Migration Update: Will We Ever Make it?

It has been 222 days since we received an email from our migration agents, Sterling Migration, to confirm that we had become Permanent Residents of Australia. It feels like a lifetime ago!

Don’t get me wrong, we know how lucky we have been in this process. Just over two months of waiting from the expression of interest stage to being invited to apply, and then a meagre 42 days of waiting between lodging our visa with the DHA and it being granted. 

Compared to others who have waited months, if not years on end, we know that we are incredibly lucky and we don’t take this for granted at all.

We are also 100% in line with our original plans to head out in UK summer 2025. 

However, since we sold the house for the first time in February, things have felt pretty stagnant. Partly because for 10 weeks, thanks to a pretty useless buyer, things were very much at a standstill. She wouldn’t commit to the sale, and eventually, after giving her probably far too many chances, we pulled out and put the house back on the market. Not a decision we took lightly, but the best decision nevertheless. 

Fortunately, we have now found a much more proactive buyer and have already got further in three weeks than we did in ten. But as my work comes to a close in just five weeks and the children finish school, I can’t help but feel like we are never going to get to Australia! 

Every day we are quizzed on our plans by friends, family, colleagues and followers, which is great as people are genuinely excited for us and I love that. But being unable to answer with any additional information is starting to wear thin. 

So, when do you fly? When are you heading over? When do the kids start school? Do you have a job lined up? Where will you be living? 

We currently have zero answers. Zero idea. Zero plans. 

As a serial planner, this pains me greatly. I thrive on planning events, travel, days out, parties…and I absolutely cannot wait to be able to answer all of the above.

I see other families who were granted a flight at a time similar to ours, booking their flights and finalising plans to head down under. Meanwhile, here we are just plodding along with our lives in the UK. 

I am trying to make the most of our time left here, and I don’t want to wish precious time away with family and friends at all. My intention is to cherish as many special moments with them as possible. I just want to be able to book my flights. Set up a countdown on my phone and have some clarity around our adventure. 

 The unknown is making us all a bit uneasy if I am honest. Our daughter, who we thought was pretty excited to move, is actually becoming quite emotional at the thought of leaving her friends. She also wants to know if she will still be in the UK for her birthday at the end of August, and I feel pretty useless having to tell her that I don’t have a clue. 

Limbo is a really awkward place to be, and I know lots of us feel like this when we transition from one thing to another. One country to another. One life to another. It is all the same. I know that we will get there eventually, but I am becoming impatient and I don’t want to end my time in the UK resenting it. 

So what am I doing to alleviate some of these irritations? 

Well, I am doing what I do best in these situations. I am writing it down and sharing it with the world. Why? Because 1) it is cathartic for me and 2) I know that I am definitely not the only person feeling like this. 

I have started to bullet journal again. This helps me to write down more personal vexations, perhaps ones I wouldn’t share with everyone. Journalling also helps me to plan the things which I can currently control. My daily habits. School work. Weekend plans with family and friends. 

Being a parent in the summer term is also a part-time job in itself, right? The events, fetes, non-uniform days and the tombola. This is for three different schools, which makes it even more fun, doesn’t it? All goes into my journal and helps me to feel like at least some parts of life are planned for. 

Mindfulness is also something I have been practising and trying to get back into my daily habits. Recording things I am grateful for. Spending a few minutes doing some breath work. It is crazy how much these two things can make a difference. 

To anyone else in limbo. Feeling like every day is a bit of Groundhog Day, I would 100% recommend doing some of the above. Take time out of your day to refocus on the positives. It will be your turn soon. It will happen, and it will all be worth it.