rheia

Yes, you'll need a visa.

Assuming you are a UK / EU national, the eVisitor visa would be the one for you.

It's free and allows you to stay in Australia for 3 months at a time within a 12 month period to visit friends & family etc.

http://www.immi.gov.au/Visas/Pages/651.aspx

Edit: This visa is also almost instantaneous. Last time I visited Australia I had mine granted within a day. (you apply online)

Not that much choice, I'm afraid, as vickyplum said.

In London there's really only Knightsbridge Doctors (I went to their Basil Mansions practice in Knightsbridge, they've got another one in Soho). I was very happy with them, all very friendly and professional.

I also considered the one in Essex (Brentwood, Spire Hartswood Hospital) but I think they were more expensive and not as easy to reach for me.

Also keep in mind that they usually only allow medicals to be booked up to 1 month in advance. I tried booking mine 2-3 months in advance but was told that wasn't possible. No problem getting an appointment though in the end.

Here is the official list of panel doctors in the UK:

http://www.immi.gov.au/Help/Locations/Pages/United-Kingdom.aspx

It's quite common not to hear for quite a few weeks - I waited nearly a month for my acknowledgement email. But I knew the application had been received, as the money was taken off my credit card, very quickly!

Haha, true. They're really quick doing that. We had the mail tracking first, then on the second day the money was taken out.

Just one quick question- I've read that quite a few people got an email a few days after submitting with their receipt, I know it can take months for the CO to be assigned and for them to get in touch but is it normal that it's been nearly 2 weeks and we haven't received this initial email?

 

No email for me. The only way we knew the application had been received was because we sent it via tracked mail (and I obsessively checked that). We had no communication at all until the CO email after about 6 weeks.

Yes it's been really tough.. hopefully the wait will be over soon. Planning to fly out maybe a month after my visa grant.. will book my tickets as soon as the grant comes through. I have informed work and already researched shipping companies (like you hehehe).. also opened an account with Money Corp to transfer my savings... keeping everything ready... just need the grant now :-)

We've started moving money to Australia as well (my partner's savings account - the exchange is/was quite good at the moment). I'll open a NAB account once the visa comes through (while still in London, just to make things a bit easier once we're over there).

And of course I've got endless lists of things that need doing once the visa comes through. I've suddenly realised how many contracts there are to cancel, addresses to update etc.

Hey.. Great you started this thread... The wait is nearly over for us and hopefully the grants will start coming through from early June... I applied 9th October... My fiance is an Aussie and we have been apart since June 2013 (he visited for 3 weeks over Christmas though :-) ... so the wait has been really tough for both of us. We are just waiting for the grant and will book our flight tickets as soon as it comes through.. :-)

Oh poor you... At least my partner is here in London with me which makes the wait sooo much easier. Are you planning on flying out as soon as the visa comes through? Or will it take a while to tie everything up here?

Hello lovely people,

Couldn't find a thread dedicated to us October 2013 applicants, so thought I'd start one...

If there already happens to be one, please let me know

Great to see the late-August applicants getting their visas coming through. Not long to go now for us!

See my stats below.

I'm all set up to get things organised once the visa comes through - told work, shipping researched etc.

Looking forward to hearing from people in similar situations!

Sorry if not clear - I meant in terms of selling houses and leaving jobs ahead of actually having received the visa.

Difficult. It's a balance between tying things up neatly well in advance & risking being homeless & jobless if there is an issue with the visa.

In my case, I told my boss months ago and my company is looking into employing me remotely (I am the applicant). Telling them early was a courtesy based on our great working relationship and because my leaving will have an impact on expansion plans. They were grateful for this advance notice.

(And if I stay my job will still be here for me.)

If I was in a different position job-wise I would not let them know any earlier than absolutely necessary. They will know your heart might not be in your current job 100% anymore, you're probably organising things for Australia during your working hours etc. It also means you might not benefit from any bonuses, salary increases or education opportunities. (Why invest money into someone who's leaving?)

We are renting, so no property to sell. But again, we are leaving it till the last minute to give our landlord notice (well, within the time frame our lease agreement dictates). I don't want to be left without anywhere to live should things go pear shaped...

Hi there,

We applied on October 21st last year - for the 309/100 visa as well.

See my signature for the other important dates.

No further evidence was requested & I have since had no contact with my case officer.

From the visa processing time thread on this forum I gather that most partner visas get pretty much approved at exactly the 8 months mark, so still a bit to go...

Good luck with your application! Fingers crossed it will be our time soon.

P.S.: we are planning on leaving for Oz end of September

For some reason when I typed the address in it asked me for username but when I clicked on the link on my previous comment it took me to old HAP ID log in so managed to access account but it's just showing referral letter generated when I entered my medical history. Is this what you see or can you see an overview/status on yours?

It is basically the same referral letter but now with the photo that was taken at the medical and a section "Health Case Status" that gives the date the medical was submitted to DIBP, as well as listing the "Examinations required for this visa application", their Exam status (completed) & the clinic where I took the medical.

Was wondering if anyone could help me. I attended my medical on the 11th March but the computer system was down so they had to fill out the forms manually to upload later. Just want to make sure everything is in order and it has been submitted. When I booked my medical I was sent confirmation of my appointment along with details about what happened after the appointment. The letter states you can check status of medical by visiting: www.emedical.immi.gov.au/eMedUI/eMedicalClient. However, this requires log in details. When I filled in my medical history prior to the appointment I did not have to create an account/username but simply fill in Family name, HAP ID and date of birth. Does anybody know if I can track status without a username?

Not much help I'm afraid, but for me it still only requires name, HAP ID & date of birth when I click on your link (which is the same one I was sent). I had my medical earlier this year & can still access the system.

To quote the FAQs:

You may apply for other visas while your migration application is being processed. This will be assessed against the criteria for that visa subclass and will not affect the assessment of your migration application. Further information on other visas to Australia can be found on our website, www.immi.gov.au, or by contacting the Europe Service Centre between 9am and 4pm, Monday to Friday, on 0207 420 3690.

 

 

Please note that if your travel to Australia results in you spending an accumulative period of 12 months or more in Australia in the last 10 years, you will need to provide an Australian Federal Police (AFP) check in order for your visa to be granted. For further information, please see the following website: http://www.afp.gov.au/what-we-do/police-checks/national-police-checks.aspx

 

 

It is also a legal requirement that you be outside Australia at the time of visa grant. If you are in Australia when your visa is ready for grant, you will need to depart. You can depart for any country in the world and you should spend at least 3 working days outside Australia to allow for processing of your visa. Working days do not include Saturday, Sunday or Public Holidays.

 

 

 

 

Didn't hear anything directly from a my case officer throughout the application, only interaction we had with the case officer was when I asked questions! As long as you have supplied all the required information, doubt very much you will hear much from a case offer if at all until a decision has been made.

 

Question to the OP: You mentioned you provided the results from the medical with the application - did you provide the police checks as well?

Even if you have, the information provided in the email from my CO would have probably been of interest to you as well, i.e. FAQs about the process and travelling while your visa is being processed, privacy etc.

You have had no communication at all from them?

I applied for a defacto visa in October as well and heard back from my CO after about 5-6 weeks.

Although I did not supply the medical with the application (I did not think you were "allowed" to do that), I would assume they should have gotten into contact with you by now, to give you a date for the police checks if nothing else.

Maybe get in contact with the embassy and enquire about your application? (london.cc @ dfat.gov.au)

I agree with the previous poster that June is probably pushing it a bit. We are hoping for a decision by June / July and are looking at the end of September as our moving date.

Edit: Ah, your post crossed paths with mine there If I were you, I'd be trying to get an answer from them. October is a long time to not have heard anything, imho.

I just had a quick standard eye test with my glasses on - i.e. covering one eye and reading letters off a chart.

Nothing exciting, really...

And passed the medical without any issues

That's the correct website. If I remember correctly that's exactly what it looked like for me, but when I re-generated the information sheet it now had my photo and the information about the medicals checks on there, including the date everything was forwarded to DIPB.

My medical was submitted within 5 days (including the weekend).

No extra tests required.

I agree with MovingtoTasmania, we also put in my partner's Australian passport details rather than his UK ones.

Just one of the many confusing elements of the whole process...

But I guess if you don't have an Australian passport and are sponsoring your partner you'd put in your "other" passport (i.e. if your an Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen)

We applied for my partners 309/100 visa with the London embassy on 18 Nov 2013 and were assigned a case officer on 28 Jan 2014. They asked for some additional information about my Italian passport (specifically details of my grandparents and my father's birth certificate) not long after and set a date for when they would like my partner to get his health check and police check done (mid-late april).

 

I am just curious as to why they would want more details about my Italian passport - I have an Aussie passport obviously (born and bred) but I am living in the UK (and have been the past 7 years) on my Italian passport. The information they are after was all provided to the Italian embassy when I got my passport from them almost a decade ago. There is no doubt that I will be returning to live in Oz with my partner and our two kids and the Italian passport was more so I could travel through Europe and live/work in the UK for a few years, so I am just a little unsure of why they would want this extra information. Has anyone else found this or have some advice/suggestions?

 

thanks

Amanda

Very interesting - we applied for the same Visa in London just a month before you & my partner also has dual citizenship but wasn't asked to provide any additional information about his EU passport...

No worries (see what I did there??) but it would still be more re-assuring to have an email or something from the health centre saying all was well and we have uploaded the results.

I'm just assuming that "completed" means there was nothing to worry about??:confused:

I was told that immediately after my medical that everything looked fine and that they would definitely contact me within 2 days if there was anything wrong with the tests.

No news == good news? That's what I'm going with at least..

Edit: Oh, and as I will be sending the police checks to my CO soon I will take that as an opportunity to ask whether the medical results have reached them as well.

Just a quick update on the process. . . I checked my Emedical page today and the status of all tests reads "completed" so is it safe to assume that everything is OK and that they would have contacted me if there was a problem with X rays, blood test or my finest efforts to pee in the cup?.

Ah, now feel stupid for never thinking of checking the emedical website!

Yup, there it was, all processed and forwarded to DIPB.

Thanks for the hint.

Do you have anyone in the UK you can use as a temporary recipient of your correspondence? ie parents, friends etc?

As far as I'm aware after the visa grant you will only be contacted once the 2nd stage partner visa is being processed, which is around 2 years after submitting your application, so that gives you plenty of time to settle in Australia.

As soon as you have somewhere sorted in Australia you can then let Immi know via Form 929 (Change of address and/or passport details).

No problem at all with getting my document copies certified.

I went to see a local solicitor (in London) with my original documents (passport, birth certificate, university degree etc.) and they took copies then & there and stamped and signed them to confirm they were genuine copies.

They also witnessed our statutory declarations.

Don't know about notaries/lawyers... But none of the many solicitors I contacted to compare prices had any issues with certifying copies.

Thanks for your report!

I've got my medical on Thursday...

I'm actually quite looking forward to it - finally I can do something again! Not just waiting around...

how much is a de facto these days?

 

i paid £1400 all up inc medics etc back in 2012/13.

Well, costs have certainly gone up...

I'm looking at around £ 2200.- (309/100 visa charge, police checks, medical check)