Please help.....Spouse visa - the in's and out's!

[Guest lorajane]

Hi,

 

I would be greatful if anybody could give me their advice/experience.

 

After meeting my partner in Australia on a working holiday visa at the beginning of 2009, I ended up living with him throughout my travels until the end of the year .He is an Australian citizen. My parents even flew over during the year to come and visit us! I returned to England in December 2009.

I recently went back for a short trip to see him earlier this month (June 2009) and to my amazement he proposed!!:cute: (He had even rang my dad to ask permission! - 'chuffed')

 

So whilst being over the moon our next step is to sort out our wedding and visa's!

 

So.......

 

1) We plan to marry in England at the end of 2011 or beginning of 2012.

Can anybody tell me what visa's he would require to come here and marry me?? I have read that he would need to have a marriage proposal visa??? and how long would that take to come through?

 

2) Now once were married do I just apply for a spouse visa? I think this would be done off shore (in the UK) or is there any way of returning to Australia with him and then applying onshore? Which is easiest? How long does it roughly take to be approved? And could anybody recommend any agencies to use to help with my application, and of course which ones are cheaper.

 

3) Can I get my medical done via my doctor? Or would he know who to put me in touch with? How do I apply for my own police check?Can anybody tell me how much these will cost. As I have read that if i have these prepared in advance for my visa, it would be granted alot quicker.

 

4)Also are there any hidden fees to pay anywhere along the line???

 

I know theres alot of questions but its alot to take in lol and immi dont really make sense on their website!!

 

Id be greatful for all the infomation you could give! and would love to hear your own experiences!

 

Thank you :v_SPIN:

Lora x

[Guest Paul in UK]

Hi,

 

I would be greatful if anybody could give me their advice/experience.

 

After meeting my partner in Australia on a working holiday visa at the beginning of 2009, I ended up living with him throughout my travels until the end of the year .He is an Australian citizen. My parents even flew over during the year to come and visit us! I returned to England in December 2009.

I recently went back for a short trip to see him earlier this month (June 2009) and to my amazement he proposed!!:cute: (He had even rang my dad to ask permission! - 'chuffed')

 

So whilst being over the moon our next step is to sort out our wedding and visa's!

 

So.......

 

1) We plan to marry in England at the end of 2011 or beginning of 2012.

Can anybody tell me what visa's he would require to come here and marry me?? I have read that he would need to have a marriage proposal visa??? and how long would that take to come through?

 

2) Now once were married do I just apply for a spouse visa? I think this would be done off shore (in the UK) or is there any way of returning to Australia with him and then applying onshore? Which is easiest? How long does it roughly take to be approved? And could anybody recommend any agencies to use to help with my application, and of course which ones are cheaper.

 

3) Can I get my medical done via my doctor? Or would he know who to put me in touch with? How do I apply for my own police check?Can anybody tell me how much these will cost. As I have read that if i have these prepared in advance for my visa, it would be granted alot quicker.

 

4)Also are there any hidden fees to pay anywhere along the line???

 

I know theres alot of questions but its alot to take in lol and immi dont really make sense on their website!!

 

Id be greatful for all the infomation you could give! and would love to hear your own experiences!

 

Thank you :v_SPIN:

Lora x

 

Hi Lora,

 

I can only tell from my experiences. I am British, my wife is Australian. She is currently applying for a British Passport and i am applying for an Australian Spouse Visa (Off shore 309/100). Sounds weid but she has been here 15 years and never applied, thought we'd get it before we go off to Oz in August.

 

So yes you can apply in the UK, call off shore. You must go through very specific doctors that the Australian imigration dept tell you but i only last 12 months so wait until you apply. Go to Visas, Migration and Citizenship - Australian High Commission and is should tell you lots of what you are asking. The cost at the moment, if you do it yourself is £1000, add another £1000 if you use an agent.

 

Hidden fees- medical, x-ray, police check, counter signators, photo's, photo-copies, orignal birth certificates, depends on what you have/don't have. One thing to start now, if you haven't already, collect every piece of evidence of your relationship. More weight goes to joint bank accounts and the like.

 

As for the UK side, i don't really know. My wife was in the UK already, came over on the back of her grand father.

 

Starter for ten anyway. Good luck.

[Guest hels]

Hi

ive just applied for my spouse visa, i married my aussie man in perth in jan this year. Its actaully easier if you marry in Oz rather than the Uk for processing .

 

Plus in your case you will need copies of conversations between you too as you are apart right now.

1) once married you can apply for a spouse visa or apply for a prespective marraige visa (you will need all the evidence of the wedding booking, certs etc)

 

2) i didnt bother with an agency for my spouse visa, the form is dead easy to fill out and all the forms are on the australia house website, cost me £1000 but prices go up in July, look at the spouse visa timeline on here, looks like 4-5 months processing time, you must have eviedence of your realtionship for a year, so bank statements, pictures, anything offical that proves youve lived togetaher for at least a year, i sent off 2 years of stuff, weighed in at 2.5kgs of paperwork.

 

3) meds can be front loaded, i did my meds and police checks then applied for my visa, you only have a year from their issue to get to oz and validate your visa, you can only go to the list of places that they give you for meds, they do a chest xray, full medical, eye sight check, blood and urine test, meds cost around £200 (i did mine in Maidenhead) and police check is £35 i think. There are possible 10 odd places to get your meds done now as they cut the list right down recently (see med thread)

 

all forms and instructions are on the immu website, your partner will need to provide a year of payslips to prove he can support you and fill out his own set of forms, and they require statements from at least 2 australians who have know you both during your realtionship.

 

all in all it cost me about £1400

 

There is a pack you can download from the website as well but i just used the checklist on my application form, plus you need to get both your passports, birth cert and marriage certs certified as well, its a far bit of paperwork, not hard just time consuming.

 

Hope this helps

[Guest lorajane]

Hi Paul,

Thank you very much! I didnt realise medicals last for 12 months so thank you!

We already have a joint bank account that we set up last year and he currently is using this as his main account now ie wages.

I think a diy job sounds better for only a £1000!! I am looking into mobile phone records to show our contact and we keep all emails if this will help show constant communication between us.

All the best for the future!

[Guest Rexi]

Secondly, I'm no expert but my husband is an Australian & I'm from the UK - we've just applied onshore (melbourne) for a partner visa after marrying in the UK. I'm afraid I can't help you with number 1) as my OH has dual citizenship but will do my best with your other questions, we didn't use an agent and my visa hasn't been granted yet so you can take or leave my advice but here's what I've learned so far.

 

2) It seems from this forum that the London Office do process partner visas comparitively quickly but I only just found that out. We decided to return to Melbourne for my graduation and apply in person (today actually!). You can use an agent but it's possible to do it yourself - & of course cheaper - I found this forum invaluable for advice.

 

The DIAC website www.immi.gov.au has useful checklists for both offshore partner visa (309/100) and onshore (820/801) they are mostly the same but if you apply onshore you have all your medicals & police checks included at the time of application. The customer service targets for processing are 75% within 5 months for offshore applciations and 6 months for onshore.

 

3) The visa application fee offshore is $820 less ($1705 at present compared to $2525 onshore - both increasing on 1st July every year). I had a medical in the UK for my student visa 3 years ago and it was more expensive (250 GBP) than the one I had in melbourne for this visa in May (287 AUD). You wil have to see a specified visa medical doc in the UK, there is a list of them on the immigration website and if you apply offshore you wait to be told when to book an appointment.

 

Police check in the UK is fairly simple send form ID & payment of 35 GBP ACPO: Police Certificates

I also got an australian one from the afp because I had lived here for over 12 months as a student which cost 43 AUD

Police/Criminal history checks - Australian Federal Police

 

 

4) We didn't have to pay to get documents certified, just asked a policeman nicely. So in total

Visa medical was $287

police checks 40GBP for 2 copies

$43 for the AFP one

Visa application fee $2525. (There will have been 2 price increases by the time you get married so I would expect it to be $3000+)

 

Regarding hidden costs if you apply onshore you have to be able to support yourself while you wait for a decision and either way shipping all your worldly goods and setting up home is no mean feat. There's the printing & photocopying that can add up as well as some extra wrinkles and some grey hairs from doing it yourself so you can save yourself some of that with an agent.

 

Good Luck with whatever you decide & of course planning the wedding (we kept it very simple & eloped) Hope some of this is useful to you.

 

warm wishes!

 

Clare