Ep 2: Andreas from Germany

In the second episode of the Journey to Oz Podcast we speak to Andreas about his love for Australia after successfully finding an employer sponsor from Germany. He was able to get an exemption to enter Australia for work purposes and now works as a mechanic in country Western Australia. We also discuss the addition of parents of adult Australians to list of exempt persons and how that will affect parents applying for visas onshore. 

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The Journey to Oz Podcast is produced by: 
Nick Hansen from Hansen Migration 
MARN: 1679147
www.hansenmigration.com.au
Evan Bishop from Worldly Migration
MARN: 1679414
www.worldlymigration.com

Any information discussed in this podcast is made available for entertainment purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional advice. We do not make any guarantee or accept any responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any of the information discussed. The laws of Australia can change without notice and we do not have a duty or obligation to update any information. Listening to this podcast does not mean you have an agent to client relationship with Hansen Migration or Worldly Migration or any associated Migration Agents, lawyers or other service providers. You should obtain advice from a Registered Migration Agent or an Immigration Lawyer before acting on any of the content discussed in this podcast. You can find a list of Registered Migration Agents by visiting www.mara.gov.au. 

The information contained within this podcast may not be reproduced without our prior written consent. 

In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of land throughout Australia and pay respect to their elders, we extend that respect to all aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders today. 

Thank you for listening. 

Transcript

Nick Hansen (00:03):

Welcome to Journey to Oz, the podcast where we share migration stories from overseas to Australia. We're both registered migration agents, Evan who specializes in employer sponsored visas, and myself Nick who specializes in family visas. Over the years we've helped many clients who have had very interesting stories to tell. Evan, you interviewed your 482 employer sponsored visa client who got stuck overseas when the global pandemic hit. Can you give us an outline of what you'll cover in today's episode?

Evan Bishop (00:31):

Sure Nick. Andreas always had a dream to stay in Australia, but when two different sponsorship opportunities never fully eventuated, he decided to return to Germany to see his family when his visa expired. The international border closure then occurred, and Andreas had to not only gain Australian employment from the other side of the world, but also gain the 482 visa and the travel exemption. It's an inspirational story of determination worth sharing, and I started by asking Andreas about his upbringing.

Andreas (00:58):

I grew up in Bavaria in Germany, been there 25 years or something of my life. I grew up in a self-employed family, I've got a sister over there and of course the parents. I went through a divorcement with my parents which made me a little bit up and downs and changes in my plans coming to Australia and moving to Australia as soon as I decided I want to go more into the topic moving to Australia and seeing how life is over there.

Evan Bishop (01:30):

And when did you first come to Australia? Did you come to Australia and fell in love with it, or did you grow up as a kid in Germany always wanting to come to Australia before you had a taste for it?

Andreas (01:40):

No I never had a big idea about Australia, never an idea of how big it is and everything. Yeah, it's far away. We always had a world map for several years and I had a world map next to my bed with all the countries, and of course I've seen Australia on the map, but that was pretty much all, even at school so I haven't heard much about Australia. And then 2009, or a bit earlier of course, everything started with my parents saying oh we should go to Australia because we've got far relatives in Melbourne. So they came over 50 years or 55 years almost ago I think, and they came over to Germany to visit my parents or especially my father because it's my father's family a few years ago, or many years ago now.

Andreas (02:32):

And so my parents said oh, before they pass away we should maybe catching up with them and to see how they are living in Australia because we have never been there. So my parents looked into coming to Australia and planned a trip and they took off or we had already week holidays during the school holidays which are from August to mid September, so it's-

Evan Bishop (02:57):

So you have the colder part of Australia then I guess, that time of year. Not as cold as Germany though.

Andreas (03:03):

Nah, never. No really depends, if you go in the high country it's also getting quite cold.

Evan Bishop (03:09):

True, true.

Andreas (03:10):

But they picked this time because in their business they made a business holiday every year during August, so they picked that one so that my father can be around most of the time. And then they managed with our secretary that she's around to manage the other two weeks before and after the main part where we had work holiday or business holiday to look after the company. And then we got started and flew down to Singapore, spent there two days or three days and then continued to Sydney, stayed there a little bit and traveled out from Sydney to Cairns in a camper. Yeah, camper motor home, but only in three weeks or something. Two and a half, three weeks, so it's been every day, a few hours of driving, it was really bad and bumpy roads and everything and not very comfortable because there wasn't a good installation in it.

Andreas (04:09):

But yeah, traveled all the way up there, haven't had too much time to look after everything, but we did a few things. And I don't know when I fell in love with Australia, but when we came up to Cairns and then flew from Cairns to Isles Rock, visited Isles Rock and all the areas around and then hit it up with our relatives. And then stayed there also for a few days I think only, maybe a week or so, and then we already had to leave and to go back to Singapore. Back then I was only... It was 2009, I was 14 years old.

Evan Bishop (04:42):

Okay, into the impressional teenager age, yeah.

Andreas (04:45):

Yeah. I never liked the English language before. I said, "Ah, I'm in Germany why should I learn English?" And I was rejected at school now I regret it a little bit, but I think I caught pretty good up with the English language again.

Evan Bishop (05:00):

Yeah. Look at you now.

Andreas (05:01):

Yeah. And now I'm living in a English speaking country, and even thinking and talking with my cats in English when no one is around so it's pretty cool. But yeah, when we had to leave from Melbourne then all of a sudden when we were at the airport, I just became sad and even cried on our flight home because I had to leave Australia and I didn't know what it was. But of course then we went back and life went on and I know school went on and everything, but every now and then Australia just popped up in my mind, my head and I was thinking about Australia, but I didn't do anything.

Andreas (05:39):

And then in about beginning of 2016 I had just finished my apprenticeship as a mechanic, a farm machine mechanic, and then all of a sudden Australia popped up again and I thought, oh, maybe I should visit Australia again to visit our relative because his wife had already passed away two years earlier or something. And then I thought oh, he's also already about 80 or something I think, who knows how much time is left so I better go there. And then I started planning my trip and asked my boss where the apprenticeship if I can take off about three months from work unpaid which isn't very common in Germany. In Australia it's very common that you just take off a few months or so, or a month unpaid, and it's all right.

Evan Bishop (06:24):

Flexible work, yeah.

Andreas (06:27):

But in Germany it's not that common, usually you only have your yearly holiday and that's all, so those are your 20 to 30 days depending on how long you're with the company and how much they give you. And then I started planning the tour and it was quite funny because I had planned it and planned for about three months or something with the travel agency together. And then in between when I almost finished my planning and everything, I changed the company to different company which was a bit closer to my place, and then I had the problem because I was looking for a different job at `a different company before and then he said, "I don't have a job yet, but if I have a job I'll let you know."

Andreas (07:04):

So I did my planning and everything. I thought oh, I have to stay within the company for longer and did all that, and then all of a sudden he said, "Oh, I've got a job for you. Do you want to come to my company?" I said, "Oh yeah, I think I can do that, but I'm planning to go to Australia for three months. Do you still want me?" And he had to think about it and he said, "Ah, can we make it shorter? Can we make two months out of it?" So then I caught up in the middle and said, "Okay, make two and a half months out of it at least instead of three." And then I came to Australia in 2016 the first time and I got started in Darwin, had a few days up there and then went on 10 days trip down to Alice and did around there a trip.

Andreas (07:49):

And that was the key moment in my life there on my 10 days trip down to Alice, I think it was in Alice or just before Alice where it made a click in my head and I thought, oh yeah, English language is great because we had of course an international group back then, and then it made click because I could talk with so many different nations in just one language. We all knew this language, we could all communicate and it was great, and I don't know, I think on this trip my life just grew with every day. And then I did all this trip, and then also I had a camper, I went from Cairns down to Brisbane and I know I loved the life, the good weather, the nice people. That was also key moment.

Evan Bishop (08:34):

That's good.

Andreas (08:34):

There's also big thing why I fell in love more in love with Australia because I was on my way down to Brisbane, and I think it was in Hervey Bay at the coast, and this one day the woman from the campground said, "Oh, if you walk along the coast today is a national holiday or so and you will see a lot of people doing fishing and stuff and it will be quite interesting." So I thought, okay, in the morning I grabbed my backpack, some water, walked along the beach or along the coast on this path where there's there usually and there was one guy walking past me an Aussie and he said, "Ah, good day." And I turned around and looked around and I couldn't see anyone, and I thought, who is he talking with?

Evan Bishop (09:23):

He was looking for a friend, yeah.

Andreas (09:25):

Yeah because I didn't know him, he didn't know me so I thought, I don't know. Then I walked further and a little later, five, 10 minutes later, a bloke on the other side of the road said, "Hey, good day." And I said, "There's no one on the road it's just me." And then I realized, oh, I think you did it to me so that was when I realized how nice the Aussies are, how friendly they are.

Evan Bishop (09:45):

Those polite interactions with strangers, yeah.

Andreas (09:48):

Yeah.

Evan Bishop (09:49):

They're not the people at the bar that want your money, they're not the people at the restaurant that want your money, at the shop that want your money. Just absolute strangers in the street.

Andreas (09:57):

Yeah. And then the next thing was when I had stop in Airlie Beach for a few days, and after a few days because I was too scared, but then I decided, okay, I do skydiving. So I went to the reception of the camp ground and said to the bloke there, "I want to do skydiving." And then he started booking it online and he ticked the boxes and everything because there were apparently some questions, and there was a question about insurance, I don't know about health insurance or something. And then he said, "Health insurance? Ah, you don't need it because if you need it, then you're dead so you don't need it. That's fine."

Evan Bishop (10:38):

There's no in between, yeah.

Andreas (10:41):

No.

Evan Bishop (10:41):

It's either a safe jump or it's not a good outcome, yeah.

Andreas (10:47):

Exactly. So he said, "Ah, you don't need it. That's fine." So that was also probably one of those Aussy easy going things, so yeah, it is what it is.

Evan Bishop (10:54):

She'll be all right mate. Yup.

Andreas (10:55):

She'll be all right. That's true, yeah.

Evan Bishop (10:58):

Yeah. And then I guess fast forward to when you and I met was, I mean, you're at the end of your work in holiday visa so we're fast forwarding a couple years after that. And this was, I wrote down the date before it was December, 2019. So at that stage you were a bit of a scramble because your visa was expiring the month after, but your options that you thought you had to stay in Australia were dwindling. So talk to us a bit about, I guess, your sponsorship options and where they were sitting around that Christmas time 2019.

Andreas (11:29):

That was the first tough thing was the whole situation from the moment I really wanted to move to Australia because after 2016 I wanted to move to Australia or get started with it, but just wasn't brave enough to do so. And after then 2017 I came back for a five weeks holiday and thought, okay, I want to move, but also wanted do the working holiday visa because I thought that it's the easiest option to come to Australia and to actually work here because I didn't know if it was a holiday flood Australia or if it was much deeper.

Evan Bishop (12:05):

Yeah.

Andreas (12:06):

So then 2018 my father had a stroke so I couldn't come to Aus, changed by plans and didn't come to Australia on a working holiday visa, but when my visa was about to run out, I said, nah. And the winter came up in Germany I decided, nah, I'm going to Australia, and it better weather I'm over this cold weather. Then 2009, I came over and at first I planned not to work in my old job anymore as a mechanic, I thought I should try something new and different. So I worked for tree company in Melbourne and then changed, but that finished the job and it didn't work out for them and for me it just wasn't the right job. And then my uncle's friend needed someone to set up his factory so I did some handyman stuff, and then I had a break again because the job was finished. And then I got back into my mechanic job because I wasn't treated very well in my mechanic job in Germany so I hated it, and didn't like it.

Evan Bishop (13:01):

That negative association, yeah.

Andreas (13:05):

Then I got asked to something like a [inaudible 00:13:07] because my uncle's friend, his friend had a factory and his mechanic broke his wrists and he needed a mechanic to help out. So then I got into his company and found my love for the job again as a mechanic, that was good, and then was wishing to stay with him and to continue with the visa, but I didn't have the right emigration agents back then. I had one, but he only gave you information when you paid for it all the time and it made it just so hard because it was a game is it worth to pay him the money and give it to my boss and then maybe I have to look for another employer and to pay again to give him the right information as well?

Andreas (13:51):

So it did not work out very well, and just, I don't know. I was looking into all those visa stuff from August '19 on pretty much after the first six months in Australia and I now continued from then. That guy kept me only as a spacer for his mechanic and chucked me out as you said four weeks before I got out. But fortunately I found you before and you did a very great job with giving me all the information I needed, all the information to my boss that we needed. I should have picked you earlier, but it's all good.

Evan Bishop (14:28):

Sometimes the most memorable ones are the tight deadlines and it wasn't a tight deadline on your account, it was just one of those things, but as we got closer to the time there was issues with the sponsor. So someone was interested to sponsor you out in Thomastown, Northern Metro Melbourne and looked at that company because employee sponsorship is so hands on with the business side of things, you can't have a visa on a 482 visa before there has to be an employer with their sponsorship nomination stage first. And I remember there was health issues with the sponsor, there wasn't other people to pick up the documents, there was a bit of amninaring because this wasn't a job that you had yet started.

Evan Bishop (15:10):

And we're getting closer to that visa deadline in January, and it got to the point where I had to ask for an honest update from them, because I wasn't their migration agent, they had their own migration agent and I was helping yourself as the visa individual, but we needed to have everything from the employer side first. And it got to the point where look unfortunately it's just not going to go through in time, so at that stage your working holiday visa was expiring the 16th of January in 2020, and you were left with no more options. So, okay look, the idea is life was a lot more simple pre COVID pandemic, back then it was okay I'll go back to Germany and I believe you're going to go see your mom for a bit, and spend some time there. How long did you plan to go back to Germany originally? Did you plan to go back for a few months and then come back to Australia?

Andreas (16:04):

No, not at all because the plan was there to come back to Melbourne and even the thought was that we might be able to launch the visa just in time just before I have to leave Australia, and that I will get the bridging visa and could stay until I get the other visa, but it didn't work out. And then I thought okay, but they said they will get the paperwork very, very soon maybe the next week or so. And I thought okay, but by then I already have to leave so I thought let's go to New Zealand, do a little bit of work and travel or something, work a little bit over there and see the country so that I'm as close as possible to Australia to come back as soon as possible. But then fortunately my mom said, "Oh, you haven't been in Germany for a year so don't you want to come back for just a few weeks or so and visit your grandparents?

Andreas (16:51):

They are still around and just look at catching up with the family and then you can still go to New Zealand." So I have a plan to come back to Germany, but then yeah, COVID hit in just a few weeks later. I went on two trips, one trip with my family to Ireland and one trip with my friend Kyle to Italy, Milan just before they had a lockdown. That was the strangest part, we went down there and the week after a few days later, they went into completely lockdown because of all the outbreak. And yeah, from that moment it got even tougher, I applied for a few hundred jobs, but only with a handwritten resume, and then after a few months or so of trying, and I had some employers or potential employers, but they all said, "Oh, we don't know how long it will take you to come back to Australia and how it's possible."

Andreas (17:48):

So some said, "Just try to find some mechanics inside Australia." And then I changed a little bit of tactics and got a professional resume written and in September or so all of a sudden when I almost stopped believing in my dream, I found my company which was willing to sponsor me, which was willing to support me and to wait until I can come into the country. And from that moment on, we just got the paperwork finished and everything and my paperwork was mainly finished so it took us only I think six weeks or so to get their paperwork sorted out [crosstalk 00:18:26].

Evan Bishop (18:26):

Yeah, your paperwork was ready Christmas time the year prior, Christmas of 2019.

Andreas (18:31):

Yeah, pretty much.

Evan Bishop (18:33):

It was always pending on employers, and the tough thing for you was that you're stuck in Germany wanting to get back to Australia as soon as possible. And there was this pause of you being in Australia that you never wanted and you never asked for, but not only like you said, it was a tweak in your approach with your resume and cover letter approach which was able to get people interested in looking. But it's one thing to have someone open up your CV and think okay, this guy's got the right skills and qualifications, but a lot of Australian employers they want people who are in Australia right now, ready to go and have full time work rights. And you're in Germany with the whole, well, what if? Because I need to get the visa side of things.

Evan Bishop (19:15):

There's not only the employability, but then the sponsorship, then on top of that you've got to get the visa and get the travel exemption granted to be able to come to Australia because when the World Health Organization said that COVID 19 is a global pandemic, Australia being an island nation, it shut its borders. And I mean, even today some people in your situation may not be able to come to Australia, it's a case by case. So I guess the turning point for you by the sounds of it was when you started to see some interest in around September. More than six months after you returned to Germany and start to see interest in people with your application to think well, this is good. There's people in Australia willing to have me here.

Evan Bishop (20:00):

And I think there was only a couple employers I spoke to before we got onto your current employer, and they said, "Yes, look, we have a desperate need for people." Which I guess is a fast forward to today because you now work in the Wheatbelt in WA. So probably another moving part of it all is you get your sponsorship with employment, then you get your visa, you get your travel exemption, but then you had to book flights as well. Was that a straightforward process, booking flights from Germany to Australia? Did you have any cancellations at all?

Andreas (20:30):

No. I had never had a cancellation, I even booked three flights until I finally could come in. So there were some expectations when the visa will be applied so I booked one flight, I think it was for end of December or something. I think around Christmas or something 2020, and of course the visa didn't work out and then because of the COVID stuff-

Evan Bishop (20:55):

And availability, yeah.

Andreas (20:58):

You've got different laws or something or different rules for the flights and it makes it easier because you can change the date anytime, you can cancel the flights for free without any fees. So that made it a lot easier, and I just booked the flight in advance and then changed the date [crosstalk 00:21:17]-

Evan Bishop (21:16):

I think you did that maybe three times, I think you might have had three different... I feel like it was maybe the third option you had, and we finally got the visa granted in the travel exemption and okay hurray, we can now keep this flight. This is one you don't have to change.

Andreas (21:32):

But the worst part was that and you had those different lockdowns over the few months in different states, and I thought when I get a flight, because the last flight that I had that one was a stop over in Sydney and I thought it's all right because then I enter the plane to Perth and go to Perth and quarantine. And from Perth, I can go straight out and come to the Wheatbelt, but the problem was-

Evan Bishop (21:56):

250ks away, yeah.

Andreas (21:58):

But only a few days before my actual flight or so, or week or something before I called the airline because I had a question I can't remember which one, and then the bloke said, "Hey, I think you have to go in a hotel and quarantine where you first touch ground in Australia." It was like oh that's not good because Sydney was a bit mm-mm (negative) back then, it wasn't as bad as Melbourne, but they were already a bit weak. And then you said and you should come as close as possible to Perth because of the lockdowns.

Evan Bishop (22:40):

It's practical. Yeah.

Andreas (22:40):

Otherwise I have to go in a hotel and quarantine in Sydney, and then I go out of Sydney with a flight to Perth and have to go again in a hotel, quarantine and pay five grand or something just to come. So then I looked up flights, it really took me one and a half weeks, they looked several home websites, several airlines up for flights and they canceled most of the flights. They weren't many flights left and if they were flights left they were 10 grand or 15 grand or something. And the most interesting or weird part was that the business class was cheaper than the economy class, which I still don't get what the different is, but it was lucky for me.

Andreas (23:17):

So in that case I could book business class without feeling bad about it because it was pretty much the cheapest flight. And then most flights and there were flights they stop all in America and San Francisco and stuff, it was really, really hard. It was long travel time, 60, 70 hours, and sometimes I had to stay at some airport, I don't know Singapore or something for 12 hours or 14 hours or something it was really, really bad. And then I had a little bit of luck, after one and a half weeks trying even my mom helped me looking up flights and we called travel agencies for some help, but they couldn't do anything.

Andreas (23:52):

So we did it on our own, and then I finally found one flight stopping in Adelaide and I thought yeah, Adelaide that's great. The travel time was pretty short, I had only 10 hours I think and a stop in Singapore to wait until my flight continued. And Adelaide, they had only one lockdown at the beginning of all-

Evan Bishop (24:09):

Like the whole nation, yeah.

Andreas (24:12):

And then never again, so I thought that's the safest place to go. It's close to Perth.

Evan Bishop (24:16):

Good track record. And that's the main thing geographically was for yourself it made much more sense going from Adelaide city across the border into Western Australia as opposed to across countries. So now it worked out for you, but then I guess your whole journey coming here and then you've got to sit yourself in two weeks hotel quarantine. So what was that experience like? Did you have a place with windows? Were you not able to open the windows? Was it a large room, a small room? What was the two week hotel quarantine experience?

Andreas (24:48):

Oh, it was one of my best experiences ever.

Evan Bishop (24:51):

I didn't know the word you're going to use then. Opposite of what I thought.

Andreas (24:56):

Yeah. No, it was really good. I don't know on my trip to Australia, I had a chat with a German fella in Singapore during my stop and he was on the way to New Zealand because of his job. And he said, "Oh, I heard a lot of bad things." He said some of old workers they had very bad experience in hotel quarantine about the food and the rooms and the hotel.

Evan Bishop (25:21):

So you had low expectations? That's handy. That's good.

Andreas (25:23):

Exactly. I was really worried because I thought oh, damn I will be in a hotel quarantining for two weeks, I can't choose the hotel, I can't choose anything, I just have to go in there, and it already sounds very hard to go in hotel quarantine. And then I came there and it was just amazing, the food was more than I needed, it was a very high quality, I don't know, I think it was a four or five star hotel. And the owner was great, we had a Facebook group, a private one.

Evan Bishop (25:56):

Okay, that's fun.

Andreas (25:57):

For everyone in hotel quarantine and captain the news or so, so about rubbish collection, about our lining collection, about the food. About half an hour, an hour before they delivered the food they told us what we would get for food. And they had a quarantinee every Friday, so about between lunch and dinner, they made us a little bit of a cocktail and served us that one. That was great especially the first time when I wasn't expecting it, and all of a sudden I heard a knocking on the door and I was like uh-oh-

Evan Bishop (26:28):

It's not lunch. It's not dinner. I'm not 14 days yet.

Andreas (26:31):

Exactly what they want? And I opened the door I couldn't see anyone, and then on the floor there was this plastic cup with a straw in it, and then there was hotel quarantinee or something written on it.

Evan Bishop (26:42):

Fantastic.

Andreas (26:43):

It was great. And there was also the boss in the Facebook group and he was very helpful. Always when you had a question or something he helped you, and it was great, very great food. And the best thing was I didn't need any plans, I didn't need to feel bad when there was a good weather outside because I had to stay inside because I had to stay inside anyways, And the view wasn't very good, but I was able to tilt the windows a little bit outside for a little bit of fresh air which was great. And I tried every day because my room was around the corners and the windows as well, so every day I figured out I think between three and five o'clock or so that there's sun in this corner.

Evan Bishop (27:25):

Yup, so that's where you sat.

Andreas (27:27):

So I took my t-shirt and everything off and was sitting just with my top body free in the sun to charge a little bit of vitamins and energy. And no, I was very happy and I was still happy that I came to Australia, well, it was quite funny because the police is calling you every day to make sure that you're in your room.

Evan Bishop (27:47):

Yup.

Andreas (27:48):

And also the nurses about your mental health and about your physical, your wellbeing.

Evan Bishop (27:55):

Yeah.

Andreas (27:55):

And I was just so happy, one time I confused the nurse because I answered the phone and I was just giggling and laughing and happy. And she said, "Oh, how are you going?" "Yeah, I'm very good." Like on drugs or something, I don't know what she was thinking. So [inaudible 00:28:10] very good, but it's still the first week I'm worried about the second week. That's probably the toughest one, but I've never felt bad because I had this one goal to come out of hotel quarantine, finally start living my life, starting living in Australia, in the country I always wanted to come and it was just great.

Evan Bishop (28:28):

Fantastic.

Andreas (28:28):

I was just happy to be there.

Evan Bishop (28:30):

That was last hurdle, and it's good that you had good food and good community as well by the sounds of it. You could make it a bit fun and light-hearted at times, which is good. So you get out of hotel quarantine, you got to go across the border from Adelaide into Western Australia, and then now where you find yourself today is you're working full time as a heavy diesel mechanic in the agricultural sector. And you're the central Wheatbelt area of Western Australia, so what's it like being in such a small town and in I guess such a remote area of Australia?

Andreas (29:03):

It's actually not too bad because it's only two and a half hours from Perth, so it's not too remote.

Evan Bishop (29:09):

True. Yeah.

Andreas (29:10):

But I love this country life. It's great because every time you drive into town or when you're in your own town, everyone is waving at you, it's what we do in the country and it's just smiling and asking you how you're going even more than in the cities. And because of the company you build a lot of relationships with the people in town, and around town which is very great, and no I love it. And also those long roads with the red dust. Oh no, it's not that remote fortunately or so, there are more remote areas and towns.

Evan Bishop (29:43):

It's still like country feeling?

Andreas (29:45):

Yeah, but it's still a country thing that relaxed feeling, easy going. Yeah, it's great.

Evan Bishop (29:51):

It's still pretty mind blowing for someone like myself being in the metropolitan Melbourne region, because you said recently your dentist and your dentist only comes, is it once a week?

Andreas (30:01):

Oh, yeah.

Evan Bishop (30:01):

Because there's no dentist in the town, so he comes once a week and see whoever he needs and, "Okay look, hope your tooth holds up till next Wednesday when I'm back in." So those little novelties.

Andreas (30:11):

Yeah. That's really bad because a few months ago I had a toothache and then I thought oh yeah, maybe I should go to the dentist. So at first I thought, oh, I can manage it on my own, but then towards the end of the week it got just too painful. So I called the dentist and I said, "Ah, are you in town today?" Because my supervisor said, "Ah, they are only once or twice a week in town." I said, oh, that's different, because in Germany in all the cities the dentist is always around so I was the same expecting here. So I called them and said, "Are you in town?" "Yes, we're in town." I said, "Ah, can I come?" But they were in a different town, I don't know, one and a half hours away.

Andreas (30:55):

And then when I figured out that I said, "Oh, when are you next time here in my town?" And he said, "Oh, next Wednesday" I said, "Oh, damn I missed with just one day. Great." I didn't know about it, now that I know that they're only Wednesdays in town, I can better calculate it and better make plans. So lived on pain killer for about a week then and yeah, that's different, it's a really different thing, but otherwise we've got a hospital here, we've got an ambulance here, we've got a police station here, we have everything we need, we have all those. Also some other, I don't know, car electricians and stuff, and also for hydraulic hoses and everything so we've got, in fact everything we need pretty much.

Andreas (31:36):

And the other things we can, I don't know, order online or something. I'm going to Perth every couple of weekends anyways because of my Mrs living there so it's all right, but what we need, we get here. We have a roadhouse, probably one of the best ones in the Wheatbelt I think, I've been to some others in the Wheatbelt, in WA and it has good prices, good food, and also all the other shops there are really good. And it's also great, when you go to the IGA for shopping, they know your name, they call you your name and say how are you going and how was your day today? And you just have a little bit of a private chat, it's a family life here in town, I think.

Evan Bishop (32:12):

Yeah, good community.

Andreas (32:13):

It's a huge difference to city life where no one knows the neighbors. It's great.

Evan Bishop (32:19):

Well, when I Googled Corrigin to see what it was famous for, do you know what Corrigin's famous for before I hit you with a fast fact?

Andreas (32:26):

Yeah. And I looked it up because I wasn't expecting to go to Esperance before. So I looked up Esperance and then thought, oh yeah, white beaches, blue sea. Everything is in the water. Yeah, so it's a great place. And last minute my company changed it to Corrigin and I looked it up on Google Maps to see where it is, how it is and how it looks like. And yeah, it was a small, tiny town with I think 1,000 inhabitants or so, so not too many. And I looked up what can I do there? And the most famous thing was the dog cemetery. And I was like, "What? That's the best thing you can do here? Okay, great."

Evan Bishop (33:04):

Objection, but yeah, it's the Corrigin I wrote it down, because the connection with the dogs, so then they wanted to have a record books in Australia to do with dogs. And Corrigin, it's been knocked out a couple times, but they still hold the record today-

Andreas (33:19):

Of the-

Evan Bishop (33:19):

Since 2002. Yeah, of the dogs in the utes. Yeah, so 1,527 dogs in the backs of utes, which were parading through the town in April, 2002. So it's just one of those things that you can't imagine someone plans to do, but hey, they hold the record, so congratulations for being a part of that town. And you've got a ute as well so you might have to contribute to that one day too.

Andreas (33:44):

Yeah. If they make a new record, but as far as I remember, they made the first record, then one town in Victoria-

Evan Bishop (33:53):

In Victoria, yes. Yes.

Andreas (33:55):

Made the record and now it's still Corrigin [inaudible 00:34:00] holds the record. So I think there's probably no new record try coming up, but in case that they want to try a new record, I'll be there with my ute. And I will get a dog from somewhere for sure.

Evan Bishop (34:09):

Yeah, you can't contribute your cats, no.

Andreas (34:12):

No. Not really.

Evan Bishop (34:12):

They don't count.

Andreas (34:14):

Maybe I just take the neighbor's dogs. They about the size of my cats, but they're still count as dogs, I think so.

Evan Bishop (34:21):

There you go. Well, I guess look mate, you've got a really inspirational journey because someone who came to Australia when you were younger, had that epiphany one day of look, I want to come to Australia and make a dream out of this. But then the tribulations you had, particularly with two sponsors pulling out and not being able to get it through before your working holiday visa expired. And the whole look, I'll go back to Germany, I'll see mom, see my grandparents for a couple of months, but then the global pandemic hit and it's literally, you cannot enter Australia. So I think yeah, credit to yourself for everything you went through, but being able to keep your head as well.

Evan Bishop (34:59):

I know that it wouldn't have been easier times, and we were talking a fair bit throughout that year because of potential employers and looking at your CV and stuff like that. Do you have any advice that you would give to someone in your situation where it's quite either competitive to come to Australia and work, or just simply being able to get into Australia during this time? Do you have any inspirational ideas you could pass on to someone in a similar situation?

Andreas (35:24):

Keep in mind what's better in Australia than back home, probably. And of course, not thinking too much about the bad things at the home country, but also keeping those ones in mind so that you know why you want to come Australia, why do you want to make living over there, why you want the visa. And try being a little bit creative, trying different things, trying different ways, trying it with a professional resume. It makes a huge difference, I wasn't expecting that. I spent I think 70 bucks only for someone making a professional resume because I thought nah a handwritten one should be better because it's more personal, but most employers didn't really care about it.

Andreas (36:06):

They wanted the professional, I heard from more employers back after I had a professional resume than a handwritten one, but I also try just different ways. Keep in mind why we're doing it and yeah, stay positive. It makes a huge difference. If you think, oh yeah, it won't work out anyways then it's less likely to work, but if you think it will work out, the right employer will come up. When I have a lot of luck or with my employers, but I just found the right ones. It took me eight months, nine months to find the right ones, but they were the right ones. I'm still happy with them. They came up-

Evan Bishop (36:46):

At the weirdest economic time in our living history, with all of the world coming to a standstill. Yeah.

Andreas (36:53):

What I couldn't believe is that I was actually able to come to Australia with the travel exemption because I heard my sister traveled last year to Sweden and she met an Aussie up there and he said I just can't come back to Australia, I'm just not allowed to. And I heard it several times from some Australians or something that couldn't come back to the country, but I could. So that's why I still don't really understand, but it makes me even more happy I don't know, that I found my way here and that I can live here, especially a freedom life. And now it feels like living in Australia is more freedom for me than in Germany, but especially during this COVID time. And I still hear my parents and my siblings or my relatives wearing mask and having trouble over there with COVID and now I'm here in the country. We don't even have lockdowns.

Evan Bishop (37:44):

And you don't. It's not mentioned, yeah. COVID's not a thing in Western Australia.

Andreas (37:47):

No, I had a chat with my workmates and they said last year, when this three months lockdown was at the beginning, we didn't even know that there was a lockdown. The only thing that we knew that there was a lockdown and COVID was because you couldn't go to the pub, otherwise everything was how it always was. So there was no difference and it's also a great thing that makes it even bit better.

Evan Bishop (38:11):

Well, the travel exemption parts are a fascinating bit of your story because, and this is me giving the context as a registered migration agent, that you can get granted a temporary employee sponsored visa. So 407 training visa, in your case, a 482 sponsorship visa. You can get the visa, but you can't get into Australia without that travel exemption. I've had a few people granted a 186 permanent residency visa and permanent residents, I mean, it's the same thing as yourself, a hotel quarantine, but they can come to Australia as permanent residents. But a temporary visa you're not allowed unless you can get that travel exemption, which is a case by case argument. So I've had good handful of travel exemptions granted, but completely case by case.

Evan Bishop (38:55):

And the argument for your travel exception was look this is to work on a lot of heavy equipment for the Wheatbelt. So we're talking about the big combine harvesters, the tractors, the industry is suffering not only just from the pandemic, but just from a really bad drought season for this harvest as it was anyway that year prior. So we can't get the amount of working holiday visa holders to come and work with us as we could previously, the mining industry is up in their dollar. So all of the mechanics are going to work in the mines and we just need skilled people like yourself, a heavy diesel mode mechanic to come out and work for us. But the way I pitched it to the department of home affairs was look, we're not going to have any wheat harvest in Australia because if the machines break down, we have got no one to fix them.

Evan Bishop (39:40):

So lots of justifications, and that was my work with the employer to prove, a lot of statistics, a lot of good arguments to say this is why. It's a pros and cons, we're bringing someone from Germany where there is a pandemic into Western Australia, where there is no pandemic, but the benefits outweigh the costs. So it's a bit of context to what went into getting you out to Australia, where if you were a diesel motor mechanic for a small workshop somewhere just working on four wheel drives and stuff like that, different story, mate. You still wouldn't be out of here today. So look, it's sometimes a bit of luck, but I feel like you make your own luck in life as well, and yours came from your perseverance to keep applying for jobs and keep that positive attitudes that when you had those interactions with employers, they were positive and you backed yourself.

Evan Bishop (40:24):

And look fast forward to today, you've been out here since March 2021 and now we're nearing the end of 2021. So look, definitely huge thank you for your time today Andreas, for sharing your story, where it started for yourself growing up in Germany to your first travels out to Australia, just to meet some relatives, not thinking too much of it, to the point where you had that epiphany of look, I want to stay in Australia and maybe work here one day and make a life for myself. And that epiphany you had with just strangers in the streets saying good day and you thought look, people are just so friendly here. And now you get to be one of those people that says good day to people in the street as well, and yeah, a friendly contribution to your small town as well. So thank you for your time today and thank you for sharing your journey to Australia.

Andreas (41:08):

One more thing.

Evan Bishop (41:09):

Please.

Andreas (41:10):

One great thing about living here in the country is also that we can just leave our back doors open. I mean, everything is fine, we don't need to worry about anything. Even the postman knows our names and everything. So he sometimes most of the time, or even though it's my address or so, or it says, "Oh signature required." They just drop the parcel off and everything is fine.

Evan Bishop (41:29):

And are you here?

Andreas (41:31):

No one worries or so. And that's also the great thing about living in the Wheatbelt and regional area.

Evan Bishop (41:38):

A great community, which you get to be a great contribution to yourself now as well. Maybe one day with some dogs in the utes for the world record, if that ever gets beaten elsewhere.

Andreas (41:48):

We will see.

Evan Bishop (41:49):

You've got the ute, you just need the dogs.

Andreas (41:52):

I will start working on it.

Evan Bishop (41:54):

Done. Wonderful mate. Well thank you for your time today and thank you for sharing your journey to Australia.

Nick Hansen (42:01):

Well, that was great, Evan. It just goes to show that persistence pays off.

Evan Bishop (42:05):

Thanks mate. And Andreas mentioned that he spoke to an Australian citizen that couldn't return to Australia. We should clarify that this would probably have been because he couldn't get reasonable price flights. Australian citizensand permanent residents of Australia have never been banned from returning to Australia during this border closure, except from when the border was closed to India for a few weeks in late 2020.

Nick Hansen (42:26):

So since we recorded the last episode, there's been an update regarding inbound travel exemptions. And as of the 1st of November 2021, parents of adult Australian citizens and permanent residents will be able to get an exemption to enter Australia.

Evan Bishop (42:41):

What kind of impact do you expect this to have?

Nick Hansen (42:43):

We've had a lot of inquiries for age parent and age contributory parent visas over the last 18 months where the parents are currently living outside of Australia and couldn't enter Australia because of the COVID border restrictions. So our advice has either been to wait until the border opens or apply for a non-age parent visa, which at best has a five year processing time. Any parent of an Australian citizen or permanent resident, despite their age can apply for a parent visa or a contributory parent visa. However, these types of visas can only be granted offshore, meaning the applicant doesn't get a bridging visa, allowing them to stay in Australia while the application is being processed. The age parent and the contributory age parent visas on the other hand can be granted onshore, meaning that the applicant gets a bridging visa allowing them to stay in Australia while processing, which in the case of a non-contributory age parent visa can be sometimes in excess of 15 years.

Evan Bishop (43:39):

And Nick, what is that age requirement?

Nick Hansen (43:41):

It's based off the pension age in Australia, which is currently in the process of changing from 65 to 67. So it really depends on the year they were born, but let's just say the pension age in Australia is 67. The age parent must be least 67 years of age although their husband or wife can be younger because the age requirement only needs to be met by the primary applicant. So allowing parents to be exempt from the border restrictions means the older parents can now travel to Australia on another type of visa, most likely a visitor visa, and then apply for an age or contributory age parent visa, which is great because I know a lot of people who have had children in the last two years, and haven't been able to meet their grandparents yet.

Evan Bishop (44:24):

We'll stay tuned for further updates.

Nick Hansen (44:27):

Thanks for listening to the Journey to Oz podcast. If you've liked what you've heard, please subscribe, and also leave us a review. We will release a new episode every second Tuesday. So please stay tuned.

Disclaimer (44:41):

The Journey to Oz podcast is produced by Nick Hansen from Hansen Migration, migration agent registration number 1679147 and Evan Bishop from Worldly Migration, migration agent registration number 1679414. Any information discussed in this podcast is made available for entertainment purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional advice. We do not make any guarantee or accept any responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any of the information discussed. You should obtain advice from a registered migration agent or an immigration lawyer before acting on any of the content discussed in this podcast. You can find a list of registered migration agents by visiting mara.gov.au.

Disclaimer (45:24):

The information contained within this podcast may not be reproduced without our prior written consent. In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of land throughout Australia and pay respects to their elders. We extend that respect to all Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders today. Thank you for listening.