In 2011, my husband was given the chance to work in Australia on a 457 visa. It was a great opportunity for our family, so in October of that year my son and I joined him in Melbourne. It was very exciting, but I must admit that I also felt very uncertain about the future. I didn’t know what to expect and how to make a home in a new country. I left all that was familiar in India, and I did not have close family and friends nearby to make me feel welcome.
There was a lot of struggle in the early days. Many things were unfamiliar to me: the food, the way of life, the language.
Children adapt easily and my son soon had friends and the English communication skills to talk with others fluently. When I saw that he was starting to enjoy himself, I started to loosen up a bit and began to appreciate Australia for the beautiful country that it is. I discovered that Australia offered the lifestyle that I had been searching for.
Making Australia my home
I began to appreciate the multicultural atmosphere. I started to develop friendships with other mothers at my son’s school. I got a job at a government department using my skills and qualifications as a software engineer. I discovered that there were actually a lot of Asian grocery shops around my neighbourhood, and that I could continue to cook our traditional dishes.
Australia started to feel more and more like home. I was getting increasingly sure that this was where I wanted to raise my son. I began the process of applying for permanent residency.