More questions needing answers

[RCM]

Hi there all.

Firstly, I must thank you all for posting such a worderful and honest responses to my previous post, and so quick as well! We did not expect it and were pleasantly surprised. My wife and I have an appointlent with an immigration agency in about two weeks time and will probably get most questions answered there, but in the mean time I have a few that you might be able to help me with.

First of all, how many of you made use of an immigration agency, and would you recommend it at all? They are fairly pricy, but it appears like they smooth the way and make it a lot easier. Does one 'go it alone' or use them to do the work for you?

Secondly, an easy one... what plugs do they use in Aus and is it 220 or 110 volts? This will probably determine how much of our electrical appliences we take along.

Thirdly, on the point of taking stuff along, how much should one take along as opposed to selling and re-purchasing on that side? I suppose there are advantages and disadvantages to both sides, such as the cost of the move, but also the cost of purchasing new items. Also, I am of the opinion that one would probably adapt more easily when you have most of your belongings with you that are familiar to you. What is the cost (+-) if you should pack your house in a container and send it over the waters, and could you possibly share the container and cost with somebody else?

Fourthly, (please bear with me!!) , how good is the public transport, in general, in the bigger cities? This will determine whether to buy one vehicle or two.

I think I will leave it at that for now, will probably bug you guys later with more questions. Thanks!

RCM

[Mara]

Hi RCM

We made use of an immigration agency when we originally went to NZ, however, if you have a straight forward application, I am sure you could save yourself a lot of money and go it alone!

Electricity is 220v so you can bring all your electrical appliances. I would just suggest that you bring yourself a few of those extender plugs, you know the thing, it plugs into the wall and you can then plug 3 to 5 plugs into it. Then you will not have to change all of SA plugs to Aussie ones immediately, you just change the one that plugs into the wall.

We took all our stuff, filled a 20ft container. I have heard stories of losses in shared containers, especially on the SA side. Our container was packed by removals and then sealed by us with our own locks, that made us feel safer. I think it is a boost having your own stuff, however, as it is expensive to bring the stuff over, you should only do so if it will still last for many years.

Public transport is excellent in most bigger cities, I have not heard anything to the contrary.

Good luck with your decisions and your move!

[Ajay]

Hi again RCM,

Can't answer on the agent question - I came over on a 457 sponsored visa, so it was all handled by my employer. However, I think it's probably worth it to a least pay for an initial consultation, just to get solid advice.

We brought over some stuff, but not much - mainly because a lot of our furniture and appliances were due for replacement anyway. You are able to share a container if you don't have enough goods to fill one, but bear in mind that this could cause some delays as the shipping companies need to wait untiil they hyave another traveller with a half / third /whatever load. But it can be a cheaper alternative if you aren't bringing over that much stuff. We paid R15K for a half load.

I live in Sydney, in the western suburbs (an area called Cherrybrook), and the public transport is fine. There are regular buses to and from the centres and we are only about 7 minutes from a train station, where there are even more regular services. Obviously, the level of service will differ from area to area, but all in all, the public transport system is great!

Keep the questions coming! And best of luck with your appointment with the agent!

Cheers

Ajay

[sa2auz]

Hi there

The public transport here is great and depending where you live and work you might be able to get by on one car. The buses and trains are really great and well run. You can bring your white goods etc with you and will just need to change the plugs, but bear in mind that if you bring over a model or make that is not known here you might battle to get spare parts. We haven't had a problem but I know someone who bought a huge silver fridge over and they can't get some part for it here.

I bought my stuff over and I think it was worth it more because we managed to fit all the little things in that would cost a lot to replace, golf clubs, bikes, kitchen stuff, tools, hobby stuff etc. I think it depends on where you are in your life and what condition your stuff is in and whether you have a lot of things to bring over. We paid $32 000 for a full container and we didn't insure. As far as using an agent goes I know people who have used agents and had good experiences but I also know some who have been messed around. I think an initial assessment is a great idea but I am sure if you put some time into it you could do it yourself. First things first get your unabridged certificates in order get references from past employers so that you can go ahead when you are ready.

You will find tons of help on this forum so have a squizz and get all your questions ready for your agents appointment.

Good Luck

[Jacobus]

Hi daar ou pel!

One thing I have in the back of my mind when thinking about taking things over is will it all fit in. I have a number of large appliances and I am not sure if they will fit into the houses in Aus. We want to move to Sydney and housing is very expensive so we will probably end up in a small apartment. So we decided not to take any of our bulky furniture with.

Hope it helps...

Groete vir almal by die huis!

[Riekie]

Hi daar ou pel!

One thing I have in the back of my mind when thinking about taking things over is will it all fit in. I have a number of large appliances and I am not sure if they will fit into the houses in Aus.

Our fridge did not fit into the "hole" in the kitchen for that purpose so we've just put it in another spot (the "hole" is now home to our dustbin and other odds & ends...) My washing machine & dryer did not fit into the laundry and are now linked up in the garage - luckily there was a basin & power points. All our other furniture fits 100% - no problems apart from having too much (the sizes are similar, though not as heavy & sturdy). I'm SO glad I brought my washing machine & dryer because I can't imagine myself spending all my days washing 20 little bundles - you don't get that big stuff here (and if you're lucky enough to get close to it, it is completely unaffordable!)

[Danie]

Howzat RCM,

1. I am sponsored and did not use a immigration agent. I have notice that there are warning signs about some agents, but the right agent can sort the most trickest application out without hassels. Thus if you have a straight forward application, maybe approach a agent for some general advise! (There has been post on this issue)

2. Our SA stuff work here - no sweat, use Mara's advise of the adaptor

3. The answer is how long is a piece of string... Different fokes has different strokes...

I brought a 21ft container filled to the brim. You know what I enjoyed most the day our stuff arrived... to sleep that night on MY bed! And wake up the next morning and see my stuff!.!.! It gave me that feeling of "I have arrived". The most important stuff is the irreplaceable stuff and stuff made up of memories.

(Again a lot of post has been wrote about this)

A container cost me R38k with out insurance (paid by company)

Unless you can't afford it or really don't have a lot of stuff don't consider sharing a contaner... a receipy for disaster! Stay away!

4. "public transport" Unfortenately I can't comment on the day-to-day transport, I live in a 'regional area' and don't make use of it... I do bicycle to work...

I was recently in Brisbane for a couple of days and has used the public transport and was plenty surprised.

The busses and traines was frequent and it was on time. I don't know if it works like that everyday and how it look in other areas around Brisbane (or other cities) But what I have seen and heard from friends can you, if living close to a city, get along with one car and public transport!

HTH

D

[RCM]

Hi daar ou pel!

One thing I have in the back of my mind when thinking about taking things over is will it all fit in. I have a number of large appliances and I am not sure if they will fit into the houses in Aus. We want to move to Sydney and housing is very expensive so we will probably end up in a small apartment. So we decided not to take any of our bulky furniture with.

Hope it helps...

Groete vir almal by die huis!

G'day Jack! Ons sal julle offerr dalk nog opneem, dankie!

[chatterbug]

Hi RCM,

You have already received some good advice so I'll only try to fill in here and there.

1. We used an immigration agency - we had a straightforward application and although I think that we did not receive the level of service we deserved and the fee's we quite high for the amount of work they actually did, at that time, using them gave us the piece of mind we needed and the comfort that they'd done it all before and it would work out. It did in the end (but our frustration levels with them were bursting at the seams1), but in hindsight (which is always 20/20!)we could have done it ourselves. So if yours is a more difficult application and a "touch and go" situation, rather use a good one, get a good referral and avoid the "fly by nights".

2. plugs - easy issue to sort out here (good advice from Mara) After you get your employment sorted you can buy Aussie plugs - hehe - no seriously they are not very cheap if you buy them with rands - we needed about 30+ for various appliances and I think they were like $10 each (something like that!), convert that into rands and you are looking at a hefty price for something you don't think about.

3. My opinion - take as much new things (that'll last you up to 5-8 yrs) as you can, but leave old stuff and things on their "last legs" behind. Bring over all those family heirlooms and sentimental stuff, as much as you can. For the 30-40K (in R) that it'll cost you for the container shipped over you'd never be able to replace a "household" in Australia (in AUD). We even went ahead and bought some new whitegoods when we started our immigration process. A word of caution though - buy international brands for whitegoods and electronics. I had a Mecer laptop that had my "life" on when we arrived, it soon developed a little prob, could almost not find anyone who'd touch it to repair it. But then our hifi cd player packed up, just recently (international brand and all) and we were just informed that since it was bought in RSA they couldn't get a spare part for it over here, duh?

4. Public transport is excellent here (well compared to SA I suppose anything would be better). I live in Brisbane suburbs and there is no prob's here. I do use it from time to time when convenient, but I do find taht our attitudes to using public transport have not changed that much - we still prefer to drive even if there is an alternative, I guess it is what we grew up with. If you want to use it though make sure that when shopping for suburbs, you take into account the access to Pub Transport, especially trainlines.

Quite a funny experience when we arrived, we moved into a rental townhouse between a yacht marina (Raby Bay harbour - Cleveland) and the local station at Cleveland (the line stops here!). It is all very pretty, picturesque and idillic! But somehow we did not get very enthusiastic and favourable remarks from home (RSA) when we tried to explain we live between the harbour and the station - in fact, I went on to reinforce the "bargain" of a spot we have chosen, the sation is about 300m from my front door.

Only after some pictures and visits and explaining did it sink in. In SA you tend to stay away from busroutes, trainlines and the like, here it is generally seen as an advantage and a good "selling point" for your property.

Hope this helps a bit!

C'bug

Edited July 4, 2006 by chatterbug

[Tim & Abby]

Hi there

We've signed up with an immigration service and so far, so good. I guess we could have done the application alone, but we've found that having someone that we almost feel we have to answer to has made us work a bit faster - never a bad thing with so much admin involved!

Our agents did a presentation, then you could book a one-on-one appointment for a nominal fee (well, that's compared to signing up with them!). Even if you don't go with the agent, that appointment was really valuable, so I'd recommend it.

Let us know how it goes!

Abby (& Tim)

[Annette]

Hi RCM,

We didn't use an agent, but did have an initial (free) consultation with one. Many agents do free first consultations. My personal opinion on this is that the skills assessment is by far the most complicated part of the application and the one part that most folks would appreciate help with. We had a very straightforward skills assessment (only an asessment of academic equivalence and checking of chartered affiliations, really), so did that ourselves as well, but I would say that if you are self-employed or a tradesperson who needs a lot of paperwork and proof of skills, etc. Some skills assessing bodies are more difficult to deal with than others. TRA is one that springs to mind, from talking to others who have done this...

The main visa application is a breeze, there are good instructions on the Immigration Australia website and as long as you keep your wits about you and follow the steps and instructions religiously, you can't go wrong really. The only other things I would definitely get an agent for is complicated medical issues, or things like having adopted children, or being divorced etc. and needing a court order to bring kids etc. - things like that which would complicate the application.

Plugs have been answered already - I won't go into that,

We left a lot of stuff when we first emigrated to the UK - and regretted it a lot. I think you're right about having your things around you. We wanted to make a clean break the first time and it was not a good idea. This time, we have stuffed a 20ft container as full as we could get it - and you won't believe some of the rubbish we unpacked at this end , BUT it's just so nice to have all our stuff! We've worked very hard for most of what we have and though it's probably not all the best quality on earth, every bit has its history and memories and for me, that's more important ...

Adelaide is a very small city, but the public transport is FANTASTIC! The buses in the city centre are even free and run on gas, so no smelly pollution! You can even borrow a free bicycle for a couple of hours from the city council to get around if you prefer pedal power ... Suburban public transport is amazing - clean, reliable, friendly drivers and very cheap

Good luck with the planning

[RCM]

Hi Anette,

Thanks for the nice answer! (and for all of you that have so far). How is the housing in Adelaide? It seems like a nice town. I'm just not sure how many jobs there will be there for my Software Test Engineer background...