BackToAdelaide

Thanks AJ, that is encouraging.

Thanks Alan, have sent you a PM.

Oh and it's not really practical for us to return before my ILR expires as we're getting married only a few days before and will be spending time with various family and friends that are making the trip over.

Thanks for your responses. Yes we are both working here in Adelaide and earning fairly good money so meeting the requirement should hopefully be fine. Obviously we will have to leave our jobs here to return to the UK but that's implicit in the visa I hope. It certainly was when he applied for the Aus partner visa.

I know PIO is really about Poms moving to Aus but I've contributed my share of advice in the past so I thought I'd see if anyone can help me. My English fiance wants to return to the UK. He's tried to settle in here but just isn't happy so I've made the big decision to follow him back to the UK. I currently have Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK from my previous time there but in November this year I will have been out of the UK for 2 years, which I believe will invalidate the ILR. As we will not be ready to go until next year does this mean I will need to apply for a new visa? I should have no problems qualifying for a partner visa, particularly as we will be married by the time we apply, but I'm wondering whether I would have to wait until my ILR expired first? Does anyone have any knowledge of this? And more particularly, could anyone please recommend a migration agent that I could speak to about my situation? If only I'd applied for British citizenship before we left but we didn't think we'd return! Such is life. Thanks in advance.

Haven't posted for a while but I just wanted to add our timeline details in case it might be useful. OH's eligibility date was 13/04/2013. Two months prior to this he received a letter from DIAC asking him to complete some forms (stat decs) and submit a new police check. We submitted these in the first week of April along with the self-addressed proof of receipt card, which was returned to us in the mail a week or two later. We were very surprised to receive the visa grant letter mid-May, only one month after his eligibility date, especially as the original letter from DIAC said not to contact them to check on the progress until at least 6 months had passed!

Many thanks Natman, I will contact QBE. Always good to get a recommendation. Thanks all for your help.

That didn't help me when I called the RAA to confirm what they meant by permanent resident. It's not the getting of the insurance I'm worried about, it's whether they would honour it if we had to make a claim. But thanks for the feedback, I might try speaking to a couple of other companies and see if they interpret the rules the same way.

Been struggling to find travel insurance to cover our situation. I'm an Aussie citizen so have no trouble taking out a policy here, however OH is only on the temporary partner visa and so does not meet the permanent resident requirement of most Aussie-based travel policies. Yes he could insure with a UK-based company but I think that would just get messy if we had separate insurance, especially as we will be sharing the driving of our hire car. I see that Insure4less seem to include temporary residents and so could be an option for us but has anyone had experience with them? Or can anyone suggest a good alternative? We are only looking for Australian domestic travel insurance at the moment. Thanks.

Hi, you may need to clarify where you mean as I'm not sure where either of those places are?

The way that's written it sounds like someone was giving a plug for the Commonwealth Bank. You should have no trouble finding ATMs for any of the big 4 banks. And there are various other affiliations as well eg NAB card holders can also use RediATMs, HSBC card holders can also use Westpac (I happen to know of these two as my partner has both).

The only way that could work would be if you were what they call the "last remaining relative". But your wife and children count as relatives so I'm afraid this isn't an option for you and your parents moving to Aus would not help. From what you've said about your brother his situation as he would have been able to get a partner visa initially as his wife is Australian. Unfortunately this has no bearing on your own family's visa eligibility.

Thanks for your help Blossom. Our local Medicare is West Lakes so hopefully they are more helpful!

Oh joy. Did you have to get new letters from DIAC each time?

The only other address he could have potentially given Medicare was my parents' address and they would have told us if any mail had arrived for him.

Hi you've not really given us anything to go on. If you just ask where the best place is then you will get lots of biased responses as people naturally tend to lean towards the place they already live in. Tell us a bit about what you're looking for, what kind of weather you like, things you like to do and we might be able to help a bit.

We found this thread useful when my partner applied http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/migration-issues/58449-summary-spouse-visa-processing-times-offshore-uk-please-add-your-stats.html

OH is currently on the 309 visa (temporary partner visa). He registered with Medicare in Nov 2011 and was given an interim card valid for one year. We assumed after this expired he would receive a new one and forgot about it until he went to the doctor the other day and realised his card had expired. He called Medicare and was told he has to get a new letter from DIAC stating that he is still awaiting his permanent visa. Has anyone else experienced this? We were under the impression he would automatically get a new card after one year if he was still a temporary resident.

You'll have to provide us with a bit more information, such as which visa you're applying for.

Thanks RockDr

Yes, actually I applied before I left. From memory I think it took a couple of months. This is the form you'll need. http://search2.hmrc.gov.uk/kb5/hmrc/forms/view.page?record=5Ay4eloD0nw&formid=766

Can I ask, how long before the 2 year mark did you receive your documentation? My OH will reach 2 years in April so I'm wondering if we'll receive something soon.

Both! I was born & grew up in Adelaide, moved to the UK on a WHV over 8 years ago came back to Adelaide just over a year ago with my English OH.

So you're finally starting the application Snifter? Just wanted to say good luck You've got so much evidence you'll breeze through and be in Adelaide in no time!

Apologies if I've missed it, but I don't think anyone has picked up on the fact you said you had been together for over 2 years. I would recommend considering applying after you hit the 3 year mark if you think you can wait that long as you should then qualify for the permanent visa straight away instead of the temporary one. Of course if you want to get things going sooner you can still get the temporary one but it seems like you have some time to play with.