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Immigration to Australia and Our Move to PerthOur move to Perth decision was the best Life Style decision we could have wished to make. We we made our move to Perth in October 2003, having first sold our home in the UK which gave us a comfortable amount of capital to put towards our New Life in Perth 
A meal at The Grove Winery Spring, Margarate River 2004(Autumn in the UK). The visa application for our move to Perth took a little under two years to process. Gareth immigrated as a skilled migrant, he was a diesel mechanic at the time and I tagged along as his spouse. This meant that I had to follow Gareth through customs once we arrived in Western Australia (It didn't mean that he got the window seat even though he tried very hard to convince me :o). I have distant cousins living in Perth and Western Australia who welcomed us into the family and made our move to immigration to Australia feel a little more normal. We did miss the folks back home but with the internet and cheaper call costs now it is easier to keep in touch, in fact I speak with my sister on line nearly every day. Once we arrived in Perth our priority was to buy a car, find somewhere to live and of course work. We bought a 4x4 of course, which we paid $10,000 for. After several weeks of driving round the suburbs we bought our home in
Woodvale
, with the help of Julie our
Best Perth Real Estate Agent.
We selected Woodvale because it was a well established suburb with no state housing, good public schools (thats government funded), a 10 min drive to the beach and walking distance to the train station (15 mins into Perth) which was a real plus. We both work in Perth and only need one car. 
I was lucky and was offered employment by two companies within a month of our immigration to Australia. I have since moved to a position more suited to me but the first job was great as it made getting a mortgage so much easier. We use a Company called Aust Asia for our financial needs they were able to organise a mortgage with HSBC for us before I had even started work. All they wanted to see was my Contract of Employment and they lent me 3.5 times my salary. Gareth was looking for work in IT (he had recently re-trained before leaving the UK so only had 12 months experience). In February he was offered a job as a Service Desk Technician, which was only 5 months after we arrived so not that long. Especially when you consider you are advised to allow 6-18 months to secure employment following your immigration to Australia. Once over the hurdle of finding a home and work we could really get down to enjoying life in Perth. Perth is a great place to live, we have a nice large home in Woodvale, we are close to the beach (we are now learning to surf)and get some great weather (although they do get a winter in Perth so bring your waterproofs (yes it does rain in the winter months) and a few wooly jumpers)
Do you have a migration experience or tip you would like to share? Please tell me about it.
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