'Cause I've got one hand in my pocket, and the other one is... holding my passport with a visa

My Myanmar visa is here!

There's a

thin line

between feeling

happy about it

and

freaked out by the fact

the trip's coming up

next

week

...

Can't wait though!

Visa granted

I'm not really sure whether I should be panicking or feeling relieved.


With one thing less on my mind, there are many more sprouts of new thoughts.


How will I manage?
Will my plane crash? (I dreamt I was in a plane crash, which wasn't really important until I dreamt I got my visa and then actually did get it two days later...)
How will I manage without my friends? Will I spend a quarter of my pay check on Skype credit?
What will I miss the most?
Am I going to feel homesick?


There's so many I can only sit in front of this screen and wonder...

Teaser alert no more

Here I am...


Sorry for the teaser, but I really was dead tired.


The good news is I kicked ass on my IELTS. My average score is 8/9 and, although some marks are a bit different than what I expected, I'm satisfied. After all, I needed a minimum of 5/9 for my Visa, so that's sorted!


Once I'll be applying for a permanent residence, I'll have to take it (and pay for it) again, but that's just how this shit world works, I guess. Also, you get no detailed feedback whatsoever - just the marks. But you could pay for them!


I hate it!


Other than that, my Nomination was approved, which means I am approved to come and work in Australia as much as any Australian citizen or resident.


Other than that, I got assigned a Case Officer, so now I'm able to communicate one on one, instead of sending numerous replies to info@... and thus telling the same story over and over again to dozens of different people.


Even though it doesn't sound like much, those are really big steps! My CO (who's Indian, by the way...) only told me I need to get my chest x-ray done, so I'm guessing nothing else is a real issue, or he'd mention it.


I've done my chest x-ray on Monday, which is now (five to seven days) being reviewed by two doctors, then sent to Vienna and then mailed to Australia for the Perth Centre of Excellence to review it as well. As soon as I get my IELTS results to my home address, I'll scan them and send them over and that'll complete all the necessary documentation I need to send it.


Once that's done, I'm only waiting for my CO to let me know if everything's OK and if it is, the visa is granted pretty much the next day!


Now, considering the fact that it shouldn't take longer than two to three weeks to send the x-ray images down under, I might actually have my visa granted within that time. That means I would be taking off within four or five weeks!


That's just crazy!

Oh, happy day!

Only because I was told I'll have to write about the good stuff happening am I expressing my joy!


I woke up this morning to find an email in my inbox letting me know that I have been awarded a Case Officer. That means I now have a one-on-one way of communication regarding all the paperwork involved. No more general inquiries and emails!


To prove that good thought follow good thoughts, I checked my Nomination application and found it that is approved too! That means the Visa application is up and rolling.


I have my chest x-ray scheduled for Monday and I'm getting my IELTS results on Wednesday. Being that I pretty much breezed through the paperwork so far (thank goodness!), I'm hoping that the rest of the application will go smooth as well.


That's all, folks! Many grinning greetings from Slovenia!

Date of sponsorship approval

Step one is done, it seems. And what's even better, it seems to be going rather well. Definitely at a higher pace than I expected.


I'm guessing the Nomination (part two) is being processed at the moment, so I'm finalizing the last pieces of paperwork. After I have it all, I'll be applying for the visa (final part three).


The check list is open and the forms are being updated with any new info. Being that it all makes around 80 pages, you can imagine the amount of work, patience and detail one has to put into this.


Electronic temporary business visa (long stay):
e457
Form 80
Form 1221
Form 1066
Sponsorship Clearance
Nomination Clearance
Sponsorship Transaction Reference Number (TRN)
Nomination Reference Number
Transaction Reference Number
Passport Biodata Page (page with photo and personal details)
Passport size photograph
Birth Certificate
Family Register Document
Identity Card
Details of any name change
457 Skills Assessment conducted by Trades Recognition Australia A
Qualification Certificates (Professional and Educational)
Registration, licensing or professional Membership as required B
Previous employment references C
Curriculum vitae (CV) or Resume D

Skills Assessment from the relevant assessing authority E
IELTS test results (must meet English language requirements)
Education undertaken in English (based on the completion of five continuous years of study at a secondary or higher institution where the instruction was in English)
Certificate of adequate Health Insurance cover H
Health Assessment as defined in Form 1163i Health requirement for temporary entry to Australia
Penal Clearances for each country you have lived in for more than 12 months in the past 10 years
Form 80 Personal particulars for character assessment
Form 1221 Additional personal particulars information
Military Discharge Papers
Hahaha, had enough?!


Certified copies, employment reference and insurance policy and I'm off.
To study for the English exam.

The Devil is in the Detail

OK, so I filled in all the data considering how my grandmother felt after the child birth, which municipality, town, city, state and country my father was born in and the exact date of my sister's citizenship being switched from, well, Croatian to Croatian.


I really hope they are aware of the situation that's been going on here or it'll look like my whole family's fled a genocide scene and requested in asylum. Well, once they see it's Croatia, they won't be impressed, so I won't worry.


I've spent four days straight filling in all the applications and I'm still not done yet. There's about eighty pages of forms to fill in - and that's only back-up documents like character info and alike.


Even after filling it all in, I still had to email my legal officer Kate* down under to help me out with details and info on fifty or so questions. It's either the phrasing or the note or something else that makes one feel like he's never seen a sentence in English before. Even Kate says it's all way overboard on the legal phrasing and totally inappropriate for a daily user.


The good thing is that the weekend's started, so I won't think about it. Not. I'll prolly dissect every part of the application, double check all the scans and make three copies of the must-do list in order to finally welcome Monday.


Sweet miseries. I might have to tattoo that on to something.

Forms 1221, 1066 and 80

Filling in the visa application forms.


Brain melting.


Spelling fades.


The inside of my head feels like porridge.


Attach your family members' photos.


Three days.


Name the date stated and details relevant thereto.


e-application.


Attach necessary documentation.


Sweet miseries, they say.


Bzzzzzzt.

Please use a pen

Are they insane?!


I'm checking my visa application Check List, which states all the necessary documents that need to be filled in and sent over. First of all, it's nine pages and it lists another 45 links to pages with documents that need to be checked.


So I open two of those, both of them consisting of twenty or so to-be-filled-in pages and the first line says please use a pen.

Seriously?!

Are they freaking' kidding me?! Am I supposed to print out 50+ pages, fill them in by hand and then scan all of them only to attach them to my e-application?!


Woooooot?!


Woooooot?!


Not to mention the questions involve some pretty weird stuff about my parents, my siblings and my personality...


Btw., those are two documents which are only to be attached as addition. So, they're not the mandatory documents.

No wonder the application takes 2-3 months. I'll probably spend them filling in fricken forms!

The procedure

The Contract is about to get signed.


The Sponsorship and the Nomination are paid for.


I'm waiting for further instructions.


And I don't know why, but I feel like I'm about to get a colonoscopy.


I'd write more, but I gotta run fix some paperwork.

The paperwork

Don't worry, I won't bore you with the details. There's so many papers and forms and codes and lists and numbers that I can barely follow it myself. No wonder people hire professionals to do the dirty work.


Now that I come to think of it, I might as well use the experience and charge someone for my service, bwahaha! :evil:


In any case, my profession code is on the list for the temporary working visa, which means there's no sweating about whether I'm eligible or not. Of course, everything might change, but from what it looks like now, I should be OK.

I should be hearing from the legal officer at the company soon, being that she's supposed to send me the Contract to sign and send back. I'm really excited, since this is the first tangible paperwork and it makes me realize this is all happening.


Of course, there's a lot to be done in the meantime. I've booked my IELTS for May 10th, so I really should get on to it much more than I actually am. At least I have something to work towards to...


On other fronts, I'm holding a seminar at the university tomorrow (fancy, I know). My former mentor is out in the field and he's asked me to jump in. I said I gladly would, being that I get to grade and act all important. :evil again:


I had to clean out my Gmail account, since it's almost fully clogged up. I know no one else who's had to do it, but that's me. I make it all messy.


That's all for now. Here's a photo that doesn't really have to do anything with... well, anything.

Balloon in my garden