Good evening/morning fellow Poms :cool:
I have benefited greatly from the advice on these forums over the past few months, but being unable to find a recent answer to my query, I thought it was time to create an account and get involved!
I lodged an offshore 309 spouse visa application in mid-November 2012, and was told that the current processing time would be at least 8-9 months. Being the optimist I am, I thought that we wouldn't be kept waiting any longer than August, which is when I had planned to emigrate to Australia to be with my hubby. All was going well so far, until yesterday when my CO requested medical checks; the reason this was an issue was because she recommended that these shouldn't be done until mid-Feb, because if my visa wasn't granted before they expired a year later, I would have to do them again. This got me a bit worried, as putting off the medicals until so late in the application suggested that the wait could be much longer than we initially anticipated! I know this is probably just precautionary, but it still set off a few alarm bells in my head.
Desperate to join my other half in August as planned, I asked my CO whether I could come to Aus on a tourist visa prior to being granted my 309 (with a view of departing for a few days while the visa would be granted), and she said that would be fine. My concerns are however, that I wouldn't be able to convince Australian immigration staff at the border that I wanted to enter on genuine tourist reasons, especially if I came on a one-way ticket.
Has anybody else been in this situation where they've gone over to Aus on a tourist visa, on the basis of waiting for another visa to be granted? Were there any problems with border control upon entry? Also, has anybody experienced a longer processing time than 9 months?
Hope somebody will be able to share some words of wisdom!
McZazzles x