Moving to Sydney is a significant life change you must prepare for. Doing so means you’re ready to embrace an experience with a new environment surrounded by new people, so it’s only suitable for you to learn every piece of information about the city before you make the big move.
Sydney is the largest city in Australia, with 658 suburbs, 400 parks, and 15 neighboring regions. Moreover, it’s a city known for having lush and natural harbors, hot weather, vibrant culture, and a wide variety of food. So if you want to make your move magically feel less complicated, here is the guide for you:
Finding A Place to Stay
Since you can’t immediately find a suitable home to move into, you should look for a temporary place online. Depending on your circumstances, you’d have plenty of options, whether in a hostel, hotel, furnished short-term room, or renting a home. Moreover, you could easily do this by searching online since plenty of websites help you find accommodation.
Once you arrive in Sydney, you can check with the local newspapers or estate agent websites for home postings and arrange a viewing of your chosen property. During this time, it’s best to remember to consider the neighborhood, the home’s proximity to your work or school, public transport, the market, and even the hospital.
Since Sydney is home to over 4 million inhabitants, its metropolitan area also has various choices. However, remember that the city is mainly divided into four regions: North, South, East, and West.
The North mainly includes prestigious suburbs with high-quality accommodation, whereas the South has affordable housing, although it is far from downtown. East Sydney mostly has shared and rental homes in store, and lastly, the West covers a large area where accommodation is cheaper than the other regions.
You could also build a new house according to your design and preferences if you want another option. Doing so allows you to create a personalized area to accommodate your new lifestyle. You could even look at the best home designs Sydney has to offer at the Montgomery Homes website! Nonetheless, you should always feel comfortable and safe in your new home since it’s part of your big move.
Preparing Your Visa and Documentation
If you’ve already settled on your accommodation, you should prepare your documentation and visa next. Australia has unique visa options, including study visas, working and skilled visas, training visas, family and partner visas, or even refugee and humanitarian visas.
Additionally, these visas also have their subclasses. For example, studying visas also have a student guardian visa option, and family and partner visas have adoption visas, orphan relative visas, or prospective marriage visas. With plenty of options, you need to learn the best one for your situation and follow the updated application of the Australian Government.
It would help if you also considered reading information about what to expect when you cross the border, the luggage that can be brought into the country, and the basic security requirements.
Adjusting to the Costs of Living
If you’re currently moving from California to Sydney, you’d be surprised by the low living cost. In the 2023 article by Yahoo!, California and New York rank higher as expensive cities to live in, whereas Sydney placed ten on the list.
Additionally, it’s best to note that taxes and tips are already factored into all the AUD (Australian Dollars) prices. If you’re nervous about the cost of living, it’s best to consider the conversion rates in your home currency when spending and decide about your expenses from there.
Learning the Healthcare System
You may think that learning about the healthcare system isn’t that essential, but it is helpful if you get ill, especially since you’re alone in a new city. With this, it’s best to understand how healthcare works since it is a hybrid organization comprising a public and private system.
The public system comprises public hospitals and government-owned organizations. Here, citizens and permanent residents can access the system once they’re registered, and eligible expatriates (those working outside their home country to move to Sydney) can also register within a week once they arrive. The requirements will likely be a passport, travel documents, and a visa.
Private healthcare is not a requirement, but it is helpful since the public system doesn’t cover all the expenses. This system mainly covers three areas: hospital services such as stay, intensive care, diagnostic tests, and additional doctor’s fees; extras such as dental exams, physiotherapy, and acupuncture; and lastly, ambulance cover.
Knowing the Transportation System
If you’re worried about transportation since you don’t have a car, there’s no need to do so. Sydney is a liveable city equipped with suburban trains, metro rails, public buses, light rails, and ferries – which means you have a lot of public transport to choose from.
Additionally, Sydney uses a convenient tap-to-pay system which means that you can easily connect your money via Apple or Google Pay on your phone and scan on and off the public transportation system!
Final Thoughts
Moving is a big step that will affect your life, so it’s best to consider this guide and prepare. Doing so allows you to list all the necessary moving factors, such as accommodation, visa and documentation, costs, healthcare, and even transportation. Overall, research and preparation is the ultimate key when moving!