vickyplum

15 hours ago, Aussiebird said:

Hi,

Does form 888 have to be completed plus a hand written statement which both then have to be certified?

The Form 888 is just the form 888... no need to do an extra statement. All boxes and information required is provided on the form + space for the 'authorised person' to sign.  Australians and non-Australians can both provide a statement using this form. 

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/form-listing/forms/888.pdf

I don't know for sure, but it seems pretty unlikely they will make those telephone calls.

I was on holiday for three weeks. Didn't do anything special, but did look around a few suburbs that I thought we may be interested in.

Everything else (TFN, getting driver's licence, medicare etc) I did in the first few days of moving here to live. I did open a bank account from the UK before.

I was expecting a big fanfare when I arrived with my shiny new visa, but no 

I see what you mean. Yes you need to enter Australia by the 'enter by' date, to validate your visa, but you don't have to make the full move at that time.  I validated my visa by visiting for a holiday in August 2014,  but didn't move until May 2015. 

The subclass 100 visa is similar to applying for the 309 (but slightly less rigmarole if I remember correctly!), so until you start that process, you'll remain on the 309. 

Length of stay is how long you can legally remain in Australia. So it's not like you can't leave for holidays etc.

Is that what you mean? 

The advice on Melbourne airport website is to "check with your airline". It's not a big airport, so they should be able to advise you that 95min is enough time.

1 hour ago, leajk said:

I am completing the online form . I can’t find the PDF form or any help forms to read .

Online form  page 16 says give details of all countries that the applicant has lived or traveled to since turning the age of 18. 

Its difficult to read the old stamps in my old passports from over 25 yrs ago, not to mention all the European countries that don’t stamp your passport when your British.

i did complete this for my PR visa but can’t find where I stored the paperwork . Worried my new entries won’t match 

here's the PDF version if you want to cross-check it for anything: 

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/form-listing/forms/1300t.pdf

I just looked at the PDF (paper version) of the application and apparently 'associated family' are people you haven't already listed, who are in your immediate family. So I guess that's your siblings, as you've already mentioned parents and children (if you have any). 

Hi, I am not quite ready to submit my application but have been filling it in online and collecting the various bits of info.

For the countries, I assume we have to list them all since 18... but I used my list from when I applied for PR, and then added the ones I could remember from age 18 until that point. Can't be certain on some of the dates of course 

For the family. I just put my parents' details as that's all it asked for (assume you are talking about the "Details of Parents" section?) and put "None" in the "Associated Family" section.  But now I am wondering what that question actually means, as it's not clear and I can't find any definition for it...

A quick search via the Google shows that processing times don't appear to be available:

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/contributory-aged-parent-864

I applied for this visa but can only answer your first question!  The applicant (ie, non-Australian) is the only one who has to provide the list of countries etc. 

Not sure on the rest as I submitted all my information in one hit, and didn't come into Australia until however long after the visa was granted (see footer for details). 

There's demand for both in Sydney at the moment, as most of the banks/insurance companies are divesting their life insurance business and a good number of other large scale projects. There are good contractor rates to be had, but I'm not so clear on perm opportunities. 

I can't speak about working conditions, although it's safe to assume the same as the UK, for any large office based employer. Work-life balance, depends on what you're working on presumably.  My colleagues, who are PMs, don't work massively long hours but do have full days and most will be in the office early or late, at least 3-4 times per week. No demand for out of hours working though (evenings and weekends). 

Visa processing times have blown out massively; see the link below and see the status for partner visas

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-processing-times/global-visa-processing-times

Good quality bed linen.

I believe this a Northern Ireland specific thing. I assume you're in that part of the country @Jay92000?

Have you checked here? https://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/roads/licence/driver/index.html

16 hours ago, James96 said:

Regarding the financial part, if we open a shared account now, and start using it day to day and for large purchases, would that work in our favour? 

My partner and I didn't have a joint account, still don't. Internet banking is a wonderful thing...

For my application, I produced bank statements showing all transactions between the two of us (into and out of my account). I blanked out all other transactions. 

I also showed evidence of  shared tenancy, utility bills etc. 

8 hours ago, James96 said:

Also, I thought if I started the application offshore, I had to be offshore when it is granted. I don't really understand that, as I have no way of knowing when it would be granted.

Immi will notify you when you need to go offshore, you don't have to guess. 

9 hours ago, vickyplum said:

I applied by post so not sure how 

Just realised I trailed off mid explanation! I was trying to say that I applied by post, so I am not sure what the online version looks like. I just typed up a couple of pages using my own words, under the headings I mentioned earlier.

I applied for this visa and was not specific about staying the night.  I described how we met, how frequently we saw each other, what we did together (ie, days out, holidays, meeting friends etc) and described how we stayed in touch when apart. I then gave details of the period before moving in together; we were in different cities so I gave details on how we decided where to live, how this affected our jobs/commute etc.  This was in he 'History of your relationship' section. I applied by post so not sure how 

Immigration don't need to know every intimate detail! 

I used these bullet points for guidance ("Tell us in writing about"...) 

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/partner-offshore/provisional-309#HowTo

Happy to answer any specific questions that you might have. 

Hi @SoniaG. There are no "mandatory" things to be done on your validation trip, it's up to you what activities you undertake. 

When I came to Sydney to validate my visa, I just had a holiday and did some exploring to better understand the city and surrounding area(s). My bank account was opened from my home country (UK) and when I moved here permanently, I visited my nominated branch to finalise the application and pick up the debit card. I would assume you can also wait until you arrive permanently, to open the account.

I also visited my local Dept of Human Services within the first few days of arriving to apply for a Medicare card/account (https://www.humanservices.gov.au/individuals/migrants-refugees-and-visitors). 

You will also need to look at what happens with your Driver's Licence; this depends on what visa you're on (NSW details here https://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/roads/licence/moving-to-nsw.html). 

Yes you can make voluntary NI contributions each year. HMRC will send you a reminder and you need to pay by cheque, I think!  It's less than 200 GBP per year so well worth doing to avoid any gaps.

https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions

10 hours ago, Bulya said:

Brand?

Meander Valley 

I just found some Tasmanian clotted cream at a local green grocer / deli (Sydney). Just in time for mince pies!

11 minutes ago, Beffers said:

This has definitely already happened and it was 2017 as we came over June 2017 and I was advised by Immi that I can't apply for citizenship until June 2021 ...

My confusion is that the rules were going to change, meaning you'd have to be four years as PR before qualifying for citizenship. But I can't find any news source that confirms if that's happened.

Immi website and the residence requirement calculator, still states four years living in Aus with the only the last of those years needing to be  PR.

Sorry to go off topic!!

54 minutes ago, SydneyBound said:

It’s happened I’m afraid. I went for a informal interview for a job and it was pointed out that I had to wait. https://liveinmelbourne.vic.gov.au/migrate/migration-process/australian-permanent-residency-and-citizenship

law changed as of June 2018. 

I can't see what's changed - it's four years living in Aus with the last year as a PR. Did it used to be less than four years? I've been targetting 2019 as my year for citizenship, for a while now!