Here is our visa story...
Having looked online we still didn't know a lot or have a clear understanding of the different visas and the visa process, so the migration expo in London looked like a great idea. To be able to hear from experts about moving to Australia, New Zealand and Canada could only be a good thing. We booked our places online and where quite excited to receive e-tickets.
We traveled by train to London and found the building quite quickly (still had time to walk round the entire building to find the door, yes, about 10 feet from where we started). Waiting outside for the expo was exciting, waiting with other people who where thinking about leaving the country, to explore strange new worlds and to seek out new opportunities. We tried to guess where they could be going (you've got a 1 in 3 chance). Appon entry our e-tickets where scanned and we made our way through to the stalls.
The first stall we saw was Immagration2oz. After filling out a 5-10minute form they where able to talk to us. There was a que now, so we where glad we had stopped here first. These, apparently, were the people to see.
After identifying that my job was not currently on a skilled list we discovered that Chloe's was. But only in one state. Tasmania it was then. After some playing on his computer John informed us we could apply for a state sponcerored visa. This would mean;
- Chloe had to work within the state for the duration of our visa (4years)
- Chloe would have to work within the same position for those 4 years
- I could do what I liked as 'The Partner'
- After the 4years we could apply for citizenship (Once you are a citizen you can come and go as you please)
At the time this sounded great. We could only go to one place, so there was no decision to be made on in regards to location, which was good. Additionally we could both continue working in similar jobs / 'fields'.
We walked around and briefly spoke to a few more people. Then we took our seats for the talks. There where a range of speakers and topics including, information about travel, bank accounts, working rights, shipping and visas. We didn't really listen to the working holiday people, that's not what we were there for (how little we knew)! It had been a thoroughly enjoyable and informative day.
We decided to progress with Immagration2oz. We progressed through the stages, paying as we went. First a review of our details, then extended information including family information. Next up was a English language test. Fortunately (for me) as we were applying based on Chloe and her work, I didn't have to do the test. Chloe revised and practised based on the information available online. She did so well she almost scored full marks!
Now at this stage we were both excited to be working towards Australia and to Tasmania. However we did feel abit restricted. Chloe had also started to think that 4 more years of her job may not be for her. Previously I haven't liked the idea of a working holiday visa and didn't really see the appeal for people already with experience and desire to work in a certain field. However with the 4 year visa looking more and more like it wasn't actually as suited to us as first though, and the next stage in the application being quite an expensive one, Chloe decided we should be looking at the working holiday visa more seriously.
We searched online and decided to visit STA Travel. We were able to speak to someone there but they didn't seem very......knowledgeable. However the guy sat behind her did. We went away and discussed our information, deciding to go back and see the guy and ask a few more questions. He was great, having traveled himself in Australia and having a friend currently living there meant he was able to answer all our questions (those that know me, know there's usually a few), and there the decision was made.
We would apply for the working holiday visa, allowing us to move around the country and work in any 'field' we wished, even if we only wanted to work in one area the flexibility was appealing. The only real restriction is a maximum 6month contact with an employer. At this point I should say I had been contacting Australian universities for a while, to find out about their programmes of work, activities and work opportunities. So the possibility of being able to move around suited Chloe, who wanted to see the beaches, and me, who wanted to meet the people I'd been emailing. So this did, now, seem like the best option for us.
Having now booked flights, visas and accommodation for our first 7days in Sydney, we just have the insurance to go. The working holiday visa process was nothing like the sponsored visa. This time we filled in our information online and within an hour we where approved. Done.
Our visas are for one year, while we are in Australia we can (and plan to) complete 3 months agricultural work allowing us to apply for a second year visa. This is then plenty of time to explore Australia see what it has to offer us and how we could fit into Australian life. If we like it we could again pursue the sponsored visa, but that is a long way off at this stage. We are just happy to be visiting Australia and hopefully meeting some amazing people.
So while everyones visa experience is, I'm sure, different. That is our visa story.....so far.
So while everyones visa experience is, I'm sure, different. That is our visa story.....so far.
No comments:
Post a Comment