Issues that Greek speaking people face in Australia

I was chatting to a Greek friend of mine, who I met through a moving country when I moved to Sydney some years back. After talking to him I decided to do some research across different forums and see what Greek immigrants to Australia have to face when they move to Australia.

The worst is the language. Australia is English speaking. So you need to make an effort to learn English. Otherwise you will never integrate, often it is only the children that do this at school and the parents never quite feel part of the country. 

Not being fluent in English can negatively affect who you befriend, job opportunities and your general level of comfort in getting around.

Missing ones home where you know where everything is another problem. Once the initial excitement of moving o\f Australia wears off everything can become very strange. Greek resident of australia seem to especially miss their home food and local culture. - Not to mention their family as they are very close knit to their extended families.

My friend, seemed to think he could not get a promotion or a better job as he was perceived to be a foreigner - and he had been here in Sydney for ten YEARS!!!

I might add  - he was a really really nice guy, honest and with wife and kids and he was really struggling to get ahead financially.

A lot of Greek people are being driven to australia by lack of jobs in their home countries

I saw another article about a 41 year old man who finds himself studying English in Australia and working nights for a fish warehouse in Melbourne. 

After nine months of unemployement, he left his wife and two kids in Athens and moved to Australia on a student visa. 

He said its difficult in Greece,with a family and you stay at home and you can't do anything due to no money or work, he complained with pain in his face,

At least he has some hope of a better future here in Australia. it wont be easy and he may fail - good luck to him,

Greek nationals only get Australian work visa's via sponsorship prior to entering the country and skilled migration visas are limited to  occupations where Australia has skill shortages. There are long provess times for these visa's.

Luckily this Greek mans employer is going to sponsor him for a permanent visa, which he hopes to get by the end of the year. He is one of only 102 Greek nationals that received  Australian student visas in 2011. This is according to Australia’s Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

Greeks are running from a deepening recession at home that has cause  unemployment to skyrocket.

Most of the immigrants have headed to Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city and home to 400,000 Greeks — the biggest group in Australia.

There are a lot of sympathetic people in Melbourne trying to create jobs for Greek migrants.  Local taxi operators owned by some Greek Australians made big headlines in the news in October when they introduced a scheme to hire 1,000 taxi drivers from Greece to ease the city’s chronic cab shortage.


Hi, want an Australia student visa?, why not use our community forum - all about living, working, playing, moving and studying in Australia.



How I got my visa, Life, Lumps and spirit, Hate your new country? Your not alone! A good Furniture Rental company in Sydney,Why do immigrants leave Australia?, Sydney - Scotland island - hidden gem, Malls in Sydney, Living in St Ives, Arriving in Sydney, Driving through Sydney - first day, How expensive is Sydney