Eifster

Agghhhhh ...... a million euro (well, a little less), 32 pieces of official paperwork and a 9 month and 2 week wait .... oh thank god that's finally sorted!

VISAVISAVISAVISAVISAVISAVISAVVVVISAVISAVISAVISAVISAVVVISAVISAVISAVISAVISAVISAVISAVISAVVVISA

VISAVISAVISAVISAVISAVISAVISAVISAVISAVVISAVISAVVISAVISAV .... and I can't get my stupid fiance (lovely fiance) in Melbourne to wake up! Haha.

And not a word from any CO the whole time!

Thanks so much for all your online support the while time everyone, it's been really helpful for peace of mind, just to just monitor that everything tends to run smoothly as long as you meet the criteria. Congrats to all the recent grants, and good luck to everyone, especially @Wan2go ... the silver medal in our race isn't so bad

Hi

I've stalked about here since my application and just wanted to share my husband was granted his visa today 10 months to the day. We applied 6/12/14 with case officer RN. We fly out the 1st Nov so brilliant timing.

 

I do need some advice he was granted the 309 although we have been married 10 years with 2 children I did think we would get the 100 can this decision be appealed or should we just be happy with what we have? Don't want to sound ungrateful as I'm over the moon it's come through i was just hoping for the 100

Goodluck everyone

Email your case officer straightaway and ask. I think I remember hearing that this happened by mistake for someone, and a quick email sorted it out - (but I don't fully remember, so don't get your hopes up too much).

Congratulations!!!!!

Hi all,

 

my my visa came through today! Am so happy! Good luck to you all.

 

 

thanks

Ah brilliant, congrats ....

I'M NEXT ON THE LIST with @Wan2go .... we're coming towards the finish line!

Thanks Eifster! Is it okay that he won't have any return flights booked tho? Is that the eTourist visa that you can apply for online?

Yes, the online etourist. I used it and had no problems, but I am back in Ireland now waiting for my visa still, so it's a little different.

It's very unlikely he will be stopped in the airport, but if he is, other people have said they just told the truth 100% about their plans, and they had no problems. It sounds like immigration have a lot of people coming in on tourist visas while waiting for these visas.

As long as he makes it clear he is visiting family/partner and won't be working, and that he will be leaving the country to get the 309/100, I haven't heard of any problems.

Long time reader and lurker, but have followed you all religiously!!

 

Wanted to share the good news that my husband has been awarded his 309 visa today, exactly nine months since application! Applied on 29th Dec 2014, had LC and have to enter by 31st July 2016 (one year after police check which was earlier than medicals).

 

Beyond excited right now, but it's not really sunk in. When we watch Masterchef Australia tonight I can say - 'We're going to live there!'. Finally going home!!

 

Good luck to everyone still waiting, hoping it comes super quickly for you all!!!

Oh my god, 9 months - that's great. You must have been surprised. Congrats!

And you applied a whole week after me! (excited)

So many lurkers pop up ...

Have a question regarding tourist visas...

 

We're moving back to Oz at the start of December this year, which is likely to be before my hubby gets his 309/100 visa granted, so he will be going out on a tourist visa. The intention is that we will spend time with my family and in January I'll go back to work while he looks after our son until his visa is granted and can start looking for work himself.

The question I have is do we go for a tourist visa (subclass 600) for 3 months and then extend from Oz if we need to?

Or does he go on the family sponsored visa (subclass 679)?

What have people done in similar situations??

He has a brother in NZ he plans to visit when the 309/100 gets granted to activate it.

Thanks everyone!!

I'm only going to give a partial answer. I don't know anything about the 679 visa, but I do know the etourist one is free, you get it after a few days, and it's really straightforward, so unless there's something special about the 679, the etourist visa is great.

finally got the best news of my life got granted the 100 today!!! 9 months and 4 weeks. Cannot wait to see my husband, planning on the big move mid November, just got to give my notice at work eeeeekkkkk feels real now!

Congrats, happy for you, enjoy the reunion.

There might be silence for a while for visa grants. There's almost a month gap from the application date of Mrsguvs and Laura who is waiting.

When I applied in December, the visas were coming through between 8.5-9 months ... and they've definitely gone up to around 9.5-10 months. Since there's been two price hikes since I applied, I imagine the waiting times will slow down for the rest of you, but only time will tell!

This forum is fab - it's great for me to be able to track things and feel reassured my application was solid. I'm checking this forum most days and my partner completely ignores it, but he's always counted down the days until my flights arrive to see him, which I find tortuous!

After some "IT issues" at the high commission I got my 100 visa today!!!!

10 months and 5 days.

Now off to look at flights.... :jiggy:

congrats and good luck ... hope the longer than usual wait wasn't too stressful

I still haven't received an email to say I've been assigned a CO and I've checked the correspondence and it only says "application has been received" has anyone else had to wait this long before being assigned a CO?

I've been waiting 8 and a half months with no communication with a CO at all. It used to happen a lot over the last few years, and seems to be a sign that your application is all in order and they don't need anything from you, than there is something wrong. Or so people have told me.

Did you front-load your application with the medical and the police check/s already completed? I did, so I won't be getting an email from a CO asking for them.

I got nervous all the same, and sent a query about having a CO in last week ('everyone else has one') and got a generic crappy reply from a European Service Centre person just saying they'd get in touch if they needed anything and that my application was in process.

My guess is that certain COs like to get in touch, and certain ones don't want you emailing them all the time so they don't let you know they're dealing with your files. But recently, there's only been me and one other person on this forum who didn't have a CO that got in touch. Thankfully there was one other person (who recently got their grant) or I'd be a ball of stress! A bigger ball of stress, I mean.

Ps thanks for letting me know about the tourist visa. I have my tickets booked for us all in July to go haha oops!!

DON'T DO IT! (very important!)

i

 

i am currently residing in the UK when my initial visa was approved, and I visited Australia within the 1 year time frame from when it was approved and now I'm waiting for my perm visa to be approved then we will emigrate.

It looks like you are already entitled to emigrate, as you already have the (temporary) partner visa. You really don't need to wait or get a tourist visa if you have the 309 already. You said you got that 4 months after you applied yeah?

These are your entitlements, from the government website, https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/309- :

What you have now, I think:

The Partner (Provisional) visa (subclass 309) lets you:

• enter Australia and stay here until a decision is made about your permanent Partner visa

• work in Australia

• study in Australia, but with no access to government funding

• enrol in Medicare, Australia's scheme for health-related care and expenses.

What you are applying for now after waiting two years on the above one:

If you are later granted a permanent visa, you can:

• stay in Australia indefinitely

• work and study in Australia

• apply for Australian citizenship (if you are eligible)

• sponsor eligible relatives for permanent residence

• receive some social security payments

• travel to and from Australia for five years from the date the visa is granted – after that time you will need another visa to enter Australia.

Good news Fosh - you're in the wrong thread.

We're all at stage 1. When you applied for Stage 1, you also applied for stage 2 at the same time.

Some people get granted stage 1 (the temporary 300 or 309) which took you 4 months, but is taking us 9 - 14 months (lucky you), and some people get granted stage 2 straight away (they go straight to the permanent 100).

Others, like you, have to wait the 2 years on the 309 (which you are on now but soon to finish, it seems) to get the 100, which you're about to do, it looks like.

I don't know how long it will take you though. They hardly make you wait all the time again? Anyone?

If you are not living in Oz while waiting for your stage two, you do need to do police checks and medicals again, but if you're in Oz, you don't have to do them again.

I'm not 100% on all this info, so just wait for a few others to confirm. It's unusual for someone to wait in the UK after they have their first visa approved, so there's not too many people in your position (I hope your health is better) - most people will be onshore in Australia when they are waiting for the permanent one.

Hi Fosh, welcome welcome. Maybe specify which visa you're waiting for and what the first stage you're referring to is, and we'll make sure we give the best info we have to you, cheers.

What are your visa subclass numbers? i.e. 300 / 100 / 820 (etc?)

 

Im in the second stage of my visa approval which I think is the perm stage.

 

My partner lives in Clifton Hill in a houseshare at the moment, but we'll have to find somewhere else soon, because it's not big enough or very affordable! And god knows how long it will take me to find work. Ideally Northcote, Thornbury or around those areas. I've lived there before for a few years so I know my way about. Are you going to Melbourne too?

Bali should be a lovely way to deal with any jet lag

Exciting news @Eifster! Where in Melbourne are you heading to?

 

My husband and I are booked to leave the UK on 4 November! Too excited to wait until my visa is actually granted!

 

Wish we were going via Bali ... I haven't just turned into a green-eyed monster at all

So lovely to see people's visas come through! I bet JT Spurs has repetitive strain injury from hitting refresh ... I hope it comes really soon for you!

Sooo ... I got impatient and I'm semi-homeless and flights were going to get expensive, so I booked my one-way.

I go via Bali on 26th October to meet a friend (a two person hen party?!) and then arrive to Melbourne on 2nd November ... that way, if there's any extra delay with my visa, I'll just stay in Bali til it's ready, which would ironically be cheaper than just staying in Dublin. Yoo hoo!

So that gives me an overall waiting time allowance of 10 months and 11 days - fingers crossed!

Question- has there ever been anyone on here that has applied for the 309, been asked by CO to get police check and medical done and been denied visa (for grounds other than police/medical). Do you get to see results of medical and police check?

Hey Tracy,

I've been reading the forums for a while, and the only people I've seen not get it (and it's rare) is a couple who was asked for more financial info and provided none, a couple who weren't in a relationship for the required time (but thought they could wing it anyway - they thought they could include the time while the visa was processing as part of their year together, which is not possible), and a couple who were messed around badly by a dodgy agent. But that's it, as far as I've seen anyway.

I think the main thing is that if your application is lacking something they'll ask, and you would know there's an issue only if you can't provide what they want.

(Don't stress!)

Actually, there seems to be a mistake regarding stage 5. You do need 4 years prior to application living in Australia for citizenship, but only the 1 year directly prior to the application needs to be permanent residency.

The gov website says:

'The residence requirement is based on the time you have lived in Australia and the time you have spent outside Australia.

You must:

• have been living in Australia on a valid Australian visa for four years immediately before applying which must include the last 12 months as a permanent resident, and
  
• not have been absent from Australia for more than one year in total, in the 4 year period, including no more than 90 days in the year before applying.
  

The Residence Requirement Calculator can help you calculate whether you meet this requirement.

Under certain circumstances the residence requirement may be varied.'

After asking the question on here I emailed my agent with the same question. This is what he sent me bk so I thought I'd put it on here to help others with stages of their visas

 

Stage One – Prospective Marriage visa

It will be for 9 months and, as you know, you must marry and apply for your permanent visa within that 9 months. It’s a multiple-entry visa, so you can leave and return during that time.

 

Stage Two – Application for Partner visa (provisional visa)

When you apply for your Partner visa, this will need to be processed. These, like this one, takes quite a long time. While it’s being processed, you will have what’s called a Bridging Visa. Your bridging visa is NOT multiple entry, so you would need to seek advice and permission from Immigration if you wanted to leave Australia for short periods during this time.

 

Stage Three – Provisional Partner visa

When your Partner Visa application is approved, you will get your provisional visa. This is valid until you get your permanent visa, usually about 2 years later. This visa is multiple entry, so you can travel freely while it’s in effect.

 

Stage Four – Permanent Partner visa

When you get your permanent Partner visa, around 2 years from when you get your provisional Partner visa (although it could take a little longer), this is also multiple entry, so you can travel freely while it’s in effect.

 

Stage Five – Australian citizenship

Once you have had your permanent visa for 4 years, you could enquire about citizenship. I would strongly recommend this, although it is optional, and you should note that there are some other things you need to do to qualify for this, but because this is 6-7 years away at least, it’s too early to go into detail on this. You would then get an Australian passport, and have both it and the UK one, and you would never have any entry restrictions to Australia again.

 

Resident Return Visa

If you choose never to become an Australian citizen, you would need to have a Resident Return visa whenever you left Australia. These usually run for 5 years at a time (this could be where the 5 years you heard of comes from). They are multiple entry. However, in order to qualify for a new Resident Return visa when it runs out each 5 years, you need to show that you’ve spend a total (so all days add up) of 2 of the past 5 years in Australia. If you have, they’re straightforward. If you haven’t, you’d need to see Immigration or a migration agent to see if you qualify for another kind of Resident Return visa. But the bottom line is, if you spend 2 years in 5 (in total) in Australia, you would not have any problems at all.

 

Please note, though, that rules can change, so you’d need to check your situation out if you’re planning to leave Australia in either of the following:

- You’re on your Bridging Visa (Stage 2 above); or

- You have a permanent visa, but don’t have a resident return visa.

 

Bottom line, once you have your permanent visa, if you’re spending most of your time in Australia, with just occasional short visits outside, you shouldn’t have any problems.

Delighted for you, go celebrate!!!

309 Visa granted today!

Details in my signature... Validation date given as 06/01/16 - so a bit of extra time - although we'll still be arriving at the end of September as planned. It's a very happy Tuesday.

 

Good luck to everyone waiting!

Thanks for that info about all the stages Jen44 ... pretty handy to have it all together. Because it's not great to be stuck in Oz during stage 2, I had a quick look into that and found out some useful info.

So: if you get a 300 visa, then enter Oz and get married, and then apply for the 309/100 equivalents (which are called the 820/801 when you're applying onshore) - you get Bridging Visa A when you pit this application in. But you stay on the terms and conditions of the 300 for the remainder of the 9 month period it gives you, before you go onto the terms and conditions of the bridging visa.

So, you have freedom to travel in and out of Oz during that 9 month stretch from whenever you get your 300 granted. Thank god, 'cos I've plans where I need to travel! and then you get stuck until your 820/801 comes through!

Alternatively, you can ask for Bridging Visa B, which allows you to travel in and out, but you need to make your case and they need to accept your reasons for travel.

When I applied, I was given a waiting time of 9-12 months, but people before me, after me, and around the same time were given 10-14 months. Bit strange.

I did my medical on the 6th January. I've never been contacted by my CO, and from reading back in the forums, it seems that this indicates that they are happy with my application and don't need anymore info - so I'm just queued. I don't know who they are, although I've sent info to them via the general email (that I was going to Oz on a tourist visa for a while).

Do ya'll think the 300 visas are coming through slower than the other partner visas? These 300s are mostly about 10 months, and others are getting theirs around 9 months ... are they dealt with separately does anyone know???

Wan2go's application is going to be processed late as they have something holding them up, so don't wait for that one ...

Subclass 300 (PMV) Prospective Marriage List

 

Username

Lodge Date

..

Case Officer

Medical Date

Grant

Date

..

Process Time

 

2013

SJN87

........ ...

10/01/13

. .......

19/06/13

.........

01/07/13

...........

20/02/14

.........

13 Months 10 Days

DIA2499

........

03/10/13

........

12/11/13 (DP)

..

07/01/14

...........

10/06/14

.........

8 Months 7 Days

 

2014

ICEMAN7

...... ..

12/09/14

........

Unknown

........

20/07/15

...........

PJD2628

.........

19/09/14

.......

.

02/10/14

........

16/03/15

............

16/07/15

..........

9 Months 27 Days

LEA211

.... .......

09/10/14

.................................................. ...

25/08/15 (TBC)

CROKER

..........

09/10/14

........

(VF)

.........................................

06/08/15

..........

9 Months 30 Days

GBAMBER

..... ...

18/11/14

.......

04/12/14 (LC)

.

07/04/15

LAURA SMITH

.

..

18/12/14

EIFSTER

..........

22/12/14

WAN2GO

.........

22/12/14

........

14/01/15

2015

GAZDAD

...........

16/03/15

GOOSERENDERS

11/06/15

.......

29/07/15 (OH)

JEN44

..............

19/06/15

.......

17/08/15 (JM)

 

 

 

PMV 300 Lodged

12/09/14

, Case Officer

Unknown

, Medical

20/07/15

, Granted

Awaiting Decision

 

 

I think the medical should be valid for longer & should get it done before applying. I worry bout it... U apply for yr visa, pay all that money, wait 5/6 mths, have yr medical, then what if something shows up u didn't even know about??? And they say sorry u didn't pass the medical!!!! Yr whole life & dreams come crashing down around u!!! Not that I think anything is wrong, I'm fit & healthy but that could happen!!

Oh I'm a happy sole this morning!!!!! :biglaugh:

True, but when I did my medical in January, the doctor told me that only 0.5% of people don't pass the criteria to get the visa.... !

Jen44 this is our week to get a case officer assigned! yay! keep me posted when/if you hear something, im in oz so I reckon an email will come through when im asleep!

Hello! Just to let you know - it seems that not everyone's CO gets in touch. I applied last December and have never heard from anyone, except the original email letting me know they got my application. I was initially worried, so I looked into it on this and another forum, but I found later that many people with successful applications never heard from theirs either, so it means nothing. Actually, it most likely means that your application is really comprehensive and that they don't need anything more from you - they sometimes only get in touch if they need something.

In my case, I've wanted to contact my CO though to inform them of my eVisitor visa and trip to Oz. I sent an email to the European customer service desk and got one back from someone who said my CO has been informed, so I def have one, they just don't want to talk to me!

So, no stress about that! Good luck!

. I've just had email confirmation from my CO that I can postpone my medical until the end of September. Got a bit of a technical hitch and didn't seem any point having a medical without enough info from my (newly acquired!) consultant. @Eifster you are going to have to romp on ahead without me......:sad:

Ah now, that's a pity, sorry to hear. Not happy to run ahead without you - there's no joy in winning an unfair fight

Sounds like it's a good idea to sort everything out before you go, so get well soon! But if it's any consolation, the doctor told me during my visa medical that only 0.5% of people are refused visas for medical reasons (which made me delighted to hand over the €350 ... grrrr), so I guess they only refuse contagious or extremely life threatening stuff. So, you won't have any problems on that front.

In other news, I'm off to Australia for a 5 week holiday on Thurs, so woo hoo to that. I wonder if I'll still recognise my boy? It's been a while ...

I'm not a Brit, so do I still have to queue Pookie? Please say no!

This is me, deets below. Wedding is booked for 14th Nov, so it's a bit touch and go. I guess I'll make a decision about postponing it at some stage.

I dunno who my Case Officer is - they are avoiding me clearly. It just makes me want to email them more, whoever they are...

Thanks for the list. There's none listed for a month before mine and Wan2go's