ljwalvin

Hi Paul,

Just wanted to let you know that they do request for an in effect visa for onshore sponsors as well-Not sure why as I missed the phone call from DFAT. A direct 100 subclass visa was granted today and wait time was approximately 4 months. 

Oh well, we ended up paying for her 155 renewal and it was granted immediately. He did come to Aus to visit us a few months ago but I don't think that would make any difference. Anyhow, nothing else we can do now other than waiting! Thanks for your input anyway Paul!

Hi Paul,

Thank you for your reply. She is onshore at the moment but my dad is offshore at the moment. He did get RFI a few days after lodging and he was confused why the high commission was ringing him-All good if everything is legitimate then!

Hi,

My mum who is the holder of a 143 visa has recently sponsored my dad for a 309/100 visa. He had a phone call this afternoon and said that my mum needed to apply for a 155 visa as her 143 had expired for the visa to be granted. He also received an email from an email address with a @dfat.gov.au domain with a link to the 155 visa application. I then proceeded to log onto my dad's immi account but there was no correspondence from anyone but my mum's sponsorship seemed to have been approved. As such, I was wondering if anyone could advise on whether a sponsor needs a current visa visa for a 100 visa to be granted.

Any input would be much appreciated. Thank you!

Hi,

My mum had her 143 visa granted in Jan 2017 and is looking into sponsoring my dad as a spouse to coming to Australia permanently. I was hoping that anyone on this forum would be able to help us. As such, I have the following questions listed below.

1)In her 143 application, we made the mistake of saying we were unable to financially afford my dad's visa and hence left him out as a non-migrating spouse. He was still relatively young back then and wanted to continue to work. However, with age catching up and border restrictions, he would like to be reunited with us. Will the statement of not being able to financially afford in her original application be detrimental in anyway to his visa application? As such, would she be able to sponsor him as spouse?

2)In the department of immigration's website, there was 3 limitations that were listed by the department on 143 visa holders when it came to sponsoring a spouse.

• Not being able to sponsor a spouse if CPV was granted after 30/6/2009
• the applicant was your spouse or de facto partner before we granted you that visa, and
• It has been since less than 5 years since the grant of visa.

As such, I was hoping if someone would be able to shed light on whether she is eligible to be a sponsor since is approaching the end of her initial 5 years as a PR.

3)Her visa was granted in Jan 2017 but didn't make her initial entry until Feb 2017. However, she was here on an electronic travel authority prior to that. If eligible, should the application begin in Jan or Feb 2022?

4)My dad would ideally make an onshore application but would have to return back to finish up his work before he retires. Is there a timeline/time frame on how long a bridging visa B can be granted for?

Any input would be much appreciated.

Hi guys,

My mum is the holder of a 143 visa of which I was the sponsor. My dad is not. We did not apply the visa for him at the time of application because 1)he was not yet keen to come to Australia and 2)we did not have enough money. From what I understand, the holder of a 143 visa is not allowed to sponsor anyone until 5 years from approval of the visa. My dad however, is ready to retire and come to Australia. The problem we have at the moment is that her 5 years residency does not finish until Feb 2022. This, my mum and dad feels is too long.  As such, I was thinking of applying the 870 (3 year parent visa) for him until the time comes for him to apply the 309/100 spouse visa.

My question then is will such a visa strategy pose a problem? Does it seem dodgy to go down from a parent visa then to a spouse visa? Also, given that they have been married for 40 years, will the 309/100 visa be approved in a short period of time once she's approved to be a sponsor? I thought I have read somewhere that long term partners are processed fairly quickly. Any input will be much appreciated!

Hi guys,

I thought that there were going to be changes post 1 Jul Re citizenship application. I rang Department of Immigration yesterday for my mum (who is older than 60) whether the changes would affect her (ie. English test+Citizenship test) and the lady on the phone didnt know.  Also, the changes link on dimmi website has been removed? Would anyone know whether the changes will still be going ahead?

Hi guys,

Just wondering if 60 year olds will still need to sit for an English test for citizenship after July 1 next year? From what I understand, 60 year olds dont have to sit for the citizenship test at the moment but I'm not sure about what's going to happen next year when they start rolling out the English test.

Hi guys, just wanted to say that my mum's visa was granted on 19/1. She'd applied on 9/7/14. Just a note re centrelink. They gave me a number in Sydney/Canberra (Area code 02) for the phone interview. I only rang that number whenever I had to deal with Centrelink. Got through everytime in less than 1 minute.

Hi Fisher1,

I had a look in the letter DIMMI sent and there's no Billercode? I'm guessing they've probably changed that?

Hi guys,

My mum's received the email from IMMI asking for the 2nd VAC. It says that I can either choose to pay it by bank cheque or Credit Card. I was wondering though if it is possible to pay by BPAY. IMMI's website said that other options were available. I'm guessing these other options only apply to other visa subclasses? The only reason I'm asking is because I prefer to BPAY rather than sending a cheque in the mail!

Nope no sign of it, but the good news we are "priority", if we ever get it I understand we need to scan it and email a copy to immigration, I was informed by Centrelink they also send a copy to immigration. But whatever Centrelink tell me I tend to ignore as they have never done anything they said they were going to do anyway.

Hi guys,

Centrelink said they would send it off to department of immigration for me. I did however receive a copy of it in my centrelink account. I sent a copy of it to department of immigration just in case.

Hi guys,

Just wanted to let you know that I've lodged the bond with commonwealth bank and it's not really possible to waive the establishment fee. However, there was also a fee that you get charged every 6 months or so of 1.65%?? I didn't know about that! Also, I'm not sure if it's possible but ask for a centrelink Customer Reference Number (CRN) and you can upload all the documents with the centrelink App. Makes life much easier so you don't have to go into the centrelink office and be treated like a criminal.

Hi Juliew1499,

I agree with you. How hard can it be to look at a few pieces of paper and approve my application? I deal with Medicare on a professional level quite often and the amount of mistakes they make and the people they hire to answer the phone is a joke at best

Hi Bear2015,

My mum lodged on 9/7/2014. Documents were requested on 20/10/16. Centrelink AOS submitted on 24/10/16. Centrelink's a pain in the bum to deal with..Never expected them to be this slow.

Thats no problems. Thanks anyway Fisher1!

Hi guys,

Sorry, I've got one more question. It says on the centrelink letter that I have to go back to the centrelink office to submit all the paperwork from the bank. Can I do that via the centrelink app? Sorry, just trying to avoid going back to centrelink as I work full time. Yes @Fisher1, centrelink staff seem to be a bit of a hit and miss. Some are helpful while some others aren't

Thanks so much guys @Sadge and @Fisher1. I'll see how I go this weekend.

Hi guys,

Centrelink has posted a letter to me saying that they need a bank guarantee for my mum for her assurance of support. It says in the letter that I have to book an appointment with the bank. I was under the impression that I could walk in and tell them what I needed. Did anyone need to book an appointment for it? Also, I thought I remember reading here that someone managed to get the bank fee waived. Is it the bond lodgement fee at the discretion of the bank manager? Thanks guys.

Hi guys,

I've submitted the form 80 police clearance etc to the PVC team. Am I meant to get some sort of acknowledgement from them? I thought I was meant to because the last time I sent them an email, there was an acknowledgement of some sort that they got my email.

Hi guys,

I have just rung centrelink and said that it's taken 5 weeks and I have not heard anything from them. The guy on the phone was not very helpful. What I got out of the 1 hour wait was that I have to wait and the wait can be up to 2 months. He did the general spill of "I know it is frustrating and there is nothing within his control." I hope this helps everyone. 2 months for a 10 minute phone call to be honest sounds like a joke to me.

Hi guys,

I submitted my Assurance of Support to Centrelink on 24/10/16. I'm guessing all I need to do is to wait for them to ring me? Just getting a bit paranoid that they might lose my forms!

Hi @Fisher1,

Sorry for the late reply! I was really busy with work. I'm guessing the form that I need is this?

https://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/forms/su594

I will be going to centrelink on Monday and try to sort them out. What happens after I submit the form? Can the Medicals be booked online though? Also, she has been in Aus for the past 2 years on a tourist visa. She comes in and out every 3 months and I'm guessing an Aus police check is needed for her?

Hi guys,

My mum appiled for her 143 visa on 9/7/14 and received an email yesterday to get the documents ready for the case officer. I did not apply for my dad due to financial reasons and also he's not ready for retirement. As such, he was included as a non-migrating spouse. In the email, it says that I should provide a police clearance, form 80 and medical examination for my dad as well. Is it really necessary for someone who is not migrating? Also, I had a brief read about the AOS. Am I suppose to contact centrelink or is centrelink mean to contact me? Thanks everyone.

Hi guys,

My mum applied for a 143 on 9th July 2014 but she has been visiting me for the past few years. (ie she comes on an eta 601-I think) She visits me for 3 months or so and returns home for a few weeks and comes back again. I was wondering if anyone could advise on whether she needs a police check for her stay here. Also, if she does, where do I go to apply for it? Sorry it's been a very long time since I applied for my visa and I cant remember how I did it!

Also, I did have a look and I saw one from the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and it also says that a 100 point check is required. She thinks she has misplaced her passport and can't find it. If the passport was well and truly missing, would she be able to use her birth certificate (foreign, but in English) to make up the 100 point check? She is able to get a travel document to return home but I have spoken to the embassy and they said it is too late to request for a passport to be sent out to her in Aus as she is due to depart on the 10th Sept! Thanks guys.