A Journey to Australia

The journey of mine to get to the land down under is a long process that is not complete yet. As of the 31st of March, in the Family – Stage 1 pf the visa application. Who am I and why am I immigrating to the Land Down Under? Allow me to delve into my story a little further.

I have been married to my blunt Australian since November of 2013. The man I have two beautiful children with and adore his upfront character. We met online actually, in a way that I would NEVER even consider a dating program to find your soulmate—World of Warcraft. Yes, we are gamers, and we love our time together. However, this time is limited now that I focus on the kids when my Aussie plays games, and vice versa. We don’t play long throughout the day, I make sure I keep my kids happy, occupied, and little scientists that they are while learning the world around them. This works for us as our love blossomed from gaming, we cherish this character of our marriage.

My husband has been living in the United States, away from his family and elder kids for the past 8-years and I felt it is time for our family, to be together. I adore my older stepchildren and always want the best for them, which is why our journey to Australia is a must. We had to wait for the opportune time to do immigrate financially, schooling-wise for everyone in this family, and my family being prepared for our departer (grandparents, aunties, and uncles). Now that my family got to know their niece and nephew for a while, it’s time to get our family together so we can be part of our other children in Australia.

This chapter is about preparation as I have no other way to update my journey until immigration changes the stage of my process. Preparing to move across the ocean is a big move, one of the biggest I have taken. I was in the military and stayed in the United States throughout my service. However, I didn’t have a family then. Even if I were transferred to Europe or Asia, it still wouldn’t compare to now with five mouths to feed, including our Irish Wolfhound child. I plan on taking my dog horse with us and trying my best to save all the money we can to get her there. She is my rock, my annoying shadow that won’t leave me alone, and my emotional support. I wouldn’t change my giant steed for the life of me.

Preparation 1: Saving money. It is a LOT of money just put through the application for my visa. If it weren’t for my amazing mother-in-law that wants us to be home in Australia, we wouldn’t be this far. I’m going to be blunt about the money as you could look it up yourself via Google if you wanted to. The cost for a spousal visa for Australia is AUD 7,715. This cost goes towards a permanent visa (subclass 820) after two years of living in Australia with your spouse. We were halfway there before COVID hit in which my husband got ill in December of 2019. To this day we believe it was COVID-19 and not average pneumonia. He was in such agony that he couldn’t ignore it and went straight to the ER. It cost all of our money to pay that bill with insurance included.

Preparation 2: Gathering as much information as you can. Passports (old ones too with different last names), birth certificates, marriage certificates, friends that can vouch for your character, evidence of you living together (mortgage statements, bills you share, financial loans, etc.), and many other things. If you would like to know more about this section, I am happy to delve more in-depth regarding all the documentation. Scan these documents into a saved external drive so you can take them with you to Australia.

Preparation 3: Book your immigration physical as soon as you can (if you need this). Make sure you ask your doctor for a summary of your health—medications you are on, how many times a year you need a checkup for conditions, what medication plans you are on, etc. You need just a summary to give to your immigration physician. I am lucky enough that my children are dual citizens or they would also need one as far as I know.

What is mentioned is preparation just for the immigration application. The next post, ‘My Journey to Australia’ will dive into the financial planning outside of immigration, what we are up to now, and snags along the way.