So, how do I move to a new country?

Factual Questions
21

[QUOTE=Martini Enfield]
. . . and I know from previous experience that the amount of work involved in shifting to the next state is almost exactly the same as the amount of work involved in shifting to a foreign country.
[/QUOTE]

I’ve lived in the USA all my life, so I’m interested in what you mean by the above. Are there hoops you need to jump through to move from say Queensland to NSW?

Here in the USA if you want to move from Florida to Washington state you just get a van and pack your stuff. Give up your apartment or sell your house and hit the road. Upon arrival you rent, or buy, a place to live and look for a job. Yes, you need to get a driving license from the new state, but you usually have 30 days or so to get that done. And often no road test is required for that.

What’s different about moving about in Australia?

Perhaps a new thread about the difficulties or ease of moving about in different countries is in order?

22

[QUOTE=GaryM]
I’ve lived in the USA all my life, so I’m interested in what you mean by the above. Are there hoops you need to jump through to move from say Queensland to NSW?

Here in the USA if you want to move from Florida to Washington state you just get a van and pack your stuff. Give up your apartment or sell your house and hit the road. Upon arrival you rent, or buy, a place to live and look for a job. Yes, you need to get a driving license from the new state, but you usually have 30 days or so to get that done. And often no road test is required for that.

What’s different about moving about in Australia?

Perhaps a new thread about the difficulties or ease of moving about in different countries is in order?
[/QUOTE]

I meant in the sense that to move anywhere, you call a removal company, they come in, pack up your stuff, and then you get yourself from point A to point B and await the arrival of your stuff a few hours/days/weeks later.

If Point A is Queensland, it doesn’t really matter, empirically speaking, whether point B is Sydney, London, or Dar-Es-Salaam, the simple fact is that your stuff is in a container somewhere and will be delivered wherever you want it.

Moving in Australia is otherwise just like moving anywhere else, as you mentioned in your reply. I’m just saying that from a practical point of view, if I’m going to shift to Sydney or Melbourne, I may as well shift to London or Vancouver or Abu Dhabi and have an OE while I’m at it.

I know, you need visas and paperwork to do that, but assuming you plan well enough in advance, that shouldn’t be an insurmountable issue.

You know, I really shouldn’t have a map of the world on my study wall. It just gives me ideas… :smiley:

23

[QUOTE=Martini Enfield]
I know from previous experience that the amount of work involved in shifting to the next state is almost exactly the same as the amount of work involved in shifting to a foreign country.
[/QUOTE]

I’ve not moved between states in Australia, but I’ve moved from Australia to the US, and I doubt if this is true. Apart from the problems of getting a green card or an employment visa, you do have unexpected problems.

The biggest ones are related to the fact that you have no credity history. Even if you have thousands of dollars in your Australian bank account, own your own home having paid off the mortgage, and have a couple of Australian credit cards, you are a nonentity as far as the American sciene is concerned. Apply for a syoe credit card? Don’t: you’ll get knocked back. Rent an apartment? They’ll run a credit check, and then you’ll have to explain to them why they should rent to a person with no credit history. Buy a car for cash, then try to insure it? Sorry, you don’t get our best rates, because not only is your license only a week old, but you have no credit history. It’s very frustrating for a few months – but you solve the problem by opening a bank account, getting a debit card (they won’t give yuou a real credit card), and waiting until your credit history matures a little.

24

[QUOTE=Giles]
I’ve not moved between states in Australia, but I’ve moved from Australia to the US, and I doubt if this is true. Apart from the problems of getting a green card or an employment visa, you do have unexpected problems.

The biggest ones are related to the fact that you have no credity history. Even if you have thousands of dollars in your Australian bank account, own your own home having paid off the mortgage, and have a couple of Australian credit cards, you are a nonentity as far as the American sciene is concerned. Apply for a syoe credit card? Don’t: you’ll get knocked back. Rent an apartment? They’ll run a credit check, and then you’ll have to explain to them why they should rent to a person with no credit history. Buy a car for cash, then try to insure it? Sorry, you don’t get our best rates, because not only is your license only a week old, but you have no credit history. It’s very frustrating for a few months – but you solve the problem by opening a bank account, getting a debit card (they won’t give yuou a real credit card), and waiting until your credit history matures a little.
[/QUOTE]

Yes, we had this problem when we moved from the U.S. to Australia. Also, if you’re moving to the U.S., you need to worry about health insurance. If you already have a job lined up before you come that provides that, cool. If not, it could be a problem for you. Getting your stuff from Point A to Point B isn’t all that easy, either. Moving from state to state, you can rent a truck and go. We arrived in the U.S. on November 7. We’re picking up our boxes…tomorrow. Hopefully.