Legislation deadline

Six, nearly seven months, have passed since the Department of Immigration’s proposed citizenship and visa changes were announced. What felt like a tidal wave of changes were made public and shook every visa holder residing in Australia at the time, whether directly impacted or not.

While months have passed and opinions have been heard, a decision is set to be made by the Senate on Wednesday this week regarding the proposed Citizenship legislation.

The proposed bill was met with waves of acceptance and staid outcry in equal measure.

Back in March, when the multiple changes were announced, my partner and I were in the midst of a Permanent Residence application. It was daunting as we were unsure of what this meant or how it would impact our pending application and could only speculate about what might happen.

Peter Dutton’s recommended citizenship changes included a new English test, extending the PR requirement from one to four years, and testing Australian assimilation.

Twitter and Australian news publication Facebook pages were flooded with racial and xenophobic commentary. Users had no comprehension on the outlined changes, many not knowing that prior to this bill any person applying for citizenship had to have resided in Australia for FOUR years, with one year as a permanent resident. Instead, the majority were under an illusion and outraged that foreigners could land in Australia and become a citizen within one year. I may not hail from Australia but even I would be bewildered if such a situation were possible.

Trolls were aghast online that migrants were allowed entry with poor levels of English language and welcomed the change in testing. What many were unaware of was the level of testing; a test of that measure would fail many existing Australian Citizens and that to obtain residency an English test is typically required.

Thankfully our residency has since been granted. The day our application was approved was nothing but sheer joy and relief. While our journey had a joyous outcome, others have not been so lucky.

At the moment it is not known how the Senate will proceed with this legislation, regardless if it is passed or denied the decision must be respected and upheld. Moving forward my best advice to anyone with pending applications or visa woes would be to approach a registered migration agent, only trust official Department of Immigration updates, and stay away from Twitter or comment boards with uninformed users.

Why?

Following Ireland’s recent recession (can you believe it descended more than ten years ago though?) Dublin airports departure gates were almost flooded. It seemed almost everyone was destined for a life elsewhere. A long running joke between migrants when hearing of newbies about to make a move was to tell them to turn the lights off now no ones left. Not nice, I know.

We’ve been a nation of migrants long since records began. Apparently, a great deal of American’s claim to hail from Irish descent, though recently our preferred destinations to move to have become Australia and Canada.

Since it is practically ingrained in Irish culture to migrate and move, you would think we’ve become pro’s at it? Not quite yet.

Deciding to get up and go, that’s the hard part, right? Once that decision has been made and your ticket to Australia has been booked everything will fall into place and the sun will soon kiss your skin.

Kind of. Not really. Sometimes?

Let’s make one fact very clear from the outset; Australia and Ireland are more than miles apart in distance. Get ready for a culture and lifestyle shock that will shape your mind for life.

While others that have made their voyage before you will have hours of stories to share, be aware that everyone’s journey will be different. Living life down under may not be for you, and that’s ok too. Similarly, Australia might be the home you never knew you were looking for.

For every story that’s shared, true or false, there are some specifics that are widely agreed upon. Let us begin with these:

 

Homesickness can strike down the strongest of souls.

Winter happens here too.

You will never stop converting prices from dollars into euro.

Daylight saving times will perpetually confuse you when trying to estimate what time it is at home to call or FaceTime.

At some stage you will realise just how tiny Ireland is.

The size of spiders will always scare you.

And no, you’ve not nailed the Aussie accent that your mammy loves that you put on when you visit.

 

If you’re still set on making a move or simply searching for information after embarking on that longwinded journey, keep up to date, like and share.

 

 

Intro

Relocating from Ireland to Australia was a transformative journey for me. I arrived with the sole intention to stay for six months; to see how it went, to see if I could survive away from home, and to see why so many before me had completed the voyage too.

Six months came and passed, so the next goal was to see out a full year and complete the mandatory regional farm work required to gain a second year visa. Absorbing plenty of horror stories about farm work (some urban legends, yet many true), I believed my stint would extend only as far as year and I would return home with my own shocking stories to tell.

Surprised and relieved, I had a successful regional work experience to share. I went ahead and applied for the coveted second year working holiday visa. I am sure by now you may have realised that for each goal I set, I was convinced it would fail and I would have to make my way back home. However, this was not to be. My original intention to stay and survive six months slowly transformed and it has been nearly five years since I landed in beautiful WA.

Following plenty of reflection and hindsight, I now find it astonishing that I have lasted this long.

While I consciously arrived with 30kilograms of luggage, I was unaware I’d smuggled in a flights worth of naivety. I recount now with horror, and occasional amusement, some of the ideas I had and ridiculous beliefs that I accepted. I’ll admit I thought jeans and pants were unnecessary, shoes were pointless baggage weight, and I’d never need a jacket once I landed. Little did I know how quickly I came to love and need Kmart scarves! Optimistically, this is a typical rite of passage for those that travel a similar path, if not I have some serious further self-reflection to address.

From stressful visa situations to the most perfect sunsets, living in Perth, one of the most isolated cities in the world, has been a once in a lifetime experience. I certainly don’t claim to know everything about making such a big move, although I am positive there are other fellow migrants or travellers that will have similar questions when setting out.

My top advice?

Don’t be scared of drop bears, become familiar with your resident status for taxable income, and always ALWAYS wear sun cream.