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DV 2015 Oceania winners

Perhaps you are better off going home then.

Cookie cutter homes exist in Australia (McMansions). And poverty exists in Australia too (remote communities, even metropolitan ghettos). Australia's health care system is already groaning and there's talk of raising the GST (yay, more taxation!) just to sustain it. Australia has its fair share of issues, just as the US does.

No country is perfect, in short.

For us, we have achieved our dream of debt free living here in the US. We have scaled down and are enjoying a much better balance.

The US isn't perfect but it's good for us and we are better off here than in Australia where we're basically pushing sh*t uphill and getting taxed for the privilege. It's not about being self-centered: not everyone who works hard is self-centered. They are just hard wired differently and seek different objectives. That's diversity and it's a good thing.
 
Britsimon said:
Yup, you chose the wrong city. Fix that.

Edit: probably wrong state too. Look at the coast from South Carolina down to about Jacksonville, Tampa to Loooosiana, or, West coast from Sandiego up to Portland Oregon other than LA itself.
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Thank you for the suggestions! Perhaps we'll visit Tampa and St Petersburg, as we've been thinking about it too. We just don't want to give up that quick!
 
Thank you EmilyW, perhaps it's just that Dallas is way too conservative for us. We don't want to give up that quick and we'll travel around to see if there are better places for us.
 
Aleraft said:
Thank you for the suggestions! Perhaps we'll visit Tampa and St Petersburg, as we've been thinking about it too. We just don't want to give up that quick!
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Chances are if you think America hasn't got what you want, you simply haven't looked hard enough.
 
Aleraft said:
That's what we're talking about, everything is about money here in the US, everyone is too self-centered on their own success.
Yes, we can be living in a nice cookie cutter home and nice suburb here in Dallas, working on high paying jobs and getting privileged health care. Keeping up with Joneses, etc. But seeing all those poor people who just can't get out of poverty... There are millions of people who don't have health coverage and just thinking about it make us sad.

Oh... and another thing, driving is too dangerous here! Drivers just don't show their turn signals at all! They cut in suddenly and make strange moves on highways, way to dangerous, no wonder why there are so many fatalities. I'm just too afraid to let my wife drive here on highways...

You're right that Australia is taxing it's people too much, and there are long waiting lines to get health care. But still, people are generally much better off than here in the US.
Anyway, maybe it's just us and adaptation takes time... Maybe we lived too long on the Gold Coast and enjoyed it's beaches and mountains... Time will tell :)
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And maybe you ended up in the wrong place. You want somewhere everyone obeys the road rules, come to the east bay... You want coast, there is plenty of it elsewhere... You want mountains, ditto... You want tolerance, move out of the south.... If you want a perfect replica of the Gold Coast, you won't find it anywhere though.

Or maybe you are doing the classic new immigrant thing of being homesick and focusing on all the negatives as a result.

Or maybe you just better are suited to Australia... but you really should give it a while longer to be sure.
 
I have to agree with everyone here. The US is much different to Australia. We found that out within the first few weeks of being here. Some things are better, some are not so.

I'll agree that the Health system here is terrible compared to back in Australia. It does cost us a small fortune to be insured. I am self employed so I have to pay for it myself for my family. This is a cost I knew that we would have to pay for before we moved here. It is one of the negatives of being self employed.

We also moved from Perth, Australia to Houston, TX. Do we miss the beaches and the Sun? of course we do, Houston is just a Concrete Jungle. I lived in Perth for 30 years, its my home town and was a big part of my life. The issue with coming from Australia to USA is the fact that most of the population in Australia lived on or near the water. So for us its in our blood.

The traffic is mental here, busy, dangerous and unpredictable. You just got to be on your toes and pay attention to everything. I think in one way it makes you a better driver. You're more alert to your surroundings. (Trying to find a positive here :) )

We have been in Houston for 3 months now, and to be honest we don't really like the City or the area. Its not us. It's flat and there is no nice beaches. We do like the people however and have been welcomed with open arms. The stereotypical "Everything is Bigger in Texas" doesn't really seem to be that true, and people are not running around the streets with guns and rifles.

We are also considering a move to the Coast some where Florida, South Carolina some where like that. But not for a year or so. Need to do some research before we move. We miss the beach lifestyle, the fishing, the water sports.
This Country is big, really big, with a lot of big cities and states. I think it just takes time to find an area that you like.

I guess it also depends on what you want out of the move? For us we just wanted an adventure and a new chapter of our lives. Being a young family it was an easy decision to move here. We have no family in Australia and most of our family is also in Europe. Prices on flying to see them are substantially cheaper that from Australia.

Plus I like the fact that we are immigrants, people also ask you your story and want to know more about you. Which is nice, in Australia your just a plain old Australian Dude walking down the street.

@Aleraft What were your reason for coming here to Dallas TX?

For myself and my family the only reason we moved to Houston was becasue of my work. As I have been in the oil field for 10 years this was the best option for us to get our feet settled, get contacts and transition to the US lifestyle. We never planned on staying here forever, just a stepping stone in the bigger picture.
 
@Hershal It's good to see that we are not the only ones who miss the beaches. Yes, we are from Europe too and we don't have any relatives in Australia, only in New Zealand.

How did we choose Dallas? We looked at the plain statistics, where is the economy booming, big companies opening their HQ and cost of living. Looked at the happiness rankings or whatever, and they favored Texas.... I guess, we chose the place not by our heart, but by plain cold calculation of the multiple factors. We thought that Dallas would be a good starting place... It's just plain flat, with absolutely no good parks and outdoor activities, except shopping (we shop at Amazon mostly) and maybe fishing.
 
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SusieQQQ said:
I'm going to be the more sceptical party here, and say that frequent trips in and out, whether 3 or 6 months, are going to get you a lecture about residency requirements at some stage. When that happens there will be an annotation in your passport, and potentially trouble if the trip following that isn't on a one-way ticket to stay. I'd definitely suggest doing the re-entry permit option rather. Also remember you need to file tax returns with the IRS as a green card holder even if you don't owe any tax or earn any income, with your 2015 one due Friday (though you can get an extension). This is one of the key things they will look at to determine if you intend to abandon residency ..as well as needing it for any naturalization you may wish to pursue in due course.
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Yes, I think I'll apply for the re-entry permit when I'm there in June for a friend's wedding. I know you have to give fingerprints a month or two later but I'm happy to fly back over to do that. Would rather do that and avoid getting the lecture and passport annotation! No worries about the tax, have done my US tax through H&R Block here in Sydney :)
 
SusieQQQ said:
While we were puzzling over bread in the supermarket, a Canadian woman suggested this to us - it tastes like 'normal' not sweet white bread - and it's lower calorie than than the whole wheats we were trying successively....

https://www.franciscobread.com/products/french-sliced-bread
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I will look into this! Thanks Susie.

Britsimon said:
:)

Does it have to be white??

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/07/18/best-healthy-bread_n_5597115.html
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Unfortunately yes, I am addicted to white bread!
 
Aleraft said:
@Hershal It's good to see that we are not the only ones who miss the beaches. Yes, we are from Europe too and we don't have any relatives in Australia, only in New Zealand.

How did we choose Dallas? We looked at the plain statistics, where is the economy booming, big companies opening their HQ and cost of living. Looked at the happiness rankings or whatever, and they favored Texas.... I guess, we chose the place not by our heart, but by plain cold calculation of the multiple factors. We thought that Dallas would be a good starting place... It's just plain flat, with absolutely no good parks and outdoor activities, except shopping (we shop at Amazon mostly) and maybe fishing.
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Yeah we chose Houston too only on a Work Situation and with the oil price so low right now. Its not our dream, its a start. Texas is one of the cheaper state to live in too, so when trying to build credit and get your insurance premiums down I think it was a good move for us for a year or so
 
SusieQQQ said:
I'm going to be the more sceptical party here, and say that frequent trips in and out, whether 3 or 6 months, are going to get you a lecture about residency requirements at some stage. When that happens there will be an annotation in your passport, and potentially trouble if the trip following that isn't on a one-way ticket to stay. I'd definitely suggest doing the re-entry permit option rather. Also remember you need to file tax returns with the IRS as a green card holder even if you don't owe any tax or earn any income, with your 2015 one due Friday (though you can get an extension). This is one of the key things they will look at to determine if you intend to abandon residency ..as well as needing it for any naturalization you may wish to pursue in due course.
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Apologies for jumping in on this... but does this mean even though I haven't worked yet, I have to file tax this year? I got here in November... Thank you!!
 
Britsimon said:
Today is the filing day. Apply for an extension.
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Thank you. I'm basically done (I didn't earn any income in the 2 months of 2015 I was in California, so it was fairly simple), but HR block is asking for $30 to file my state return. Do you happen to have any idea if it's necessary for me to do that, or is a federal return enough? I can't find anything online that answers my question, and of course being deadline day I can't get through to any helplines...
 
kellie_jane said:
Thank you. I'm basically done (I didn't earn any income in the 2 months of 2015 I was in California, so it was fairly simple), but HR block is asking for $30 to file my state return. Do you happen to have any idea if it's necessary for me to do that, or is a federal return enough? I can't find anything online that answers my question, and of course being deadline day I can't get through to any helplines...
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Oh wait ignore previous in this post which I've edited away - see this, you may not need to file dependent on income.
https://www.ftb.ca.gov/individuals/fileRtn/index.shtml

This was the first result that came up on a Google search for me by the way.Not sure why you couldn't find it online?
 
SusieQQQ said:
Oh wait ignore previous in this post which I've edited away - see this, you may not need to file dependent on income.
https://www.ftb.ca.gov/individuals/fileRtn/index.shtml

This was the first result that came up on a Google search for me by the way.Not sure why you couldn't find it online?
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I did actually find that one, and I thought that I possibly didn't have to - but I've been fined before in the UK because I am HOPELESS at this kind of stuff, so I wanted to be extra sure. I was just going to hire an accountant out here, but of course I didn't realize until today that I might have to file this year!! Thank you for the help, I really appreciate it!! <3
 
kellie_jane said:
I did actually find that one, and I thought that I possibly didn't have to - but I've been fined before in the UK because I am HOPELESS at this kind of stuff, so I wanted to be extra sure. I was just going to hire an accountant out here, but of course I didn't realize until today that I might have to file this year!! Thank you for the help, I really appreciate it!! <3
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Well, it might be worth the $30 to file and be absolutely sure. Quite frankly that's what I'd probably do, $30 is a small price to pay for peace of mind.
 
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