SkippyChick11

Yes, sorry - I should have specified.

We've been in Aus for 12 months with OH on his 309 visa, and are now getting the paperwork together for the PR (100) visa.

At the moment I've got a couple of utilities, marriage cert (married since 309 was granted), lease, bank statements etc.

Does our evidence need to be as robust this time as it was for the 309?

Cheers,

A

Hi guys,

What evidence (ie how much evidence) have you provided for 100 visa?

Cheers

If your CO has requested more evidence then obviously you need to provide some but it has to be more concrete than pictures or phone call records or anything else you've submitted.

 

You really should look to life insurance or wills asap. I can't think of anything else along those lines as you are living apart.

 

Hi Stuart,

My OH and I were asked for more evidence at the start of our application (which freaked me out a little, to be honest).

I went back to the CO and said something along the lines of: "if we go and get wills, etc and submit them, will that satisfy your requirements?" To which our case office replied "I am only concerned with evidence pertaining to the 12 months directly preceding the date of receipt of application" ie from Oct 2011 - Oct 2012.

So that put the kibosh on that. Luckily, within his response, KP also put in a roundabout way (I had the feeling that he was not able to just come out and say directly what he was after, and that it was up to us to figure it out) that he was more interested in us submitting extra evidence which supported that we did not live "separately on a permanent basis".

At this point I was working in London (and had a flat in London) and commuted weekly between there and my OH in Cornwall. I ended up putting all of my travel dates (backed up from train itineraries) into a table which showed the number of days we spent apart each time. This was presented to the CO with a supporting statement which pointed out that even though I paid for everything in London and OH paid for everything in Cornwall (and we didn't have the usual joint utilities), we actually spent nearly 50:50 together and apart, and the train tix came out of our joint account.

We also included future travel itineraries where we were going away at Xmas time etc (which showed an ongoing commitment).

I know that this stuff is particular to our case, but just thought I'd share in case any of it was relevant to you.

Wish you all the best of luck

However I have read in this forum that some people are getting it 6 months after lodgment. Can I rely on those posts?

There would be no reason for anyone to be lying about the fact that their visa was approved ahead of schedule.

We were some of the lucky ones.

There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to how Aus House process these. Trying to figure it out will only do your head in.

After we submitted OH's application we just put it to the back of our minds, not expecting to hear anything before mid-June. One day an email turned up saying it was approved. It was completely out of the blue and we have no idea why it only took 6.5 months to go through, but we're not complaining!

Best of luck with your application. Hopefully the months will fly past!

when you say you got your evidence back, did you get it all back? I didn't and now I'm (hopefully needlessly!) panicking there's something wrong with the bits they kept!

Hi Lucy,

Don't worry too much about it. We only got about 4 bits of evidence back (originals) about a fortnight after application. If you supplied mostly copies and certified copies, then you won't receive them back.

Don't stress too much! Good luck!

Hey guys,

 

Seen some guys have had there 309/100 visa's granted. I applied for mine on the 14th of October and everything is done and sent in....seen these guys who have applied at the same time as me have had there visa's granted and validated....do you think mine is far away to being validated if I've applied around the same date?

 

Cheers in advance for the responses

 

Kind regards

 

​Liam Hawkes

Hi Liam,

How annoying for you seeing a LOT of Oct applicants being granted, but not you. I would be pulling my hair out!

My OH received the good news last week. We applied at around the same time as you. Maybe some COs are giving the go-ahead but others aren't. Maybe your CO is on hols at the moment? There could be a plethora of reasons why yours hasn't been pushed through yet...I'm sure it's nothing to worry about (although I must admit, if I was in your shoes, I'd probably be stressing like a mo fo!)

Have a look on the spreadsheet and see if anyone else who applied around the same time has your CO, and see if they've been granting recently?

Good luck mate

​x

Mid July. So not long now at all but still so much to organise.

The time will fly!

We've just gotta finish sorting our Sep wedding out now. After that's done, we're onto the relocation thing! Nearly there!

Very happy days!!!

When are you looking to head over, Movingbacktoaus?

Morning everyone!

My OH's visa was approved yesterday!!!!!!! :jiggy:We were not expecting it for another 1-2 months so it was a fantastic surprise, coming in in under 7 months!

​Whoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooop!

Hi everyone!!!

 

This is the 1st time iv wrote on here but have been looking on here over the last 6 months I applied 5th oct 2012. Is there anyone on here that applied in October been granted or they still doing September?

I'm in Brisbane waiting to off shore does anyone know what sort of date il be looking at grant?

Hi G!

We submitted my OH's app in October (stats below). Looks like they're still processing Sep applicants.

We didn't think it'd come through until July, so if they're processing them at the same speed as the Sep applicants, it'll definitely be an added bonus! (Even though we're not actually heading over til towards the end of the year...)

Hope you hear something soon! Let us know if you do!

​Cheers

Hi guys,i have got inviation from SA today, now im applying for visa and for it i need an advise on a matter.Im intending to use my wife’s passport which was issued before marriage, so her name and status isn’t changed as far passport is concernd. We do have the marriage certificate so will it be nessaruy to have her passport changed or the old valid can be used for visa application?

Hi SaintKamy,

I think you've posted on the incorrect thread. This one is for the partner visa - family stream (where one person in the relationship is Australian).

That being said, I would think that providing your wife's passport in her maiden name as well as your marriage certificate (and maybe another form of ID - like driver's license - in her married name, if possible) would be enough.

I would start a new thread asking the more knowledgeable folks on the forum, to confirm though.

Cheers!

Hi everyone ! hope your all doing well! just sent my partners visa away today, just a quick question for those who went on a tourist visa. This is probably a silly question but do you need to wait three months untill your medicals done before going on a tourist visa ? or can you get these done while in australia and get them sent to London ?

Hi Ashley!

Well done on getting your application in. It's a relief isn't it!

When you're assigned your CO, they should get in touch with your HAP number for your medical. I think this is universal, but as you'll need to advise your CO that you're going onshore on a tourist visa anyway, just reply and confirm with them.

Best of luck!

Oh and if you want to add your stats - the spreadsheet is here - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aopvk3Y5mD7HdGp5V2hESFluN3V0QWNBTDg2TWJoLVE#gid=0

Hi there,

Does anybody know how to check the status of my ehealth medical? i had it over three weeks ago and have heard nothing. its the missing piece!!!!!!

 

​Thanks

Hi Kieran,

I got in touch with our CO about 2 months after the medical to make sure he had everything that he needed, as we hadn't heard anything to the contrary.

He came back and said it was all good. We're hopefully just got another 2 months to go until the visa is granted (not that we're actually going to Aus until the end of the year... but that is beside the point!)...

​Good luck! I'm sure you'll be fine!

Hey Nicky,

No bother at all!

Just keep in mind that onshore applications (which your previous one, was) and offshore applications (which your current application is) are processed completely differently.

If you go back in this thread a little and look at the posts by "Snifter", she seems to be in a similar situation to yourself with kids et.al.

​

Best of luck with it!

Obviously they are not going to pick up our application ahead of the ones in front but apart from the character checks & medicals the most important thing that they are looking for is proof that you are in fact a genuine relationship, when our application gets to the top of the pile they can see all the T's are crossed & I's are dotted and that we have two children together they won't need to go looking through to see if there is any evidence to doubt our relationship.

Hi OzNic!

Unfortunately I don't think being in a long-standing relationship with kids make any difference to processing times. There are PIO members who have been in the same situation as you and have had to wait (and in some cases are still waiting for) the full processing period (currently 8-9 months).

With regards to how Aus House seem to process the applications; they seem to go through the application upon receipt and get in touch if they need any further information, then wait for the police and medical checks to come through after 3 months of submission, and then your application just sits in the pile until your time comes around.

I hope I haven't sounded harsh with regards to your circumstances, but I just don't want you to get your hopes up.

Onshore and offshore processes are completely separate and the procedures for offshore processing seem to be a little different depending on where you submit to (ie UK or Canada etc).

Anyway best of luck with your upcoming move! I'm sure your OH's visa will come through just fine, albeit a bit more slowly than anticipated!

Cheers!

​Amanda

Heres the link Joe

 

http://www.immi.gov.au/about/charters/client-services-charter/visas/5.0.htm

 

If anyone can tell us otherwise Id be VERY GREATFUL!

Hi LGannon!

From what I understood (and I may well be wrong), Aus House (or immi) review processing times at the end of the Aus financial year and changes to processing time usually take place from July 1.

Assume 9 months for processing and you won't be disappointed!

Good luck!

 

I've heard I can drop the application in at Australia House in person and pay the fees there, does anyone know if thats correct? Also i'm not sure if I need to get the passport photographs certified to be a true likeness, any ideas?

 

Thanks in advance for any help you may have.

Hi Joe!

I've seen somewhere that Aus House doesn't accept over the counter applications. I can't remember where I saw it... Maybe on the application form, or maybe on the actual Aus House website. Anyway, the long and short of it is, that you need to post it to Aus House along with your credit card details (they don't accept debit cards either).

Was rather annoying as I work a couple of streets from Aus House in London and instead of walking it in, I had to post 1.7kgs of application via registered mail (for the tracking) for an extra fee. I was not best impressed, but soon forgot about it upon the relief of being assigned a case officer!

Best of luck!

Got confirmation from my CO PS mid Feb that my application should be finalised mid March. Found out today that PS left DIAC last Friday and that I will have to wait until Mid April for a new CO! SO annoying to be so close to a grant. Plus, I'm going back onshore 1st May, which would've been my initial entry as approved by PS, so not sure what's going to happen now

That's horrible!

Do you have the email from your previous CO stating that it would go through mid-Mar? Has your old CO put an Out of Office on his/her email with other contact details ie who to get in touch with in their absence?

If so, I would forward the email about visa grant to the contact details left by your old CO, asking if you could speak to anyone about your situation prior to be assigning another CO in a months time.

Best of luck x

Mine have been requested straight away, no request for them to be completed three months after application, and I only submitted my application two weeks ago. I have had all my evidence returned and minus the medicals (police check already sent with application) I have not been asked for anything else. I hope this is all a good sign

Perhaps as you had already sent your police checks in, and therefore the clock had already started ticking down to your activation date, they didn't see the point in delaying your medicals?

We were asked to supply further evidence, which we did. Within a week, we had the originals back. I emailed our CO to see if there was anything further we should submit and he said he now had everything he needed and that he'd be back in touch around the 3 month mark to advise OH to do his medicals and police check.

I don't think there's any set way that the CO's do things.

I know in my line of work, I do things completely different to those doing the same job as me. I do things in ways that make sense to me, but others think that I'm all over the place. I apply this logic to Aus House. They know what they need and they get it when it suits them. Whether they put reminders on your file to get back in touch, or email you with the HAP number straight away so the ball is in your court... I don't think it really matters.

All you need to know is that if they weren't happy with the bulk of evidence you've supplied, I doubt they'd waste their time (and yours) telling you to get a police check and medical. They'd advise you to send more evidence, pull the application or reject it.

Are medicals not requested as soon as you hear back regarding your application and case officer assigned

Hi Kevin,

It seems that different CO's do things differently.

Some, upon initial contact (the email you get assigning your CO), give the HAP number and request that Medicals be done three months after date of application. Other CO's get in touch again around the three month mark with the HAP number advising to get it done then.

I would assume that if the CO requires further evidence from the start, they wouldn't give you the HAP number until their request for further info has been satisfied.

Hope that helps

I applied back in September 2012 and am still waiting... need to do my medicals at some point..

Hey GreatDane,

Further to Snifter's prompting, I would give your CO a nudge to see if you should get your medical done.

Unlike Snifter's CO, we were advised upon application that the CO would get back in touch when he wanted the medicals (and police checks) done. He got back in touch at the 3 month mark and then gave the HAP number to provide to the hospital when doing the medicals.

OH had his medical last month, and we applied a month after you. So it's prob about time that you got yours sorted, in case it needs to be referred (touch wood that it doesn't!!!!).

Good luck!

 

I read on other forums that the partner visa process can take up to 12 months though!!

Perhaps you were looking at the Onshore visa processing times which is about 13 months at the moment?

I applied 15 Nov and was told not to do medicals til after Feb.. Was anyone else told not to do theirs for a few months? It concerns me that someone that applied in Dec has already done theirs..

Hi Capslovesit,

We applied in Oct, sent in further evidence in Nov and at that point KP advised that he would be in touch in the new year when he needed police checks/meds.

I figure the longer he leaves it, the more time we'll have to arrange the move when the grant comes through.

A

Hi Kieran,

Applications from July-ish onwards this year have all been quoted 8-9months processing time as far as I'm aware.

Good luck!!!

We were ok with the financial side of the evidence as I just sent a selection of joint account statement etc but had a bit of a stress over the social stuff while preparing the application. So hard to think of things to evidence that socially your considered a couple. We went for statements from a couple of friends and luckily I had kept cards etc addressed to both of us from our niece so I sent that as we don't tend to keep ordinary Christmas cards or things.

Hope this is the last request for info you get - we haven't been asked for anything additional so hope he has everything he needs.

Think I may press on and get police checks and medical done so that everything is done and let him know that and see if he can advise if the WHV would work as an interim measure so that I could start my job in jan.

Morning Ems!

Well, I had a bit of a sleepless night last night, racking my brain as to what else we can include. Our situation is a little different, in so much as I've had to work in London for the last year, and D works in Cornwall. Have provided a statement of account from the train company with each of the train fares, phone bills showing at least one call per day etc, statements from our joint account, holiday itineraries, medical / travel insurance etc, correspondence with our Cornwall address on it etc etc. Problem is, is that D pays for the utilities/mortgage down there and I pay for the utilities/rent on my London flat. We've got a whole heap of personal correspondence (post marked etc), but they want more of the official stuff. Work is letting me relocate down there from mid-Nov, so we've already put me on the council tax, which we'll provide to him. Also doing up wills.

I've emailed KP with a list of other stuff that I can provide, and hopefully he'll advise that that'll be enough... fingers crossed!!!!

I've got my fingers crossed for you too. Hopefully he'll ok your WHV so you can get over there asap! Where are you moving to?