Sol1 Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 Dear Forumites,I am in the process of gathering information for my move to Australia. This is the most scariest thing I have ever done and to be going over with no work is the added fear factor. I was wondering if any of you could share any advice on the following questions:1. I am interested in migrating to Western Australia, NSW or Victoria. Can anyone who live in any of these states please provide me with recomendable surburbs where the average rentals are about $450-500 (Reasonable). I would prefer areas that are near transport routes and also good schools.2. Can anyone recommend any good primary schools in either of these states?3. Is anyone out there that had to do the immigration on their own without having friends and family to stay with for starters? Would you please share your secrets with me such as where you stayed for a reasonable rates, how long it took to secure proper rentals etc? Can someone recommend cheap start up accomodation for 2 adults and a 3 year old?4. In order to secure Rentals could you please inform me about what documents are required and what is the best way to secure a rental? (Some say offer $5 extra etc). Also- do you think it would be possible to secure a rental from South Africa?5. What is the Job situation on the ground like at the moment? When I say Job situation- I mean any Jobs like packing shelfs, driver etc. I am a solicitor by profession but am willing to take any job in the beginning to help maintain my family for starters.6. Don't want to sound like a person that wants handouts but does Centre Link offer any assistance for new migrants whether financial or help with work? I have been informed before that Centre link benifits only become available to migrants after they stay in the country for two years. So not expecting anything and in two years, I would be on my feet anyways without needing the assistance. Just checking though- just in case I missed anything.7. Anyone know the procedure to convert a South African Drivers license to an oz one in either W/A, NSW or Vic?Thank you so much guys- in advance and I really do appreciate your time to help me with information. I know I asked alot of questions but really would appreciate any advice on these questions.Kind regardsGordon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mellee Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 Hi GordonI think I can give advice on a few questions. We have done this whole process by ourselves and we going to lodge our 189 application in this week. The process has become quite streamed lined, so if you willing to do a lot of reading and research, you can save agent fees.We are looking at Victoria area, mornington, seaford and torquay specifically. Both me and my husband work from home so we don't need to be close to transport. I have read sunbury is also a very nice area. Check on realestateview website for a better view of what places cost. We are a family of 5 . A lot of the advice from this forum also is first find the school and then look for a rental round that.2. We have no family there, but with all the advice from this forum we feeling comfortable. What I was thinking was to get hold of a few realestates agents and ask them for fully furnished places while we wait for a container. Can only let you know how that turns out once we get there ?That's as far as my advice can go as we not there yet, but holding both hands high and praying for a smooth process soon ?Good luck ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sol1 Posted February 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 Thank you Mellee . You advice is very much appreciated and all the best with your application. I just wanted to clear any confusion in that I have got the .PR visa and am just researching areas to stay, rentals etc. Thank you lots though and all the best for you and the family. I'm sure it will go well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DXB2OZ Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 Would suggest you try and send your container slightly ahead of you and camp out with friends or family for a bit. That way your time spent paying through the nose for furnished accomodation is minimal.With regards to rentals, bring every single document you can think of, including references if possible. Many people have found success putting down several months in advance and some have even managed to secure a rental while still in SA, although that can be risky.On the upside, with a 3 year old, you have more flexibility with regard to areas, so don't put too much pressure on yourselves to reach a long term goal immediately. Start with a nice area that works with a kindy and travel to work and go from there.Oh yes, pack a sense of humour. You will need it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mellee Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 Apologies?? thought you only starting the process now. Good luck ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nev Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 With regards to property,Melbourne is huge, you have a ton of option with regards to accommodation, the east tends to be more green and the west is a lot dryer, the prices for places east tend to be higher though.Everyone wants to live closer to the city in Melbourne, it is safe, lots of bustle, and where work is, so prices go up the closer to the city you get in.You will find it is a trade off, value for money the further out you go, but add to your travel time to work, there are some further out places like berwick, sunsbury, packenham, ferntree gulley, etc. where prices are good but you will spend an hour on the train each way plus transit to the train, so 2.5 - 3 hours traveling a day..... Always try for a house within 1km of the train but not so close that you get the noise, as you will almost certainly end up training to work (And the trains are awesome)Along the coastline you pay serious premium but it is really nice living along the coastPersonally i am a fan of the suburbs along the Yara river as they are really green and leafy, if you look at Google maps you can see a green strip of parks heading out north east of melbourne, that is some of the greenest area in he city due to the river proximityWe are in Heidelberg and the train line that runs past us goes down that strip, we are 25 min from the city by train when i need to go see a client and i walk to the office as it is local.I also prefer a bit of a busier area, which you find closer to the city 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mara Posted February 24, 2015 Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 Hi Sol1, congratulations on your decision. I will attempt to answer some of your questions, these will all pertain to Victoria and Melbourne, as that is where I live. 1. I am interested in migrating to Western Australia, NSW or Victoria. Can anyone who live in any of these states please provide me with recomendable surburbs where the average rentals are about $450-500 (Reasonable). I would prefer areas that are near transport routes and also good schools.I live in Sunbury, north west of Melbourne, it has a small village atmosphere, good schools and affordable rentals. There is also a fairly large South African population that live here and find it a great place to stay. You can read a bit more about Sunbury here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunbury,_VictoriaThe nice thing is that there are a number of newer suburbs, so there are modern spacious homes available, both to rent and affordable to buy as well. Public transports to the city is via train, which takes around 45 minutes from Sunbury station to Spencer Street station in Melbourne city. You can check out rentals for Sunbury here:http://www.realestate.com.au/rent/with-3-bedrooms-in-sunbury%2c+vic+3429%3b/list-1?activeSort=price-ascBus timetables:http://www.sunburybus.com.au/html/timetables.asp2. Can anyone recommend any good primary schools in either of these states?The schools are :Primary schoolsSunbury West Primary SchoolSunbury Primary School (this school comes highly recommended)Sunbury Heights Primary SchoolKillara Primary SchoolKismet Primary SchoolSt Anne's Primary SchoolOur Lady of Mount Carmel Primary School (both Catholic)Goonawarra Primary SchoolSecondary schools and high schoolsSunbury Downs College (formerly Sunbury Post-primary School)Sunbury College (formerly Sunbury Secondary College, Sunbury High School)Salesian College (also Catholic)OthersSunbury and Macedon Ranges Special School3. Is anyone out there that had to do the immigration on their own without having friends and family to stay with for starters? Would you please share your secrets with me such as where you stayed for a reasonable rates, how long it took to secure proper rentals etc? Can someone recommend cheap start up accomodation for 2 adults and a 3 year old?You could have a look athttp://www.stayz.com.au/https://www.airbnb.com.au/http://www.big4.com.au/There is a bed and breakfast accommodation, close to town centre, but I do not know anything about it. See link here:http://rosaliemay.com.au/4. In order to secure Rentals could you please inform me about what documents are required and what is the best way to secure a rental? (Some say offer $5 extra etc). Also- do you think it would be possible to secure a rental from South Africa?I would suggest that you make sure that you bring a reference from perhaps where you are renting in RSA or from the agent that sold your house, or who is going to rent it out, from your minister, etc. Some have made up a small file, with family pictures of their previous home, a short family history, and of course, offering three months rental in advance, will often get you in the door. The thing is, in Sunbury, there is a lot of rental accommodation available due to all the new building that is happening, therefore you generally do not have to jump through hoops to secure a rental. Although I do know of a couple of people on the forum that have secured rentals before they arrive, 98% do not.. For myself, knowing the industry and trick photography, I would like to see the place before I sign a contract for a year!5. What is the Job situation on the ground like at the moment? When I say Job situation- I mean any Jobs like packing shelfs, driver etc. I am a solicitor by profession but am willing to take any job in the beginning to help maintain my family for starters.The type of jobs you are describing are available, but trying to get a job in a supermarket to pack shelves, could take a while, there are many applicants.There are many labouring jobs, often advertised on the job websites. You say you are a solicitor by profession, have you done your conversion in order to be admitted in Australia? If not, you may want to pursue that first.6. Don't want to sound like a person that wants handouts but does Centre Link offer any assistance for new migrants whether financial or help with work? I have been informed before that Centre link benifits only become available to migrants after they stay in the country for two years. So not expecting anything and in two years, I would be on my feet anyways without needing the assistance. Just checking though- just in case I missed anything.Yes, they will assist with work, or rather refer you to an employment agency for assistance. With regard to other benefits you have to wait two years, except I think for child benefits.As you have a 3year old child, I would register with Centrelink for family benefits. I know nothing about it, but I do hope that perhaps somebody else will answer that question for you.7. Anyone know the procedure to convert a South African Drivers license to an oz one in either W/A, NSW or Vic?I think it is the same now for the whole of Australia, but in Victoria, as long as you are over the age of 25 and have held a drivers license for longer than three years, you walk into a VicRoads office with your RSA license, and they will issue you with a new one. I do believe you have to make an appointment though. You can check it out here:https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/licencesI do hope that the above has been of use to you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nev Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Hi Mara, not sure if the timing has changed but i was checking areas on ptv.vic.gov.au and the train to town from sunbury shows up as taking an hour for that trip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mara Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Hi Nev, I just checked it again, some are 45 mins some are 50 mins. Did not see one for an hour.You can take the suburban trains as well as V-Line from Sunbury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nev Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Ahh ok, perhaps i got it wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Splinky Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Hi Gordon,We haven't been in Australia very long but I think I can help with one or two of your questions or at least just share our experiences.1. We did a lot of research into various suburbs in each major city while waiting for our visa, but ended up (happily) in a spot we had not heard of before. As most people on the forum advise, go where the work is. We decided to base ourselves in Sydney when we arrived and looked for work (country-wide) from there. We travelled a bit to check out some regional areas and also took a roadtrip up to Brisbane for an interview. Brisbane was our preferred location based on our research (no LSD) and when we got there, we just didn't like it. For us (hubby is a CA) work opportunities were also better regionally. We did not set our hearts on a particular city/area and only decided on which suburb to choose once we secured employment.2. Our son is 2 years old so we did not look into primary schools in much depth. Now that we are living in the central coast, we have checked out the local schools and have a good idea of what we want for him. There seem to be good public primary schools in most areas.3. We arrived with no family and only a few people we knew from our schools days! No one close enough to us for us to stay with for a few weeks while we found our feet. So we booked 5 weeks accommodation through an ad we found on gumtree and secured this accommodation about 3 months before we left SA. Worked out well for us and after the 5 weeks we just "winged it" and booked accommodation on a fornightly basis while we job hunted and explored. Probably a slightly more expensive way to do it but so worth it.4. When we got work and started looking for a long term rental, I compiled a rental pack which I took to inspections. I included a "cover letter" with a short introduction to our family with a photo of us and our dogs. I included rental references from estate agents in SA, and also from the lady we rented from for the first 5 weeks in Sydney and the last 2 weeks in Brisbane. Copy of employment contract, visas, passports, medicare cards. We got a rental after a week of looking, again through gumtree (I am a fan, haha). There is a great website realestate.com.au which you can check out. Again, I wouldn't try secure a rental from SA unless you are determined to live in a particular area before securing a job. Even then, I think you would need to physically inspect the property before you could secure it?5. After looking for work for 3 months and no bites, we did apply for a couple of these sort of jobs (newspaper delivery, pizza delivery, manual work) but never got a call back. Luckily, 2 weeks later, hubby got a job in his field. I would try have enough finances to float for at least 4 to 6 months. I have a friend in the legal field who managed to secure a job within 3 weeks of landing in Perth although it was quite a junior position.6. From when we arrived we registered for centrelink and received a payment of about $210 a fornight for our son plus rent assist of about $100. It helps. You can only claim unemployment payments after being resident for 2 years.7. Converting licence is pretty simple. Make sure your SA licence is not about to expire (another South African we met at the licencing dept had this problem). If you are over 25 years of age and have had your licence for (?) 5 years or more, you just do an eye test and your licence is issued immediately. This was in NSW.I guess everyone has a different story to tell and different advice. I think I tend to over plan and immigrating has definitely taught me to be more flexible. Before you know it, the chaos of those first few months will be over and you will be settling in. Best of luck with everything! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsta Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Hey,1) Why not Brisbane? You really want the smallest city or town where you would have decent job opportunities in your field. 3) Yes. I moved out here to nothing. I just shopped around and rented a bachelor flat. It had really poor public transport access (I knew that before by asking for public transport directions on maps.google.com.au).5) The job market is recovering well... except in Western Australia.6) As Mara said, Centerlink provides alls sorts of payments. In a way its the government trying to control you. For example, a child care facility in the Sydney CBD pays over $1 million in rent each year. Instead of the government providing premises for child care facilities, they subsidise the fees "if you qualify". The subsidy amount and "if you qualify" depends on which government gets voted in. So parents must vote carefully. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sol1 Posted February 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 A really big thank you to Mara, DXB2OZ, Nev, Splinky and Monsta. This move is scary as it is and the advise you have given me is invaluable. I cannot thank you all enough for the time and effort you have put in to assist me with information.Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. And I wish you all well and the best for your own adventures down under! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mara Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 You are most welcome, and trust your journey is a smooth one! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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