While Australian Visa news of late has not been overwhelmingly positive, it is encouraging to hear that Australia will soon be welcoming the Gisanrin family from Northhampton.  

Olu Gisanrin was approved for a skilled Australian Visa only a few weeks ago, and he and his wife are planning to move to Sydney, or the nearby south coast, with their three children.

“We had been to Australia 10 years ago and liked it then but thought only briefly about moving there – we didn’t feel the time was right.  It was early last year that we started reconsidering the option,” Olu said.

“We hope to move to Sydney, but that is not completely settled. The last time we visited Australia we spent most of our time in Western Australia, but as we are moving permanently we did want to explore other areas as options. Sydney or the coast just south of Sydney could work well for us,” he said. 

They hope to emigrate to Australia at the end of the year so their two older children, aged 9 and 7, can commence at the start of the Australian school year, although it’s possible Olu may travel to Australia earlier to pursue job opportunities and prepare for the family’s arrival.

Olu said they were looking forward to moving to Australia, and he said the lifestyle should be perfect for the two older children with school, sports and the outdoors. Their youngest is just a baby.

The Australian Visa application process for the Grisanrin family was smoother than they expected.

“The visa process was a lot easier than I thought. We only started seriously considering emigrating in August last year, and at the time I read a number of old forums about the process and some people were waiting two or three years for a visa,” he said.

“Martin Beveridge handled the first part of the process, and he was very informative and professional.
 
“I did skills assessment last year and lodged the completed Australian Visa application at the end of January this year. Our visa application was approved a couple of weeks ago.”

Visa Bureau caseworker Joe Tindle assisted throughout the visa application and Olu said he was always prompt and kept the family informed of developments.

“Joe was perfect, certainly no complaints there. We were always up-to-date with the process and he always answered emails or phone messages, and if he wasn’t in the office and on holidays someone else got back to us,” Olu said.

- Stephanie Bradley is Content and Communications Editor for the Australian Visa Bureau.

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