Life has been so busy the past few months--where do I start?? I suppose I better start 'here' and work backwards for a bit as so much has happened.
So where are we now? We're in Vancouver, B.C. Canada!
And we aren't just visiting this time either--we've immigrated here. Well, I guess technically just Jim and the girls have 'immigrated' while for me, I've returned home after 12yrs in Melbourne, Australia. Why? How? For how long? These are some of the questions that I'll attempt to address, but not necessarily all in this post.
First, the 'why'. Ever since Jim and I've been together, we've either been traveling or living in Melbourne, yet living in Vancouver for a while has always been a possibility because 1) it's a easier option for us as I'm Canadian, 2) we want our kids to know and spend their Canadian side of the family and 3) we want our kids to experience Canadian culture too. And for a number of other reasons, a year ago we decided that July 2014 was the time.
And now a little of the 'How'. We've been preparing for this move for nearly a year now. The list of 'Things To Do' was long, including completing the renovations on our house, which we would then rent out, as well as de-cluttering our belongings and selling/giving away most of our things. We would move to Canada with only our suitcases and store a minimal amount of personal belongings in our house in Australia.
We also had to apply for Jim's Permanent Resident Visa in order for him to be able to work and live in Canada. Even though he is married to a Canadian, the process to apply for the visa was still lengthly in terms of both the paperwork and forms required to be submitted as well as the time it took for Canadian Immigration to process. Nevertheless, all in all, it's still a much easier Visa to obtain (Family Sponsorship) than others.
These were only some of the major items that we had to consider, and for 10 months, Jim and I completed these in 'secrecy' as we didn't want to tell our girls until the Visa was obtained. As we also didn't want to tell too many other people either before we told them first. It wasn't ideal and it did make things a bit more complicated but we thought this was the best way until the Visa was finalised.
To be continued...
So where are we now? We're in Vancouver, B.C. Canada!
And we aren't just visiting this time either--we've immigrated here. Well, I guess technically just Jim and the girls have 'immigrated' while for me, I've returned home after 12yrs in Melbourne, Australia. Why? How? For how long? These are some of the questions that I'll attempt to address, but not necessarily all in this post.
First, the 'why'. Ever since Jim and I've been together, we've either been traveling or living in Melbourne, yet living in Vancouver for a while has always been a possibility because 1) it's a easier option for us as I'm Canadian, 2) we want our kids to know and spend their Canadian side of the family and 3) we want our kids to experience Canadian culture too. And for a number of other reasons, a year ago we decided that July 2014 was the time.
And now a little of the 'How'. We've been preparing for this move for nearly a year now. The list of 'Things To Do' was long, including completing the renovations on our house, which we would then rent out, as well as de-cluttering our belongings and selling/giving away most of our things. We would move to Canada with only our suitcases and store a minimal amount of personal belongings in our house in Australia.
We also had to apply for Jim's Permanent Resident Visa in order for him to be able to work and live in Canada. Even though he is married to a Canadian, the process to apply for the visa was still lengthly in terms of both the paperwork and forms required to be submitted as well as the time it took for Canadian Immigration to process. Nevertheless, all in all, it's still a much easier Visa to obtain (Family Sponsorship) than others.
These were only some of the major items that we had to consider, and for 10 months, Jim and I completed these in 'secrecy' as we didn't want to tell our girls until the Visa was obtained. As we also didn't want to tell too many other people either before we told them first. It wasn't ideal and it did make things a bit more complicated but we thought this was the best way until the Visa was finalised.
To be continued...
Congratulations on the big move. I hope the four of you are settling in nicely.
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