Australia the most popular immigration destination from the UK
July 09 2010 by Niall J Rice
A new poll by the immigration company Global Visas today reveals that Australia has grown significantly in popularity since last year and within the last 4-months seen a 60% increase from last year – making it the most popular country for immigrating families from the UK.
The poll comes after a period of change within the UK. As a new government takes control of running the country, finances have come under increased scrutiny and subsequently unpopular spending cuts have been announced.
The so-called ‘austerity’ budget revealed just what would be needed if the UK were to fill the deficit left by the banking crisis, with schools, hospitals and public services all affected. While a plan to extend the age of retirement bombed just as England did in the world cup.
Australia’s recently revamped immigration system follows higher than normal Australian visa applications, with countries such as Ireland also experiencing increasing numbers wishing to migrate down under.
Mark Pearson, an IT consultant from Guildford and his wife Emily, a primary school teacher, along with 5-year old daughter Chloe only decided to immigrate to Australia recently.
“Following our worries about what we as a middle-income family will be expected to sacrifice and concerns over Chloe’s schooling, we both decided that Australia was just a much better option than staying in the UK.”
The school system is very similar there, however, a lot of emphasis is placed on child development, and also class sizes are much smaller.” Mr. Pearson explained.
At present Australia is seeing substantial growth within key industries such as natural resources, with cities like Durban reporting a 15% rise in foreign nationals going there to work. As this growth is forecast to continue then so too is the need for skilled migrants to support that growth. This it would seem has added benefits for those migrating to areas where they are especially needed, as new housing projects are undertaken, living costs are less and salaries raised to reflect the importance of the workers in sustaining the strong economy.
All this is of course great news for the towns and cities that migrant families are settling in, as new capital and resources are pumped back into local businesses and the surrounding economy.
Bryan Palmer, Director of Global Visas says;
“The fact that Australia is so popular is testament to the growing feeling in the UK at the moment. These spending cuts are going to affect those on middle-incomes the most, why should they and their families suffer when they can do better somewhere else?”
The poll also revealed that Canada was close on the heels of Australia as the 2nd choice destination for immigrating Brits, while South Africa saw a slight decline for UK applications on last year.
For more information
Please contact the UK Global Visas office on +44 (0)207 190 3903.
About Global Visas
Global Visas are a world leading authority on immigration and visas for private individuals and corporate clients, providing the most comprehensive and up-to-date visa and immigration advice available. Their offices around the world provide immigration and visa solutions for those travelling to America, South Africa, Australia, the UK and many other countries. Global Visas was founded in 1996 by a former immigration officer.
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