Moving to Australia – Part Six

So Far in the Moving to Australia Series.

1. In Part One you have the idea.
2. In Part Two you decide on the basis of your application having looked at the various Visa options.
3. In Part Three we looked at the paperwork and using a MARA approved Migration Agent.
4. In Part Four you agreed the basis of your application with your migration expert.
5. In Part Five you needed to Prove It!

Before we start looking at part 6, this is probably a good time to look at our timeline so far.

Beginning of January 2006 – We had the idea, we decided we wanted to live in Australia.
End of March 2006 – Having been messed around by our first chosen migration expert, we decided to choose a different one.
Early April 2006 – First meeting with our new migration expert in which we decided the basis of our application.
Beginning of May 2006 -  Put in the skills assessment application.
Early July 2006 – The relevant assessing authority accept the skill.

Part 6 – Don’t Forget the Dog!

When we parted in part five, I had explained that my wife’s job assessment had been accepted. As you can now see from the timeline above, that happened at the beginning of July 2006. I want to talk to know about a part of our process which may well not be a part of yours. In fact in our household, this was probably step number one according to my wife.

Can we bring our dog?

Baggy

Baggy, our Chocolate Labrador was nine years old when we started the application process. So he was no spring chicken. Frankly, I was up for leaving him behind. Apparently, that’s not how it works. In fact I get the distinct impression my wife would have rather left me behind than the dog.

Exporting your dog to Australia is not a cheap process I can tell you. How do you like this? Three one-way tickets to Australia – two adults (me and the wife) and one child (our daughter) aged 3 – £1,365.00. One one-way ticket to Australia for one dog, (Baggy), in a wooden crate in the hold, £1,910.00. You probably think I’m joking. I wish.

The whole process to bring the dog out was over £3000! I reasoned that we could have bought two brand new dogs when we got here that would have been younger, fitter and stronger and we would have still had change. But it really doesn’t work like that.

18 months on and I have to admit, bringing Baggy here was the right decision. It is great having him around and on a very serious note, when you arrive in a new country thousands of miles from your friends and family, then it is nice to have mans best friend still by your side.

Baggy loves it here too, it’s almost like he has a new lease of life. Perhaps it was that month in prison (quarantine), that has made him appreciate things more. I’ll tell you about quarantine in another post and also about the day we picked him up. But I’m sure if we hadn’t have brought him over, my wife would never have come to terms with that. And I can’t explain how much him being here has meant to our daughter. I am sure it helped her get through the dark times that I explained in my post about Elizabeth.

So, the bottom line is if you have a dog (or cat), bring it! Don’t worry about the cost. You may feel numb as you pay it, I did. But the numbness has gone, but the dog is still here.

Go to Moving to Australia Part 7

For a full chronological list and brief description of all the posts in this series about how I moved to Australia, please visit my page How to Move to Australia.

Related posts:

1. Moving to Australia – Part Nine
2. Moving to Australia – Part Seven
3. Moving to Australia – Part Eight
4. Moving to Australia – Part Three.
5. Moving to Australia – Part Five

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Tagged as: Application Process, Baggy, Chocolate Labrador, Migration Expert, Moving To Australia, Skills Assessment