People & Places
The waiting game
As anyone who has gone through the emigration process will tell you, waiting for your visa to be processed is an extremely frustrating time
This is even more the case the closer you get to hearing whether or not your application has been successful, writes David Fuller. However, on top of the usual irritations suffered during this period, imagine the extra stress which would be caused by a) never having been to the country before; b) having had your visa application already delayed by around six weeks; and c) still being unsure of where exactly it is you will be settling. All this could, understandably, leave you feeling like you are teetering on the brink of suffering a nervous breakdown.
So it is testament to registered nurse Alison Devonport's positive outlook on life, that when I speak to her in mid-January, she still appears to be in a remarkably chipper mood, in spite of the fact she is facing all three situations outlined above. Alison and family – husband Andy and children Sophie, 11, and Brad, 10 – are hoping to hear at the end of this month that their visas have been granted, having now completed and submitted their medicals. They had started getting all the relevant information together for the skilled visa process in May 2006. This fairly lengthy wait for the final decision on their visas was largely caused by a significant delay in the process of getting the Australian Nursing Medical Council (ANMC) to verify Alison's qualifications. "There was one specific piece of paper that they were waiting for to be able to verify my qualifications," she explains. "But somewhere along the line there was a breakdown in communication and the ANMC thought they were waiting for the British Nursing Medical Council (BNMC) to send them this piece of paper, when in fact it should have actually come from the university where I studied for my qualifications." Alison continues: "I had been pre-warned about this so had already organised to get this piece of paper off the university, so I had it ready to send. However, as they [the ANMC] were asking the BNMC for it, and not me or the university, no-one was aware that I already had it. "Once they realised that I did have it, the application was processed quite quickly." Alison says that getting her nursing qualifications verified ended up taking 16 weeks instead of ten. However, she says this delay actually did the family a bit of a favour as the immigration rules changed during those extra six weeks to allow visa applications to be submitted online. This, Alison believes, ultimately saved the family some time on the actual visa application process. "We got called for our medicals within six weeks of lodging our application, which we are told is quite quick – quicker than usual. We ended up taking them on 9th November 2007."
However, the medicals did not go as smoothly as they might have done. "There was a problem with my chest x-ray so I had to see a consultant," recalls Alison. "However, after examining me he signed the forms off almost immediately and they are now in Sydney. We hope to hear in late February whether we have been successful. Hopefully this is the last stage in the process." Throughout our whole interview Alison remained remarkably upbeat, in spite of the obviously high stress levels her family must be encountering at the moment. The reason for this is that she is confident that life in Australia will be worth the hassle of getting out there. "I've always fancied the idea of emigrating," she says. "We have severe doubts about the future in the UK for our children."
So why Australia?
"The weather," jokes Alison without hesitation, before adding, "no, there's far more to it than that. "My ex-husband used to have family out there and it really appeals to me from what they've said about it. The open space, better schooling... everything. "But look, we're not going to be going out there with rose-tinted glasses. They also told me how hard it is to get used to living in the country, especially during the early days of living there. We've been doing plenty of research."
But does the fact that neither her or Andy have been to Australia before not worry her at all?
Seemingly not. "If it doesn't work out we'll come back," replies Alison in such a way that you can almost imagine her shrugging her shoulders as she says it. "But if we don't give it a go we'll never know." In a strange way the fact the Devonports haven't visited Australia before may do them a favour. Originally, the family had fancied the idea of moving to Melbourne, Victoria, but in July last year Alison was offered a position with Queensland Health – an offer she decided to accept. Unfortunately, though, as yet neither party is sure exactly where the location of this posting will be. All Alison knows is that it will be in Queensland – which, lest we forget, covers over 1.8 million square kilometres – somewhere.
However, at least the family haven't visited a destination that they have their heart set on, and will therefore not be overly disappointed if the location of this posting turns out to be hundreds of miles from there. Not that this is to say not knowing where they will be settling isn't of much annoyance, especially the closer it gets to the family potentially receiving their visas. "This is a really frustrating time," says Alison, again without sounding too down about the situation. "We're still waiting to hear from Queensland Health about where I will be based. We're still waiting for our visas to come through. We're waiting to sell the house – we can't go anywhere until we do this. "Because we don't know where we're going we can't organise removals – although we have had some quotes – or look into schools for the children, etcetera. Everything's on hold at the moment, but we know everything's going to happen in one mad rush, the house, the visa, the location... "However, we're still determined to move as soon as we possibly can. We just want to be there."
And it's not just Alison and Andy that feel this way. "The kids are so excited about Australia," states Alison. "They'd go tomorrow if they could. "We think that they're just the right age for the move, before they become teenagers and start to form firm friendships and go through the boyfriend / girlfriend thing. From this point of view I feel we couldn't have left it [emigrating] much longer." So while Alison, Andy, Sophie and Brad are counting down the days until the move becomes a reality, what do those who will be left behind make of their decision. "Andy's parent aren't too happy about it," admits Alison. "They are both in their late 70s and are worried about what happens if something happens to them. But we'll come back if we have to. He does have brothers and sisters still in the UK, so it's not like we're leaving them totally alone. "I think my sister is a little jealous about the move, to be honest, while our friends are all gutted. "You hear people taking about making the move to Australia all the time, but we've had the balls to actually go out and do something about it. "From what we've heard we're going to need a really large house to accommodate all the people that are coming to stay," she adds.
The Devonports now hope to be out in Australia by November at the very latest. They had originally hoped to be there before 10th June (as this is when their police checks were due to expire), but with everything being as up in the air as it is, the family have decided to renew their police checks, meaning they have one year from when they had their medicals to enter Oz. With a bit of luck, come the end of this month the family will be in possession of their visas, and they should then hear where Alison's job will be located. It's been a long time coming, but for the Devonports the frustration of the emigration process is, hopefully, nearing an end.
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