alansuspect Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Hi all! I've been reading through some of the threads on this forum as I am about to apply for a Partner Visa (my fiancée is Australian, I'm British). I had a couple of questions that I can't seem to get a definite answer to on the Immigration site. First up, when I apply for the visa do I need to have my medical and police checks sorted first? From what I've read the 309 can take over a year now to get and I understand they could be out of date by then. Secondly, with the medical checks do I need to go to a specific place in the UK to get this done? Being on the Isle of Man it is going to be a pain, but I guess I'll have to head over to England if I want it done! One last question, have many people applied online for their visa? Do you need to scan all the certified, etc. documents in or must they still be physically sent away to London for processing? Thanks! And I'll keep you updated on my application, probably in that GIANT thread I spotted... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozmaniac Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 (edited) Hi all! I've been reading through some of the threads on this forum as I am about to apply for a Partner Visa (my fiancée is Australian, I'm British). I had a couple of questions that I can't seem to get a definite answer to on the Immigration site. First up, when I apply for the visa do I need to have my medical and police checks sorted first? From what I've read the 309 can take over a year now to get and I understand they could be out of date by then. Secondly, with the medical checks do I need to go to a specific place in the UK to get this done? Being on the Isle of Man it is going to be a pain, but I guess I'll have to head over to England if I want it done! One last question, have many people applied online for their visa? Do you need to scan all the certified, etc. documents in or must they still be physically sent away to London for processing? Thanks! And I'll keep you updated on my application, probably in that GIANT thread I spotted... Because of the long processing time, you shouldn't get medicals and PCCs until your Case Officer tells you to get them or at least until you are well into the processing time. Medicals and PCCs are only valid for 1 year AND your Last Entry Date (the last day on which you can enter Australia to validate your visa) is usually 12 months from the date of your earliest medical or PCC. If you get them too early, even if they don't expire before the visa grant, you could find yourself in a mad panic to get to Australia in time to validate your visa. Your medicals must be done by a 'Panel Physician'. Here's a link to the lists of panel doctors for each country: http://www.immi.gov.au/Help/Pages/immigration-panel-physicians.aspx Most people apply online. It's easier and more efficient and if you attach colour scans of original documents, you don't need to have them certified. For paper applications, all copies of documents must be certified which in the UK seems to be an expensive exercise. Edited October 23, 2014 by Ozmaniac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alansuspect Posted October 24, 2014 Author Share Posted October 24, 2014 Because of the long processing time, you shouldn't get medicals and PCCs until your Case Officer tells you to get them or at least until you are well into the processing time. Medicals and PCCs are only valid for 1 year AND your Last Entry Date (the last day on which you can enter Australia to validate your visa) is usually 12 months from the date of your earliest medical or PCC. If you get them too early, even if they don't expire before the visa grant, you could find yourself in a mad panic to get to Australia in time to validate your visa. Your medicals must be done by a 'Panel Physician'. Here's a link to the lists of panel doctors for each country: http://www.immi.gov.au/Help/Pages/immigration-panel-physicians.aspx Most people apply online. It's easier and more efficient and if you attach colour scans of original documents, you don't need to have them certified. For paper applications, all copies of documents must be certified which in the UK seems to be an expensive exercise. Cheers Ozmaniac, that's pretty much what I thought about the Police/Medical stuff. I didn't realise you don't need to get your documents certified if you're applying online, that's brilliant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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