RivieraKid

You are correct that your bridging visa is dependant on your current substantive visa expiring, rather than being cancelled (which would be the case if you quit your job without another employer willing to sponsor having made a job offer). While I understand there are times when you feel it is simply not possible to remain with your current employer for any amount of time (I've been there myself), it would definitely be in your interest if you were able to secure another job first. In any event, I agree with @RockDR - before doing anything, you should consult a registered migration agent, or possibly an immigration lawyer, if only to get a clear idea of what the legal repercussions may be. Good Luck!

You have to be able to prove everything that you claim in your application regardless of whether the family members mentioned are migrating or not, or whether they will be migrating at a later date. That means you will have to provide official documentary evidence of your marriage. DIAC do understand that some countries take longer to produce official records than others, and your CO will usually be understanding and extend the deadline for providing evidence. The only acceptable proof of marriage will be your marriage certificate, or it's equivalent in your country.

There is when every word out of your mouth is a lie. It's no different (and potentially much worse) than becoming an illegal immigrant by lying on your visa application.

Agreed. He explicitly states he lied about his citizenship along with his identity, and considering Australia is hardly a fascist dictatorship, I'm guessing he lied about his nationality too, merely claiming Australia as his point of origin. No matter how you spin it, it's hard to imagine a legitimate claim for asylum as an Australian citizen. Considering the treaties that most likely exist between The UK and Australia, this may have legal implications on both sides.

Your skills assessment is based on your skills and experience at the time you apply for the assessment. It would not make sense for your skills assessment to include future experience, or the assessment would be worthless. So, if you want your skills assessment to say three years and one month, you will need three years and one month experience at the time. I assume you are hoping to get points for three years experience in addition to the points for your skills? If so, don't worry. They are two separate things. You will have your references and proof of continued work in the same role when you lodge your EOI, and so long as it agrees with the experience and qualifications that were assessed, DIAC will not have a problem.

Wow! You come here, expecting volunteers to give their time and advice for free, you get impatient so start spamming your own thread just to get it to the top of the list, and then get upset when a moderator gives you some advice on forum etiquette, bumping you to the top of the list again in the process? You then get upset that people are answering other questions and not yours, after the attitude you displayed? NEWSFLASH! We don't owe you anything. Alienating the very people who you are asking for help is a really bad move. You should probably Google "Wheaton's Law". For future reference, there are some regulars here who make a point of reading at least the title of every post. When I get started in the morning, I carry on where I left off the day before (the possible exception being Monday morning where there are just too many from the weekend). We won't just see your initial question, we see how you subsequently handle yourself too. Since I'm here to help, not just rant, I'll answer your question. You will need a statutory declaration. The person giving you the reference will need to fill it in and can either give the reference as part of the stat dec, or separately, and permanently (stapled, for example) attach the stat dec to the reference. They will need to specifically refer to the additional pages, and explain why the stat dec is necessary (in other words, they will need to explain why you are unable to be provided with an official reference). It's important to be aware, that it's the person making the statement that must provide the stat dec, not you. So each referee will need to go to a solicitor, swear the oath, and have it witnessed. I'd also recommend you get multiple stat decs for each reference. My wife and I got 3 copies of everything - one for the ACS, one for DIAC, and one spare just in case we needed to resend it. That may, or may not be enough - but it's the minimum you should consider sending.

You can, however, if you choose, pay for the visa label. We did that last year, and I think it's around $70 per label. We had ours back four days after posting it.

You can use the stat dec template linked in your other thread, and it's as simple as either having them write the reference directly on the stat dec form, or have it separate, and they will need to specifically refer to the additional pages, and explain why the stat dec is necessary (in other words, they will need to explain why you are unable to be provided with an official reference). They should also physically attach all sheets together (for example by stapling) so that pages cannot be added or removed without there being obvious signs of tampering. It's important to be aware, that it's the person making the statement that must provide the stat dec, not you. So each referee will need to go to a solicitor, swear the oath, and have it witnessed. I made that mistake the first time for one of my companies that is no longer trading, and had to ask my referees to do it again. I'd also recommend you get multiple stat decs for each reference. My wife and I got 3 copies of everything - one for the ACS, one for DIAC, and one spare just in case we needed to resend it.

I have to disagree on this point - Australia does have certain responsibilities to it's citizens, as does any civilised nation, but it doesn't owe them anything. It certainly isn't obliged to provide a father for them. Of course it's a difficult situation, but its of the OP's making, and it's up to the OP to fix. After all, why did I bother applying for a 175, paying the fee, getting the skills assessment, PCC, medicals, additional moderately invasive medical tests, and all the stressful waiting if all I had to do to get PR was find an Australian girl who wanted to get pregnant? There's not necessarily any problem with getting another visa, it just might take a little more time than normal, and as has been mentioned, if he'd done the right thing when he should have then he may even already have PR by now.

No GST since nothing was paid for in Australia - as you know the template is a free download from the Attorney General's website. It might have helped that my solicitor dealt with immigration too so a non-UK stat dec was nothing new to them. A solicitor not familiar with immigration may want a specific UK format, but that shouldn't really be an issue either since it becomes a legally binging document when you swear your oath and it is witnessed and notarised by the solicitor. Initially myself, and then some of my referees from a long defunct company did stat decs using the Australian version and there were no problems with any of them on either side of the pond. The only thing either of us had to pay for was the solicitor to witness the stat dec. By all means check with VETASSESS (and later your CO), it's better to give them what they want in the first instance, but I suspect it's the act of swearing the oath and having it witnessed by a solicitor (or other approved person) that is the important thing.

I used the Attorney General version too - it's less an issue of the jurisdiction and more an issue of you swearing under oath and penalty of perjury that all the information in the stat dec is true and accurate to the best of your knowledge. As you say - it would be absurd to swear something under a foreign state's laws, but you're not really: swear in the UK, it's governed by UK law, in SA, SA law and so on. I used the AG version simply because that's what DIAC would be most familiar with. I don't suppose it matters what version you use, so long as it has the information they want and is correctly notarised.

Given that you have a visitor visa, then DIAC can reasonably expect that you will be leaving at some point. So, yes they can, potentially, require you to prove that you have a flight to leave. Whether they will actually exercise that right - I couldn't say. When I've entered Australia on a tourist visa previously, I've always had the return flight booked, and since your passport details are transmitted along with your flight info, they likely know when you go through immigration if you have a return flight booked. I guess the point is - there is no definitive answer. Have you considered buying a flexible return ticket and getting a refund in the event your 457 is granted? I know it will still cost money that you won't get back, but it may be worth considering.

The other replies are correct - since the visa is granted to the individual, then each person needs to validate their visa within the time specified. Check your grant letter to see if any additional restrictions are in force - it's unusual, but not unknown for the CO to require that everybody validates at the same time, or that the main applicant is the first person to validate. As I say, that's rare but your grant letter will tell you if there are any restrictions on the visa. When you say if the main applicant doesn't validate - do you mean if they never validate, or just if they aren't the first? If you mean never validate, then why would you do that? That's a potentially murky area from an immigration perspective.

That may not be legal. From the SkillSelect page on the 457 visa employer obligations: Without knowing the details, it sounds like "the cost of sponsorship" would fall firmly within this obligation, but you may want to get some more professional advice. Edit: Just saw your response above - it's not simply that they are not supposed to ask, they are forbidden from asking for the money back. Now, you can either insist that the clause is removed from your contract before signing since it's clearly illegal, or sign and challenge it if they try to get the money back when you leave their employ. Given that they even have that clause there shows that they are either ignorant of their legal obligations, or simply don't care. The question therefore becomes, do you want to challenge it now, and risk them withdrawing their offer (of course, it may just be a misunderstanding, and there's no risk), or challenge it later if they attempt to recover the money? It really comes down to my statement above - you should probably get some professional advice.

Where it says you can live and work anywhere in Australia, that is just one of the "features". You really need to take a close read of the SkillSelect page and DIACs visa pages. Look in the "Visa Holders" tab of the 190 visa page on SkillSelect where it sets out your obligations and responsibilities if you are granted the visa: Note, that these may not be a complete list, and your CO can impose additional restrictions on your visa in the event you are granted one. So, yes, in the long run, a 190 visa will allow you to live and work anywhere, but part of the cost of the lower points requirement and priority processing you get from a 190 is that you must live and work in the state that nominated you for two years. That's a small price to pay, if you ask me.

Reaching 60 points is a necessary, but not sufficient step towards getting a visa. There are other considerations - health, skills, character, and criminal, for example. @Freesia and @scrumpy are both correct, but there are other visas that will also allow you to live and work anywhere in Australia, sometimes with conditions such as you have to live and work in a particular state for two years - the benefit of those is that they have a lower effective points requirement (since you are given 5 points for being sponsored) and they would normally get higher priority processing. You should have a good, long read of the SkillSelect page, and the DIAC visa pages (http://www.immi.gov.au/immigration/) to get a good idea of your options, and what will be required of you for each visa.

Have you read the How to obtain a police certificate document from DIACs site? It tells you who to contact, what to ask for, and what you need to prove your identity.

Your visa won't affect marrying your partner - I guess the question you really want answered is something like "If I marry my Australian partner, will that give me permanent residency?" The answer is a resounding no. You need to apply for a subclass 820/801 visa, detailed on this DIAC page. Specifically, from the same page (emphasis mine): You will likely be granted temporary residency rights initially, then after two years if DIAC is satisfied that your relationship is genuine, they will convert your temporary visa to a permanent visa.

Aaah, yes - you're right. Both partners must be able to prove they are normally resident in Victoria: So in fact, without being resident in Victoria, you can't register your defacto relationship. So, it looks like a Partner Temporary Visa (subclass 309), which will convert to Permanent status (subclass 100) if you are still together may be the right option. Not physically living together will complicate matters, but may not necessarily be a deal breaker. Ultimately, I think your very best option at this stage is to speak to a MARA registered migration agent.

Wow, £85 for the first and £10 each after? That's really expensive. Click on my username and in the pop-up, there's a private message option, or there's one in my profile - just checked the PIO rules and I don't think there's a problem adding details here, so: We used Kaslers Solicitors (http://www.docklandssolicitor.co.uk - 020 7712 1751). They have a few offices in the surrounding counties so be sure to ask for the Canary Wharf office, and at the time had a tendency to book us in on a Friday, so it's probably worth calling with plenty of notice. We had two different appointments, and they were always really friendly, helpful, and professional. My first visit we needed 18 copies - one set for the ACS, one for DIAC, and one spare - but if you have more than about 10 individual copies I'd recommend making it very clear when you speak to them as they usually only expect 15-20 minutes per booking. It's normal for payment to be in cash with no receipt (and change is unlikely) provided, so be prepared with exact money when you go in. If you have any statutory declarations, they can do that too and you have an oath to repeat to make it official. There's religious, and non-religious versions of the oath.

You shouldn't worry at all. As others have said, anti-depressants are basically handed out like candy, and are so widespread that it's no longer unusual to be taking them. Many people have never been asked about their use of anti-depressants, and I don't expect you to be any different. You may not even get referred is the panel doctor got enough information about your symptoms. If that's all you're worried about from your medical, then you don't need to worry at all. Even if you're referred it will likely just be a formality. It's far more important to not let it get to you because the medicals are usually the last step before being granted your visa, and once that happens the flood gates open and you'll have plenty of things that will stress you out so just relax while you can!

£10 sounds a little excessive just for certifying a document - we paid £5 per document and the solicitor we used was in the "tower" in Canary Wharf. The subject of cost for certifying documents occasionally comes up here, and people seem to usually pay even less than we did. I see you're in London - if you work near, or can easily access Canary Wharf during the working week, PM me and I'll send you the details of the solicitor we used. Ours did specifically deal with immigration cases (though usually into the UK), so maybe that's the issue. When we were looking for a solicitor, while all will certify documents, as soon as they found out it was for immigration, all except immigration solicitors refused. Alternatively, if you're near The Strand, then the Australian High Commission can also certify your documents, though I've no idea of the cost or lead time.

Check the link to SkillSelect I gave earlier - the 457 is temporary, and gives you the right to live and work in Australia for up to four years, but the 186 is permanent.

You'll be fine - we didn't even try using eHealth, we just called the clinic directly with the TRN and took the forms with us. Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

Do you have your case officer's contact details? If so, then absolutely - email or phone them to check, but I think you should be OK going direct to the clinic. If you have your TRN or HAP ID, then the clinic will be able to ensure your medicals get to the right place. We did our medicals last year and didn't bother with eHealth - we went direct to the closets clinic with our TRN ID.