ChrisJD

25 minutes ago, paulhand said:

You cannot apply for a student visa onshore if you are already on a bridging visa (unless you previously held a student visa less than 28 days ago). 

I’ve heard of people switching from one visa to a student visa though?  Or is that only if they are already on a visa that isn’t a bridging visa? I.e I should have applied before withdrawing?

Hi Guys

I've just been moved to a Bridging Visa B after withdrawing my partner visa application and was looking to apply for a student visa to remain in Australia.  Are there any limitations to applying for a new visa while on a Bridging Visa?  There's nothing noting as such in the grant letter, I just imagine that if I apply now I will move to another Bridging Visa until a decision is made on the Student Visa - does that make sense?

Thanks

49 minutes ago, paulhand said:

Generally speaking, as I don’t know the specifics of your situation, if you withdraw your 801 application, your 820 will cease and your bridging visa will activate and be valid for 35 days after the withdrawal is actioned. A quick professional consultation would be advisable to go over the facts of the matter. 

Thanks Paul.  Does the bridging visa maintain my working rights in most cases?

Hi guys

I’m currently on a partner visa (temporary at the moment) and my relationship has broken down and the government have been notified.  I have until mid January to reply to them, but I was wondering what flexibility they offer in terms allowing a visa to stay in place, or grant a bridging visa with work rights, until I am able to secure relocation to another country with my current employer?

My plan is to leave early Feb so would it be reasonable for me to ask them to extend my work rights until say 5th February until I am able to iron out all the details and approvals etc?

Thank you 

26 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

Just to amplify:  

If you apply for a partner visa now, you'll have to prove that you've been in that relationship for 12 months.   But that means admitting that you fraudulently stayed in Australia on your old partner visa, even though you were no longer partners. That would definitely not be a good look and might even jeopardise any future visa applications.

IMO you should check with your ex-partner what date she put on the relationship breakdown and you're going to have to accept that date, or open a can of worms. I'm assuming she pretended you've only just broken up, to avoid getting into trouble for failing to report at the proper time.

That was exactly my concern, so I’m thinking of heading down the employer visa first which will allow me to stay temporarily for 2-4 years.

She wouldn’t share what she sent, but I assume it is as you said. 

19 minutes ago, Ausvisitor said:

You only found out last night that your relationship broke down in 2020?

 

You seem to be missing the point that the issue here is that you have not notified the authorities when you should have, not the fact that your partner has now decided to tell the truth

No of course not, we both agreed that we’d carry on until I got my visa so neither of us are in the right here.  

I was just hoping to understand what my options might be now.  Do I too message them telling them of this breakdown?  I don’t know what timeframe she put on it, I wouldn’t imagine she’d have mentioned it was recent to avoid looking bad

36 minutes ago, paulhand said:

You will have some explaining to do over why you did not notify the Department of this very relevant change in circumstances in a timely manner, and you need to act before a refusal arrives. I suggest you get some professional advice based on the specifics of your situation. 

I’m planning to, only just found out tonight.  But is that a possibility?  Applying for another partner visa or does that not look good?  I’m gonna try for work sponsored visa also

Hi guys

So got an interesting case here.  I applied for a partner visa with my now ex partner in 2018 and got granted my TR in 2018 and applied for my PR in 2020.  Our relationship broke down in that time but we never withdrew the application.  My ex partner has now decided to submit a breakdown of relationship so my chances of getting PR granted are slim to none.

Is it possible to withdraw this application and apply with my new partner?  Or are there restrictions etc in place?  Otherwise what would be my options?

Okay so basically if I entered initially in January, stay for 2 months, left for a week holiday and then came back, my visitor visa would last until June?

Hey guys

I just have a quick question with regards to the 651 tourist visa.

I understand that when you enter with this visa you can stay for up to 3 months at a time.  But if I left say after 2 months, went for a short trip to NZ, and then re entered, would it be valid for a further 3 months from when I re enter?  Or would it be valid 3 months from initial entry?

Thanks

I don't suppose you know any?   I am concerned now that some of the evidence may seem like it was just rushed before the application, and I don't want that to negatively affect our chances.

5 hours ago, snifter said:

2 years worth of evidence but is that all able to stand up to being classed as de facto? For example, of you were a couple dating while in Aus with just the social stuff that isn't de facto in my book. It's a couple dating, going on holiday and to events together. 

If you only registered the relationship in Dec and the super hasn't been going a year then in terms of the financial aspect, it seems very thin. I know you'll have the time in aus on the tourist visa and hopefully you'll have set up a shared bank account and both be paying into it etc to be able to pay out of it IYKWIM. And if your partner has a car, they should name you as a driver and other things. 

Honestly, many people do long distance and skype, email and write letters and are exclusive but it's not de facto because of that. I do wonder if you really do have the de facto covered for the 2 years you intend to claim. If it were me, I'd consider it de facto from when the relationship was registered. If the super plan came after that's fine. If it came before, that on its own may not be enough to claim de facto earlier on iykwim. Immigration are going to have strict requirements and if you don't meet them for the time you are claiming, I'd be cautious about claiming it. 

I see where you're coming from, and when actually thinking about it you are right.  From immigration's view, a lot of the evidence (especially the financial side with bills etc) will only happen once I return on my tourist visa.  So when I apply, some of it will only be 3 months old, which wouldn't look very strong.

One thing I considered a few months ago was to first go back on a student visa and study for a year.  Now I'm thinking that I may go back to that plan.  It just seems that that would put us in the same situation as if I went back on a tourist visa, but we'd have a lot more time to accumulate bills and joint statements and possibly even a joint lease.  Would this seem like a reasonable idea to you?  To me it's only a few extra thousand dollars, which in the long run may actually help us.

She hasn't, but I was concerned with the fact I would be in Australia on a 3 month Tourist Visa.  So I don't know how willing an agency would be to put me on a lease when I could simply leave in 3 months.  

The relationship was registered last December.  And we were together for a year in Australia, and we've been apart for around 8 months now.

I understand that evidence needs to be provided for at least 1 year prior to application, we will essentially have 2 years worth of different evidence when applying.  Anything else we could use?

Okay, so evidence wise, this is what we have so far:

• Pictures of us together in social situations/in general as a couple
• Various letters wrote back and forth to each other.  Both in Aus and when apart.
• Screenshots showing continuous conversation when separated
• Tickets from events attended together
• Hotel bookings
• Flights took together to Melbourne
• Plane ticket from when I came to visit at the end of last year
• Letter from super funds showing each other as beneficiary
• Certificate of relationship registration

Obviously once I arrive back, we will have bills and banks statements being sent to the same address for both of us.  And possibly a joint bank account set up to pay for shared expenses while living together.

I mean I don't know if I have missed anything?  I'm sure there may be stuffed I have forgot about.

Apologies, for some reason I posted with the assumption that others knew my situation!  Yes we do.  We met while I was on a WHV and we've been together nearly 2 years now, so evidence for the rest of the de facto visa are pretty much met.  I was just concerned with the financial aspect because we haven't actually lived together previously and only plan to do so once I return.

Basically, I wanted to know what can be used as financial evidence to support the onshore de facto visa.

Hey guys

So I am in the process of returning to Australia to be with my partner.  After reviewing the evidence we have, the only thing I am concerned about is the financial aspect.  

I will be returning on a 3 month Tourist Visa so, as far as I'm aware, I cannot co-sign a lease with my partner to provide this as evidence.  Would we be able to put joint names on bills?  We will be opening a joint bank account, and then have both our individual accounts registered to the same address.  So I was just wondering if utility bills and bank statements would be enough financial evidence?  If not, what else could we possibly use?

Thanks

Hey guys,

I've got a bit of an odd situation. So I am currently on the second year of working holiday 417 visa, and I have just left Australia to travel home for a couple of months. I will return to Australia on November 1st and my WHV expires on November 10th.

Now I want to extend my visa and stay until mid December (not working), and I am unsure which visa to apply for. As the 651 visa is free, and the 600 costs around $300. Would both of them continue on after my WHV ends?

Thanks

Hey guys,

I've just got back to Sydney and I'm looking to settle in to a role for the next few months. I was ideally looking for some temporary office work (I have a few relevant business qualifications from back in the UK), and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with some good recruitment agencies for this sort of thing. Or is it just worth going to a few of the well-reviewed agencies and going from there?

Thanks a lot,

Chris

Hey guys,

I'm currently looking to apply for my 2nd year visa, but I'm not in Australia at the moment. I'm in Thailand, and will probably be here for at least another 2 weeks. I've seen that if you apply for your 2nd year visa outside of Australia, you need to be outside when it is granted.

That's why I was hoping someone could give me a rough idea of how long it takes to process, or whether it is worth going back to Aus first, and then applying. I still have until November for my 1st year to expire so it shouldn't be a problem, I just wanted to have my 2nd year confirmed before I head back.

Thanks a lot,

Chris

I'm going to be setting off on my travels in a couple of weeks with a year in Australia being one of my first stops. I was just wondering if I should change some cash before I leave, or just transfer money to my Oz bank account and using my current debit card etc?

Thanks

Hey guys,

Just looking to book up my first week for when I arrive in Sydney and was hoping for some feedback on good hostels. I preferably want something reasonably priced, but somewhere that isn't absolutely filthy... I've seen a few people mention Bounce? Also I was looking at Sydney Central Backpackers which looks like it could be a good option. Any recommendations forms experience would be great though!

Bit late to this party but from what I've seen on this post everyone has pretty similar ideas to myself and two friends! We arrive in Sydney in October (20th) and are looking to find a job as soon as possible and chill there until the New Year at least. Can't wait to meet new friends and have some awesome experiences along the way.

 

As there is 3 of us (all aged 23), we think finding a flat share that will accommodate all of us may be a bit difficult, therefore, if anyone wants to chat and get to know us we might be able to find a flat with one or two others for us all to share?

 

Just drop me a message if you'd like to chat more. Interested to here plans from other people.

 

Have a good time all!

Hey, I'll be landing in Sydney on 11th November. Got myself booked up in Sydney Central until the following week, then I'll be looking for a flat share as well. If you girls are still in the same boat, give me a shout! Even if you're not, it may be nice just to meet some new people?

Probably not, I want to get into an apartment pretty soonish as it will work out cheaper. I figured that over christmas/new year it be a lot more social to be in a hostel with groups of other people. Maybe that's just me being worried about meeting people over there though!

Anyone else have any advice on what to do around this period? There still doesn't really seem to be a lot around online for this. The only thing I've found is 'Surfside Backpackers' who do a package deal if you stay up to 14 nights. They seem to provide a lot of activites/free things during this time (for a pretty big initial cost..). They're charging $974 for a 14 night package including Christmas and New Year. Is this worth it? Or are there other alternatives?