My Journey to Australian Citizenship — Tips & Tricks
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After 2499 days, 6 visas, $8590, 4 Visits to Justice of the Peace, 30 hours from being deported, 7 Lawyers Consulted, 20 Visa Meetings, 5 Character References, 4 Statements of Employment Service Letters, 2 Recommendation Letters, 1 IELTS (English Test Sat), 1 Citizenship Test, and countless hours spent completing application forms…I’m an Australian Citizen. G’day, mate.
People often say, ‘You’re so lucky to live in Australia’.
I say winning the lottery is lucky. There’s no luck in the above. It took a lot of persistence, administration, and being on top of what needed to be done.
Australia has a strict border policy. If you obey the rules, have a skill, have no criminal record, and respect the land, you’re allowed in.
I agree with it, hence why I wanted to live here. I’m grateful, happy, and relieved there are no further steps.
The most painful part of applying for an Australian visa is uploading your documents and filling out countless application pages. Information on every country you’ve been to, where you lived 15 years ago, detailed family history, all your educational data, and pretty much anything the government feel is a pain in the butt to retrieve.
Therefore, as a general rule — always complete your application on a computer. Firstly, the web version is more accessible and user-friendly. Secondly, it frees up your innocent mobile phone to search through your contact list to find that landlord you had 10 years ago or dive into the pre-historic era to find the travel dates for your trip to Egypt in 2001.
Top Tip — Keep a folder on your computer with all the essential documents (scanned passport copy, driving licence, university transcripts, every visa document and correspondence, basically your life history.
Remember when we printed off every important information and filed it into travel, work, school and general folders? If only today was 2005…the application process would be a simple scan and post job.
Australia is a fantastic country to live in. In our minuscule existence on this planet, the lifestyle, well-being, and health benefits are worth their weight in gold.
Therefore, I decided to write a book on the Australian Visa & Citizenship process that details the steps required with helpful tips and tricks. I’ll provide the link once published.
I hope the chapters in my journey will assist or inspire others to achieve their lives down under.
