Hi
It’s the last day of the year 2023 and what a year it's been.
What can I say…. It's been a mixed bag in terms of positives
and negatives, but for us, I definitely count more highs than lows.
Let me start off with a fantastic update to round off a good
year.
A couple of weeks ago, the awesome people at Remote where
Chioma works confirmed that they would be “sponsoring” her and would issue her
a certificate of Sponsorship as a “skilled worker”. Not only did they confirm
this, but they also went ahead with a lateral job upgrade to the compliance
department from the Customer service role where she used to be.
See ehn… wetin go be your own no go stress you.
Chioma is a blessing. My goodness!! In terms of marriage, I really
hit the Mega jackpot lottery here. Aside from all the hard work that she puts in
her job, there’s this uncanny blessing that she carries that affects everyone
around her… again, Oseburuwa, I thank you for her in my life.
So, instead of going the “graduate” visa route which we
would have used after my school year, we applied for the skilled worker/dependant
visa route (which is obviously much better) and yesterday, we just got notified
of the success of the application and had our visas issued!!!. (Blows trumpet!!)🙌🙌
Yeah.. that IS awesome news….just in case you don’t get the
full import, a skilled worker visa is like the holy grail for most immigrants who
intend to remain in the UK and people have been known to pay obscene amounts of
money illegally to get one. Anyway, we thank God for everything.
Secondly, as a post update to an earlier trip to Birmingham in
October which I wrote about here, my job interview at a company (Travelperk, a
travel agency) which I applied for, was successful. Again, Chioma’s hand applied
here, as I was referred for the job by one of her friends, Sandra (Half of the
Agomo family we just visited). The interview process was a breeze (TBH, I’m
actually a tad overqualified for the role) and I was asked to resume in
November. However, there was a bit of a hitch, as my visa was still the “student”
visa which had restrictions on work hours. These great people at Travelperk,
realizing that I was too much of a catch to let go, decided to defer my start
date till January, so I could sort out the visa issues. Ladies and gentlemen, with
the good news about the visa coming through, I’m pretty sure I’ll be resuming
with them in January!!! Yaaaay!!
It's not too much of chest thumps and back pats though…the
role pays significantly less than what I should be earning, however, it has
great career advancement prospects and is right down my career alley in
Customer service. Plus, it’s certainly much better than Mama Calabar or all the
other popular care jobs which people seem to be convinced are the only jobs for
immigrants. Not to dunk on care and support jobs,(seeing the vital role they
play) but they’re just not for me. Also, reflecting on the countless rejection emails I've gotten this year alone...biko, I'm all about counting blessings right now.
Consequently, it looks like the good people of Birmingham will
have cause to celebrate as they look forward to our relocation over there. It’s
going to be a bit stressful logistics-wise, but yeah overall, we’re sure it
would be the better decision for us. Watch out for updates.
So 2023 is ending with some good news for us. Again, I’m so
grateful for everything so far and in the spirit of positive affirmations, I’m
putting it out in the universe that 2024 will be good to us all and declare
that we shall all have plenty reasons to give praise to God as we navigate what
the future has in store for us.
Happy new year and God bless us all.
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