letmeinsoon

14 hours ago, paulhand said:

I’m very clear they are unrelated. 

 

The facilitation letter is purely a letter that will confirm to the airline that you will still be permitted to enter Australia even though the initial entry date has passed. 
 

Processing commences on your 100 2 years after you lodged the original application. This make take many months to process. 

Thanks Paul.

9 hours ago, paulhand said:

I explained how your visa works, but if you don’t want my advice that’s absolutely fine. 

Perhaps you are unclear on whether the travel facilitation letter causes a complication with processing the subclass 100 because the applicant has not entered Australia?

309 Grant date > 1 year after the grant, applicant has not entered Australia > extension by 1 year (via travel facilitation letter) > subclass 100 due 1-1.5 years after 309 grant date > Visa expires, meaning you actually only get 6 months extra to enter, not 12 months.

Am I missing something?

5 hours ago, paulhand said:

... which is the expiry date of the visa.

clear as mud.

that gets processed 1 - 1.5 years after the grant of the visa, and the condition is that you entered australia, which one cannot do.

On 02/10/2021 at 21:23, paulhand said:

No it doesn’t. 
 

There are 2 dates on your grant letter: “For first entry, arrive by” and  “Must not arrive after” or similar, depending on the exact grant letter. The former is the “initial entry date” -  back in the day (pre covid) this was the date your medicals or police checks expired and by which you needed to have ‘activated’ your visa.  These days it’s a year from grant and they are happy to ‘extend’ it via the facilitation letter.
 

The latter is the date your visa expires. 

I have an initial entry date, which expires in the new year. I do not have a 'must not arrive after' date anywhere on the document, nor an expiry date, just a 'submit class 100' as its a partner visa. I have a length of stay that is equal to the assessment date of that subclass 100.

22 hours ago, paulhand said:

There’s a big difference between “visas expiring” and missing the initial entry date. It’s unclear which you are talking about. If it’s an initial entry date, then I see no reason that the Department will not continue to be light touch on this for the foreseeable future. If it’s a visa expiry - that’s much harder to avoid. 

So, initial entry dates are initial entry dates. If you don't make that date, doesn't the Visa expire? Hence... a Visa expiry? How are the two things different?

27 minutes ago, Quoll said:

You expect sympathy from Government? Why should they? They have plenty of citizens to worry about without worrying about the citizens of other countries who may want to visit.

What an attitude for a forum that supports visa applicants.

I’m a visa holder concerned about the extension letter, and whether they will continue. I want to enter Australia, pay taxes, and support the economy.

Just a basic question: is it fair someone with a 300 subclass visa expiring in 3 months can apply for an additional 12 months onto their entry date as of today, but (potentially) as of November, thousands won’t be able to - forcing them hours, days or weeks to enter by their initial entry date?

No.

.

2 hours ago, Marisawright said:

@letmeinsoon, given the Federal government's track record, you're expecting them to be sympathetic?  

Yes? Why else would I post?

22 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

Nobody can possibly have had experience of this yet.   If limits are removed then I do think you'll have a very hard time justifying any further delays in moving.

You cannot close the borders for a year, (the entry period on most visas) and then expect people to enter with days left on their visas, at the drop of a hat. It’s unconscionable.

You do realise it’s quite normal to have 3 months notice on employment contracts these days? How will it be possible for someone to organise everything ‘suddenly’ who has had multiple cancelled flights and travel plans disrupted for the last year?

Hi,

Does anyone have experience with seeking an extension on the initial entry date, without the use of the Travel Facilitation Letter? Maybe before the pandemic?

The Greens are doing something sensible and asking that thousands of us with visas expiring at the end of the year or early next year are allowed additional time to plan our entry in to Australia.

Personally I will find it very difficult if Immigration are told to remove the travel facilitation letter ability because Government say everything has gone back to normal, I’m very concerned this may happen.

Please let me know if you’ve had experience with this.

On 12/09/2021 at 09:04, Ken said:

I think you mean a social security agreement (Australia/ASIO already has a state security agreement with the UK via 5-eyes). However I'm not so sure that there is strong interest from Australia due to the cost to Australia this would entail. British pensioners would be better off but it's far from clear that the Australian tax payer would. 

The UK would insist on the Australian government providing more support to Australians in the UK in return for them providing more support to Britons in Australia. Somebody who worked for 20 years in the UK gets a UK old aged pension even if it is frozen. Somebody who worked for 20 years in Australia (and left Australia before being eligible to receive the pension) doesn't get a cent of Aged Pension from Australia even if their only income is social security.

Hi Ken

Wow. If that's true, there's no hope of a reciprocal agreement!

I've written to the UK all party committee on this matter. It's beyond time the UK Government agreed a state security agreement 

On 25/08/2021 at 22:26, Andrew from Vista Financial said:

The chairman of the British Pensions in Australia (BPiA) organisation, James (“Jim”) Tilley has died in Sydney. He was 83. He will be remembered as a fiercely committed champion of British expats penalised by the UK’s frozen pensions policy.

Full story here:

https://www.smh.com.au/national/champion-of-british-expats-battled-for-improved-pensions-rights-20210823-p58l3c.html

 

I know that although unsuccesful in his bid he has helped many UK expats understand their entitlements and make top up payments if appropriate.

RIP Jim.

Andrew,

Do you have any contacts in BPiA - particularly those dealing with the 'state security agreement' or 'UK National Insurance contributions / state pensions'?

It seems to me that the Australian Trade Minister (Dan Tehan) has about six months to demand the inclusion of a state security agreement inside the coming Free Trade Agreement (which is not a done deal by a long shot - thank you Liz Truss). We know from the published agreement in principle (AiP) regarding the FTA that the age a young worker can now work for 3 years in Australia or the UK - for the UK, that may mean the years a young person pays their NI payments to the UK Government on the proviso they would return to the UK, would result in the payments benefitting other UK pensioners onshore, or worse, in the USA or Philippines. I believe there's a legal case to be squared at the Government, the consideration being expat pensioners who now live in the Philippines or the US are awarded an 'unfrozen' (i.e. full) state pension.

I note the Canadian minister who recently attempted to mediate a state security agreement with the UK failed. However - they were not negotiating a trade agreement. There's strong interest from Australia in agreeing a state security.

Just now, paulhand said:

Even if there is an opening up, dramatic or otherwise, I don’t believe that the IED concessions will be withdrawn … they just aren’t a big deal to the Department. 

That's great. So (reading between the lines) you think they'll be in place until at least the end of the year?

Not trying to be difficult - I'd like to enter - but I'm getting a little fed up of flights being cancelled as well as cruises (no less!)

On 25/08/2021 at 15:21, paulhand said:

If you hold a 309 visa, you haven't been 'forced' to do anything, you have chosen to wait to move in order to reduce the costs and inconvenience of a move at this time. I see no reason to expect that any 'concessions' around initial entry dates will be removed with no warning and in a manner that leaves anyone scrambling to move before an arbitrary deadline. 

Paul,

Thanks. That wasn't the opinion of my agent - "there'll be a dramatic reopening to secure an election win" 

At no point is the word 'force' used in my message. I've had several flights (and cruises no less) to Aus cancelled - not by choice.

Greg Hunt just extended the Biosecurity period to 17 December meaning restrictions will be in effect until at least then, allowing the facilitation of the extension letter.

It's a problem and I'd like to understand the official position. I'm concerned that Immigration will be 'told' that domestic vaccinations finished around November / December 2021 when everyone 'thinks' 70% of the population will be vaccinated, so extensions for offshore applicants are no longer possible as of then, and suddenly the extension document will cease to exist. That would leave all of us who have been forced to wait a whole year offshore due to government policy and horrendous flight costs with 3 months to move to the other side of the world.

On 15/07/2021 at 23:43, JSummer said:

This is EXACTLY what is happening with us, I could have written this myself down to the month I applied for the visa and when I need to arrive by haha.

Problem with only being able to apply 3 months before is that is takes more than 3 months to plan the move (have to start the process for our dog 6 months before!) If we wait till 3 months before and they reject our extension it will be panic stations! 

Hi Jon,

Thanks very much for the reply, I have seen the letter but it's unclear how much additional time is granted to plan and to book entry. Do you have experience with submitting that letter?

When you say 'for the time being' ... our entry date is March 2022 - some media coverage suggesting full vaccine coverage in Australia by March 2022 ... so, my question now is - when will they remove the extension period and leave me with days to frantically organise? Haha.

We'll likely submit that letter later in the year.

Cheers

Hi all,

Hoping someone here could help me with the following two questions.

I had my 309 (offshore) visa granted in March 2021 which came quickly after 5 months from application in September 2020, with a RFI in November 2020. My agent is pretty good and supports us each stage of the way. Our planning for our move was based around the 309 usually taking 18 months to clear with authorities, which would have suited us better given the current entry restrictions and commercial travel costs (meaning we would have relocated late 2022 / early 2023). Unfortunatley, this year has been difficult with challenges on my family in the UK and with the turmoil in Australia, we are reassessing our choices. My questions are:

• I understand the entry date is a condition of the visa, but with the cost of flights and quarantine at the moment, has anyone - particularly agents - had any experience with Immigration extending initial entry dates / requests for alternate entry dates?
• In the worst case, if we cancel the visa, is it going to be a problem for me to submit another 309 application at a later stage next year when travel is more free? Do Immigration have an issue with an applicant cancelling and reapplying later?

Thanks in advance...

You'll have no problem. I'm in the same boat for a scrap with my dad as a teenager. I had my 309 granted in March. You will have more of a problem with cancelled flights, affording flights and quarantine.