Emigration

[Roughquest]

Could someone give me the basics on emigrating to Australia? I am thinking of selling my house and getting out of Blighty, and I have done my research into Oz and its the place I would like to be. How much could I expect to pay for flights, medicals, references, etc etc, I know its a points system to get in but how would I know if I qualify ?

Thanks in advance,

RQ xx

[Buenchico]

For general information, start here:
http://www.immi.gov.au/migration/index.htm

For the list of acceptable occupations, together with their points scores, see here:
http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/1121i.pdf

The application fee is �865.
Qantas charge about �950 for a single flight to Oz (but cheaper flights are available). The cost of transporting your belongings, however, would probably be far higher. (Budget for several thousand pounds).

There are lots of informative links from the Australian High Commission website:
http://www.australia.org.uk/vti/html/

Chris

[Povemeister]

Hey RQ, right where shall i start!!

Ok, My girlfriend & I did exactly what u are planning to do just over 12 months ago, we sold our house bought a one way ticket with the intention of staying there permanently.

Unfortunately, Aus is a very difficult place to migrate to permanently and consequently as a result we're both back here in England living with our parents!!

Never-the-less, their are ways this can be done depending on ur circumstances.

If u have a kind of trade (and a minimum of 2/3 years experience) which is recognised as a skills shortage on the website listed on the other answer, you're off to a good start.... You'll need to go to an office of immigration when u get there to be 'means tested' to prove that you can do what u can say u can do and this will generally get you an initial 4 year visa which can be relatively easily be renewed afterwards.

If you have any relatives who are citizens of Australia, you can also check the feasibility of getting visa this way.

Alternatively if you don't have either, you can quite easily become a International Student which is what I very nearly did myself. Before you leave, look for a course with TAFE, Griffith, QUT Universities and you can find a course which will give you a couple of years worth of tuition and a visa to match. You can only work for upto 20 hours a week in Aus if u are studying though and the courses will set u back about �5000 also. Once you have completed one of the courses (towards a trade/skill shortage) you can quite easliy get a permanent visa. Continued.........

[Povemeister]

continued......With regards to flights, go to www.worldwideflights.com where u can get return flights from �440 and one-way from �390. - I'd recommend Korean Air if you can get it, because it splits the flight equally, (2 nine hour flights) it's the shortest flight to Aus i know of and the service is excellent. Stop off for a night in Seoul, beautiful clean city.

UK citizens have a reciprocal agreement with Aus, so u will be able to get free Hospital emergency treatment, but any other kind of treatment and doctors will cost you. Make sure you get a Medicare card when you get there, you can get one of these by firstly registering with a doctor and then taking the filled out forms to a medicare office and the card will get you approx 50% off all treatment. As a rule, I paid about �20 for an appointment and �6 for treatment from the chemist and you then take the receipts to the medicare office who give u a 50% refund in cash.
Hope all this helps, if you'd like any more info, give us a call on 07977 300798 as I'm planning to go back myself soon.
PS. One regret I did have was to sell my house, why not free up some equity for the travels but then rent out, at least if it all goes wrong, you've still got a house to come back to!!

[Aussie Aid]

Visit this site, they might be able to help you. They emigrated there 2006.

www.pomsdownunder.com

Good luck