Matt Down Under

Tuesday was a special day. Not only was it my dad’s birthday, but it also was exactly two years since I received my current provisional visa which allows me to stay in Australia for up to three years. It allows me to apply for permanent residency once I have lived for at least two years and worked for at least one year in Tasmania — it is bound to a regional state sponsorship from the Tasmanian government.

With Tuesday this week, I have fulfilled all requirements, therefore I started the application process for a permanent visa that allows me to work everywhere in the country without limitations. It’s not that I’m keen to leave Tasmania as soon as possible — the reason I don’t want to lose time is merely because I’m interested in a secure future. It’s just so difficult to make any longterm plans unless I know I will be allowed to live in Australia permanently. I would so love to spend the rest of my life here, I can’t imagine a better place to live.

I thought it would maybe take me a few days to complete the application (last time it took me 6 months), but after only one small issue that was quickly resolved on the DIAC hotline, I managed to complete the application form yesterday, paid the fee, attached some of the required documents and submitted it. Now I can only wait for a response from a case officer, who will hopefully tell me which documents exactly I still need to send in. There’s a bit of confusion around that.

Fingers crossed!