It has been nearly six months without an update. Like most things, when the veneer of newness wears off, you find yourself hard pressed to talk about much of anything. It is a little bit disheartening to know that the 1.5 hour bus and train rides required to get north-west of the city over the harbour that I so enjoyed a year ago have become a profound hassle that I dread dealing with. Even the sometimes breathtaking view of the opera house shining over the harbour doesn’t hold the same wonder that it used to. Usually at this point I’d be gearing up to move to another new place where my curiosity for the everyday exotic would be piqued for a few years before moving on yet again. Fortunately for my bank account and flights of fancy, I am content to stay in Sydney for a while longer. Even if the scenery doesn’t wow like it used to.
In March of this year I was accepted into the PhD program of my university, having completed a Masters degree in December of last year.
With a four year visa under my belt and a wonderful Australia partner, I’m now embarking on the slippery, bureaucratically treacherous slope of getting long-term Australian residency with the added hope of someday, becoming a dual citizen of both the US and Australia. Like most of you expats know, accomplishing this goal outside of federally recognized marriage is a painstaking and expensive ordeal. In fact, it will cost us AU$2,545 just to apply for the visa. This fee doesn’t include the medical exams required by the country (that I’ve been living in for the last two years mind you, and that I’ve already had twice for other visas while I’ve been here), the police background checks required (from both the US and Australia), the reams and reams of certified documents needed to prove the “viability and level of commitment of your relationship” and the six forms you need to fill out. It also requires a two year “buffer” in which the applicant has 30 days to leave the country if the relationship goes south. For all intents and purposes, applying for this visa is more of a commitment than marriage! Kind of. It all pays off in the end though, as gaining permanent residency means I can find a proper job like a big girl and immediately start paying off the student loans that are quietly gaining interest in some imaginary bank stateside. As it stands, finding a job on a student visa is a matter of luck and desperation. In fact, the first question that many employers ask is “are you a permanent resident or citizen?”. Failure to have either of these qualifications immediately pulls you out of the job pool and you’re back at square one. After having to live on US credit cards for nearly six months, all the while making myself ill from the stress of putting in (on average) twenty or more job applications a day, I certainly understand the desire of many to get PR as quickly as possible. That being said, I applaud Australia as being one of the few countries who treats applicants of both same-sex and opposite-sex relationships the same when dealing with defacto visas. This means that, while my partner and I don’t have any legal standing in the eyes of the government, we can capitalise on her Australian citizenship to get me on the right track to permanent residency. It just takes an average of three years.
As we start to think about our future and relationship in terms of years instead of weeks or months, we find that even though these processes are daunting, expensive and at times, ridiculous, we have a legitimate chance at being together for a long time without having to sacrifice our relationship. And in the end, I think that’s certainly worth the $3000.
