How to Emigrate to Australia with a Family

How to Emigrate to Australia with a Family

Updated for 2023

Emigrating to Australia with a family is a great life choice. The opportunities for children in Australia are immense in terms of education, healthcare, sports and all round personal development.

The good news is that with the Skilled Migration Visa classes, i.e. the 189 and 190 the same Permanent Residency Migration rights afforded to the lead applicant are gifted to any Spouse / Partner and Children.

Not only does the visa offer Permanent Residency and ultimately Citizenship to your little (and not so little) people, some clients are relieved to know that, unlike lesser employer sponsored visas, those families emigrating to Australia in 2023 on the 189 and 190 subclass can access education free of financial contribution.

Additionally, should your children choose to attend University in Australia they’ll avoid being classed as ‘International Students’ and of course then avoid the extra fee burden that comes with such a classification.

It’s a big move though, and there are certain steps you can take to ensure a smooth transition for children to Australia.

Let’s Go! Global are proud to be thought of as the loveliest brand in Australian Migration and pride ourselves on supporting all members of the family through the biggest move of their lives.

For a free consultation simply take our online visa assessment

How to Emigrate to Australia with a Family: The Smooth Transition

If we cast our minds back to our own school days we’ll remember certain people about to emigrate to Australia with a Family; the announcements, the questions, the farewell assemblies and the goodbyes.

When we waved farewell to our pals on their last day of term we weren’t old enough to think of what it meant for them, or how they felt…

Now that you’re planning to Emigrate to Australia with a Family lets consider about the steps we can take to make the the move less traumatic.

How to Emigrate to Australia with a Family under 8 years old

Little people are supremely adaptable (much more so than adults). You are their World and their scope of influence and concern starts and ends with the immediate family unit.

Put simply, if you’re ok they’re ok until around about age 5 or 6.

Yes, they will notice a different environment but the choice to emigrate to Australia with a Family is more about feelings than places.

They’ll feel the excitement and sense the changes and as long as you don’t expose them to the more stressful elements of emigrating such as the intricacies of Skilled Migration then they should cope with the change just fine.

Many parents look to emigrate to Australia with a family at this age for this very reason, and it allows them to get used to the Australian school system and environment at a young age so that you’re not asking them to adapt immediately to a new middle, or even senior school.

For a free consultation simply take our online visa assessment

How to Emigrate to Australia with a Family of Middle School Age

The choice to emigrate to Australia with a family of middle school age requires a little more foresight and planning. By this age children have started to form attachments outside of their immediate family, maybe distant relatives and certainly friends at school. At this age moving becomes more of change in environment and the feelings become a little more buried.

How to Emigrate to Australia with a Family; Preparing Children

At this age we need to consider both feelings and reactions to a change in environment. As we all know, children at this age can put on a brave face although concerned parents need to move beyond this brave face and have strategies in place that can address any underlying issues.

Just as adults, children’s fear of moving to Australia will be that of loneliness, of leaving behind friends & family and fear of the unknown. It’s our job as parents to understand this fear and help counterbalance it with excitement.

Strategies for helping children adjust when you Emigrate to Australia with a Family

Keep them informed from the start; discuss the move with them in a positive light and gauge their reaction. Try to involve them in the decision making process as much as possible, making sure they all have a forum in which to air their concerns. Once you know what their concerns are you can take time to address them and explain in a fun way what the future holds.

Read as much as you can about Australia making it as visual as possible. Maybe buy a big map for the wall and some tack flags to pin in locations that you all want to visit. Sydney Harbour and Uluru are just two examples.

Some of our clients put together scrapbooks with their children which also become long term mementos as young people turn into adults.

We wouldn’t recommend reaching out to other migrating families at this stage. It’s such an individual process and not everyone makes the final move. When you arrive in Australia you will find one of the strongest expat communities in the World.

We don’t recommend speaking to school until your visas have been granted. Schools have a great habit of embracing change, of tailoring school projects around this new far off land, and of mentioning the move time and again.

You will find other parents start to quiz you about the move and unfortunately you may experience a little bit of jealousy from some of them. There is nothing worse than your child’s school building up the move before visas have been issued, for the obvious reasons.

Emigrate to Australia with a Family of Teenagers

Moving to Australia with teenage children may present its own unique challenges.

At this age young adults will have solid established relationships and will experience a greater sense of loss than either younger children or adults. Teenagers moving to Australia need to feel included in the process even more so than younger siblings and need to feel an increased sense of ‘stake’ in any conversations. Again, try to shield teenagers from more complex issues surrounding moving to Australia such as finances and some of the more stressful decisions. We fully appreciate this is easier to write than put into practice!

Social media and digital communication has really broken down the barriers of international communication in a big way. Skype, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, SnapChat, Periscope and a raft of other media platforms make for a nice bridge into a teenagers new country whilst not feeling completely isolated from the one left behind.

Over time your teenager will adapt to new life, routines and forge new friendships, although whilst going through this transition phase be sure to encourage them to stay in touch.

A note about pets: all children and teenagers love their pets. Many of these four legged family friends will have comforted them through times of sadness and shared times of laughter and happiness.

Most pets can be shipped to Australia and it is especially worth it for dogs and cats.

Involving children in the pet relocation project can help give them an increased sense of purpose and responsibility doing the migration process.

Teenagers can be particularly prickly around the thought of a new school so do try and time your move to coincide with an Australian school holiday. Joining a new school on the first day of a new term is never as bad as joining mid-way though.

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Competition for good school places in Australia is tough (as it is everywhere) so once you’ve an idea about areas do scope out the best schools and involve your children in the decision making process. Of course sometimes it’s not such a great idea to let them have carte blanche decision making responsibility here!

One of the great things about moving to Australia with children is the instant connections they give you with other families at school and in the neighbourhood.

We always maintain that moving to Australia with children is the best way for the whole family to make good friends, fast!

Many, many expat families and ex clients report amazing things about moving to Australia with children and that initial anxieties were overcome reasonably quickly. Once a child adapts and settles into their new environment parents often feel rewarded, watching them thrive and flourish with opportunities they would simply never have ‘back home’.

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