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kaoticturtle

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  1. kaoticturtle
    Thank you for this - it reassures me that the medical was ok given that I haven't heard anything. I know that I passed everything on the day so it would only be the blood test or the chest x-ray that could have thrown a spanner in the works. For both of those, I would imagine that they would let me know if something was found so at least I know the timescale is a week or two for that Unfortunately this doesn't reassure me! I had my medical on the 30th of August and my police certificate was stamped as received on the 19th of September so its now nearly 3 weeks later... Hmm...I'll give him another few days and then email him later in the week if I still haven't heard anything. I'm soo envious of everyone else's friendly and helpful case officers!!!
  2. kaoticturtle
    Hi everyone! I've got a question for those of you who are slightly further through the process than I am. How long was it from when you completed your medicals to being told that it was all clear? I did my medical at the end of August (5 weeks ago) but I haven't heard anything from my case officer to tell me that he has received them. Last week I tried asking my case officer whether he had received my police certificate (it was a week after i had posted it so I didn't feel it was unreasonably early to ask) and I got a very short, very unhelpful response saying that he would be going through his mail in the next few days and if I had sent it next day delivery I should check with royal mail. If possible, I think he used even less words that I have there and I definitely got the "go away and don't dare to bother me again vibe"! I responded to say that I had sent it first class as I couldn't get to the post office so I would appreciate it if he could let me know once he had been through his mail. I've had zero further contact from him in the week and a half since but yesterday the certificate turned up back here and it has been stamped as received so I guess he did get it. He was so unfriendly though that I'm a bit scared of asking any more questions unless I absolutely have to! I was a bit annoyed actually. I know that their job isn't to answer questions about your application progress or offer advice, but I didn't think questions about whether they have received requested documents was unreasonable! So, did you hear anything official from your case officer following your medical and if so, how long did it take? Also, I keep reading about a "no further information required" letter - or at least I think I have. Does everyone receive this and is this the way that you know your medical has passed? I think I'm starting to panic because 5 weeks seems like an awfully long time... Thank you all! KT
  3. kaoticturtle
    If you are willing to register your relationship have you considered getting the prospective marriage visa? You don't have to have been living together at all for that. I'm not sure what the requirements are but I think someone joked that you pretty much just have to have met so I doubt its too difficult to evidence. You would of course have to marry within a certain time frame. If you don't want to rush a big family celebration, you could have a small ceremony yourselves within the time allowed and then organise a big bash later.
  4. kaoticturtle
    We did both. My husband (the Aussie) wrote a statement that set out where we would live when we got there (as the form asked about our current house and we're both in the UK at the moment) as well as detail on how we would support ourselves. We also referenced the other requirements such as stating that my English is already at naive speaker level. We got it all drafted up officially as a statutory declaration and got it witnessed. We also included the two years worth of financial information (i.e. tax returns). I didn't think the statement was optional as it seemed a pretty clear requirement in the form but it really wasn't difficult to do
  5. kaoticturtle
    Hi Chris When I submitted my application we certified passport copies, a copy of the marriage certificate, birth certificate copies, our relationship statements, a sponsor statement from my husband (our financial arrangements are slightly unusual as we own our own business) and my husband's tax return. Everything else (excluding stat decs) we just included photocopies of the originals as I was sure somewhere in the official notes that it said these were acceptable and that they didn't want to see the originals. I haven't been asked to submit the originals so it seems to have been ok. To be honest though, it would have been easier to submit originals than photocopy all the pages!!!! KT
  6. kaoticturtle
    We used a notary public to get ours witnessed and we found them by putting "notary public" plus "our town" into google. Several came up within a reasonable distance and we just picked one. It can be quite expensive to use them for only one or two documents but they can also certify copies of documents as being true originals. So, we did it right at the end of the process and took everything with us. We had our passport photocopies, birth certificates, marriage certificate, tax returns, relationship stat decs and a statement from my husband as sponsor confirming how we intended to support ourselves while over there. We were also doing stat decs for two friends of ours who are currently applying onshore in Oz so we got those witnessed at the same time! All in, it cost us about £100 which I think is on the high end of what I've heard others say they paid but it was quick, easy and painless so we didn't really mind. KT
  7. kaoticturtle
    Congratulations!!!! :jiggy:
  8. kaoticturtle
    Thanks everyone - that is really helpful to get your views and experiences. I think I'll ask Crown about it and see what their response is KTY
  9. kaoticturtle
    Interesting! So in Australia, registering a relationship is seen as legally the same as marriage?
  10. kaoticturtle
    Sorry, just re-read your post and had some other thoughts. How long have you and your partner been together if you are on a tourist visa? From what I've heard the 12 months is a strict requirement and you have to demonstrate carefully how the relationship was continued if you have had to live apart for some of the 12 months. I'm sure its been pointed out in other threads that the 12 months doesn't apply if you are married, but I wouldn't think that would apply if the relationship was just registered but I'm not familiar with how registering a relationship works. I don't think that either waive the requirement to meet all the areas of evidence set out in the partner visa booklet though so you still have to demonstrate financial aspects to the relationship. If you are considering registering the relationship, have you considered the prospective marriage visa? I don't think there is any time requirement for the relationship.
  11. kaoticturtle
    I can't answer your question directly I'm afraid but I do know that its often said that having a marriage certificate doesn't make a huge difference so I would guess registering the relationship would also not make a massive difference. I think its seen as part of the evidence required but not something that removes the requirement to submit all the other evidence. You don't have to have joint rental etc but I believe that you do have to prove that you live together and share responsibilities. Do you have bank statements or similar from the same address? Maybe money going from one of you to the other to demonstrate you jointly pay bills? How about credit card statements or bank statements showing the one not paying rent instead buying food? These are all things that would demonstrate the financial aspects of the relationship. Hope that helps!
  12. kaoticturtle
    Hi everyone I've done a search around the forums and via google and I'm still confused so I thought I would ask for your combined wisdom! My husband and I have been having various shipping companies in to quote over the last two weeks and are now at the stage of having to consider which one we will go with. We've ruled out one because we didn't like the sales rep and have heard a few things online that confirm our views. One other has also been ruled out as they don't have a preferred supplier at the other end. This has left us with three, two of which we are really quite keen on and a third which is close behind. We haven't had all the quotes through yet but we expect them to be roughly similar. We've just discovered today that one of the companies we liked (Crown) isn't FIDI registered while the other two are. I know its a good thing for the companies to have, but what guarantees does it actually give? If we went with them, what risk would we not be covered for? I would have ruled them out instantly but they have seemed very helpful so far, the rep was good and there are quite a few good reviews on here for them. All have the overseas BAR accreditation but I think that only covers this end of the move and not the Australian side. Is that correct? Cheers KT
  13. kaoticturtle
    If you've submitted a spouse visa you could confirm with your case officer maybe? I'd do that if I went with the 3 month interpretation if only so I had a written trail that I had asked... All the info on the http://www.immi.gov.au website says 3 months so I think its almost certainly 3 months not 90 days
  14. kaoticturtle
    Hi everyone One of my friends is having a nightmare at the moment. Her and her partner shipped about 3 cubic metres of belongings from the UK to Australia through a UK company that doesn't have its own network at the other side. To cut a long story short, after their goods arrived in Australia the company that was contracted to take them from the port to their place has gone bust. The UK company has been very responsive and it looks like they should hopefully see their things in a few weeks but they have still been having a lot of problems tracking down where their boxes are (the phones lines went dead for the bust company...) and how they are going to get them back. Not to mention that they have now been without their belongings for a lot longer than they originally anticipated! My question is this: How do you choose a shipping company to minimise this type of risk? Are there any companies that have their own network at both ends? Do some of the companies always use the same (trusted) shipping companies in Oz rather than just giving it to the lowest bidder? Or, is this a one off and am I being a bit over paranoid? This is something that I have no prior experience with and I hadn't even really given any thought to who would complete the last stage of the journey. I'm just starting the process of choosing a company and I'm putting in a lot of thought into who I trust at this end so I'm a bit worried that my belongings are going to end with the lowest bidder at the other end :arghh: Thank you! KT
  15. kaoticturtle
    I'm glad I can be helpful It took me ages to get a grip on the various bits of info out there. Its sooo confusing but I keep reminding myself its the same forms for us and the mail order brides so its not too surprising :confused:
  16. kaoticturtle
    Hi Shigella I'm not an expert (not an agent or anything) but I can tell you of what we did. My husband is the Aussie (and not working) and we've just sent in our application form. There doesn't appear to be a formal requirement for the sponsor to be able to demonstrate support for the rest of the family on a partner visa anymore although I think there used to be. You do have to give information on last two years worth of the sponsors job history and put in how much in assets you expect to ship into Australia (there are sections requesting this type of information in forms 40SP and 47SP). The parter applying for the visa has to sign a statement which states you understand that you cannot claim social security for two years after arriving and that you must be able to support yourselves during this time. If you read what the sponsor signs, it doesn't explicitly mention financial support (although it does mention accommodation). From my reading of all the official immigration material, I took it all to mean that we had to be able to support ourselves as a couple (plus any dependants) rather than one having to be able to support all. My husband is studying at the moment and hasn't worked full time for about 18 months. I've been supporting us via my job so, in effect, the money that will be supporting us in Australia when we get set up will not have come from his work. We're also in the situation where both of us will need to find jobs once we get over there. What we did was put in tax returns from when he was working to show the level of salary he was on, formal certified documents showing my earnings and we wrote a statement which we got witnessed by a notary detailing our financial situation and how we intend to support ourselves once we get there. We have a reasonable level of savings and family to live with when we get over so we put all of that down. We also got my husbands mum to include in her statutory declaration for us that we could live there and that the house was big enough etc. I don't know yet if all of that will be enough, but I would hope it will be given that I think we have clearly demonstrated we can support both of us for a minimum of two years. Hope that helps! KT
  17. kaoticturtle
    Yup, we sent it special delivery with royal mail. Its maybe worth noting that if you are sending it to the London High Commission they specifically state that they prefer normal post (i.e. Royal Mail) rather than couriers. Apparently the courier point is in a different building so it takes longer to reach them. http://www.uk.embassy.gov.au/lhlh/postal.html
  18. kaoticturtle
    When we got ours done, we both had to go and sign them in front of the notary. We also used the appointment to get our documents certified (e.g. passport, birth certificate) as those also required notary sign off in the UK and it was cheaper to do it all in one go. It was one of the last things we did. I think there were other options like judge but we don't know any. To find our notary, we did a Google search for our town name plus notary public and several came up.
  19. kaoticturtle
    That must be really tough but at least the process is underway... Fingers crossed you get a quick grant. Will your partner be able to come over to the UK after her training exercise?
  20. kaoticturtle
    Congratulations!!!! :-D
  21. kaoticturtle
    Thanks Chantel I'll just have to see what we hear once we have a case officer and keep our fingers crossed for a quick turn around!
  22. kaoticturtle
    Does anyone know when the waiting time on the high commission site changed? My application arrived with them yesterday so I'm guessing I'll get told 8-9 months once i get a case officer. I'd love 5-6 months but I was already expecting 6-8 so not too much different i guess. We're lucky as we're in no rush and are going to do a bit of travelling but I'd be gutted if we were having to live on opposite sides of the world. KT
  23. kaoticturtle
    Hi Laraynb I've just submitted my partner visa application as well some of the extra information that we provided were joint council tax bills, joint insurance policies (e.g. car), my pension beneficiary statement showing my other half as sole beneficiary, plenty of stat decs from friends and family, tax statements showing us at the same address and also letters addressed to both of us. This was in addition to the bank statements showing us as being at the same address. From what you've mentioned, you don't have a huge amount of evidence that you are both essentially married (and living that way) rather than still just boyfriend and girlfriend. From everything I've read (and not im not an agent) you need to scrape around for anything you can possibly think of that demonstrates a more in depth committment to each other. I've got no knowledge of whether you can change your application type I'm afraid but I guess you can onl ask and see what the answer is? Also, to echo the point above. The partner visa's seem to be around a 5-8 months wait at the moment (different people are being quoted different times) so i dont think you'll have it by December even if you do fine more evidence. You would need to consider having your partner enter on a tourist visa with all that entails (e.g. no work and having to take a trip overseas to get the partner visa granted). KT
  24. kaoticturtle
    Fantastic! It's all happening now for you
  25. kaoticturtle
    Hi all! My turn to join the queue now too :-) I finally got my application in the post at lunchtime so it should reach the Australian high commission in London tomorrow. It's only taken 4 months to get everything together for it!?!?! I'm now sitting here mentally running through it all hoping I remembered to include it all. If not, I'm sure they'll tell me! KT
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