Andrew & Rachels’s Story – 186 Employer Nomination Scheme
Tell us a little about your background
We’re from Ireland and met each other in 2012 in Dublin. Rachel has a background in recruitment consulting and I’ve a mechanical engineering background. In 2016, we made the decision to quit our jobs and travel the world. After some planning, our travels took us through Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, South Korea and Malaysia. We eventually ended up in Sydney in May 2017 after entering Australia on working holiday visas. We had originally planned to visit Australia for a year just to see what it was like, but ended up falling in love with Sydney and finding great jobs. It was apparent very quickly that the lifestyle and standard of living in Australia is world-class so the decision to try to make it our long term home was an easy one to make.
How has your life changed after gaining permanent residency?
After a few months on a working holiday visa with my current employer, they engaged Migration Downunder to assist with a 457 visa for myself and Rachel. By 2018, we felt that permanent residency was a must if we were to properly settle in Australia. My employer sponsored our residency applications with help from Migration Downunder and we were granted PR in May 2019.
I remember very well the day we found out our visas were approved; we both felt a huge sense of relief and cracked open the champagne to celebrate! PR provided us with the peace of mind that we could make Australia our home for life. It meant that any children we had would be Australian citizens at birth and put us in a position to apply for citizenship last year. We consider this the last step in fully committing to Australia as a family. We will no longer have to worry about visa expiries and can plan for the long term here.
How has your experience with Migration Downunder?
It was pleasant and the communication was great. Visa applications can be quite in-depth and complex. Just knowing that we could pick up the phone or send them an email for advice on our visa applications and progress was very reassuring. Their advice is also realistic. They were upfront with us about the best pathway for our circumstances.
Most recently, they helped us with our citizenship applications. This process was very smooth with their assistance.
How has your life changed after becoming parents?
It has completely changed for the better. (despite the lack of sleep!) We can’t imagine life without our son Teddy. We’re very glad to have sorted out our residency before he was born. Our status in Australia was one less thing to worry about when adapting to life raising a baby.
How will you be celebrating Mother’s Day this year? (May 8th)
We’ll likely just take it easy, go for a walk and a coffee at Blackwattle Bay and enjoy the day together. Hopefully the weather is nice!
