Help with defacto spouse visa please !

I'm in the process of filling in all the forms for the spouse temporary visa, it asks on question 9 for all previous visa numbers, I visited on a working visa which I have a number for, but I have no numbers for the two ETA visas I have had also, any advice on what to put?

In fact, any advice at all on this visa would help us greatly....!!!! :smile:

We also went on ETA visas and asked the embassy - we were told just to put the dates of travel as they would be able to see any necessary info from an ETA.

Just as a side - did you know that you also need to complete form 80? Nowhere in any of the documents is this form 80 mentioned, it was purely a chance sighting on this site so again, we asked the embassy and it is required.

If we can help any further drop us a pm :yes:

GOOD LUCK

Yep - as Paul n Ness said, don't worry about the ETA visas - as long as you list the dates they'll see it on their system, I worried about this too, but noted in the 'any other info' section at the end of the form.

Form 80 came as a surprise to me, it was asked for when I got a case officer after I'd sent the original application - and funny as it asks for lots of info that's already on the 47sp form (I wondered if they were double checking I was being truthful!)

.. on a lighter note, the question 33 asking if you've ever been a member of a terrorist organisation or been involved with a program developing weapons of mass destruction.. *and* further details if you have been.. made me chuckle quite alot

good luck with the application, I got lots of help, advice and support (especially when i was really tearing my hair out) from the lovely folk on here for my defacto visa and now finally enjoying life down under.. don't hesitate to yell if you need any other advice !

best wishes

Neil

Thanks,

Anyone else with any tips? I think I'm going to send off police checks now as then at least they'll be processing while my forms are being looked over too.

Any advice on certifying copies?

Hello,

Great tips already recieved. I thought i'd just hello as i am also in the process of doing the defacto visa at the moment. Perhaps we could help each other out? The Form 80 was interesting for me as i have moved every six months for the last 8 years and they want 10years of addresses!!

I am not using an agent and there seems to be lots of forms, but i think (Fingers crossed) i have just about got my head around it all.

I have sent off police checks today! And sending out all the 888 forms to my friends who will do stat decs for me. (I know they only specify 2, but i thought i'd be safe).

Do you know if we can do our medicals before we send the application?

Donna :wubclub:

Hiya I was granted my Spouse visa back in January, if you have any questions please feel free to ask away.

April

Hi Donna,

good to hear you're getting things done with the application. You *only* need two 888 forms filled in - I guess if you've sent to lots of friends you can pick the nicest ! My partner's mum did one for my application - I guessed that a family member would be very useful in terms of proving your relationship etc.

I didn't use an agent either, and yes the forms can be a bit mind blowing - I had similar trying to think of every time I'd been out of the country in the past 10 years (no passport stamps for a lot of trips in Europe!)

Yes, you can do your meds before you apply - it's called 'front loading' and would have been sensible for me as I ended up with a few minor but irritating complications discovered during my medical (I'm hypothyroid - not life threatening thankfully!)- which took an age to have relevant tests and paperwork for and then the long bureaucratic wait while the Ozzie health assessment service decided i wasn't going to cost them too much ! This was after I'd completed everything else paperwork wise, so was a right pain in the butt that t delayed it all. Don't let me scare you though, I was just unlucky :wacko:

Try and book your med tests ASAP though whatever you decide to do as the panel doctors are sometimes booked up in advance; if you do send of the rest of the paperwork you'll probably be assigned a case officer by the time police checks and meds are back and s/he will request the rest of the paperwork you've not sent with a 49 day period. I've seen people on here who front loaded everything and got the visa in a matter of weeks after posting it off!

Good luck with it all

Neil

Hello,

 

Great tips already recieved. I thought i'd just hello as i am also in the process of doing the defacto visa at the moment. Perhaps we could help each other out? The Form 80 was interesting for me as i have moved every six months for the last 8 years and they want 10years of addresses!!

 

I am not using an agent and there seems to be lots of forms, but i think (Fingers crossed) i have just about got my head around it all.

 

I have sent off police checks today! And sending out all the 888 forms to my friends who will do stat decs for me. (I know they only specify 2, but i thought i'd be safe).

 

Do you know if we can do our medicals before we send the application?

 

Donna :wubclub:

Form 80!!!! :wacko::nah:

Form 80 only asks for addresses that you have lived at for 12 months or more, but to account for every year in the last 10 - how confusing! i'mnot sure whether to put my student addresses down (none of which I lived at for a year) or just my mum's home address, also I went to Oz for 11 months in 2003 and dont know what to put for that, as I had no real address!!!! AAAARRRRGGHHH

Hi

I have been working on completing the forms for my fiance's visa. I didn't realise that the police check can be sent in later, that is handy to know as I thought we would have to wait another month before we could send everything in! We have booked our wedding for the 28th of February 2009 and I am getting slightly panicky that that we are cutting things a bit fine. We are going to post off the forms next week, and then book the medical straight away so that we can have it ready to post in when it is requested. To those that have been granted visas, how long did it take from the date of submission to be approved??

xx

Hi Neil

Great to "hear" you sounding so chipper. Did they look after you well on the flight? Was everything OK with saying goodbye to your family at LUVVERLY (I think not) Heathrow?

Form 80 came as a surprise to me, it was asked for when I got a case officer after I'd sent the original application - and funny as it asks for lots of info that's already on the 47sp form (I wondered if they were double checking I was being truthful!)

 

Form 80 is meant as a trap. That is why there is so much repetition and is why they don't ask for it up front. I got Sooooo Angry when we were doing Mum's in 2006! It started off with the visa application form, wanting chapter & verse about the dates of births, deaths etc for all of her siblings. (Dad is dead, which was a mercy that day because he was one of 6.) Anyway, Mum is one of 10, was born in 1920 and only the 3 youngest (including Mum) are still alive.

Mum was on the UK South Coast with me. It was rapidly clear that Mum was uncertain about the dates for the 7 dead siblings. Rang up my Aunt Poppy in London and luckily the remaining aunt was visiting Poppy that day. Ask 3 old dears? They give you 3 different dates. I "took a view." All 3 are over 80, for heavens sake! I ran with Poppy's dates because she is the youngest and sounded the most confident.

I didn't bother with Form 80 at the applicaiton stage. I was in a hurry to get the application submitted and although I had looked through form 80, the website said, "you MAY be required....." I thought surely not for such an old lady?

WRONG! A few months later, Mum was in Perth with my sister. The CO sent Form 80. Elaine (sister) tore her hair out because Mum contradicted every single one of the original dates - predictably!

I was on the phone trying to help Elaine. She said, "Good God it wants all their addresses now!" I really was tempted to tell Elaine, "Put Plot no 6 in the XYZ Cemetery in Such & Such Road." I mean - do the dead often apply for visas or summat???!

.. on a lighter note, the question 33 asking if you've ever been a member of a terrorist organisation or been involved with a program developing weapons of mass destruction.. *and* further details if you have been..

 

Yeah, right. Dear old Uncle Osama is bound to give them chapter & verse, isn't he? :shocked:

But you SURVIVED the process!!! I reckon that's the thing all the applicants following behind you need to grasp!

Did they give you PR straightaway or did they put you on the temp visa first?

Hugz

Gill

xx

Gill ! lovely to hear from you.

Thought I'd already said, but I got the subclass 110 visa, so permanent residency :jiggy:- myself and Roger have been together 17 years, so although we weren't *absolutely* sure it would be the permanent one we were pretty certain.

Leaving the UK was quite bizarre, and very sad to leave my friends and family, but as I assured everyone (and myself!) it was 'so long' and not 'goodbye' .. I'll be back from time to time .. for those who don't now the rest of my story, my partner had to leave a month before me, and while I was still awaiting the result of my application.. again we were pretty sure it would be fine (and thanks to Gill and others here who were very supportive and assuring that my med complications wouldn't be an issue :notworthy:) but it was an *incredibly* stressful time.

So packing up and getting rid 12 years worth of accumulated possessions was quite a task. I went for the travel light option and only sent a box of my precious books, cds, photography and artwork and a couple of computers via shipping, and arrived with a bag of clothes and important stuff - it's quite a nice feeling to start over again. I flew with Qantas and had a great flight, i've not travelled that far on my lonesome before but struck up good chats with my fellow passengers and the airline crew were great fun and made the journey very enjoyable even though it departed a few hours behind schedule. I'd never heard the crew ask for a doctor on the plane, let alone twice :err: ! so arriving at Sydney was delayed further as quarantine had to come onto the plane to check the two ailing passengers before we were all allowed off.. at least our baggage was waiting on the carousel by the time we got through :biglaugh:

All in all my visa took 6 months from sending in the first forms (without police and med checks), again this was with around 3 months over what we'd hoped due to med complications, but some people have had a much quicker turn around - Cam and Russ who posted here got Russ' visa through in just over a week ! they had front loaded meds and police checks.. the average seems to be around 2-3 months.

So, to all of you who are in the process or thinking about going for it, all the best of luck - stay sane and post any worries here, you'll be guaranteed a friendly response and excellent advice. Keep copies of all your forms and always send them recorded delivery to Australia House.. it won't be long before you get that magic piece of paper in your passport.

best wishes

Neil

HI Neil

Thanks for your update. Sorry to hear about the delays with your flight. Still, it sounds as if Qantas made an effort to make up for it and keep the passengers happy.

You are sooooo lucky to have been able to get out when you did. The new Terminal 5 at Heathrow opened 2 days ago. Compete chaos.

First a guy got on to the runway the day before so there was a big panic about that with the Queen going to T5 the next day etc. On the Great Day, the new fingerprinting arrangements didn't work and so had to be hastily scrapped.

Worse, the baggage conveyor belt system refused to work either so they ended up having to cancel about half of the "inaugural Day One flights" from T5 and had to cancel around 20% the following day too.

One would have thought that the numptys would have had the baggage conveyor running continuously for at least a week beforehand even if it was only carting empty boxes around, to make SURE that the ruddy thing would work when they put the first piece of real luggage on it, but no.....

Common sense and running airports seem to have become mutually exclusive ideas!

At least you missed the Easter Filth in the UK, though. Gales, snow, hail, freezing fog and for the rest of us, rain & cold! I gather it was beach weather in Sydney oer Easter.

Love to Roger.

Hugz

Gill

xx