engaus

This paragraph is what confused me and made me think she was getting a WHV. Given she isn't being sponsored until she enters Australia but mentions there is a way to bring your dependent on a working visa. Personally I would wait until I had the go ahead to take my child - then I would obtain a working visa - and then travel. Not wait until I am in Australia to get a working visa? The way the OP is talking about visas makes me worry that she doesn't know enough on the process and could face several issues which might result in her not actually being eligible for a visa in the first place (she is quite young as well so not sure what qualifications she may have). We all know it's not just as simple as someone saying "yeah ill give you a job and sponsor you" (even if they have previously sponsored someone).

What do you do for work? You said they will sponsor you when you arrive. Why can't they sponsor you prior to your arrival? That doesn't make much sense to me. And what loophole do you have to bring a dependent child on a WHV (I'm presuming you are starting off on a WHV) I hope you got advise from a MARA agent on that and not immigration as you stated because they arnt there to provide advise and frequently provide incorrect information - after which they will take no responsibility for the incorrect advise they provided.

IMMI have stated that 801's are now taking 6-8 months to be approved.

You have to stay on your student visa until it expires naturally or your partner visa is granted. Trying to get out of studying is messy and will mean your BVA with work rights is cancelled and you will be put on a BVE which means you have no work rights, you can't leave australia at a until your partner visa comes through, and any time you spent in Australia prior to the BVE coming into effect will not be counted towards citizenship. You can apply for work rights on a BVE but you have to show hardship and they are tightening up on approving work rights because too many people are abusing the student visa and using it as a way to get to australia to apply for a partner visa.

Have you already recieved your 820 and your now doing your 801 application? If so it's not 12-15 months processing. if you havnt even received your 820 yet then it is 12-15months.

Partner visas are exempt from the 3 year ban. The 309 or 820 although temporary are the counted as part of the permanent partner application.

Probably the first place to start would be to see if you are eligible to get a visa as not everyone can. Do you know if you are eligible for one? It's becoming increasingly difficult to secure work but this will also depend on where you plan on living and what you do for work. Cost of living is high. Higher in cities obviously, and higher still in Melbourne and Sydney. Expenses will also depend on what kind of visa you can get - e.g a some states charge very high amount for children to go to school if you are on a temporary 457 visa. At the top right hand corner there is a little search box. If you do some searches for "cost of living in Melbourne" or wherever you are hoping to live you should find some threads on this topic.

If you have NZ citizenship, then as far as I am aware the only visa option for your dad would be a visitor visa.

If you are not ready to get married, then you will need to be in a defacto relationship for 12 months. 3 months is not long enough. The ONLY way to waive the 12 month requirement is to get married or see if you are eligible to register your relationship with a state in Australia that allows it (although if you are not ready to get married you should ensure you understand what it means to legally register your relationship with someone). The immigration department consider a couple as being in a defacto relationship from the time they start living together. It is ok to have times of temporary separation after living together for a substantial amount of time but you will need to keep in contact and maintain the defacto relationship. To meet the requirements you will need to ensure you have evidence in all 4 categories. Sharing finances is just one of those 4 categories. Have a read of this document, it is slightly outdated in some sections but will still give you a good idea of the process and what kind of evidence you need to provide: http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/1127.pdf Sharing finances doesn't mean that you need a joint account (although that is a great form of showing joint finances). It can mean having separate accounts but perhaps you pay for certain things in the household and your partner pays for the other. E.g you pay for groceries some one week, he pays the next week, you pay for the water bill, he pays for the power bill. Once thing to keep in mind is that being in a de facto relationship is pretty much the same as being married - just without the certificate. So you need to combine your lives. Any time prior to you moving in together will be considered are dating and not being in a defacto relationship.

If you don't have a visa to work (or even if you do!) you have buckley's chance of securing a job before you arrive in Australia (unless your job is in HIGH demand and you are highly skilled). The unemployment rate is rising and employers generally want someone to start ASAP as has been stated. Even when you have a 309/820 and are applying for jobs in Australia expect to find it quite difficult unless you are happy doing any kinda work. Australia are very big on people having "local experience". This was one of the excuses my partner was given all the time "we want people with local experience" even though he was told by a lot of recruiters before we arrived that he wouldn't have any issues! Another problem we had was that most employers only wanted to hire people that had PR and didn't like people on "temporary" visas.

The CBD is a COMPLETLY different feel to the suburbs just outside it. I was never drawn to it - there were much better bars, restaurants etc outside the city. But it given you are looking to live in a high rise building we obviously have completley different tastes haha.

Well because you are single 30yo you should be looking outside the CBD. The CBD is where the business hub is (hence the name - CBD =Central Bushiness District). You want to be looking in the suburbs just outside - this is where I spent most of my time going to clubs, pubs, cafes, restaurants etc. I barely went into the CBD except for work. There was nothing going on there except for a few clubs. I didn't know a single person who lived in the CBD. They all lived in suburbs on the outside. Would you not be better living in a share house with other people of your age so you can make friends etc? I moved to London where I didn't know anyone and the worst thing I could have done was move into a studio apartment. Most of the good friends I made were people I lived with. They took me out and then I met their friends etc etc.

Given they explicitly ask for two stat decs I wouldn't be only submitting one - it's surely not worth the risk. The more you provide the better.

Where in the CBD are you planning on living? I lived in Melbourne for 24 of my 26 years and living right in the CBD is not something I would choose. I'd be looking at suburbs around the CBD e.g Brunkswick, Fitzroy. But I guess it depends what you want to get out of living in Melbourne.

Don't need to make it any more complicated than it needs to be. They advise to use the form 888 or a blank bit of paper for a partner visa. I would advise supplying more than 1 statement. The more you can get the better but they do ask for 2. I wouldn't be applying with less than that just to see what happens IMO. From IMMI website for 309 visas: At least two statutory declarations from Australian citizens or permanent residents and who have personal knowledge of your partner relationship (such as a relative anda friend) and support your claim that the relationship is genuine and continuing. If you don't know two Australian citizens or permanent residents you can get a non PR or citizen to write a statement for you.

You need atleast two form 888's (stat decs) from Australian citizens and PR. Then you can get statements from non citizens/PR but these won't be counted as stat decs. They will just be additional evidence. My partners family are UK citizens, I just got them to write a statement on a plain bit of paper and got it witnessed.

Have a read of the form888, it explains what to do when you have a non citizen/PR wanting to write a statement on your behalf. its not a stat dec that they complete. It's a statement, although as has been said they can use the form 888, it just won't be considered a star dec as they can only be completed by Aussie citizens/pr for the purpose of a partner visa.

I lived in Victoria, and as far as I am aware Werribee Secondary College offers the IB program and is a public school. http://www.werribeesc.vic.edu.au/index.php?p=international+baccalaureate+diploma Quote from a article I was reading: "Werribee Secondary College has achieved an International Schools Accreditation and become the first government school in Victoria to offer the International Baccalaureate at Diploma Level." I used to attend Mowbray College in Victoria (a private school)- that's closed down now but offered the IB program. It certain'y wasn't $25,000 plus per annum. But yes, be very careful. If you come back to the UK in 4 years time you will be up for international student fees and wont be eligible for a student loan. Will be similar in Australia. As PR you will be eligible to pay domestic fees at uni but you wont be eligible for any HELP loans for university so have to pay upfront.

You should probably take everyone's comments on timelines with a grain of salt. There are sooo many variables when it comes to embassy's alone. Some keep applicants updated kind of regularly through the application process and will advise when the application has moved up to final processing, others don't get a single email till grant (which is a majority of people). If you applied in May I would be expecting a grant around then or a little later. You will obviously hear sooner than later if they deem the additional evidence you supplied to not be enough.

Have you been living as defacto partners for the 6 months you have been together? E.g living together, sharing your finances? If you have, and have solid evidence of this, you could have him fly over on a visitor visa (as has been suggested), register your relationship and apply for a partner visa straight away to get the ball rolling as it's a 12-15 month waiting time at the moment. Once you have applied for the partner visa you partner could begin studying. Keep in mind that you will pay international student fees at first, which is a huge cost. It wont be till he is a citizen that he would be eligible for any kind of HELP student loan. Also note that the onshore partner visa is $6865 + a few hundred for a health check + cost of police checks.

You shouldn't have any issues at all getting accommodation on your arrival this time of year. We have stayed at Ansonia on Lydiard (Ballarat) a few times and had a great stay. Yummy breakfast and good location if you want to be in the city.

If you tick all the visa requirements you will get a visa. If you don't then you won't get the visa. It's quite black and white You arn't looking at a family sponsored visa are you?

Best of luck!!

There will be people that have experience in it. But like I said it's a how long is a bit of string question - there is no sure way. I have seen people who have had a WHV, return home and then 6 months later come back to Australia on a tourist visa. Obviously the longer you are away from Australia the better the chance he has of being able to come in without an issue.

What visa are you applying for? No one can say if fees will go up. The partner visa fees went up in Jan 2015 - no body had any idea that was going to happen until they put out a statement in December. So very little notice was given.