Friday, July 29, 2016

Progressing

Since my last post 3 weeks ago, I have gotten my ACS assessment result and it's positive, yuuhooo!! One hurdle cleared.

So now I am preparing for the PTE exam which I have scheduled for 6th August, I am quite nervous about it since I am aiming to get great marks so that I can get more points which will result in better options and chances.

Being the cheap stake that I am, I am not paying for the online practise test because I think most of the available resources for free online are similar. So hopefully I won't pay the price of being too cheap stake and only using free resources online.

Otherwise, my other bigger worry is in terms of finances. So we are trying to liquidate some assets to cover some of the cost but still find it difficult. Will be taking a day off with hubby to go to the banks to ask for better financial management (debt consolidation) in order to make the best financial decisions.

This weekend I will be having a trip away with colleagues and leaving behind the family. Hopefully I find time to study and prepare for the test which is the Saturday after tomorrow.

Friday, July 8, 2016

Our Journey

Been a looong while. 

My family has grown to 2 boys and 2 girls, youngest being just about 2.5 years old. Things are ok, we are living our lives in Kajang, Malaysia. Busy with the usual, kids' with school and hubby and I with our work. We also bought a 20 year old semi detached house and had been busy since 2013 renovating it. Finally we moved in October 2014 although the house isn't really 'done' yet up to now. We are still doing improvement works and applying for the CCC which is a pretty complicated process. The problem is we spent all our money on the renovations and related costs. Therefore we are pretty much broke. Money we both earn just isn't quite enough although things are getting better and I could see we could start set aside some savings again by the end of 2016.

However, suddenly, out of a wimp, the idea of applying for Australia migration crept into our minds. Hubby and I both agreed we should try applying. Well, it was not really a wimp, several things led to this but it is a post for another day.

Anyways, since time is critical for us due to the age factor to qualify for skill migration, we have engaged a migration agent just to make sure we are doing the things right. Now we are at the stage of submitting my skill assessment to the Australia assessment body which the agent will do on our behalf. So in a matter of a week or two the assessment will be submitted. Next I am going to have to schedule an English test.

Once these two are completed, the agent can then submit an EOI for me and we will then wait to be invited to apply for the visas. The whole process if quick could be a matter of 2 or 3 months or it could take 6 to 7 months. Anyways, if it takes longer than 1 year, I will not be able to qualify due to points lost in the age factor.

All these are part of the process so I will just apply and wait and see what needs to be done next. Only thing that has me quite worried is the financial part of it, how we can finance this whole process without needing to sell the house that we have settled ourselves into, which we quite love.

Oh well, it's enough ramblings for today. I am sure with God's help, things will turn out well. I will post more on another day.