Differences between The Netherlands & Australia

Ok, so I’ve been in Australia for almost 2 years now and I do feel like I’m settled in and Perth has become my new home-town. However probably once a month you meet people that don’t really understand that you’ve been here for a while and you don’t consider yourself to be a tourist anymore. You get questions fired at you: ‘How do you like Australia?’, ‘The weather must be a plus for you coming from The Netherlands?’, ‘What are the biggest differences between The Netherlands & Australia?’. Here we go again I think to myself and my facial expression probably doesn’t hide my slight irritation, but polite as ever I will answer the questions with a smile. But then I thought, what actually are the biggest differences between the two countries. Apart from the obvious answers like the weather, language and maybe food. I was thinking what else can I think of in terms of work-culture, drink-cultures and maybe even how people spend their free time.

So I thought time to make a little list, as I am a list person. I know this sounds like something that has already been done before, but different eyes notice different things. And so I might be able to open your eyes to think out of the box.

1. The prices, I won’t be the first one to say this, but Australia is expensive. A ‘vaasje bier’ for 3 euros is really a European thing, sadly.

2. Work culture, casual Friday, really this is a thing in Australia was my first thought? Where in The Netherlands neat casual clothes are accepted in most offices, apart from the banks and law-firms of course. In Perth everyone has to wear business clothes to work apart from casual friday. Where in The Netherlands it’s accepted to wear neat but casual clothes to the office.

3. Drink-culture, yeah what should I say, I suppose the prices have a connection to the pre-drinks culture Australia has developed over the years. Although I do really miss having a drink in the ‘kroeg’.

4. Coffee-culture, most Dutch people will notice the slightly fussy coffee culture in Perth. Which I must say does end up in a really nice cup of coffee, when you’ve finally figured out what kind of coffee to order.

5. English is very basic. I’ve found myself trying to explain to my Australian boyfriend multiple times that I had a ‘gezellige’ night. There simply is no word to describe what dutch people mean with gezellig.

6. Wake up early! Australians really know how to wake up early. They seem to be morning birds, which after 2 years has finally started to make sense to me. Waking up early can be a great way to make the most out of your day. Or to meet some friends for breakfast. (Something I would never do in The Netherlands) Where going out for breakfast here is a big thing in The Netherlands it doesn’t  really exist apart from maybe a cheap HEMA breakfast.

What is a substantial reason to travel on a bridging visa BVB?

I've been on an Australian bridging visa A for nearly a year now. Until Christmas last year I didn't have the need to leave the country yet. And so far I was very happy with my bridging visa, as it allows me to work full-time and study full-time and so I'm not limited to anything apart from travelling overseas. 

Bridging Visa BVB

If you do need to leave the country you have to apply for a bridging visa that allows you to travel. The bridging visa B allows you to leave and return to Australia whilst your substantive visa application is being processed. You have to re-apply for the same bridging visa you were on before when you return to Australia.

The reason you have to go through this effort is for the department of Immigration to know if they can communicate with you whilst you are away and for them to know what is happening with you and where you are. Which makes sense from their point of view.

I've applied for my de-facto partner visa last year in April. So it's almost been 10 months now. When I applied for the visa I got a confirmation letter saying the average processing time for the visa is 13 months. That's the point I accepted the wait and I knew there was nothing else I could do than just WAIT.

Substantial reason to travel
When I decided to leave to The Netherlands with Christmas, my ticket was already booked,  when I realised that I had to get my bridging visa approved before leaving the country. However the department of Immigration gets really busy around this time of the year, because everyone wants to leave the country. I started stressing as I thought: ,,Is leaving the country to spend Christmas with my family a substantial reason to leave and return.''

I found out 7 days before leaving that it indeed was a valid reason. This year in April I have to leave the country again for the wedding of my sister. So I called the department yesterday asking if weddings are a substantial reason. The answer was ,,as long as you are not a criminal you will be fine to leave the country and return'' I thought, really? This is what I've been worrying about all the time. ,,You do always have to fill out the form notifying the department of the reason you leave.''

Useful to know: You should apply for a Bridging visa BVB no more than three months before, and not less than two weeks before you want to travel. You don't want to risk it to not have an approved Bridging visa BVB, because without this visa granted you won't be able to return to Australia. 

Yes, Australia is expensive

So I've lived in Australia for almost 2 years now and I'm still not used to the outrageous prices. AUSTRALIA is expansive and the cherry on the cake is that WA is the most expensive state of the country. 

Yes a beer is going to cost you $10 in a bar compared to the $3 it would have costed back in Europe. Where in The Netherlands I was renting a room for $300 a month, I'm now renting a one bedroom apartment for over $300 a week.

Someone told me last week that in a cafe in Cottesloe the coffee prices had gone up to $6 for a coffee with a double shot. Yes I had my opinion ready, but then I thought what are you expecting!

You can't expect everything in Australia to be the same price as back at home. Once I found a job I realised that the pay in Australia kind of weighs up to the high prices.

You have to accept the fact that Perth is expensive, otherwise you will go crazy. Your friends don't want to hear from that European girlfriend that keeps complaining about the Australian prices even though they probably feel the same about it.

If you really want to save money you will be able to do it. Personally me and my boyfriend like to prepare big meals on the weekend so we can bring them to work for lunch. After living here for a while I also know where to get the cheapest but still good quality shopping and that way I've, sort of, gotten used to the outrageous prices.

How does Health Insurance and Medicare work in Australia?

The system around health insurance in Australia is different to most European countries. 
In Australia you can get Medicare, which is a government service, that covers a part of your treatment.


For example a normal doctors consul would cost about 70 AUD. Medicare covers 30 AUD of that amount and so you need to cover the other half yourself.





Medicare usually covers:

• free or subsidised treatment by health professionals such as doctors, specialists, optometrists and in specific circumstances dentists and other allied health practitioners free treatment and accommodation as a public (Medicare) patient in a public hospital
• 75 per cent of the Medicare Schedule fee for services and procedures if you are a private patient in a public or private hospital (does not include hospital accommodation and items such as theatre fees and medicines)
• some health care services in certain countries 

When you decide to move to Australia it's very important to make sure you are still insured the right way either in your home country or in Australia. 

My insurance situation upon arrival in Australia

When I moved to Australia I arrived on a Working Holiday visa. Halfway through the year I needed to either sign up a new year with my Health Insurance in The Netherlands, or I had to sign up for an insurance in Australia. My Dutch insurer recommended me to cancel my Dutch insurance and get an insurance in Australia. And so I cancelled my Dutch insurance and went to get Medicare. Unfortunately there is a agreement between The Netherlands and Australia and you can only get Medicare on a Working Holiday Visa with your valid European Insurance card. 

As I had just cancelled my insurance my European insurance card was not valid anymore. And because I couldn't be insured for a year in The Netherland, because there was no point for me to do that if I wasn't able to use it, I had to get a very expensive 'Overseas Visitors' Health insurance from HBF. 

Don't cancel your European health insurance until you get granted a bridging visa, which entitles you to get Medicare. The mistake I made was cancelling my insurance not realising that I would have been entitled to Medicare if I would still have my European insurance.

If in the end you still need a Overseas visitors insurance because of a gap in the system (I'm sure there are more than the one I came across) 

Here is a list of some insurers that offer Overseas Visitors Health Cover: 

• Bupa: Varies in prices depending on your cover 
• HBF: Cheapest cover is $24 but doesn't cover much. This is why most people would be tended to get the most expensive policy which is $55.75 at the time of writing this post.  
• Medibank: Seems like the most expensive policy which is $54.40 per week does cover a lot of your expenses. 
• NIB: Has 5 different types of cover, so it's probably easier to customise your policy.  

I hope this post was helpful and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me, I would love to hear from you. 

How to get an Australian partner visa?

So you've decided to move to Australia to live with your partner. Thats great news! I can imagine how excited, scared and curious you are about life in down-under. However there is one big obstacle to overcome. The application for a partner / defacto visa. 


Here are a few tips on how to apply and how to know if you are eligible to apply a partner visa. 

From the website of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection:
Requirements 
You must be married or in a de facto  relationship with an Australian citizen, an Australian permanent resident or an eligible New Zealand citizen. Your relationship must be ongoing and genuine and you must live with your partner, and if you don't the separation can only be temporary. 

You might be able to be granted this visa if:

• your relationship breaks down and there is a child of the relationship
• your partner dies and you can show that your relationship would have continued if your partner had lived and you have close business, cultural or personal ties in Australia
• your relationship breaks down and you or members of your family unit have suffered family violence.

Usually your de facto relationship must have existed for at least 12 months before you apply for this visa. The department of immigration clearly states that time spend dating doesn't count towards a de facto relationship. 

There are some exceptions to the 12 months rule: 

• you can demonstrate compelling and compassionate circumstances, such as having dependent children
• your partner has been granted a permanent humanitarian visa and your de facto relationship existed before it was granted, and you told us about the relationship before the visa was granted
• your de facto relationship has been registered in Australia (this is not available in all states and territories).

Practical tips for your application

So now that we've established that you need to live with your partner for a least 12 months. Being in a de facto relationship means that you live together, share the same bed, share your food, share your bank account and pretty much share your life together almost as a married couple. Having gone through the one year requirement myself I prepared myself by doing a lot of reading on the visa. 

Tips for applying for a partner visa: 

• Get a shared bankaccount (this does sound scary but hey if both you and your partner put the same amount of money in every week and you use that money for rent and groceries, it works out well for both) 
• Save all postcards that are addressed to both you and your partner 
• Archive all your bankstatements detailing what every purchase was
• Start making a photobook, I'm sure you will have heaps of photo's of you and your partner, but don't limit it to just that. How about the photo's the both of you with your family and friends and his family and friends. 
• Photo's of a small party in your little appartment
• Print out your complete chat history from when you were not living together until when you were living together

Once the time is there to collect all these documents and to get statutory declarations, you are going to need to be very very precise. If you want to be able to do this application without a migration agent you have think as an agent. Double check all the requirements for specific documents, double check if everything is there, double check names, passport numbers, dates, EVERYTHING! 

Put it together sectioned in a big file and send it out. DO NOT FORGET TO REGISTER YOUR MAIL.. this is the last document you want to get lost in the mail. 

Send it out and then all you can do is wait. I've heard stories from people who would call the department every now and then to check on the application. You can do that, but as long as you don't hear anything you can probably assume your application is sitting on someones desk on a pile waiting to be looked at. 

Why moving to Australia? This is my story

Moving to Australia is not something you can just do by jumping on the boat. It's important to be well prepared when you decide to move down-under. 

On the move to Australia

My story

My story of moving to Perth in Western Australia started when I met my boyfriend who is Australian 3 years ago in Toronto, Canada. We were both in Canada on our study exchange and if love at first sight does exist, than that's probably what happened to us. 

We fell in love and a year later in April 2012 I decided to move to Australia to live with my boyfriend. I personally had the feeling that just moving to live with someone wasn't going to be a substantial reason. 

Because I was in the final year of my university degree in Journalism with one internship left, I went looking for an internship in Perth. Living with my partner became the second reason as I had something to do as soon as I arrived in the country that was going to be 'home' for an undecided time. 

Set yourself a goal

Having something waiting for me made the big move to oz a lot easier. I left Amsterdam airport with my suitcase packed not knowing when the next time would be that I would be back in the country I spend the first 23 years of my life in. 

I had also set myself a goal. I wanted to work as hard as I could and get work out of my internship so that I could stay in Perth. This is why the first three months for me were one big test. I was testing living, working, making friends and building up a life in Australia. 

Experiences

Over the last 2 years I've learned so much about settling in a new town, making new friends, getting used to a different culture, getting used to different rules, different visas, different work-ethics, different food, a new accent, a different language and a complete different lifestyle. 

In my blogs I write about my experiences moving and getting used to a new country and I want to advise and help people that are moving or are planning to move to a new country. 

If you have any request about issues you may have had or something you're unsure about don't hesitate to get in touch with me.