Migrating from US to Australia

[dof]

I'm interested in migrating to Australia. I have some questions, these questions might already been answered in this forum, pardon me if i ask them again.
First a little about me,
I'm 27 years old, married, she's same age. I've been living/working in US (Florida) for the last 3 years, I'm in the process of getting green card, almost there.
I work as a software developer, starting in a couple of months as s product manager. I have around 7 years of experience as a developer(VB6, Borland Delphi, JAVA, C#).

Now some questions:

1. Is it worth migrating from US to Australia?
2. How long is the process going, how much it cost, should I do it by myself?
3. How easy it is to find a job not being in Australia?
4. Do I need to find first a job, then apply, should I apply first, get my papers, find a job and then move? What's the best path?
5. Where can I find a good comparison of cost of living between US and Australia, or maybe somebody can tell me?
6. If Australia, WHERE in Australia, and WHY?

[thinker]

Dof,

1. Is it worth migrating from US to Australia?
Yes, its one of the well developed nation on the planet. Has good track record for personal health and wealth. Was ranked in top 10 in high standard of living, Top 5 nations in health care, one of the lowest crime rate in the developed world, Australian cities have been voted the most liveable cities in the world many times, etc would justify for coming to Australia.

2. How long is the process going, how much it cost, should I do it by myself?
If you are looking at permanent residency, it would take about 10 to 12 months time. Application cost would be less than A$2,000. If you are going thru an migration agent then you can look at A$2-$4k in migration agent fees (excl. visa appl cost) depending on your case. I am pro DIY and have stated that on every one of my post. Australian visa process can be done by an individual if he/she is little organised and able to understand English. DIY Australia Visa will save your time and hard earned money.

3. How easy it is to find a job not being in Australia?
It depends on your field of work. Being in IT will have more competition but there are plenty of opportunities in Australia. Check www.seek.com.au for some job opportunities.

4. Do I need to find first a job, then apply, should I apply first, get my papers, find a job and then move? What's the best path?
This is purely dependent on how much risk you are willing to take!! There is no best option here. What if you find a job but dont get your visa / residency?

5. Where can I find a good comparison of cost of living between US and Australia, or maybe somebody can tell me?
Firstly you cannot compare a country's cost of living to another country. Cost of living is based on cities living expenses. So here is some aussie cities cost of living ranking. Sydney ranked 21st among Top 150 cities in the world whereas New York ranked 15th, Melbourne ranked 78th. This ranking would give you the varying cost between cities in Australia.

6. If Australia, WHERE in Australia, and WHY?
You will need to do your own research here, as only you can tell which is good for your career and lifestyle. Sydney is the top city, next comes Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and the rest.

Since you and your partner are 27 years old, it would be better to make your visa application within a year, that way you can claim 30 points for age when you are under 28. else it would be cut to 25 points. 5 points is a big deal in Australian Visa.

All the best in your Australian Visa process!!

[dof]

Thanks a lot thinker!
Finally a response, and a good one.
Just to verify your data:

The world's 50 most expensive big cities
http://www.citymayors.com/features/cost_survey.html


The world's top cities offering the best quality of life
http://www.citymayors.com/features/quality_survey.html

[Atasas]

Dof,

1. Is it worth migrating from US to Australia?
Yes, its one of the well developed nation on the planet. Has good track record for personal health and wealth. Was ranked in top 10 in high standard of living, Top 5 nations in health care, one of the lowest crime rate in the developed world, Australian cities have been voted the most liveable cities in the world many times, etc would justify for coming to Australia.

2. How long is the process going, how much it cost, should I do it by myself?
If you are looking at permanent residency, it would take about 10 to 12 months time. Application cost would be less than A$2,000. If you are going thru an migration agent then you can look at A$2-$4k in migration agent fees (excl. visa appl cost) depending on your case. I am pro DIY and have stated that on every one of my post. Australian visa process can be done by an individual if he/she is little organised and able to understand English. DIY Australia Visa will save your time and hard earned money.

3. How easy it is to find a job not being in Australia?
It depends on your field of work. Being in IT will have more competition but there are plenty of opportunities in Australia. Check www.seek.com.au for some job opportunities.

4. Do I need to find first a job, then apply, should I apply first, get my papers, find a job and then move? What's the best path?
This is purely dependent on how much risk you are willing to take!! There is no best option here. What if you find a job but dont get your visa / residency?

5. Where can I find a good comparison of cost of living between US and Australia, or maybe somebody can tell me?
Firstly you cannot compare a country's cost of living to another country. Cost of living is based on cities living expenses. So here is some aussie cities cost of living ranking. Sydney ranked 21st among Top 150 cities in the world whereas New York ranked 15th, Melbourne ranked 78th. This ranking would give you the varying cost between cities in Australia.

6. If Australia, WHERE in Australia, and WHY?
You will need to do your own research here, as only you can tell which is good for your career and lifestyle. Sydney is the top city, next comes Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and the rest.

Since you and your partner are 27 years old, it would be better to make your visa application within a year, that way you can claim 30 points for age when you are under 28. else it would be cut to 25 points. 5 points is a big deal in Australian Visa.

All the best in your Australian Visa process!!

Thanks for simple and frank post/opinion from my lazy bum too!
I do find it usefull...

[Spark]

I guess the answer to the question of whether or not it would be worth it is up to you, personally I would definitely rather live in the United States given the choice, but everybody is different.

[Wizard of Oz]

Hi Dof, thanks for asking such an interesting quesetion, and thanks Thinker for the very insightful comments.

I have a sister who is a permanent resident of the US already. Have several relatives who are also either permanent residents (a.k.a. Green Card) or citizens in the US... Some in Canada too.

For a while, my husband and I were considering the US, Canada and Australia. For reasons we have, we finally selected Australia. The choice has not been a quick one --- it has taken us many years to decide, and a trip to Australia last year was what decided it for us (although my husband had visited 2x prior to this deciding trip).

Thinker shared a lot of points that are certainly worth pondering.

In my case, however, we chose to go with a migration agent (at this point, I am happy with our decision, given that during the course of my preparing our documents some rather complex issues have come up which I would not know how to deal with on my own).

Would it be worth choosing Australia? From where we are, it's a big YES. It has taken us about 8 long years to decide and finally we feel we have chosen the best destination to live in. I am praying that our application will be successful

You said you are almost there with your green card. May I ask why you are considering moving to Australia at this point? Is there anything with your life or work in the US that makes you consider another country?

I believe that the US and Australia both allow dual citizenship. So if you do some more research, who knows you may yet end up with the best of both worlds

GOOD LUCK!


Wizard =D

[dof]

Thanks for the input.

There is nothing wrong with my life here but i think that now, when we are still young, and with no kids, we should travel and see the world as it is, not as a simple tourist, then you can decide where is the place for you, for your children, etc...

[Wizard of Oz]

Hi Dof,

I like your thinking.... It is good to see the world if you don't have kids yet... If you have the means, go for it while you're young.

The older one gets, there is a tendency to stay put, because one gets very comfortable in their comfort zones

Do you have any idea where in Australia you want to try?


Wizard =D

[dof]

I have no idea, well i have an idea, Melbourne, as i heard it's quite, cheaper and you can find jobs there.
And it's true, the older you get, the lazier you become and i have my grandparents as example you can give them an entire floor at Louvre and they wouldn't want to live there

Hi Dof,

I like your thinking.... It is good to see the world if you don't have kids yet... If you have the means, go for it while you're young.

The older one gets, there is a tendency to stay put, because one gets very comfortable in their comfort zones

Do you have any idea where in Australia you want to try?


Wizard =D

[Wizard of Oz]

HA HA HA HA..... I can understand that! Well, give me the entire floor then and we'll move in faster than you can say Louvre.

Here where we come from, it's a fairly common reaction from people to think you're crazy to want to migrate to ___ (US, Canada, Australia, UK, etc), because here it is usual to have maids. People would say why give up life here where you have maids to clean your house, do your laundry, etc., and move somewhere you have to do everything for yourself.

I and my husband have talked about this often enough, and as we have relatives who have also migrated (and we are aware of the radical change in lifestlye) we are prepared to face the challenges... If it means better opportunity for work and a better life for our kids when they grow up, I could live without maids and all that.

I'd rather come home tired from work, faced with a mountain of laundry and yet know our lives are going somewhere, than stay stuck here in a "comfort zone" that won't improve our lives anyway.

Wizard =D