Sunday, January 24, 2010

The Importance of Support

During this past roller-coaster year, I probably wouldn't have survive without the support of other people going through the Australian Migration process. I have been an active member of one particular forum, ExpatForum.com, which has some great members who offer advice to all, at absolutely no cost. Most of the people on there are people who have received a visa, or are currently awaiting theirs. There are also some Migration Agents who make an appearance. I think its critical that you keep on top of changes in the migration program, otherwise you could sit there for ages, and not know that things have changed. Being on the forum has allowed me to keep apprised of the current landscape.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

About Canberra, Australia

As I said earlier, I didn't know too much about Canberra apart from the fact that it was inland, somewhere between Sydney and Melbourne.


View Larger Map

Looking at the map above you will see that Canberra is much closer to Sydney than it is to Melbourne. It's about a 3 hour drive to Sydney, and a 9 hour drive to Melbourne.

Canberra was established in 1913, and was a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne, as neither could agree which city should be the capital. They decided to create a new city to be the government center. You can find more info about Canberra here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canberra

Thursday, January 7, 2010

ACT Sponsorship Approved

More good news today! Our ACT State Sponsorship application was approved. I was surprised that it came through this early in the year. With the Christmas break I was expecting to wait until February. We are thrilled that now we have moved up 2 priorities to level 5. This might not seem like much, but even if they process our application 6 months earlier, its better than the position we were in.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Julianne, the client manager, at the Canberra office. She answered the phone and responded to emails in that 'only in Australia' friendly manner. I can't imagine getting such great service here in the US.

Now the real work begins. Learning more about Canberra. Scoping out the real estate market. Researching restaurants and neighborhoods. Of course, we still have to wait for the actual visa,  but I'm confident that will come through eventually.