HibiscusDreams

Thanks for your take, Nemesis - appreciate the heads up ?

Yeah, I'm thinking this might be an agent one. Any recommendations for this would be super-useful. I don't really want a full package, as the main application is already in and I'm happy to do the paperwork myself, I just really want an advice and guidance session or two (I don't have thousands to spare, so it's also a case of what I can afford!), if there is someone who can do that, ideally specialized in partner visas for UK/EU citizens.

OK all, so maybe advice, or maybe just some comfort needed here lol - not sure which, but I'm a bit worried. I spoke to the Immi enquiry line yesterday asking how bridging visas would work in case my PMV hasn't been processed by the time of my wedding, so in other words how I'd bridge from an eVisitor to the 309 Partner Visa. Immi informed me that I couldn't apply to convert the application from 300 to 309 whilst inside Australia, and that I'd have to leave Australia after the wedding, and apply from another country and wait for it to be approved. Obviously this scares me a lot. Not only because the idea of potentially being seperated from my parnter for another 2 years potentially feels me with dread and depression, but also because this goes against completely what my understanding of how the process works. Looking up the Bridging Visas online, I found this: Bridging Visa C (class 030) - https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/trav/visa-1/030- - which covers the bridge from an non-substantive to a substantive visa, which would seem to cover exactly this sort of issue. So, am I missing something here, or is this a viable solution to my (potential/feared - if the PMV isn't granted in time) problem? Also, can the application for a PMV be converted within Australia or not? I understand an application for a 309 can't be made fresh whilst in Australia, but does this still apply for converting an existing application (for PMV) that was indeed made outside the country? If it does have to made outside Australia, can I still apply for the BVC? For the first time in this process, I really do feel out of my depth and that I'm just being toyed with by Immi for their amusement ?

Yeah, I think it's hard to find anything to do with immi "motivating" - still 5 months is incredible. Hoping some of your luck rubs off on me!

Hope you've got a frequent flier card! ^_^

Best of luck, Laura! From my understanding of the rules, you shouldn't have to postpone in either case. If you get carried before the PMV is approved, you can convert the application straight to a partner visa application :) - Not an agent so obviously double check it with immi, but I'm fairly sure that is an option - and definitely preferable to postponing the big day!

My impression from immi was that it wouldn't "knock out" the visa someone is currently using, unless you leave and re-enter, thus activating the new visa?

My departure day looms closer! No news on visa yet but I do have flight and everything booked so just wanted to check if the following is an option? I'm pretty sure it is (spoke to the immi enquiry line as was told yes, but thought it is always wise to cross ref with real world experiences) Flight is Nov 6, Wedding is Feb 16 - Is it OK to: * Fly out as scheduled on an E-visitor visa * If my PPM still hasn't been processed by start of Feb (when 90 days are nearly up) fly over to NZ, spend a few days in Auckland (or welly.... Welly is a fun little place) then re-enter. This would be a few weeks before my wedding. * Straight after the wedding, apply to convert my PPM application to a partner visa. If this is permitted, will the Bridging visa have the permissions of a partner visa (i.e. allow me to get a job, enroll in medicare and all the usual guff) or will it lump me on a de-facto e-visitor status? Alternatively, if while I am there on the e-visitor, and the PPM is approved before Feb, can I fly out to NZ and re-enter straight away (well, after say 2-3 days, not literally immediately) under full PPM rules? Again I have been told this is OK by immi, but would appreciate real-world knowledge.

Fantastic!!! So happy for you - and a huge sigh of relief here - it's like somebody at Immi had just switched off the lights and called it a day. Best of luck to you, now get your arse out there and enjoy your life together! ?

That's good to know. I so don't want to have to jump through all these hoops again. It's been horrible. It's really the thought of my s/o and our life together at the end of it that has made it doable - totally worth it for her :)

I've been over Perth - it's a stunning city, coming from the UK it's *so* clean, and the river is beautiful. Really liked my time there, sure you'll make a great home there ? But yep, it is a bit eerie.... what's happening, Immi?!

the Blue Mountains, just west of Sydney ? - Absolutely gorgeous, but bloody expensive!

Snap! I'm off on the first week of November ^_^ Hoping for some shared good fortune! - if not, e-visitor it is!

It's not that Australia has too many migrants, but that - as the OP article says - they all settle in the capitals. The problem is unemployment - rural towns just don't have the permanent, full time jobs needed by new arrivals to establish themselves and get on their feet. Rather than encouraging them to move to very small rural towns (as in the example in the OP) a better move might be to encourage migration to secondary cities, i.e. Newcastle, Wollongong, Geelong, Townsville, Cairns, Bunbury etc.as well as the smaller capitals like Hobart and Darwin instead of the big five. The best way to do this would be to make more employment/skill based visas either contingent upon settling outside of the big five, or providing an incentive (fewer "points", and/or a fee discount) for regional settlement.

Don't know! That was just what the site said to pay, so I did ? I'm a UK citizen applying from UK, so maybe if your applying from elsewhere the cost might be different?

Awwe, that's horrible! Hoping that beauracracy doesn't ruin your plans....Didn't it used to be possible to convert a prospective marriage app to a partner visa if you get married before they process?

Fingers crosse! I planned to get mine in ages ago but people dragged their feet with stat Dec's... do we have any recent timelines on processing? I know they were being super fast earlier in the year. I've got health and police checks all ready to go. Wedding is in Feb but planning to fly out in November to help get stuff organised. I did speak to immi and was told it's OK to go out on an e visitor if the 300 isn't approved then if it comes through within the 3 months fly to nz and reenter Oz to activate it.

Well, that's it! Just submitted my application - $7160 poorer and butterflies in my stomach! Wish me luck! ?

Technically, there's no need to worry (if you're an EU citizen at least). You can set your date if you wish, and if the visa isn't approved by then, enter Australia on a regular e-visit visa - have your wedding and head back to your current home country and request your PPM application to be converted to a partnership application. The rules do allow for this. My current understanding is that applications from the UK and EU are currently being processed quite quickly - well within the guidelines. Mine is going to submitted in a week or two, and our wedding is set for February - NOIM in, venue and celebrant all arranged ? - It's wise to have a NOIM and a celebrant sorted before you apply, as the celebrant can provide a letter to include with your application, which is very useful. Immi do ask for any dates you have scheduled for the wedding, so I'm guessing they will at least try and work to that schedule as long as it's reasonable. We wanted to do it this way to give us a chance to spread the costs of the wedding - and give a chance for people who wanted to come from overseas to have a fixed date to work to for flights etc., but that's just us. You certainly don't have to do it that way - as long as you've got a celebrant and NOIM sorted then you're OK as far as Immi are concerned.

My understanding is that the Last Remaining Relative visa has effectively been withdrawn in all but name - which is a shame, as for people in your situation it is a humanitarian issue and not relevant to a large number of people so it's hardly a "loophole" visa - but the immigration issue in Australia is every bit as a toxic and vitriolic as in the UK. All of us immigrants are just footballs used by politicians to show how tough and manly they are.

I like how the Brits mock aussie food.... but us poms really are no better ?? - I've had Tim-Tams and burger rings shipped to the UK before now lol

Sadly, I second this. I've got a few Aussie muso friends, and I've heard the same from them. Neither make a living from it. True, they are based in WA, but both have tried touring the east coast and still wound up not only not making a living from it, but barely covering the costs of doing it. To give an idea of the economies needed, one of them was in a band that loaded up a trailer and hauled it behind one their own vehicles to the east coast - all the way across the Nullarbor. Lovely road trip, but basically a fun self-funding hobby, not a way to make a living.

I feel your pain! About to submit, hopefully in a week or so - just waiting on the last few stat decs to come in from family and co-workers. Hoping to get house on the market at the same time. I've priced competitively to try and make sure it goes, and spent a lot of time doing the place up to the best of my Bunnings video tutorial based DIY super-powers. If not I've got family here who can finish the transaction for me, but I'd rather leave here with the money from it in my hand - just for comfort sake, as we are stuck in rental hell back home (in oz.... I just can't think of the UK as home anymore, my life the love of it are in NSW, waiting for me) and want to buy as soon as we practically can.

Is there a reason you can't put in for divorce? Your case would be MUCH simpler if you could do this. NSW won't let you register a partnership if you're married to someone else, and having a partnership certificate is a big piece of evidence that Immi like to see. Not sure of the partnership registration rules in other states/territories, but I'm guessing they are somewhat similar.