I'm interested in making a BIG move to Australia...?

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DreadSmurf

try by contacting your nearest Aust Consulate, or try online.
That will be able to answer your question more thoroughly.
I'll find out what i can for you & send it through.

slightly delusional!!

I think Big Raymond sums it all up perfectly....we'd so much welcome you and your girl here JB, But I would highly recommend holidaying here first to get a feel for the country. It will be one hell of a culture shock for you...and I'd hate to think that you would pack up and leave your family on a hope that this is the perfect place for you..and then having you leave disappointed....
Travel from state to state...Australia is so diverse...get a feel for where you like the best....
I too had a quick look into dual citizenship for you, and that doesn't seem to be a problem. I would suggest maybe contacting the Australian Embassy for more info.
As for jobs, they seem easy enough to find, depending of course what you were after..
Come and visit us JB...have a holiday, kick back and enjoy what us Aussies love so much about this country of ours, then decide on what is best for you, keeping in mind how hard it will not only be for you, but for your girl as well....a huge adjustment from what you are used to.

Big Raymond

The first thing you must consider is your attitude to Australia, we are not a part of the US and we are not controlled by your way of life.
I am not saying you specifically, but many Americans come here with that sort of attitude, and end up getting treated like the worst peice of "american white trash" they have ever seen, so b mindful of that attitude towards our country and people.
You are allowed to have dual citizenship here, so n problems about that, but it takes a while before you can apply for Australian nationality, and now there is a stupid test, like you have in the US, and i mean stupid, but you can blame our former PM (Howard) for being too close to your stupid President and getting stupid ideas off him.
You can get rental property pretty easy if you have a decent income and can prove it, thats all but you might find it difficult to get a high paying job unless you have some qualifications that are in demand here, trades, food industry, and hospitality/tourism industries are in high demand these days in Australia. You definitly need a good educational background to get a good career rather than just a mongrel waiter/waitress job, using your knowledge of your own skills and education in whatever field that is use http://www.seek.com.au/
and type in the blue box the type of job etc and click the other boxes for various locations and all that. You may be pleasantly surprised by the job opportunities that come up in the places you might want to live.
Melbourne and Sydney are dry cities, hot in summer cool in winter, mild sort of weather for Aussies, temps range from no less than 0 degrees C in winter (at night) to about 42 degrees C on a hot summer day. ( it think thats well over the 100 F. mark) Brisbane and further north are more tropical and humidity is a problem the further north you go and also risky of cyclones in the summer time. Adelaide is a quiet city, a bit more relaxed than Melb and Sydney, but similar weather, over in the west at Perth the weather is pretty windy and hot the lifestyle is beach and all that, but not as busy as Melb and Sydney.
Not many people live inland, I mean not many, like no-body, people die out there, its desert, there is no food no water, and unless you are an Aboriginal you are gonna die out there quickly, its probably like Nevada, but about 10 times the size. basically everywhere but the coastal areas are dry deserts, but some people like to go there......why?????

Charlie

Immigrating to Australia is not easy. You must have a skill which is needed in the job market there...usually requiring at least a 4 yr. college degree. You must find an employer in order to get a work visa. Immigrating to Australia usually takes a LOT of work and several years...even for highly skilled technical people. You can begin your research on visa and immigration requirements at the site below.

Penny J

1)You will need to have you permanent residency granted first before you can naturalize and this takes around 2-5yrs.
2) It is not too hard to find but keeping it is getting hard as interest rates keep rising and people are foreclosing daily.
3) not hard. go to seek.com.au, mycareer.com.au or careerone.com.au for jobs lisitngs.
4) yes it is but since the departure of El Nino, La Nina has turned up, amost broken the drought and brought lots of rain.
5) make sure you have plenty of money to survive as its not cheap here.

I'm with Jodz JB, holiday first, travel the country.
Get a feel for the place, Australia is generally not what people expect.

Everyone else has already given you all the information you need. I would contact the Australian Embassy and speak with them for any additional information you need.

peace â™¥

â€¢ Koala â€¢ uÊop É¹Çpun

Hi JB - are you still in the Army? Get a transfer LOL
US has got military bases here http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/us-gets-military-base-in-australia/2007/02/14/1171405295243.html also Pine Gap Research Facility, Located 12 miles from Alice Springs in Australia's Northern Territory. This base is described as a "Defense Space Research Facility" sponsored by both the American and the Australian defense departments. It is run by the American National Security Agency (NSA). http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0609-06.htm
.... ok if you are no long in the USA Defense you'll have to slug it out the hard way.

Are you under 45? Do you have a skilled occupation that is on the Australia's skilled shortage list - see here the The Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) http://www.workingin-australia.com/info/463 or http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/skilled-occupations/occupations-in-demand.htm

Australia Needs Skills Recruitment Expos (see if there is one in your area) - http://www.immi.gov.au/skillexpos/index.htm and http://www.expo-australia.com They are there to help with immigration questions and job offers.

You really need to research Immigration for Australia - http://www.immi.gov.au - this is the main site, It does have everything you need to know about moving here and if it's possible.
For a short cut do an Australia Skilled Immigration Assessment Form - http://www.workpermit.com/australia/relocation.htm
and use a Point Calculator - http://www.workpermit.com/australia/point_calculator.htm

Working In Australia, For more jobs, helpful tips and information on companies assisting you with your move - http://www.workingin-australia.com

How to Live Here - Step-by-step guides to procedures and paperwork
http://www.justlanded.com/english/australia is another great guide that explains things in simple terms, applying for visas, working or as an international student etcâ€¦

Weather is vary alot over Australia - there are place that get the four season, it snows in some parts, I live in the tropics where no one even owns a heater - hot all year around, we have a dry or wet season, nothing in between.
Most of Australiaâ€™s population is on the coastal areas, there is not much inland apart from desert!

For info on becoming an Australian Citizen see http://www.citizenship.gov.au , yes it can take years...

Other options if you have big bucks and willing to set up a business that will be good for Australia!
Renting and buying is not a problem in Australia â€“ very easy.
You job question is hard to answer as I donâ€™t know what career you are looking into. But Australia has a low unemployment rate.

I'll stop here - you have alot of great advice from other users and enough websites for you and your 'baby' to read through.

:-)
Cheers mate.

sillyme:-)

I reference some cites that you wish to visit. click on the links to learn more

There are a variety of different visas available. For 'skilled worker' category, see http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/index.htm

For short-medium term, try working holiday:
http://www.immi.gov.au/visitors/working-holiday/index.htm

If you're in a hurry, it can sometimes be easier to start with a simple 'working holiday' visa, and use time here to develop contacts and understanding for a more robust "skilled worker" application.
Sometimes skill-sets wont be instantly recognised, so a test may have to be sat

MOVE MANAGEMENT AUSTRALIA -Forms and Documents
http://www.movemanagement.com.au/forms.html

Australian Immigration Regulations. . . at a glance
http://www.migrationnews.com/index.cfm/Australia/Regulations_Explained

Beginning a Life in Australia Welcome to Western Australia
http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/settle/beginning-life-texts/wa/eng.pdf

lidybeff

They covered it pretty well. However I would add that Americans or Canadians who come to live here are treated with respect so long as they are respectful.

It is not just people with university degrees that can get a visa to work in Australia- it is any skilled worker willing to take a job that has not been able to be filled by an Australian. Most of these visas are granted for places outside the major cities - today I saw an article on the small Western Australian towns about 2 hours from Perth having 300 skilled jobs to fill - doctors, nurses, teachers but also pilots, mechanics, train drivers and welders. If you applied for any of these jobs (or others like it) and no suitable australian applied the visa process would only take a few months.

tuppenybitz

it is not easy to immigrate to australia
the skilled worker visa is probably your only chance, you need to pass a point system test
http://www.immi.gov.au/immigration.htm

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/175/eligibility.htm

Luxurious

Stay outta Australia babe. I was watching a documentary last night, and they've been experiencing a drought and having a lot of fires sprout all over the place lately. People have had to move and everything.

Fiyah! Canadian Beauty

Can i come? It looked so fun on the real world =)

Don't know much hun, only that they're very strict on imigrants.

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