For families
Emigrating with children to Australia
You emigrate to Australia as a family in one application: you pay the fees per person, the medical applies to everyone, and the police certificates have a validity that you have to plan extra tightly with a family. After that, the difference between permanent and temporary residence is the difference between free school and thousands of dollars per child per year.
The visa determines the rest. With permanent residency you enrol your children like every Australian family — free, with voluntary contributions — and you simply get into Medicare. Anyone who goes ahead on a temporary visa pays in some states thousands of dollars in school fees per child per year; that belongs in the planning, not in the surprise.
With a family, the timing of the documents is the art. The medical is valid for twelve months and has to be done by a designated panel doctor, for everyone. Police certificates take four to twelve weeks and are also only valid for twelve months — applying too early is just as expensive as too late. And the fees are indexed every year on 1 July, per person, without a discount.
Two things you finish in the Netherlands: with joint custody you need the consent of the other parent or of the court — before everything — and the allowances that do not stop by themselves. The Netherlands also has a healthcare treaty with Australia that bridges your landing, with a twelve-month deadline almost nobody knows.
The visa as a family
The three visa routes to Australia, explained
189, 190 or 491 — which one fits you determines your whole journey. And why the difference between "may take part" and "gets invited" costs most people time and money.
Updated 11 September 2026
The visa fees: what a family pays at submission
The fees for a skilled visa you pay per person, directly to the Australian government — and they are indexed every year on 1 July. The current amounts, what a family adds up to, and why you can't save on this.
Updated 11 September 2026
The medical examination: why you shouldn't do it too early
The examination for your Australian visa is valid for twelve months, must be done by a designated panel physician, and applies to the whole family. The art is not passing it — the art is doing it at the right moment.
Updated 11 September 2026
Police certificates: why timing is everything here
They take 4 to 12 weeks and they are valid for only 12 months. Applying too early is just as expensive as too late — this is where careful planning pays off.
Updated 11 September 2026
School and healthcare
Going to school in Australia: free for PR families, expensive for whoever comes too early
With permanent residency you enrol your children like any Australian family: free, with voluntary contributions. But whoever travels ahead on a temporary visa pays thousands of dollars in school fees per child per year in some states — and that belongs in the planning, not in the surprise.
Updated 11 September 2026
Medicare for Dutch citizens: what it covers, and the deadline migrants miss
As a PR holder — or even as a PR applicant — you simply get into Medicare. What almost nobody knows: the Netherlands has a healthcare agreement with Australia that bridges your landing, and a 12-month deadline is ticking for whoever wants to avoid a loading on their private insurance.
Updated 11 September 2026
Taking medicines across the border: certificates, supply and the 90-day ceiling
For medicines under the Opium Act you need a certificate — and the Dutch system only carries you for three months. What you arrange with the CAK, what Australia wants to see at the border, and why finding a local doctor simply belongs to your first weeks.
Updated 11 September 2026
Emigrating with children after a divorce: the consent that comes before everything
With joint custody you can't just go abroad with the children — you need the consent of the other parent, or substitute consent from the court. What the court weighs, and why leaving without consent is legally child abduction.
Updated 11 September 2026
The practical side
Renting in Australia: winning the application without an Australian history
Renting is done the Australian way: you apply. Without a local rental history that feels hopeless, but the rules protect you more than you think — the bond is capped and lodged with the state, savings count as evidence, and what you may and may not offer differs per state.
Updated 11 September 2026
Your first two weeks in Australia, in order
SIM card, bank account, tax number, Medicare — the registrations of your first weeks interlock, and whoever knows the order is done in days where others lose weeks.
Updated 21 August 2026
Stopping allowances on emigration: do it yourself, and in time
Housing allowance, healthcare allowance, childcare allowance and child budget don't stop by themselves on the day you leave. Whoever lets them run gets a reclaim months later — this is what you arrange per allowance.
Updated 11 September 2026
Cancelling your health insurance without a gap
Your Dutch basic insurance is tied to living or working in the Netherlands and stops being a given on emigration. The art is to have the end date match your new cover — and to know which route belongs to your situation.
Updated 28 August 2026
In the Australian step-by-step plan the family travels along: medical and police certificates per family member, the fees added up, and the validity periods watched so nothing expires before the invitation comes.
The departure guide
Five mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Choose your destination and we'll send you the departure guide: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that at most one mail a month: first the question where your plans stand, then now and then one thing that fits the time of year or your country. No newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Ready to begin?
Forty-four journeys are fully ready: your step-by-step plan, your documents and your costs in one place, with the timing watched. Pay once, and it's yours.