31 July 2017 — The arrival gateI landed in Australia on 31 July 2017 to begin my bachelor’s degree at Macquarie University. A date that would become the first stamp in a much longer story.At the time, this was the beginning of university. Looking back, it was the beginning of learning how to build a life between two countries.
2017–2019 — The campus libraryMacquarie was where this chapter began: studying, learning, and making Australia part of my everyday life.This little study challenge is symbolic. The degree took years; here, you only need to put the learning process in order.
Dec 2017–Feb 2018 / Dec 2018–Feb 2019 — Tickets homeFrom December 2017 to February 2018, I went back to Bangladesh for a holiday. I made the same trip again from December 2018 to February 2019.Home was still home. Each return flight meant leaving people behind and carrying a little more of them with me.
December 2019 — The results letterI flew to Bangladesh in December 2019. While I was there, my graduation results arrived: distinctions!The degree was complete. I was ready to come back and find out what came next. None of us knew what 2020 had waiting.
February 2020 — The application deskI returned to Australia in February 2020 as COVID began to change everything. I applied everywhere, but I needed my temporary residency granted before I could get a job.There was effort, then waiting. Another application. Another day. Progress did not always look like movement.
April 2020 — Temporary residencyBy April, my TR was granted. But by then COVID was in full swing, and I still could not find a job.One obstacle was finally behind me. The world outside had become a different obstacle altogether.
2020 — The midnight laptopWhile the job search went nowhere, I worked day and night on my startup, building its web app and website.Making something gave those days a direction. The work was real even when the next step was uncertain.
August 2020 — A flight to familyIn August 2020, I moved back to Bangladesh to be with my family.It was a journey home. It also became the start of being stuck overseas.
2020–2021 — The departure boardI was stuck overseas. Australia was still part of the life I wanted, but I could not simply pick up where I had left off.I was with family in Bangladesh, working out what the next chapter could be.
2021 — A new purposeIn 2021, I got a job at Save the Children International.My working life was moving forward, even while my journey back to Australia was still unfinished.
2022 — The offer and the flightIn 2022, I joined This is Wonder Group and moved back to Australia.After the uncertainty and the time overseas, the route opened again. A new job. A return. Another beginning.
2022 — Three months inThree months into the role, I received a big promotion.The work I had put in was becoming something I could see. There was still a long road to permanent residency, but life was happening along the way.
January–February 2023 — Another departureIn January 2023, I spent a month in Bangladesh and saw off my sister as she moved to New York City with her family.In February, I returned to Australia. We were each setting out again, in different directions.
December 2023–April 2024 — The first big launchI went back to Bangladesh in December 2023 and returned to Australia in February 2024.After Wedded Week 1 wrapped up, April brought another big promotion with extraordinary perks. Another milestone built through the work.
June–December 2024 — A ring and a recordIn June 2024, I went to Bangladesh for a month and got engaged.Later that year we wrapped Wedded Week 2: a huge launch and online wedding expo, reaching a reported 1 billion impressions worldwide. In December I returned to Bangladesh, and wedding preparations began.
January–February 2025 — Our weddingI got married in January 2025. In February, I returned to Australia.There are milestones you put on a CV, and milestones that change the meaning of home. This was the latter.
June–December 2025 — The well-used passportIn June 2025, I travelled from Australia to Sri Lanka. That year also included an ENT surgery in Bangladesh, and some of the worst physical pain of my life.In December, I travelled to Thailand. These years were not one uninterrupted success story. There was joy, work, travel, and difficult days too.
Early 2026 — Back in AustraliaEarly in 2026, I returned to Australia after the trip through Thailand and Bangladesh.Permanent residency was still ahead of me. Life had settled back into Australia, until the news arrived.
March 2026 — The longest nightMy mother had a brain stroke. It was the worst news of my life, and the longest night.I immediately booked a flight for the next day. Before I had a return date, before I knew how any of it would unfold, I knew I needed to be there.
March 2026 — The decisionMy lawyer warned me about the risks and implications of travelling immediately without knowing when I would be back. I understood that my PR could be at risk.I told other people there was no risk, though I knew otherwise. I was prepared to lose the outcome I had waited for. I trusted my ability to work and rebuild; in that moment, being with my mother mattered more.
The following months — Time beside herI spent the next few months with my mother, helping her through recovery. Gradually, she recovered mostly and was much more like herself again.There is no challenge to win here. Just time, family, and the relief of seeing someone you love improve. After making sure she was doing well, I returned to Australia.
2026 — The returnI was back in Australia, knowing my mother was doing well. The journey had asked more of me than I could have imagined in 2017.A degree. Work. Closed routes. Family. Marriage. A next-day flight. So much of my life had happened while I was waiting for this one thing.
September 2026 — Open the notificationPermanent residency. Granted.I had believed in my heart that it would happen. In September 2026, it finally did. The relief belonged to this moment; the life I had built belonged to all the years before it.
The next chapter — A note for youIf you are still waiting for your own news, I hope this story makes the waiting feel a little less lonely. Your journey will be different from mine, and belief alone cannot promise an outcome.This is my story, not immigration advice. Thank you for walking a little of it with me. Here’s to the people, the work, and the ordinary days that make a life along the way.