What carer does his wife have?

The US doesn’t have a points based system, I worked in the states for a while H-1B only applies to certain occupations, H-1B is also capped to quite a low number each year.

Just as an aside, most houses in Canada are timber built, not brick.

Bugger, I obviously meant what career does his wife have, not carer.

Getting into Australia will be easier than the US. He can check the points requirement or if his skill is in short demand here immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing
He could also check if it would be easier to move to New Zealand as after 5 years he could apply for residency and then move to Australia.

If he wants Australia he needs to get a move on as once you hit 40 you lose points. There is a massive skills shortage here at the moment so as a builder he would probably be able to find something on the occupations in demand list to apply for PR. It does take a while and it is not cheap (application fees, medicals or everyone including kids etc.) but in my opinion it is much better to have Permanent Residency when you arrive as if you are employer sponsored you are very much at their mercy. You also don’t have to pay fees for public schools and have a faster path to citizenship.