Journey 3 - From UK Fireman to “Real Aussie”

May 22, 2008 by Mira · Leave a Comment

Our journey started 4.5 years ago.

My partner and I have decided to leave the UK, I already had a sister living in Australia and have visited a few times, the beaches, the laid back life style, the weather and all the possibilities for outdoor activities – surfing, scuba diving etc were very tempting so we decided to make the move.

We were both firefighters in the UK and enjoyed our work but apparently this was not in demand in Australia so we had a problem with skilled migration.

We hired a migration agent and were advised that our best option is to study in Australia and we were told that if we structure our studies properly, we may be able to apply for Skilled Migration when we graduate and this will enable us to get our Australian permanent residence.

It was a long term plan but if nothing major changed in the law then we had a good chance. We decided to go for it and I decided to study to be a Pastry cook.

I’ve always enjoyed baking and thought the move to Australia would be a good time for a career change.

We started the process of getting all our documents together to get them ready for lodgement to Australia House in London but then the worst happened.

In the medical tests that we had to do for the student visa application, the doctors discovered a cyst in my chest. I then had to start a series of additional tests to discover the nature of the cyst and I was later told that the cyst needs to be removed for me to satisfy the health requirements for the visa.

My studies had to be deferred by 6 months, I was operated and was at home for 4 months, no fire fighting and no scuba diving…….

All this time I tried to keep my spirits high and I’ve done pretty well I think.

I recovered well and got the go ahead from the specialist.

Finally we were able to lodge the application which was approved pretty quickly and we arrived to Australia, settled down in the beautiful Sunshine Coast in QLD. Have I mentioned the great beaches ???

We sold our house in the UK and that gave us enough funds to buy a plot of land and build our home, we truly felt at home and were very settled.

My studies were lots of fun, for 2 years I studied all aspects of pastry and baking and I found work very easily working in a few local cafes and bakeries, getting enough work experience which after completing my Certificate III enabled me to apply for a skills assessment with the TRA and nominate the occupation of Pastry Cook. Once that was completed our migration agent lodged our permanent residence application through Skilled Migration and that was approved after 6 months.

We couldn’t believe it! We were Australian permanent residents at last!!!! We already felt very much at home here so that made us feel like real Aussies….

So yes, it was quite a long journey because of our specific circumstances and we had our share of trials and tribulations along the way mainly because of my health issue but looking backwards we are grateful for the decision we took.