My Australian Student Visa is Here!!!

March 17, 2010 is definitely one unforgettable date. After exactly 2 months, 1 week, and 6 days of anxiously waiting for the result of my student visa application, Amber (my IDP counselor) called. I knew it was her calling me through my mobile phone because the caller's area code is 02 and I do not get calls from Manila other than those from IDP.

click to go directly to IDP Philippines site

I was not able to answer her first call which was made at around 12 noon (God, I am just sooooo happy that I could still vividly picture what happened that day... which was just yesterday! Duh! LOL). I was busy playing with my 15 month old nephew, Jordan, when my phone rang. I left my phone inside my room. So the moment I heard the phone ringing, I hurriedly picked up Jordan and ran for it. Unfortunately, I was a bit late and wasn't able to take the call. When I checked the caller's number, I was 100% sure it was from IDP.

I didn't want to call back because I do not know exactly who was calling for me. And I was pretty sure that they would call back in a moment or just send me an email or they might just call my mom. Around that time, I immediately texted my BF. I told him that IDP was calling and I am sure it must be about my visa. I started to panic! What if they were calling to tell me that my visa application was declined? Oh the horror! He told me to stop being negative. He kept me calm by saying that it is probably good news.

You see, processing of Australian student visa (for my subclass) takes around 2-3 months. I am actually already enrolled in a certain business school (IIBIT in Sydney) and the start of my classes was originally last March 1. But since my student visa application is still yet to be finalized, my classes were deferred to April 27. This kind of made me happy because it would buy my mom some time for the processing of her Australian tourist visa (which would only take approximately 2 weeks).

I do not want my student visa application declined because:
(1) The application fee of almost PHP25,000 would just go to waste.
(2) After months of preparing all legal documents needed for the application and waiting for the result, I am already in the zone of leaving for Australia. It would really break my heart to be denied of a student visa.

After the first missed call, I brought my phone with me wherever I went inside the house. Just after lunch, Amber called again. This time, I answered the call right away. I pretended to be calm throughout the conversation. And then she blurted it out, "Your visa is here. You may pick it up anytime within office hours. No need to schedule an appointment with me." At that moment, all I can and did say was thank you. It was a triumphant feeling. I texted my mom and BF about the good news right away.

This is how my visa should look like

My mom and I are now planning to go to Makati on Monday to pick up my visa at IDP. And as expected, shopping would certainly be in our itinerary. The excitement! Haha! ^_^