Almat

2 minutes ago, Almat said:

@bicek huge congrats well done! You’ve panicked me a bit as I’m flying on New Years Eve with the children and my Australian husband is flying later once his work is finalised. I can’t see any stipulations on my visa hard copy or VEVO.  

@bicek is the 8502 shown on your visa?

1 hour ago, bicek said:

Hi everyone,

Just to update you all, my partner's 309/100 visa was granted yesterday!

We applied at the beginning of March this year. Had a request for more information in November (Health Assessment and ACRO police check) and we finished uploading these updates yesterday. The visa was granted yesterday! Apparently it was granted in Tel Aviv, not London. 

I have a couple quick questions in relation to the visa being approved....

1. My partner's passport is going to expire in the next 6 months so he needs to renew it before we travel to Australia. His visa grant letter details his current passport number which won't be in use by the time we relocate. Do we need to alert them to the updated passport info, or does this not matter? And if so, how do we tell them? Through the immi portal, or contacting the embassy directly? Bit clueless on this one, and want to make sure we do everything right in preparation. 

2. Does anyone know about visa entry conditions? We've tried to look up on vevo which ones would be relevant in my partner's 309/100 visa but it's not clear. The immi site states that condition "8502 - Not arrive before person specified on visa" could apply to the visa. As in, he might not be able to enter Australia to activate his visa without his sponsor (me) entering at the same time. Does anyone have any experience/understanding of this? Does it only apply to the temporary visa (309) or to the permanent residency (100) visa too? It's possible he will need to travel there solo to activate the visa if we can't all get over there in time by the final visa entry date. So we want to be sure on this, as apparently if the condition does apply, they can cancel your visa on the spot if you don't enter the country with the sponsor (me).

Thanks for any advice you can give! And i've got my fingers crossed there are more visa approvals on the way for you all. 

@bicek huge congrats well done! You’ve panicked me a bit as I’m flying on New Years Eve with the children and my Australian husband is flying later once his work is finalised. I can’t see any stipulations on my visa hard copy or VEVO.  

3 hours ago, Greystones said:

Hi Everyone,

Have been following this blog for months now and have finally submitted my 309 application! We are filling out the sponsor application now as well and it is looking for the same statements that I had to do for the 309 (Give details of financial aspect of relationship, nature of household etc etc) - I'm just wondering how much effort I need to put into these? Can I just reference the statements in the main application which I agonised over for ages before submitting??

Thanks in advance for any help!

@Greystones we just used my applicant statement and tweaked it for the sponsor version.... made it less wordy since it came from a man! ha ha... mine was long and emotional : )

9 hours ago, Robin’s Emigrating said:

Another quick question. We’re applying for both our kids citizenships and my 309/100 visa in parallel and have been presented with a question in my visa application about whether our kids are Australian Citizens. Should I mark them as “Australian Citizens” on the grounds that they will be by the time my application is processed, or mark as something like “Other”?

@Robin’s Emigrating I would defo mark them as citizens as long as there is no doubt they'll get their citizenship 

On 05/12/2020 at 12:19, Robin’s Emigrating said:

@AlmatThank you! I will PM you my email address. Really appreciate it. For clarity, there’s a section in the application where you provide the names of ‘Supporting Witnesses’. Should these be the same folks as those that fill out the 888 forms? It seems to ask for details of 2 supporting witnesses, but I see that you can add more.

@Robin’s Emigrating just checked and I used the same people as I did for 888 forms x

@Robin’s Emigrating hi there... For my form 888 I used my husbands Auntie (Australian), my father-in-law (Australian), a friend (Australian), my mother (British), my father (British). So all were family apart from the friend. 3 Aussie's and 2 brits. I also front loaded my application which meant I submitted with my medical check, police report and about a week later submitted my husbands Uk and Australian police report. If you send me your email address i'll share the resource that I referred to. Just got my visa in November - delighted!

5 hours ago, moominfillyjonk said:

 

 

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!!

ohhhh @moominfillyjonk fantastic... huge congrats! 

@Summer 213 I’d sort of ignore the processing times at the moment... mine was submitted in March and signed off in November - only 8 months, I front loaded everything. I’d progress if I were you. Good luck!

5 hours ago, DUBtoBNE said:

It says on your grant email where it was issued from.

Oh wow, just checked mine and it was issued in Belgrade 

1 hour ago, GuyPB said:

Hey,

I went for my medical 11th June 2020 and it was uploaded by Knightsbridge Doctors within 48 hours onto the Immi portal. I also uploaded the confirmation of appointment when I submitted my application on the 7th June 2020.

 

G

@bicek this is great news, well done! So pleased for you! Mine was clear and back in 24 hours so don’t panic!

@martymarty5436425 that’s annoying they are so slow. If it were me I’d still do the CBD route and then follow up explaining you are relocating along with timelines - this will give them a kick up the backside to get moving on it. If they’ve got no reason to prioritise your case they won’t. If you present a reason (eg we’re relocating in a month etc then they’ll be more likely to look into it). Ideally move before baby 2 is born then at least you only have one CBD to worry about for now I wrote to the embassy in London about my partner visa and  two weeks later it was granted! I only applied in March 2020. Worth a shot. 

6 minutes ago, bicek said:

That's so exciting! Safe travels for you all over the coming months, I hope flights and quarantine all goes ok!

@bicek yep so do I now I’m just praying my flight isn’t cancelled or we’re bumped !

1 minute ago, Almat said:

Hi @moominfillyjonk I highly refined writing to them (see address above). I truly believe this got the ball rolling my end. 
 

in terms of 600 I applied, didn’t hear anything for a while then submitted my exemption and both granted within 48 hours back in September. I would apply for both now. I didn’t provide any flight details as I didn’t have a flight booked. I put my planned travel date, which changed anyway. Crack on if I were you! 

3 minutes ago, bicek said:

Hi! Thanks so much for your input. I guess it really matters on the exact location and catchment sizes on whether that's an option. We will have to see I guess. But I will definitely explore this as an option as we would love to feel confident in having that bit sorted before we go. 

Congrats on getting your visa granted! When are you planning to head over?

@bicek it’s tricky for sure. Best of luck. I fly on the 31st Dec with my two children and husband will follow in Feb/March . 

On 11/11/2020 at 14:10, moominfillyjonk said:

@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! 

Hi @moominfillyjonk I highly refined writing to them (see address above). I truly believe this got the ball rolling my end. 
 

in terms of 600 I applied, didn’t hear anything for a while then submitted my exemption and both granted within 48 hours back in September. I would apply for both now. I didn’t provide any flight details as I didn’t have a flight booked. I put my planned travel date, which changed anyway. Crack on if I were you! 

Yes do @lepea! It obviously helped my end. I didn’t it think it would to be honest... I highlighted how easy my case was (not dissimilar to you - 17 years together, 2 kids etc). But also highlighted how would I be able to leave Oz for my visa to be granted if they didn’t grant it before My planned departure on the 31st December... with COVID restrictions I wouldn’t be able to leave Oz. I too was granted a 600/exemption in September. Anyway here’s the address:

Department of Home Affairs
Australian High Commission
Strand
London
WC2B 4LA

Which part of Oz are you heading too? Keep me

posted - fingers are crossed for you! 

37 minutes ago, ainzlondon79 said:

congratulations @Almat that's fantastic news!  So good to see some 2020 applications coming through (even if you had to send them a letter). We're considering applying for the 600+exemption soon just to have as a back option too, can I ask how long it took for 600 to come through after you applied for that?

 

 

Hi @ainzlondon79 I applied for the 600 and heard nothing so a week later applied for the exemption and then both were granted within 48  hours (in September) x

5 hours ago, bicek said:

Congrats on getting yours through! Can I ask, how did you organise a school place already when you don't yet live there? I had thought that would be very tricky with school catchment areas and needing a physical address sorted before being able to apply? Or is it not like over here in the UK...? There is probably somewhere else on the forum I should be asking this (newbie alert, will check now...)

Hi @bicek jumping in here just to let you know we have our children’s name down for a private school with no Oz address (we’re still in London) and also a state school. The state school doesn’t have a catchment so that’s a relief but if it did then I would have provided my temporary air Bnb that we’ve secured for our arrival that happens to be 5 mins from the school. Maybe that’s an option for you if your having catchment issues 

4 hours ago, martymarty5436425 said:

Not so unique: we are in exactly the same boat...  Congratulations!

We're stumped as to what to do.  We don't really want to add our new little one to my visa application, as we'd rather she got straight citizenship instead of a 309/100 (although I'm making assumptions there is a practical difference).  

Our current thinking as a backup is to apply for a long tourist visa for them and then get the citizenship sorted out when we're already in Australia, as it'll surely be easier to do when there and potentially possible to do in person with evidence etc.  Again, I'm making assumptions re this and need to look into it further.  

I would of thought you carry on as you are as the baby isn't even born yet... then apply for citizenship by descent when baby is born. Although if you're planning on moving after the baby is born you'll need to be on the ball with applying for the CBD 

Hi everyone - so many of you have provided invaluable advice on my journey and I just want to say thank you.

Today I cried with relief as my 100 and 109 was granted!

I wrote a letter to the embassy in London on the 22nd October so this must have helped as I only submitted my application in March so that means 8 months it took to grant.

Have faith and hope guys, my timeline was nowhere near the 17-25 months quoted on the immi site. KEEP GOING, DON'T GIVE UP! And maybe a badgering letter like mine might help! Within this I highlighted that I had been issued a 600 visa and exemption and I was concerned that if my partner visa was issued whilst I was in Australia I wouldn't be able to leave in order for it to be granted due to covid restrictions. Common sense prevailed it would seem! xx

13 hours ago, DaisyN said:

Hello everyone. Ive found these boards helpful over the last year and have created an account to share my news.

We submitted our application in late November 2019. We included everything (police checks, medical etc).

My British partner and I are not married but been together many years and have children. So we have lots of paperwork and photos from over the years.

Not heard anything at all until last week when the visa 309 & 100 were both granted. (London office).

So it was pretty much 11 months. Im so pleased its been approved, as i thought my partner's medical might need to be taken again.

Now i can focus my worry and panic on relocating and flights. It seems theres hardly any flights and they are very expensive and/or booked flights are being cancelled?  I dont understand why theres only 12 months to activate the visa, be great it that time period was extended at the moment.

Good luck to everyone.

 

@DaisyN Huge congrats! Im relocating too but on an exemption and 600 visa... still waiting on partner visa

On 05/10/2020 at 10:02, TruthSeeking said:

Wait, so you applied for the Exemption before even being approved for the 600 tourist visa?

We applied a couple months ago for the 600 and still waiting. I have read on multiple websites of the Government saying do not apply for an exemption unless if you have a visa. My wife doesn't have a visa and we are stuffing around waiting and I read this to see that maybe this may make it faster. I wonder if others are doing this.

@TruthSeeking thats right i applied for the 600 visa first then the exemption. How did you get on?

On 05/10/2020 at 09:07, TrudiStrange said:

Sorry, another question I can't seem to find the answer for yet (not started the online application so cannot see all the detail) - scans of passports etc, do these need to be certified?

@TrudiStrangesorry I missed this... Im not entirely sure but I did get mine certified by a teacher just in case x

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 

@moominfillyjonk same boat as you. Applied for offshore (but later than you, march 2020). In September I was granted 600 visa and exemption. Flight booked for 31st Dec with my Aussie citizen children (Australian citizen husband to join us in March 2021 to allow him to complete work commitments). If my 600 expires and I’ve not yet received my partner visa I’ll apply for a bridging visa. I believe this is allowed but maybe only because it’s off the back of a soon to expire visa. I’m not sure if you can apply for a bridging visa once you arrive as you’ll still have a valid 600. Mines for 1 year with no work rights. Not ideal by any means but really hoping the partner visa comes through quicker than I think it will! 

9 hours ago, TrudiStrange said:

Thank you so much Almat, that is really helpful. I think I underestimated the level of detail I had to go into. Looks like a legal bundle!

Which temporary visa have you received?

I’d love to see the guide if you are willing to share, I’ll see if I can work out how to message you my email address. 

 

@TrudiStrange I might have gone overboard but I just wanted to make sure I had included everything. On reflection 17 years together, 2 children, 2 houses, a dog, a joint business and the like should be enough but hey ho, ha ha! So when I realised they weren't reviewing partner visas due to covid I went and applied for the 600 tourist visa and then the exemption. After submitting the exemption form both this and the visa was approved (within 72 hours). Its for a year and unfortunately means I cant work but I am hoping my partner visa will be issued within the year. If not I will apply for a bridging visa until my partner one is approved. I had to get there in January as the children start their new schools then, we've rented the house out etc