It's a Marathon, not a Sprint

[muzzmegs]

Now we heard that the emigration process would take some time, but we were not prepared for this..

 

I cannot explain how excited my wife and I were once we returned back from our "LSD" trip to Aus back in mid-2015. The country looked fantastic and met so many of the initial criteria which we set ourselves before we left. Granted that we were in the honeymoon phase when we returned and we still needed to make some serious decisions about our future (we got married back in Feb the same year, so our official lives together had barely begun.) We finally made the decision around two months later and engaged with a migration agent who explained the process. Our mouths initially dropped as we were not prepared for all the hurdles which we needed to leap over and all the requirements which we needed to meet. Not to mention all the time which would fly by in between.

 

The first portion of the process which we chose to tick off the list was our personal admin. Which included copies of birth certificates, our previous addresses, dates etc of countries previously visited, proof of education and English tuition. And the list goes on. Obtaining all of this took a fair amount of time, especially taking into account that I lost my birth certificate.

 

Then we started with my wife's skills assessment. Unfortunately, I could not apply myself as my degree requires further studies in order to be recognized in Aus. For us, this process took around a year in order to complete. During the process we encountered various brick walls and hurdles which seemed to ascend. However, we finally managed to secure a positive response and we currently are preparing our official application after receiving an invitation to apply. Happy days! 

 

Now during this process my wife and I were, or we felt that we were, in a grey area. Almost in a period of limbo. We refrained from making any other personal or career decisions as we felt that these would be useless taking into account our ultimate goal of emigrating to Aus. However, as time past by we realized that we were wasting a lot of our own time at our own detriment. There is no guarantee to how long the process will take. It will be different for every person / family. Since then, we have changed our tune completely as we cannot wait. We need to do what we can to finalize the process as quickly as possible, however, our personal and family goals need to be pursued as well.

 

So my advice is that (taking into account your means whether financial or otherwise): if you want to pursue further studies in the meantime, go for it. If you want to expand your family, do it. If you receive a fantastic job offer, take it. Don't put your life on hold, there is a good chance that you may regret it.

 

Enjoy the run.

[Jordy]

Wise advice. The waiting process is so frustrating. When it gets closer, it is even difficult making decisions about selling property etc.  Too many people have sold and rented during the waiting process only to realise they are renting for several years. If only the Dept of Immi was more open with their processing times to help migrants with difficult decisions.