moominfillyjonk

2 hours ago, OzinEire said:

Great to see some movement again. 

No updates for us still. Applied July 2019 and received RFI February 2020. Nothing since. Quite disheartening. We've delayed moving plans indefinitely now cause we've no idea what's going on. 

 

ETA we supplied police checks August 2019 and hubby did his medical Nov 2019 so I'm guessing they'll have to be done again. Hoping there's more leway considering covid delaying everything. 

1 hour ago, moominfillyjonk said:

Your timelines are pretty much the same as ours! No word either

Have faith! I wrote this to you and then went for a run, thinking that's it I am going to apply for the tourist visa when I get home and.... I just had an email to say both 100/309 have been granted! They must be hard at work processing again, they really must!!

18 minutes ago, OzinEire said:

Great to see some movement again. 

No updates for us still. Applied July 2019 and received RFI February 2020. Nothing since. Quite disheartening. We've delayed moving plans indefinitely now cause we've no idea what's going on. 

 

ETA we supplied police checks August 2019 and hubby did his medical Nov 2019 so I'm guessing they'll have to be done again. Hoping there's more leway considering covid delaying everything. 

Your timelines are pretty much the same as ours! No word either

39 minutes ago, ptb88 said:

Hi everyone.

just wanted to share our good news that we had a 309 granted today from the London office. DOL: 31st December 2019 

We have been apart since Feb 2020 as I relocated back home to Australia for a job and my partner stayed here. Due to COVID-19 we were looking to apply for a 600 and exemption to see each other. We actually got a migration agent to look at our case and contact the London office. Within two days of that contact our visa was granted. 
 

Just wanted to share the news as this forum has been such a huge help for us during every step of this.

 

Whoa congrats @ptb88! Do you mind me asking which agent you used and if it cost a lot to get them to follow up for you? Please message me if you prefer. We’ve been waiting since July 2019

@Almat - on the exemption application do you have to provide evidence of flight boking or airline tickets? We are now looking to go out in February 2020 even if my 100 partner doesn't come through on a 600 and exemption. I am reluctant though to book flights now as have heard and read about lots being cancelled, might do this in December or January and hopefully things have improved a bit by then. Remind me how long your 600 took to be granted and how long your exemption took to be approved. If it takes 3 months then I am going to def start looking into this in the next few weeks. 

Congrats on your visa coming through! 

Also has anyone had any expierience with the health check. I had mine done prob way too eagerly in September 2019, no visa approved yet and now wondering if I will have to have another one! 

1 hour ago, Almat said:

I’m going on a 600 visa plus exemption, partner visa in the system. I’m hoping I can get a bridging visa to work - now I’m a bit concerned! My husband of 17 years and children are all citizens so you think they’d just rubber stamp it and be done 

Hi - can I ask what bridging visa are you going to apply for? I can't see one that applies for anyone who applied for an offshore partner visa or does it 'attach' to your 600? Thanks!

3 hours ago, DUBtoBNE said:

They're not reviewing partner visas? Or they are reviewing them very slowly?

I was approved for a 600 visa and an exemption to enter last week. I now have the prospect of applying for a leave of absence from my employer and going to Australia for 3 months. I was kind of hoping my partner visa would come through before those three months are up. We plan to travel after Christmas.

I emailed the London office and they said they are still  processing but at very reduced capacity. I randomly came across this piece of information which shows they are processing but at dramatically lower rates pre-COVID.

Also does anyone know when you apply for the offshore visa you can't apply for a bridging visa to work in Australia can you? I've mentioned this to a couple of people (who have Australian partners), that we might end up having to go over on a visitor visa but it means I won't be able to work and they keep saying why don't you just apply for a bridging visa? And I say you can't do that on the offshore one, and they say I'm sure you can! Now I am self-doubting

2 hours ago, JEN9316 said:

Hi All

I am hoping someone might be able to put my mind at ease over a few things - this group has been very helpful for me to date reading other posts - so, thanks in advance!

Apologies for the long post.

Background:

I am Australian and the sponsor of my de-facto. 

- We applied May 19 from the UK 309 partner visa and 'Application received' the same day

- RFI in Feb 20 for medical etc and this was uploaded in March 20

- RFI in Mar re military discharge cert (which we had to wait months for, hence needing to be asked for it) and we uploaded 6 Mar 20

- 'Application in Progress' 27 May 20 and we have not heard anything more.

-------------------------

Questions:

1) we have been de-facto for 4 years, however my partner is still technically married as his divorce has stalled due to Covid (and needed to be separated for 2 years before being able to apply). Immi haven't asked for info on this and we have been open about it from the application. Has anyone had any issues with this - ie: a divorce hasn't been finalized (but shown to be in progress) and this has stalled the approval? Our de-facto relationship is very solid and we provided circa 70 docs and there have been no RFI in relation to our relationship.

2) I am obviously the sponsor for my partner, and we noted down that I am to receive correspondence for the updates - so I have been getting the emails for RFI etc. I read a couple of posts above whereby people said they were logging into their own Immi account (ie the sponsor) and seeing a different status. When I log in to mine there is absolutely nothing, not even an application. But from memory we did my supporting application for sponsorship through my partners immi account - not both. Is this the case with others - or have I completely ballsed this up and missed something? 

3) Final question! We are considering applying for a 600 from the UK as its only AUD145 and thought best to have just in case. Hypothetically speaking, if access was granted and we moved to Aus - would my partner still be able to work remotely for this UK company and continue to be paid in the UK and do his normal UK job? I assume once the 309 was approved then he would just exit the country and reenter on the 309 (assuming that covid has died down enough for this to happen) and would then be able to be employed by a Australian company?

Thanks in advance for your help - its very much appreciated!

Good luck to all with your own approvals etc!

Jenna

Hi - I can't comment on 1 or 2. We applied last year and had an RFI in March and nothing since either, just sat waiting! 

We are deliberating just going out with me on a 600. We thought potentially I could keep working remotely for my UK job! I had a google and it looks like you need to get confirmaiton of a few things. First you have to check with the company you work for if they are happy for you to do that. I read that at some point when does your 'holiday' not become a holiday and you are actually working from another country, and as a results there come be some tax implications to watch out for - you could end up paying tax in the UK and Australia. 

By no means an expert this is just something I read! I work for a university and there are staff working abroad atm but this is like 2-3 months max and obv weird times. Basically I'd speak to the company he works for and do some other research.

Good luck.

1 hour ago, OE17 said:

Would also be interested to know if anyone is hearing anything about offshore 309 visa progress .. we had just submitted my medical and police check (both all clear) in March after receiving RFI at end of Feb, but since then haven’t heard anything. Felt like we were so close to getting it granted but also understand why it’s gone quiet! Any thoughts / theories on when visa grants might restart?

I emailed the email address provided from an RFI and got this generic response - this was just 3 weeks ago:

Quote

 

Please note that visa processing times are currently impacted during COVID:19 and we have reduced operational capacity as we continue to adhere to UK Government measures still in place in response to the pandemic.

 We will however be in contact at this time and as your application progresses.

 For further information regarding impact of COVID:19 upon Australia immigration, citizenship, travel and border matters, please refer to the Department’s website.

See:  https://covid19.homeaffairs.gov.au/

 We also refer you to our general global service standards and to note if your application is still within service standards.  Information on processing times for all visas can be found at https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/about/access-accountability/service-standards/global-visa-citizenship-processing-times 

 Once our office returned to full operations, we will be in contact in due course.

 

10 minutes ago, Almat said:

Hi there - this is encouraging. I am in the same situation - Australian partner of 17 years, two dual citizen children together, awaiting my partner visa. I have applied for the 600 visa and since immi says I can only apply for exemption up to 3 months prior to travel I will have to wait until October (travelling - hopefully on 30th Dec). My question is will they only really consider me if my circumstances require compassionate exemption? We've been planning the relocation for a year now, children start school on the Sunshine coast in January. My husband says he's happy to take them over initially but I cant leave a 9 and 6 year old (who is autistic) without their Mamma! It's so stressful all this. I'm nervous I wont even get the exemption! 

Hi! Can I ask do you plan and hope to work in Australia? We were hoping we could be out there in January next year but no sign of visa being approved yet. We are reluctant to make the move without any hope of me being able to work as my husband is a freelancer and so it would take him time to set up his business back in Oz (he is Australian). We're now thinking do we just do what you are doing, apply for an exemption and go out on the visitor visa, and hope the visa comes through soon so I wouldn't be without a job too long. Does anyone know if once you're in Australia as a visitor, will they look at your 309 offshore application and let you know they are about to process it? I read on another thread that at the moment if you're onshore and your visa is offshore, they wont even bother - again this is just on a thread so no conclusive evidence!! It's so hard to know what to do.

20 minutes ago, paulhand said:

What is the point of that? If you have no immediate intention to travel then the 309 is of no immediate use. All this does is slow things down for others and if you get granted an exemption potentially fills a slot someone genuinely needs ... 

In any case, it won't speed up the 309.

My question was based purely on from reading many of the threads of people applying for the exemption but instead of putting a 600 visa down they are putting the 309 down in the hope that it makes immi look at and approve the 309 sooner, it seems regardless of whether they are travelling soon or not. Some people have reported they applied for the exemption, put down the 309 and the visa was then approved. If the 309 got approved you'd probably then be ready to book some flights and make the move and make use of the exemption. Everyone's circumstances and reasons for doing things are different. 

On 05/08/2020 at 09:18, lepea said:

Hi @TruthSeeking, 

I’ve just read your other post. I’m not a migration agent but I would consider applying for the visitor visa with Australian citizen children you’re likely to be granted a 12 month Visitor visa without no further stay conditions. Once in Australia apply for an on shore partner visa. 
You then won’t have to worry about leaving the country to activate an off shore partner visa. 

@lepea - did applying for the exemption do anything to trigger them to look at your 309 visa? Also when you apply for the exemption do you have to provide any evidence of your flights/travel? Just wondering if you can apply for the exemption but have no intention of travelling on the hope they look at my 309 application?! Thanks

30 minutes ago, Agnese said:

@moominfillyjonk HI! They send automatic email after a year of lodging your application! I really hope to get my visa before it hits one year mark

Hilarious!! We were gonna break out the champagne

Just had an email saying our application is in progress - no idea what it means, but its something!!

@GRS that is super helpful thank you! So if we wanted to visit Australia for longer than 3 months whilst waiting for 309 approval we could go for that. I see now why some are suggesting to apply for it in case it helps push the 309 through, but obv never any guarantees!! 
 

Does anyone know if we did travel to Australia before the 309 is approved do you have to notify someone you’ll be onshore? And then do they let you know you need to get out of Australia if the approval was going to happen? 
 

thanks all

Hi All 

Can someone clarify what an exemption is please, and the '600'? I've been getting notifications for this thread and just caught snippets! 

My husband is Australian - we live in the UK. We've been together since 2011, married since 2015.

We paid for our visa application (offshore 309/100) in July 2019 - we were quite slow at uploading all the info, but wanted to get it paid for and in the system. End of Feb we had an RFI, which we submitted. Now we haven't heard anything since. We did it ourselves and did not use an agent.

We hope to move out to Melbourne in September/October this year, but with the virus and not hearing about my visa we are on the slow - we need to sell our house etc in London.

Im just curious what the exemption and 600 is? Is it a way of getting out to Australia before the 309/100 is approved (hopefully it will be!)? And if it is, can you work out there on it? Is it for UK citizens? @Shaggylom @Aussie20

Is there a way to transfer the 309/100 offshore, to an onshore one and get ourselves out there? My husband said not but thought it is worth asking.

Any help much apprciated - advice on here better than trawling Google! 

Many Thanks!

47 minutes ago, paulhand said:

Time for him to get writing (and working out his travel for the last 10 years) and getting his police checks ... 

 

 

That's what we were afraid of! 

Hi All

It would seem the new rule about sponsors being approved first has not yet come into action. With that in mind is there anyone who has already done the visa that can advise what is actually asked of the sponsor, once you can get to that part of the application after payment?

We are wondering does the sponsor have to submit statements about finance; relationship; commitment etc like the applicant? Do they have to list where they have travelled in the past 10 years? As if they do my husband had better get writing! If they don't have to then we are nearly done!

We have read not to submit the application and pay until we have all my evidence sorted, as there is no timeline as to when my application will be dealt with - so best it is all there ready and waiting.

Thanks all.

Hi, I have the same question! Did you ever find an answer? I have 2 kids too but they already have australian citizenship so I am thinking to tick no for all of them? Thanks

Hi All,

We are about to apply for Spouse Visa (offshore). I've read that if your temp visa is granted you have basically one year to enter the country to validate it. 

Once the permanent part if approved, is there then a time limit to enter the country for that? And also do you have to move and stay in Australia for a certain amount of time?

I'm basically thinking if something happened in the UK to make us stay and not move to Australia for a number of years, would that matter? Does the visa(s) run out for example if you don't move to Aus?

Very badly explained!

Thanks!

How do you know your husband has to complete a stat dec is there another section requesting this information? or is in in the sponsor application form? thanks!

Does my husband have to fill out stat decs for each question as well (as my sponsor)? I've been reading about us submitting joint statements and declarations. Perhaps it asks you this after the relationship details page? Or does he submit his stat decs in his sponsor application? Thanks

Thanks again Beffers. For the submission of evidence forms, does the website provide links and information where to find such things as stat dec forms and this form 80 for example? Because you can't click through to look at the next pages etc I'm finding it hard to understand what needs to be provided - just can't really believe there is no guidance forms for filling it out like they have for passport applications etc!

Thanks

Thanks Beffers. So in these boxes, would I just write a short paragraph outlining the answers to the questions? Or does it need to be more detailed, or refer to each piece of evidence that I will submit for each question? Thanks.

Hello All.

I've started the very basics of the online application for a partner visa for myself (309-100), from the UK.

I can't find anything to really help with what documents and evidence we actually have to submit for the question section (see my attached pic)? How do you know what to submit, what form it should be, do you have to use special forms, who to ask etc etc? 

I'm considering now going through a migration agent as I can't see any guidance on what they want!

Thanks