.: Out Of One's Comfort Zone :.

I am, as always, terrified when it comes to the future. As much as I know that it is all in God’s hands and everything will fall into God’s perfect timing, I just can’t help but worry a lil.

JC & I are in the midst of waiting for the final verdict on Project Wallaby. We have submitted ALL of the necessary documents and now just have to wait patiently for them to give (if they do?) the green light. With that, we have to fly in to Aussieland in the next 9 months (just to stamp our passport).

There are plenty of documentations and liaison required for this migration process, which is why we decided to leave it to the experts and engage Global Migration to help us out. Of coz, with this comes with a premium fees, but since the two of us are working and is too busy to run up and down to do the paperworks, plus we had the whole shesbang wedding preparation last year, I suppose it was a premium worth paying.

We talked to this good looking (but married) man, Chin Wei (our friend concurred that he IS good looking!), and he was very professional and well versed when giving advise. Once we engaged them, our file is sent to the backoffice and a team of efficient (I must say they are very good!) people took care of all the details required.

Since JC is the principal applicant, he needed to submit his edu certs, some testimonial from his employer at that time and also took IELTS. This was all on early 2009.

About a month ago (yes, it took about two years!), our file was picked up by the Aus migration officer, and they have requested for more documents, i.e. the proof of marriage, spouse (that’s me!) proof of English proficiency, medical examination for the both of us and also a police check (it wasn’t me, Officer *lol* just kidding!).

Now, one would think that to proof that we are married, just submit our marriage certificate right?

Wrong!

Apparently, a cert is not a good enough proof, as they required more evidence of like joint financial commitment – i.e. joint bank account, joint house ownership, etc. Or beneficiary of each other’s insurance policy or will could do to.

The thing is, we just got married. And even tho we have a joint bank account (thankfully we opened one when we got engaged) it is currently semi-dormant as we have our own style in managing our finances. However, we manage to get a letter from the bank saying that we do have a joint account, but if the migration officer were to probe further, it may seem suspicious with the semi-dormant state it is in. Another thing is that we have not even thought of changing our spouse to be each other’s beneficiary, but for the sake of this, I am now JC’s life insurance beneficiary. So, if he dies, it would make me a wealthy widow! *evil laugh*

The other problem I face is to proof my proficiency in English. I mean, I have a cert, but because it is not a degree, I have no transcript. So the next best thing is to get my Uni to write a letter for me. Thank goodness that I have goodwill with the Uni (coz I was still helping the up in roadshows & grading mock papers!). The thing is, even upon submitting the letter from my Uni, it is at the discretion of the Migration Officer if it is sufficient. If he don’t think so, it means I will have to take IELTS. But I sked my England not powderful much. If I fail how? Ok, fine, it's not so much so of me worrying that I will fail, but it's the hassle plus the cost of taking this exam that is of a concern!

Medical examination went smoothly, but because there are only a few panels in PJ area, it was very packed with people on Saturday, even tho we went there are early as we could. It took almost three hours just to do a simple blood, urine, x-ray plus other misc examination.

Anyways, as we now sit and wait, I just can’t help but be anxious with what the future holds. Even if we did get our PR, there is no guarantee we can secure a job in Aus. Even if we did, there is no guarantee that we will like it there. The environment, the working culture, the food (I’d miss my Msian food!)

Sigh!

But as my ex-boss & mentor once told me, one will benefit most venturing outside one’s comfort zone in obedience.

So I suppose I must start venturing out of my comfort zone!