Gapyear.com's Gabi is emigrating to the Land Down Under... sob... Here she talks visas, de facto spouses and mum-shaped suitcases.

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Name: Gabi Cross Age: 26 Occupation: Part-time Australian (but will be full-time in a couple of weeks!) Hey Gabs! How the hell are you? Not too bad, although my niece may have given me her cold. Grrr, nasty baby cold. Not nice. So, you’re leaving gapyear.com - what on earth could be dragging you away from an establishment of such peace and joy? Well, basically as you may have gathered by now, I have a De Facto Spouse (a label given by Australian Immigration that means a ‘long-term, for life, boyfriend’ to the normal world) called Chris who just happens to be Australian so I’m emigrating there, hence the reason for leaving gapyear.com. Did I mention he lives in Cairns? No? OK, he lives in Cairns, that’s Cairns, a tropical paradise that is not a dump. What’s been the most difficult part of arranging to leave? The visa! It’s been the hardest, most stressful and worrying application I have ever had to make in my life! If Australian Immigration had refused us we really wouldn’t have known what to do next! Apart from myself passing a very expensive medical (which included chest x-rays, blood tests and other things that I won’t go in to), we had to prove that we are in a strong, long-term relationship which we are both committed to! This is not as easy as you may think. We had to provide receipts to show we’d purchased stuff together, photos, documentation of our travels together, proof that we’d live together as ‘man and wife’, the list goes on. Of course, the annoying thing was that we hadn’t kept these kind of receipts and paperwork over the years so we had a right struggle contacting our foreign landlords (we lived in Switzerland and Honduras for a long while) to get them to send the proof through! And I tell you, I was at the end of my tether listening to ‘helpful’ people telling us that we should just get married! Even if we had got married we would still have to provide the same kind of evidence and the fact that both of us were not happy to rush into marriage just for a visa kept us sticking to our guns and applying for the original visa. When I got the phone call telling me I’d received a Temporary Resident Visa (yes, that’s right, I still have another process to go through in two years in order to get the full Resident Visa), I can’t begin to describe the feeling! The weight was lifted off our shoulders. To celebrate becoming an almost-aussie the gapyear.com team had me running across the road and jumping for joy on the steps of the Norwich Union building, little beggars! Strewth. The other thing that has now been weighing on my mind (since getting the visa) has been the fact that I will be leaving my family behind in England. I mean it’s not for good but my niece is eight months old now and getting to that exciting stage of nearly walking and talking, both of which I’ll miss seeing. But it always seems that with the positives there’s always a negative so there’s not much I can do (phew, that was a bit cynical, wasn’t it!). Any other annoying things to sort out? Go on, let’s hear the list of moans... Well there’s not been that much really. I don’t own any property so I didn’t have that worry, and sorting out financial stuff has been a bit of a grind but nothing too stressful. Basically the biggest problem is that the airline I’m travelling on decided to stop the double baggage allowance for those emigrating, keeping it at 20kg. Now, I don’t have much stuff but it is enough to weigh more than the designated allowance. And freight companies are either too expensive or don’t sail into Cairns! So I’ve been packing, unpacking, halving my stuff, repacking, unpacking, and halving my stuff again! Jeez, I feel like a backpacker! Anyway, I think I’ve conquered it now. Know any good second hand shops out there who want lots of Gabi crap to fill their shelves with? So, what’s been the easiest thing? Hmmm... I’d say what will be the easiest thing is once mum and dad have left me at the airport, I’ve stopped blubbing and headed through passport control, the actual getting on the plane bit. I’ll sit there knowing that in 24 hours I’ll once again be back with Chris. We have been in separate countries for a long time now, keeping contact via email, telephone and letters. And it has been emotionally draining to say the least! In a couple of weeks I will no longer have to pick up a phone to speak to Chris, or look at a photo to see his face, he’ll just be right there! The easiest thing to deal with whilst being in England has been living my daily life, I suppose. Still, with only a couple of weeks to go it’s not quite hit me that I have a one-way ticket to a new life with Chris! I’ve got a big get-together of old friends on the weekend before I leave and I think that’s when it’ll truly hit me. But it’s so close to my leave date that I’ll be caught up in the whirlwind of packing and getting last-minute things together that at least it won’t bother me too much (fingers-crossed!). Got a few tips for any potential fellow emigrants? If you’re heading to Australia (and probably most other non-EU countries) be prepared for a struggle when applying for your visa. It’s hard work and stressful but if you can work through that then you’ll be fine! Also, don’t expect the visa process to be quick - if you’re applying for a general skilled visa it can take up to two years before you are accepted. I’ve heard of some people buying their airline tickets before receiving their visa. This is stupid! You can never be sure that you’ll be accepted so don’t jump the gun. Try not to think about your visa application too much once you’ve submitted it. At this point there is absolutely nothing extra you can do, so just sit back, try to relax, get on with daily life and try to forget about it. A visa application can really control your life - everything you do is focussed on this form and it shouldn’t be. I’ve found myself thinking a lot about my family, especially my mum and dad, and what/who I am leaving behind and how upsetting it will be. Try not to fall into this trap cos it can be hard to get out of. If you do, then remember, you can’t live your life by others. It’s a selfish thing to say but is totally credible. If you’ve made the conscious decision to emigrate then you have to accept the consequences, that unless you’re a millionaire you’re not going to be able to pop home for a nice cup of tea whenever you want. So looking forward to your new life rather than living in the past is the ideal way to think when emigrating I reckon. What are you going to be doing over there? Relaxing by the pool with Chris, getting a suntan with Chris, drinking beer with Chris... Ha ha ha, I will be doing that for the first week or so and then it’s back to that old recurring drudgery of finding a job! I’ll probably help out Chris’s dad for a bit and work at his car rental firm but I don’t want to be doing this forever. It’s not my ideal career and also it’s basically staffed by the family and I want to be working in an environment with new people - after all I am there to make some new friends as well! Basically we’ll be doing exactly the same kind of thing in Australia that everyone in the UK is doing - living their lives. The difference with me is that I’ll be in a hot country and no longer have to put up with those wonderful winter months of January and February in England. Hardy ha ha! What - that we can print - are you most looking forward to over there? Sam! Really! As if I would be rude... Well apart from that, I am looking forward to seeing Chris, obviously, and visiting more of the country. As of yet, I haven’t been over to West, through the middle via Uluru, or up to the Northern Territory. Chris and I will probably take a few holidays over the next few years to see the bits that we haven’t been to yet. I’m also looking forward to buying a house - something we’re hoping to do as soon as possible. I know that sounds all boring and grown up but it’ll be the definite rooting of myself in Australia - having a house to truly call my own. Oh yeah, I’m looking forward to seeing Chris’s sister who’s a great friend and seven months pregnant, and I can’t wait to take Joey the dog for a run down Cairns Esplanade, and I can’t wait to sit in Mondo’s drinking a beer whilst watching the sun set over the inlet. Aren’t you going to miss your lovely community? Got any famous last words for them? Of course I will! Any famous last words for them? Yep, and they’re cheesy so prepare yourselves... Keep the dream alive, never give up, and get out there and explore, you little blighters, you! *Gabi wipes away a tear* OK Gabi, thank you, you can get back to trying to fit your mum into a backpack now Yeah, they should make mum-shaped suitcases. She keeps moaning that her back hurts. Click here >> for gapyear.com's Australia info Click here >> for the official Aussie immigration website

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