Melbourne is Calling (Part-4) - Things we did before stepping foot in Australia !!

        You can read our other parts of migration experiences here 

       I remember reading somewhere that it takes 5 years to completely settle down into a new country. Considering that statement our migration is a just started "process". Well, a job well begun is half done.Our first trip to Melbourne was overwhelmingly successful. 

        Precap: We are a couple from India, living in Singapore for 5 years now and one fine morning, back in 2013, we decided to migrate for many reasons. We chose Australia because it was a safe bet. But we've never been to Australia in our lifetime until we got our PR. 

        Here we are are, after our first landing, done with validating our visa. We really can't wait to make the permanent move from Singapore to Melbourne which will be around first quarter of next year.

        I will be covering the whole journey of our first entry to Australia in 3 posts. The first one being this- Things we did before our first landing. The second being (Part 5)- Things we did during and after our first landing, and the third being (Part 6)- our various experiences in Melbourne. 

        There is not a definite guideline to follow in this process. What works for us may not work for everyone. I know friends who did a better job than what we did. This is just our experiences. If any of you could benefit from any of this we are more than happy. Any suggestions or alternatives, readers please do enlighten us. 

         RESEARCH: Research is the word. It is an essential, mandatory, absolutely necessary process. All we could do sitting in Singapore before first landing was to think/ research/ plan. So that is exactly what we did, research about the following things.

        

1) Book the Flight Tickets & Accommodation:

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        Early is the new late. We booked our flight tickets 106 days early and almost for free. Arvind is a frequent flyer to US. So we had flyer miles loaded in his Krisflyer account which was about to expire this October. So replace miles for money and all we had to pay was few hundreds for the round trip. It is always book early and save big. And we stayed in Swanston Street, Melbourne CBD.

2) Get the documents ready:

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        I may sound old school, but when I step out of the house, I always carry a diary. And if it is a vacation, I take a file along with all the documents printed including itineraries, photocopies of passports, visas, passport photos and the schedule. I personally believe in hard copies and treat e-copies always an alternative. Hard copies are just difficult to destroy, does not vanish easily and more than anything, it documents memories.

        But all we needed to validate our visa at the immigration counter of Melbourne was just our passport. They did not even look at our visa papers. That is how much upgraded they are.

3) Luggage:

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         The original plan was to pack and ship all the stuffs only during our permanent move. But we did not want to waste the 100 kg allowance offered by the airlines - one of the perks of being a Krisflyer Elite gold member. And all thanks to Karthik & Babu- who offered us to drop our luggage at the Airport and A & S, a very generous couple in Melbourne who we made friends with. Thanks to the blog community. They offered to accommodate our luggage at their place in Melbourne temporarily for few months.  

4) Bank:

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        Again, Research is the word. Australia is a continent and Singapore is a small country. That is how much the difference is when it comes to gaining knowledge and expertise in any subject. Nothing comes and knocks the door like it always does in Singapore. When there is a change in anything, let it be banking, taxation, contracts, bills, even mobile plans, you get a letter and it gets automatically upgraded in Singapore. May be, the maximum you have to do is to make a call. But that is not the case in Australia, at least to my understanding.

        The one key thing to keep in mind is, it is not just us migrating, our money is migrating too. So the bottom line of the research, (definite mention to few friends who shared information) is we chose NAB isaver- a special account for migrants, which has the following benefits. Zero Account fees, application from overseas (personal identification required to activate the account), great advantage of no monthly fees, a generous 4 % P A interest rate(promotional rate), great internet banking services, and one last most important factor- security.
PS: For one way money transfer from any international account, (preferably DBS if Singapore, because of the great exchange rates) no activation of the isaver account is required.

5) Mobile Sim:
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        All we need was a Australia number which also has international roaming (basically Singapore, US, India), no roaming charges for incoming calls, nominal/usual charges for outgoing calls, free text message, maximum validity, prepaid service- so no bill shock, and online credit top up. And one sim ticked all our boxes,with few more perks too. Thanks to the Prepaid Travel Sim +.
And what do you do when there is a promotional ALDI prepaid sim for 5 $ with 5 $ credit? You buy that too.

6) Plan and print the schedule:
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        The final step before the trip- Print the schedule, day by day, if possible hour by hour. And we were all set to go.

PS: Though we did make maximum effort in all this, we could not have accomplished everything this successfully without friends help. Strangers became friends. Friends became close friends. Be it sharing info or offering to accommodate luggage or cheering us and giving hope, we got all the help we could ever imagine. Special mention to A & S, Subha, Margaret, Charles, Chris, Priya, Felix Choo, Karthik, Babu, Pooja and definitely our migration agent AIMS.

        I strongly believe in Karma. We would definitely want to repay/give back. So any fellow migrants who is need of any help regarding migration related issues feel free to contact us. We will be happy to help in all possible cases.

Stay tuned for next two parts :) Cya soon !!