Skilled Migrant Professionals February 2015 | Page 32

Migration

My Australian migration
To migrate to another
country is a huge
decision. I hope my
family’s story will
offer some valuable
guidance on navigating
the process and
avoiding the pitfalls.

by Kaushal Jhaveri
Registered
migration agent

M

y wife and I grew up in Mumbai, India. After we got married,
I worked in the family business
managing a retail outlet; a job that didn’t
give me job satisfaction. I decided I wanted
to study for a Master’s degree and get some
international experience before making a
decision on my next career move. A cousin
got his Masters of Business Administration
(MBA) at the University of Wollongong. The
tales he told of his good Australian study
experience inspired me to do similar.
After more than five years working in the family business, I decided
it was time for me to venture overseas and Australia was my destination of choice. I chose Perth because it is the closest Australian
capital city to India and Curtin University to do an MBA because of its
reputation in this field. I had also heard about the excellent weather
Western Australia’s capital boasted and in 1997, the cost of living in
Perth and the unemployment rate was lower compared to other Australian capital cities.
On completion of my MBA, after spending two wonderful years
living as students and working part-time, we returned to Mumbai. I
successfully applied to work for the Western Australian Trade Office in
Mumbai as the Manager of Education Services. After 18 months back
home in India, we found we missed Perth a lot so decided to apply
for skilled migration. It took a year and half for our application to be
processed so with the dawning of a new millennium we returned to
live and work permanently in Perth, Western Australia.

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www.smpmagazine.com.au | February 2015

A consideration that weighed heavily on our minds was how to
care for the dependent parents and siblings we were going to leave
behind. The best advice I can give to any prospective migrant is to be
absolutely certain you want to migrate to Australia. You need a really
good reason as this will drive you when facing the number of challenges you will invariably encounter on this journey. If you are not fully
committed to migrating, you will find it very difficult to settle in your
new home country.
One of my relatives who came to Australia to study with a goal to
migrate after completing their studies knew in the back of their mind
they had the option to return home and to their business and that is
what finally happened. Instead of migrating they ended up with a really expensive three-month, rather tiring holiday in Australia.
From our experience my wife and I learnt that all prospective applicants have to meet the skills or employer sponsored criteria to comply
with Australian migration legislation. And it is very important to en-