Danny and Nurit – Melbourne
To all those who dream about Australia …
It is difficult to express on one page all our experiences from the preparation time prior to leaving for Australia and our integration and absorption into Australian society. Nonetheless, I will try to provide you with details of the most important things from our perspective for all those who decide to immigrate in the near future, and to tell a little from all that we have been through in the past four months, since we have arrived.
First, one needs to take into account that it is a process and one needs to be equipped with patience, optimism, cash and a good advocate! You need to read a lot and pay attention to detail in executing each stage of the migration process at the right time. When completing the forms one is required to precisely follow the instructions and do exactly as required without cutting any corners. One of the things we learnt quite quickly is that Australians take time to make decisions, work at a slower pace, are precise, pedantic and work according to the rules and regulations. It appears that life in Melbourne is very easy going because there are no surprises. It is possible for one to complete the immigration process by himself/herself, however an experienced immigration specialist that deals with the subject can save you a lot of resources, worry and prevent difficulties. When you undertake the immigration process by yourself, you are liable to make mistakes along the way that cost time and money ( and I speak from experience ! ). In fact you don’t save much money by not using the services of a professional immigration attorney.
The period of time it takes to receive a permanent resident visa is approximately one year from the moment you submit your immigration application to the Australian immigration authorities. It is a strange feeling to see a pink page in your passport allowing you to live in a place that is not Israel for the rest of your life!
The moment you get to Australia you need to drop a gear, the pace here is very different to Israel. We are still getting used to it and can certainly see the positive side of the slower and calmer way of life.
The only thing that is crazy in Melbourne is the weather. Summers here are characterized by intense heat and after a few hours torrential rains. The local joke is “that if you are not happy with the weather hang on for ten minutes because it will change!”
We live in the suburbs of the city of Melbourne, surroundings are green, clean and quiet and the people are friendly. Some of the things that are most noticeable in the first instance are the manners of the service providers in every sector and the kindness of drivers on the roads.
Australia is known as an immigrant nation and here one meets people from every corner of the world: Asia, Europe, Africa, and also Israel!
In Melbourne there is a fairly large and active Jewish community that is socially engaged, and it is therefore possible to feel at home on Jewish holidays and Shabbat. What is especially nice is that in one of the largest food chains in Melbourne one can find kosher food and Osem products such as Bamba, and soupnuts. But in spite of this all, I am still of the opinion that Israeli food is tastier!
The unemployment rate in Australia is not high and it is possible to find work within a reasonable period of time, especially in the occupations where there is a demand.
Danny is in the Hi-Tech industry and he found work within two weeks. I am a nurse and from what I have seen of the job market to date, I won’t have any difficulty in finding work. I want to start to work as a nurse once our son starts kindergarten in another 2 months.
Having said all of the above, not everything is rosy— we miss the family and friends and out little temperas country. We miss the feeling of belonging and there are differences in mentality that we need to bridge, especially the difficulty in the language. The “Australian” language is very different from English. It is difficult to understand the accent and there is the slang that one needs to get use to. In addition, one needs to take into account a period of economic integration or what we call “integration tax”.
As is the case in other countries, in Australia there are certain professions that require local professional certification and to fulfill this requirement one needs time, effort and money. In other words, sometimes it takes time, until you find work and get organized and as such one needs to come with enough money and plan for a certain period of time to be without any income and live from savings.
It is still too early to say what will happen in the future, we are taking our time and trying to get accustomed to a different reality and a different lifestyle altogether.
In any case, no place in the world is perfect and reality is in the eyes of the beholder!
Good luck to all the dreamers and all of those on the way.
Danny and Nurit Tatarsky
Please feel free to contact us by email: tatarsky@gmail.com