₦airaland Forum

Bellacious:
Hi guys, it's been a long time. Just want to drop this here as someone might learn a thing or two from my experience.
Grand landed on 23/3/2018 for 489 Visa, family of 4. I left Nigeria alone on 17/5/18 and landed in Adelaide on 18/5/18 via Emirate. A friend on ground helped me arrange accommodation as someone he knew moved interstate few days before I arrived, so that became my new home. It's a one bedroom apartment and I paid 200/w.
I was taken to the metro station to get bus card and I received orientation on how to navigate through the city. By the way I studies Nursing science in Nigeria but I was told the process of getting into nursing here, so during my assessment, I assessed as a Residential care officer. I searched for schools to do the certification 3 in individual support as that will help me get a job easily. I got a school and with 489 visa I was told I dont have to pay. So I did it FREE of charge. I started the programme late June and finished early August. It was an 8 weeks programme. Luckily for me, the place I did my placement offered me a job and I was to start the 3rd of Sept.
Towards the ending of August my family visited to activate their own visas as we had till 26th Sept. They left for Nigeria on 30th Sept. Hubby had somethings to tidy up before moving finally. Also before they left, we bought a small car that I call "Lambo " $1950. An old toyota Camry 2003/2004 . My shifts were all afternoons so I will be finishing 11pm and catching buses that late won't be funny.
At my place of work, I was offered 67hrs per fortnight and by Oct i picked some extra hours and made it 74hrs per fortnight because one of my visa conditions said 35 hours/w. By January 2019, I got a second job since my family wasn't here and I wasn't schooling so I had a lot of time at my disposal. By Feb 2019 i contacted AHPRA(Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency) for assessment and by June they gave me a referral letter for a bridging programme and the search for school began. At this time, most schools weren't offering admission as they weren't sure if they will continue the program because there were some changes in AHPRA and the introduction of OBA (Outcome based Assessment). The search for school continued.
By June 2019 I left my 1st job because I got a better offer (still kept the one I got in January)
By October 2019, my family moved finally and I had to get another accommodation and we pay 305/w.
I contacted all the schools offering bridging program and luckily in December of 2019 I received an offer from one of the Unis here in Adelaide. The fee was $19800 and it was to be paid at once and not by installment. Well I've been working so that wasn't much of a problem. And by Feb 2020, we had our orientation(its a 6 months program) As for the kids they were enrolled in a catholic school for the 2020 session and both of them cost about $6k for a year but we had a negotiation and it was subsidized so I pay $165/fortnight and that's just about $4k.
By May 18th 2020, I've fulfilled the visa condition of living in SA for 2years and working full time for a year and on 25th May 2020 we lodged application for our PR. And to the glory of God, we received our GRANT FOR PR on 24/06/2020.YES you read that right, exactly one month after applying.
First week of June we completed the classroom work and exam was on 26/06/2020. Placement has been scheduled to commence by 20/7/20 and finish by 13/08/2020.
While on Visa 489, I had a private health insurance with HCF called oversea cover and I paid $50/month. As my family arrived, I included them and we pay $208/month.
For shopping, i can't really give a breakdown of the weekly spending because we still have food stuffs from Nigeria and I do bulk buying of fruits and veggies from a local market that opens only on sundays. We shop from Aldi when there's need and with $150 my cart is usually full.
The past 2 years has been quite interesting and I can boldly say WE DONT REGRET MOVING.
Thanks for your time and I'm happy to answer your questions. Cheers

Hi Bellacious,
Your story is truly inspiring, congratulations. I also have a degree in nursing, can I apply for the visa 491 visa as a residential care officer with one year work experience? If I can how do I go about the assessment?
Thank you!