ORLY – SKILLED MIGRATION TO PERTH
2007- In 2007 we arrived in Perth, Australia on a cold rainy winter day. A cool night with wet streets, we, a family with two young girls (a seven year old daughter and a one year old baby girl) in a heated taxi driven by a nice, friendly Australian driver taking us to our first home in Australia- Shakespeare Street. One side of the heart is saying” If you will it, it is no dream.”
We arrived in Australia after so many dilemnas and hesitations. Doubts of the unknown and the tough separation from loved family and friends but the other side of the heart shouted “What’s done is done and there is no turning back (well maybe not at this moment in time when I have a one year old crying on my knee and outside it is so cold and so strange!).
2003- We began the process of immigrating to Australia with the help of Advocate Lisa Segelov. The transition from the desire to move to Australia to making it happen was relatively simple because of Lisa’s super professional manner in which she simplified the process and requested from us a broad set of documentation and certificates and pointed us in the right direction with great efficiency and without imposing an additional burden on our already hectic lifestyle at the time. We continued with our daily lives as usual and our application for a Permanent Resident visa was handled by Lisa whilst in the background sometimes it felt like the process was just a distant dream!
2017- The dream has become a reality. My husband, our two daughters (the eldest now is seventeen years old and the youngest is eleven years old) and I are still living in Perth, even though we departed long ago from Shakespeare Street. It is possible once again to quote Herzl because it is correct to say that within each man and woman are hidden great strengths”. It’s not a simple move to leave your country where everything is familiar and immigrate to a new place where you need to start everything from scratch. We left a beautiful home in the centre of the country, well-paid stable employment, the most supportive family in the world and trustworthy friends. Now it’s already ten years and we are still here!!!
Our seventeen year old daughter has one year left of high school. When we arrived in Australia she knew how to mumble a few words in English. The integration into the school system in English was a springboard for her to succeed down the track and in her dealing with a second language that today is on par with her mother tongue. She even dared us and chose to learn a third language -Japanese!
Our younger daughter is eleven years of age and will start high school next year. She speaks English and Hebrew as if she was born here. Her English is spoken with a fully developed Australian accent and her Hebrew is fluent. My initial fear that my children would forget their Hebrew has dissipated. As parents we continued speaking to our children in Hebrew at home and even developed and preserved their Hebrew writing. Today they converse with the rest of the extended as well as the nuclear family in Hebrew without any problem.
Each one of us found our place in terms of employment, friends and studies. Our daily schedule reassembles the format of our lives in Israel-work, studies, recreation…. but everything here is more relaxed and mellow. No-one is really under pressure on the roads, you don’t experience traffic jams and people are easy-going and well-mannered. We enjoy sport and of course the kangaroos jumping around the neighbourhood. We certainly gained a quality of life!.
Perth is a calm and peaceful city. Walking and cycling paths are found throughout the city. Vast, green parks, cultural events and recreational centres are plentiful. Whoever is looking for peace and tranquility, Australia is your destination for both adults and children.
“A story is told in the best was when it is planned” said Shakespeare and this is the place to thank Lisa once again for assisting us in the process of obtaining our Permanent Resident visa. Not once did we encounter any difficulties during the process and to this day we use the translations and notarized documents that she prepared and used in our application for various needs. During the years, being in Australia, we have used Lisa’s legal services and assistance on a number of personal matters not related to immigration and she once again provided us with extremely professional and efficient service.
Orly
Perth, Australia