Moving to Australia

[Resembleflower]

My husband and I are mid 40’s and have 13yr old and 16yr old. Kids are open to moving oldest is very keen, both love surfing, sailing and most water sports. I’d like to have a change and up for a new adventure. Husband has wanted to go for a long time. We have few ties here and family is in Europe.

I'm a nurse, am I mad thinking to do this? I’ve googled and googled and I’m searched out. Looking at Brisbane but not a definite. My kids have a medical condition and I’m trying to work out if that would bar us moving.

Before getting your visa, the whole family will have to pass a medical exam. If your children have a disease that might make it a burden to the medical or social system, the whole family might get denied.
The medical examination will come after the first steps of the visa have already been cleared and this means money already spent. You should enrol an immigration agent to save you money.

Brisbane is nice, but as you know not near the water. Consider Gold Coast or Surfers Paradise or anywhere in the Sunshine Coast instead. No significant difference in cost of living, huge difference in lifestyle. Don't go North Queensland, you can't go in the water for half the year. Anything above Gladstone is a big NO, no matter how well they pay you.

There is a catastrophic shortage of nurses, so you stand a good chance.

Don't wait to start process because it needs to be approved before your eldest turns 18.

I'd look at Perth. Great care, lovely beaches, miss it!

Thanks for the detailed reply, I haven’t found an immigration agent yet. Are you in the UK or Australia? I think kids medical condition may be a no. Day to day there is no concerns or meds but if they were to require surgery it could be costly. Will do some more research and more searching.

Will do!

Join British Expats or Poms in Oz for the most up to date advice and recommendations for immigration agents. As a nurse I would think you would be able to get a visa easily but your kids’ medical condition might make it a no no. Friends of ours both had jobs on the occupations in demand list (one a nurse) but one of their children had a disability that required frequent medical intervention which meant they didn’t pass the medical (which is actually quite extensive, my then 13yo has to have a HIV test!). Mid 40s you probably won’t have enough points for a straightforward PR application - we got PR based on DH’s job but he was 38 - so you would have to rely on being sponsored as a nurse. If your DH was on the occupations in demand list that would help, there is a real worker shortage here at the moment. Best of luck, it is a great place to live.

Very unlikely you will find a visa with a pathway to permanent residency I think due to your age.

And also depending on medical condition highly likely you will be refused a permanent residency visa on those grounds. Aus visa process is brutal and very discriminatory.

Being a nurse you shouldn’t have any trouble with immigrating.

lots of people in Perth from the uk, not sure if it’s any good for surfing ? Always thought it a bit flat… but it’s a great city.

anyhow our family member lives near Brisbane and regularly drives up north to the Sunshine Coast for the beach. The roadways are mostly fantastic and I have found infrastructure goes in before the bulk of the people do.

The gold coast is another option, although traffic heading out and north is terrible working mornings and the same heading south of an afternoon. The heat of Qld may not be to your liking though…

why not take a family trip and have a look?

We’re crying out for nurses and other health workers.

I grew up in Brisbane, I love a lot about it but the summers are too hot for me. There are no beaches in Brisbane as such, you have to go north or south. In terms of cities, Perth seems to be popular with British expats. But it’s a long way from everything. Or even Newcastle, great beaches and reasonable housing prices.

Not sure about visa but maybe if you say you’d work regionally it might help the process. Some are paying an extra 10,000 to get nurses regionally as we’re desperate . Highly recommend places like Forster in NSW. Beautiful beaches, great surfing, lakes etc. Port Macquarie is the same. But again not sure with medical condition and age if it will come into it.

I'm in Perth, it's wonderful. Lots of world-class surfing in Margaret River ( watch the movie Breathe as it's set in Margs.) Houses here are much cheaper than the East coast, although there is a housing shortage everywhere. You really should talk to an agent to see if your kid's medical condition is likely to rule you out, or your age. Is you are eligible you should go for it! I emigrated in my 40s and my only regret is not moving earlier.

Go for Newcastle NSW. Big hospital ( John Hunter) 2 hours drive north from Sydney. Fabulous beaches and schools. House prices are not as ridiculous as Sydney. Lovely vibe.

@Cormoran sorry if this is a stupid question, but when you said you can’t go in water north of Gladstone for 6 months a year, do you mean because of jelly fish?

Australia is very strict in pre-existing medical conditions. You need to enquire about your child's condition and whether it will be a bar for an Australian visa before you bother with any other steps.

@50but17inside There are more than one type of jellyfish. Irukandji jellyfish is another which you need to be aware of. Then there are the crocs... and when you see them walking on the beach at night, you just want to hide in your hotel bedroom. We went to Palm Cove, beautiful, but I couldn't get rid of fear.
And Perth, well, a poor 16 years old girl just died yesterday, killed by a shark.

On the medical conditions, there are often in the news, very sad stories, like this one of a doctor whose visa was denied because the son had Down Syndrome. So yes, absolutely use an agent before you spend tens of thousands of $$$$$

I emigrated a couple decades ago and came back. Cost of living was higher than the UK when you factor in wages. Houses were expensive for what you got. There is a significant drug and gambling problem and women were very much second class citizens (especially in the more rural and northern areas). You have to pay even for paper at school and you have to pay for medical insurance. Not knowing if the spider in your room was one of the ones that was lethal was draining too. It seems everything out there wanted to kill you. It felt a very very long way away from anything and I've travelled a lot in the past. Ex Brits can have a bit of a chip on their shoulders about new immigrants. I felt they were trying to be more Aussie by it.

I liked the weather and cars were cheap. This was Melbourne. I'm glad I did it as it made me appreciate the UK.

Cars are no longer cheap!!! And airfares have tripled! Domestic and international!!

She’s a nurse though

Yes but not sure if that is an exemption to the age requirements for PR and her child's medical condition?

A lot of misinformation here, I've lived in both Aus (Melb) and UK. Aus has public schools just like the UK and you certainly don't have to pay for paper in them. Aus also has a fully free public health system that's ranked a lot higher in world rankings than the NHS. There's no need to pay for health insurance but if you choose to, it's tax deductible.

Oh and 'women were second class citizens'... Surely you're kidding 😂

@BeeHappy12 there is a requirement in public schools for 'book packs' and we have been asked to provide things like a ream of paper, tissues, hand soap and cleaning items (NSW).

@Resembleflower medical conditions have a huge impact on visa applications. Definitely take advice before spending $$ on the application

Brisbane is a great place to live. Great surf beaches an hours drive away both north and south, plus some lovely (not so surfy) beaches at the Redcliffe Peninsula. I've lived at the Gold Coast (south of Brisbane) and Sunshine Coast (north of Brisbane) and prefer to base in Brissie and drive to the beaches. Beautiful weather pretty much all year round.

Oh, and I just laugh when people talk about the scary creatures we have living here! I've never seen a poisonous jellyfish. The only crocs I've seen were at a zoo. We swim at the beach regularly and have never seen a shark (I did, however, sit on my balcony today and watch whales frolicking in the water, that was cool!). I can't remember the last time I saw a poisonous spider (maybe 30 years ago?). I saw a snake on our fence about 5 years ago; it was a harmless green tree snake. There is no such thing as a 'Drop Bear'.