Hi all, I have only posted a handful of times on this forum over the past couple of years yet I have been perusing on and off throughout that time and it has proved extremely helpful. We finally received our PR visa after a few hiccups, it certainly took longer than we envisaged. Maybe as a result of my hubby being self employed and having to provide a lot of evidence to show 8 years' of full time employment, because of how long it took we had to have our meds redone (ouch, nearly another £1K for our family of 5). Anyway, water under the bridge and we have booked our flights and are heading to Melbourne July this year (yay) - it's going to fly by.
I have already experienced a mixture of emotions. As the visa process was so convoluted and lengthy (we did do it ourselves which probably hindered us a little bit) I think we both began to think that we were going to be unsuccessful (along with family and friends!) and I actually started to think that wouldn't be such a bad thing. When we got the email granting our PR I was initially pleased but not too long after I began to have major wobbles and actually began to gently goad my husband into backing out (I didn't want to be the one to do it as I have been the driving force from the very beginning!). Thankfully I have overcome those feelings, and although still terribly daunting I'm feeling incredibly positive about the whole move. We still have so much to do though and not long to do it: decorating house and fixing things in preparation for renting it, plus my husband has a huge workshop that he has to sort through which is proving difficult as he is busy at work and whilst this is good as we need to boost our funds for the big move we also need to time to prepare and pack for it!
My husband is having a few sleepless nights over it, his main concern being finding work. He is a plumber and has been self employed for 12 years. It's a whole different ball game in Oz and he will have to effectively re-train and start as an apprentice on a provisional licence, which at 46 he is not keen to do. But he is open to all work (as long as it pays relatively well) so may even go into a different field.
I am going to look for secretarial work and may contact some agencies in Melbourne before I leave, although ideally would like to see the kids settled into school and my youngest start prep (Feb 2015) before I go back but will see how things go. I have been a stay at home mum for the last 4 years and am a little nervous about going back to work, especially in a different country.
I have 5 shipping companies booked in for next Wednesday - that should be a fun day . I am really going to get stuck in to sorting stuff and decorating now. July is going to be here before we know it!
We are going to look at areas when we arrive although I think we have pretty much decided on Frankston South, just need to go and check it out in person before committing.
I will endeavour to post a bit more on here when I get the time and keep you updated with our move :yes:.