I planted the seed of our biggest adventure yet....
Why don't we try a move to Australia?
Yes, it was me who planted that seed, the one who started the talking of the idea, because anyone that knows me, knows I'm very independent, keen on big adventures, keen on seeing the world and what it has to offer and a true believer of nothing will change if you don't!
So, we broke that hamster wheel of UK life, well and truly.
And we reached for something new together.... Me and My boys!
When Craig agreed to the idea of looking into the move, it was one of shock and pure excitement. Craig isn't a man for change, so this was huge for him and where I knew I had to allow him to do this at this own pace, with as much help and support from me where he would allow.
I wonder how many women out there, were the seed planters of such a big adventure like this?
We started our process by attending the Down Under Live expo in Birmingham back in 2017. This was the start of the secrets we kept from our families. Not telling them where we were going and what we were doing.
I remember us using Cadburys World as a great cover up when we had to go to Birmingham. It wasn't a full lie though; we did actually go there for a chocolate treat. (FYI the chocolate in oz doesn't taste the same, so stock up and enjoy it while you can.)
With Craig been an electrician, we found his occupation was on the skilled shortest list for Australia, meaning we could go down the option of applying for a skilled, points-based visa.
Which with the help of The Down Under Centre, who are worth their weight in gold, advised us Craig would need to complete a skills assessment and take an English test. Which he did! - This part was the hard bit, soooo much evidence to gather and prove his years of work experience for, but it is all worth it in the end and becomes a distant memory, as you keep going through each stage of the process.
After this stage we was able to progress forward and our Down Under Centre agent - Jenny, as mentioned in the book. Submitted us for a 190 permanent residency visa.
We had to jump through more hoops of having health checks and police checks completed too.
All the time our family still didn't know what we were up to.
The time did eventually come when we thought it was time to tell the families. The time was when we were just sitting and waiting for our visa grant to come through. Like everyone else on the journey of migration, we thought we would have plenty of time before it was granted.
Hmmm this didn't happen in our case. (All pre covid) Submitted everything in the July 2018....
And we had it granted right before Christmas 2018, the 22nd of December to be exact. - A surreal day of knowing we was leaving the UK and that hitting feeling of this 2018 Christmas, would be our last one for... who knows when.
After a 16-month process for us. Our big, new adventure was about to begin...
(This is our story, so please note everyone visas journeys are very different, so please don't compare)
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