Emigrating to Australia from the United Kingdom

Emigrating to Australia from the United Kingdom can be a difficult proposition for any traveler.

Whatever one’s reasons for wanting to live in the Land Down Under, the fact is that it is some distance from the United Kingdom, has an extremely different and at times hazardous environment and has a culture all its own that many residents of the United Kingdom will likely find somewhat surprising. However, the country is a fast rising star on the global stage despite a number of handicaps such as the naturally rugged (sometimes to the point of being brutal) terrain and the sheer distance it is from most of its international allies.

Emigrating to Australia

For those United Kingdom citizens planning on emigrating to Australia, now is currently a very a good time to do so. Though Australia is half a world away from the United Kingdom and has since gone on to form its own style of government and a unique culture, it does still remain quite close to the United Kingdom both politically, economically and culturally. Other than the distance of the trip, it is actually a fairly smooth transit to travel from the United Kingdom to Australia, as well as back again if one wishes to return for any reason. The close ties between the two countries have been fostered over centuries and not even the devastation of two global conflicts has broken those ties.

When Shipping to Australia, Customs between the United Kingdom and Australia are something of a mixed bag. Matters of tariffs and visas are simple and uncomplicated thanks to the centuries of political and cultural cooperation between the two lands and most citizens of the United Kingdom will find that moving to Australia is easy on United Kingdom citizens both in terms of paperwork and cultural adaptation. UK citizens have an easier time entering and getting permission to stay in the country and barring any extreme problems like a shocking criminal record or other major incident that would make emigration officials suspicious, most UK citizens have a relatively easy road in Australia.

On the other hand, customs into the country are a more serious, more complicated matter. The Australian government is intensely determined to protect the health of its citizens and its lands from outside contaminants, meaning that almost everything coming into the country is closely scrutinised not only for the usual arrays of contraband most countries have outlawed, but also for hazards to the country’s delicate ecosystem, ranging from unvaccinated animals to stray bits of dirt that inspectors have good reason to believe may be contaminated with parasites that could spread in the country’s soil.

Even citizens of the United Kingdom do not escape this intense level of scrutiny and ignoring or arguing with these rules and strictures may well cause even a UK citizen to be rejected from living in the country. Still, if one can handle the country’s determined customs, citizens of the United Kingdom will find Australia a welcoming country to nearly anyone who wishes to live there and more familiar than one might expect.

Enquiring About Shipping Furniture To Australia?

Shipping furniture to Australia from the United Kingdom can be incredibly stressful,

even though Australia and the United Kingdom remain on very good terms diplomatically. However, the combination of distance, cost and Australia’s stringent customs regulations can make even a personal trip to Australia stressful, let alone a full fledged move to the Land Down Under.

Including items as massive as furniture into the equation and things can get incredibly stressful incredibly fast. While help is more than available for those who seek it out, there are many things people moving should know about the process before they embark upon this international endeavour.

One thing most people moving to Australia would like to know is how their furniture will be moved. Moving furniture to Australia generally calls for large scale forms of shipping containers. The first container will depend on exactly what the customer is shipping. A box of recent books or small microwave will likely need little more than an appropriately sized corrugated cardboard box. However, for larger, heavier goods like furniture, far more often wooden boxes are used to store these items. In addition to being able to contain furniture, these boxes can also contain small vehicles and large appliances. Generally these boxes come in a variety of large sizes that can hold most any piece of common furniture, though particularly massive examples will likely need acustom built crate.

Once a piece of furniture is securely packed into a wooden crate, the next step is to place it into a shipping container. Furniture is generally moved on commercial freight shipping, be it over rail or on a commercial shipping vessel. The wooden crates are generally packed into large steel containers called intermodal freight containers. These are the large metal containers one sees at industrial shipping ports where a large amount of commercial cargo comes and goes with great regularity. The invention of these containers was a major contributor to the rise of globalised trade in the second half of the twentieth century and these devices remain extremely important in the world of global shipping to this day.

Australian customs are something of a different concern. The Australian government has a number of concerns about every box and person going into their country, and not entirely without due cause. Australia has unfortunately become a way point for a number of illicit global trades, ranging from drugs to human slaves, and the Australian Border Force is tasked with mitigating as much of the illicit trades as possible.

Australian customs inspectors do have a number of tools they can use to search containers, and they reserve to right to closely examine any box coming into their country if they feel they have reasonable cause to be suspicious of that box. Among other things, the customs inspectors are looking for potential threats to the delicate environment of the island, ranging from the visible to the microscopic. Other more obvious elements customs inspectors will look for include people being smuggled into the country and large caches of illicit goods, such as narcotics or weapons.

As long as you’re just shipping furniture to Australia, and not some illicit substance, everything should go smoothly.

June 9, 2016By Scott Rust