Hi folks,

My name is Sean and I'm 34 years old, married and we have a 6 year old daughter and we live in Scotland. I am a Stonemason to trade but can also plaster and tile. My wife and I are keen to move to Australia so I will be looking for any advice from any fellow British folk who have successfully emigrated to Australia. We would like to settle in the Melbourne area so any tips or advice would be gratefully welcomed.

I plan to contact the Australian visa bureau first for an informal chat. Is that the best first step to take?

Kind regards,

Sean

Having looked into the migration process a bit deeper it seems more complex and harder than initially thought. I have been out my trade for just over a year doing other work as the recession in the Uk killed the building trade. I contacted an agent for advice and they said it could cost in excess of ?4500 to obtain a visa. This amount and they way Australia have changed the migration criteria does come as a slight disappointment but not a write off.

My wife and I have decided to hang fire for just now and start saving up. We have now set a goal to be in Australia in about 4 years, this will in turn give us more money to move over with as the value of our property can only go up each year and when we do finally sell our property it will be less money to pay back to the bank and more money to take over and start a new life.

It would still be good to hear from Australians about life down under so I intend on sticking around the forum for a while yet!

All the best,

Sean

Hi Sean

Another Scot here! Interesting to read your post as we are starting to seriously consider the move over to Australia as well.

?4.500 is a huge amount of money just for visa applications isn't it? I started doing my skills assessment online and just to have that processed alone is about ?250 but then I suppose we will have to pay this as a starting point and see how we go from there.

Good luck with your savings and hope you do manage to make your trip eventually.
Angela

Sean,

Just a word of caution, keep an eye on your and your wifes age.

Australia runs a points based migration system and the older you are when you apply, the fewer points you will get. The last drop off is age 40 and you are disqualified at 45.

There is no better time than NOW to get started. The pressure is on the government to severely restrict immigration and the tap is already turning off.
You do not have to actually move here as soon as you get the visa, you just have to make your first visit.

Do the research, if you are well organized, you can do your own skills assessment and visa application and save yourself tons of money.

Best of luck!!

Marilyn

Thanks guys for your valuable input. The age thing does concern me a little so I will be investigating other/ quicker avenues. I used to have a building maintenance business a few years ago so I may incorporate starting up another business in my visa application. Hopefully that would help me out a bit as I do understand Australia is short of skilled workers. Angela, keep me updated on your progress.

All the best,

Sean