# Move? … from Dubai to Melbourne



## FireBlade (May 7, 2012)

Hi All,

I have just joined the forum community, I have tried to search some answers related to my situation but hasn’t been successful so far. I hope someone would be able to help me out please

To summarize:

- I am married with no kids (Me from Pakistan; Wife from Ukraine); living in Dubai for past 6+ years
- I am an engineer and work for a multinational company as regional technical manager in Telecom sector
- My wife is basically a fashion designer and has her own small business which she operates from home only
- The company I work for has proposed me to relocate to Melbourne as regional technical manager. I have shown interest on this proposal but still don’t have the details about salary/package/conditions etc.
- Despite being so far away from rest of the world, Australia has been one of my liked places to live. Lately I had considered to live in Australia permanently too (because of my family there), so this opportunity sounds like a golden chance as company would take care of all relocation, settling down etc. My brother and sister have already been living in Melbourne for quite some years now; all Australian nationals and have kids settled down etc.
- But there is a catch; my wife has so much comfortable life in Dubai that it’s hard to say good bye; only motivation for me is to get PR followed by Australian passport
- We have lived and worked in various counties before (France, Thailand, UK & UAE); so moving was never an issue. But this latest move is looking like a very hard decision for us

My wife has some reservations:

- What are the potentials for her business as fashion designer there? (she would like to do a business setup there). In Dubai she has great potential but still we haven’t expanded it
- Spending rest of the life in Australia vs probably settling down in Thailand for example (it’s her dream place)
- Do we really need Australian passports? (my opinion is that we both can’t settle down in our own countries for various reasons so with Aussie passport we’ll at least have place which we can call home)

Personally for me the opportunity is great but I am so worried about my wife that I am having sleepless nights and unable to make a decision. We didn’t have very good experience while living in UK: job wasn’t great, life was expensive and she couldn’t work in her expertise; so that really makes us worry as Aussie life is quite similar? 

On the flip side; if I don’t take this opportunity I won’t get another shot on moving to Australia and probably won’t get good professional opportunity by staying in Dubai. I would like to give her a home too; but she is not favor of having a home where we have to pay mortgage for ages (we can’t afford to buy a house in one in Australia)

I also came to know from my friend (also an Aussie passport holder after living there) that it’s possible to get PR in month or so if my company states that they need me in Australia as part of their business needs etc.?

All these questions are just eating me inside … I am hoping that may be someone else had any such situation and how it turned out?

Appreciate your help

Cheers,
K


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## Riza2012 (Mar 2, 2012)

FireBlade said:


> Hi All,
> 
> I have just joined the forum community, I have tried to search some answers related to my situation but hasn’t been successful so far. I hope someone would be able to help me out please
> 
> ...


Ok since u'll be going there without a PR, u r going with 457 visa first thing you have to realize it will take you atleast 3 year + to get the PR stamp once you are there, and then another 5 years to get citizenship so that's a total 8+ years for an Australian passport. If you get laid off before you get a PR,then you have to leave Australia.

As 457 visa you are not entitled to government benefits, you still pay tax but u don't get the benefits citizens or PR holders get so things like healthcare, schooling etc will be v expensive. 

Regarding business, Dubai its easy and cheap to setup and operate business so that is comfortable for your wife, in australia business setup and operation is extremely expensive, just do some research u will be shocked at how expensive Australia is, if you thought UK was bad, then Australia cost of living will shock you. Fashion design is currently a booming market all over the world, so in Australia she may do well but she might face v stiff competition from highly qualified designers compared to Dubai. 

So lets say you get a good salary package, you have to weight everything in, many people immigrate thinking that automatically their life will be better but it really depends on ur priorities. Most people immigrate because their current lives are not good due to circumstances out of their hands (such as government oppression, lack of opportunities in their home country, country ravaged by war or unable to find success in their current situation). You seem to currently be doing pretty well in Dubai, and if you are happy and your wife is very happy and successful then why make the move ? 

Ofcourse in the end it is up to you, you should discuss it with your wife and calculate the benefits, i am basing my opinion on my own experiences and from experiences of people i know who immigrated to many countries all over the world. Usually the rule of thumb is if you are happy and doing pretty well in your current location for the foreseeable future, there is no reason to immigrate to another nation.


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## FireBlade (May 7, 2012)

Riza2012 said:


> Ok since u'll be going there without a PR, u r going with 457 visa first thing you have to realize it will take you atleast 3 year + to get the PR stamp once you are there, and then another 5 years to get citizenship so that's a total 8+ years for an Australian passport. If you get laid off before you get a PR,then you have to leave Australia.
> 
> As 457 visa you are not entitled to government benefits, you still pay tax but u don't get the benefits citizens or PR holders get so things like healthcare, schooling etc will be v expensive.
> 
> ...



Oh wow, what I was told (based on expereince) that PR is not that long to achieve ... but are these timelines same even when the company is assiting you?

yes true, we are doing good in Dubai; but in longer term we can't settle in our countries (due to economy, safety etc.) and UAE never gives PR/Nationality to foreigners ... so end of the day, we still need a place to call home !


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## JBY (May 17, 2011)

FireBlade said:


> Oh wow, what I was told (based on expereince) that PR is not that long to achieve ... but are these timelines same even when the company is assiting you?
> 
> yes true, we are doing good in Dubai; but in longer term we can't settle in our countries (due to economy, safety etc.) and UAE never gives PR/Nationality to foreigners ... so end of the day, we still need a place to call home !


The rule is before you can apply for a PR, you need to complete 2 years on your temporary worker visa 457 (which i assume you are going to be on) and then once you apply for PR it takes another 1 year or so to get the PR so that's around 3 years total.

Try to decide the "purpose" of your move, if purpose is to find a permanent home (trust me i know how u feel) and since Dubai doesn't give PR or passport so it could be a good idea to gain a sense of security / belonging, Your kids will also benefit tremendously (all kids born and raised in the Gulf region suffer tremendously from an identity crisis). Being a temporary worker visa in the gulf region ur entire life with no where else to go is a shi**y feeling. 

Regarding future prospects / potential no one can predict or tell you, with globalization business environments pretty much the same all over the world, Australia though being extremely expensive. And you mentioned your wife faced trouble in the UK with her business? Well you can expect similar very competitive environment in Australia.


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## FireBlade (May 7, 2012)

JBY said:


> The rule is before you can apply for a PR, you need to complete 2 years on your temporary worker visa 457 (which i assume you are going to be on) and then once you apply for PR it takes another 1 year or so to get the PR so that's around 3 years total.
> 
> Try to decide the "purpose" of your move, if purpose is to find a permanent home (trust me i know how u feel) and since Dubai doesn't give PR or passport so it could be a good idea to gain a sense of security / belonging, Your kids will also benefit tremendously (all kids born and raised in the Gulf region suffer tremendously from an identity crisis). Being a temporary worker visa in the gulf region ur entire life with no where else to go is a shi**y feeling.
> 
> Regarding future prospects / potential no one can predict or tell you, with globalization business environments pretty much the same all over the world, Australia though being extremely expensive. And you mentioned your wife faced trouble in the UK with her business? Well you can expect similar very competitive environment in Australia.


I need to double check with my friend (how he managed it); basically he had the same situation: studied and later worked for a company ... he (and his wife+kids) got passports in about 6 years or so !

I am not sure if he was mentioning about: Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 121) visa but for sure path via 457 is long one

You understood me correctly; I need to have this sense of belonging somewhere, which I won't get in the Gulf. Actually my wife didn't start the business in UK just because we were in a small town and didnt have much oppertunities ... competetion is not the fear, its just the oppertunities


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## Maz25 (Jul 6, 2008)

FireBlade said:


> I need to double check with my friend (how he managed it); basically he had the same situation: studied and later worked for a company ... he (and his wife+kids) got passports in about 6 years or so !
> Currently as the rules stand, you need to have been a lawful resident of Australia for a minimum of 4 years, one of which must include as a PR visa holder, before you are eligible for citizenship.
> 
> I am not sure if he was mentioning about: Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 121) visa but for sure path via 457 is long one
> ...


See above for my answer. I do understand that Dubai can never be home to anyone - after all, once you're 60 and no longer able to work, then they just chuck you out. At the same time, you need to be very clear about your motivations for moving to Australia - chasing a passport is not necessarily a good reason for a move in my opinion and is certainly not enough to guarantee your happiness nor your wife's.

As others have said, you need to research other factors such as cost of living, how to set up a business, etc before you come a final conclusion. Australia is known as the land of opportunities but those are not given freely and you really need to work hard for them, so in that respect, your wife will need to really put in the hours to get her business off the ground, build her clientele, etc. I've lived in Dubai before and know how easy it is to set up a business there - it'll be a whole new ball game here!

Your wife is not convinced about the move, so in essence you need to do enough research to be able to convince her that Australia is far better than Thailand as no doubt, you will discover things about Australia which will reinforce your decision to move here or you may find that you discover things that make you question your decision. Either way, it's better to get your facts right before you uproot your life and move here.

Good luck with your decision.


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