Going home

We decided to head back home next month. Yeah, just like that.

It was a life-changing journey to Australia that we enjoyed greatly and that gave us so many insights and new angles that we couldn’t possibly have otherwise. Our decision is based on that living here doesn’t align with our personal plans very well. We figured that more than everything we love our families and immensely value their support network.

The other reason is that even though the life is more structured here, the financial well-being is way harder to achieve. Technically speaking, we had a serious downgrade on multiple fronts, and figured all the trouble of settling in a new world is not worth it. Don’t take me wrong, Australia is amazing. It’s that in our particular case we have some better options.

We have our tickets and depart on June 24. Now comes the time of selling our newly purchased stuff — furniture, kitchen and laundry equipment, the car. I will be posting listings shortly. Drop me a line if you are interested in seeing what’s on offer.

Wish us luck!

Moving progress update

It looks like a great time for some updates. All looks good so far. We spend almost all our time at driving school. Answering a reasonable question why on Earth would we need Ukrainian driving licenses if we move to Australia, it is somewhat complicated, but long story short, it would give us serious benefits on the other side of the pond. Instead of walking the license acquisition road from the Learner permit to the Full permit through years of probation, we cut a couple of corners and get through much faster. Final tests are scheduled on December 3, so we have plenty of time to become professional drivers.

By the way, we already have our plane tickets. On December 12 we fly to Moscow to stay there through the night at our friends’ and continue our journey the next day. From Moscow we fly to Abu-Dhabi on December 13 and then to Melbourne — our final destination. The journey takes about 30 hours, which is our personal record so far.

In Melbourne we plan to stay at Formule 1 Hotel on (97-103 Elizabeth Street). Just today Kate’s booked 12 days there online for a very reasonable price given the location – CBD – and room configuration.

There’s plenty of work to do ahead in Melbourne, but we hope to find a nice apartment relatively fast and move there within those two weeks. Our vacation will last for a couple of months. We plan to spend it exploring the area and making ourselves comfortable with our new Home.

Australian Values Statement

Since 15 October 2007, if you apply for visa, you need to sign the Australian Values Statement to acknowledge that you understand and appreciate the values, way of life and laws of Australia. It’s mandatory now and you can’t get an approval without it.

To give you all necessary facts and figures, they issued a 40-page book called Life in Australia. On its colorful and well-designed pages you learn many curious geographical and lifestyle facts. I only quickly skimmed through it, but my immediate impression was that it is a great and entertaining read.

Here you can learn more about the statement, the procedure and download the book itself. You can also order a printed version on some languages, and they promise to release an audio version soon.

Interesting, hah!

ACS, Finished

On Saturday, as we landed in Kiev on a way back from the vacation in Egypt, my cell buzzed with a message. A second later my heart broke out the chest — a note from my mother said that they had received the letter from ACS with my skill assessment results. Oh my God!

The next day I paid a visit to my parents, opened the letter to learn that I was approved and granted the highest category of IT specialist. On top of that, they certified me suitable for additional points for excessive knowledge in J2EE, and attached the form for a discounted membership. As you may or may not know, ACS is an organization gathering and training IT specialists under its umbrella, which helps immensely when looking for new job opportunities.

The next step would be to collect all documents necessary for the main visa application and proceed with it online. It will probably take another year to process it to immigration office, but still it’s already half way up to success.

Great news, hah!