More Brits Than Ever Dream of Living in Australia

A brand new property and living abroad survey conducted by Bank of Scotland International has revealed some pretty startling findings – for example nowadays almost half of us Brits have a dream of living abroad.  Indeed a whopping 42% of all those surveyed said that ‘yes, they could see themselves living the dream overseas’ - which means that if everyone does eventually follow their heart, Britain’s roads and trains will certainly become less congested!

The survey went on to ask respondents where in the world they would ideally like to live and it seems that more Brits than ever dream of living in Australia.  Well, I suppose it’s unsurprising seeing as Australia is English speaking, it has a great climate and the standard of living is exceptionally high…but what are the realities of moving to start a brand new life in Australia?  In this article we help you get prepared mentally and physically for a new life down under if you too share the dream of moving to live in Australia.

The decision to move abroad can be fuelled by a myriad of circumstances, desires, dreams and ambitions, but the decision has to be supported by all members of the family if you are to succeed in fulfilling your desire to start a new life overseas. 

So, if like the majority of those surveyed by Bank of Scotland International you dream of living in Australia, you need to sit down and talk it through with your immediate family members - i.e., all those you hope will accompany you as well as all those you wish to support you - and explain why you want to emigrate. 

As a family you can walk and talk through ideas and ambitions, worries and practicality issues and hopefully iron out all the main points as a unit so that when the time does come to make the move, you are all committed to the decision, pulling in the same direction and mutually supportive of each other.

The more you can work as a supportive team the more likely you are to succeed.  When you invariably hit upon snags and problems you will be able to draw on the collective strength of the family unit and get through the issue at hand and come out the other side stronger – trust me, I know it’s true!

With the decision definitely made to move to Australia it’s time to look closely at the practicalities of being accepted as a new resident in Australia. 

Like many nations Australia places restrictions on who and how many can move to live ‘down under’ annually.  If you have a specific and in demand trade or skill or you have family already resident in Australia it’s fair to say you will find the visa process far simpler.  There are many different types of visa that you can potentially apply for depending on your age, experience, background and reasons for wanting to live in Australia – or if you’re under 45 years of age and have about 1.5 million Australian dollars that you’re willing to invest for four years in state issued bonds for example, then you could choose this route as it’s far quicker!

Assuming you don’t have masses of spare wealth floating about you need to carefully examine the options available to you.  You can either look on the Australian Government’s Visa and Immigration website and download all the information you want from there, or you can write or visit the Australian embassy in the UK and get the information and application forms from them, their address is Australia House, Strand, London WC2B 4LA.

There is no fast way around the visa process and there is no easy way around it either.  For the best chance of acceptance, spend sufficient time looking into each visa option and determining which is most applicable to you before applying.  Get all your paperwork in order upfront so that you can move fast when requested to do so, and keep on top of your application and chase it up regularly to check progress.  In terms of the paperwork you will need it will vary from visa type to visa type but get all your official documents copied and have the copies certified by a solicitor or JP – by official documents I mean the likes of birth and marriage certificates as well as passports etc.

Once you have the visa and the permission to go and live in Australia you will probably begin to panic!  It’s true, often people are so buoyed up and excited when they submit their application, but because it can take many, many months for an acceptance to come through a great deal of the initial fervour has ebbed away.  But trust me, once the visas come through you will lurch from feelings of tingling excitement to out and out panic!

My advice to you is this…once you have submitted your visa application begin planning your emigration.  Some say this is tempting fate (or tempting a rejection) – but if you have everything in place at least in your mind, by the time the visa comes through you will find the actual moving part of the process far less painful. 

By the way - I don’t mean you need to have sold your house, packed your crate and bought your flight tickets – but if you have your house in order, you know what you want to take, sell off, leave behind, you have money in the right bank account ready to use and you have written out a million checklists of things to do (or is it just me that does that!) so that you can tick tasks off in order when the time comes, you will sail through the emigration process pretty unscathed.

In terms of what to take and what to leave – don’t make sacrifices!  Sacrifices hurt at the time and eat away at you for years – i.e., don’t give everything away but at the same time, don’t be tempted to try and take everything.  You can gift items to friends and family on the proviso that if you hate it and come home you can get them back!  You can also sell items on and take the money and buy new in your new country. 

One thing does hold very true for anyone moving to start a new life anywhere overseas – and that is, you have to be prepared to give up your old life to start your new life so there will be feelings of loss and maybe even some of regret at times, but focus on the fantastic fundamentals of your new life and move forward.

In conclusion, if you stick together and make decisions as a family unit, if you stay focused on the end game and do all the hard work, planning and preparing you can possibly do and if you look to the future and positively focus on the fantastic new life you will have in Australia, you will soon be able to read statements like ‘more Brits than ever dream of living in Australia’ and smile smugly because you will have achieved the dream while others can only keep on hoping.