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Hi, I'm just looking for some advise on what would be the best visa to apply for. Myself (irish) and my partner of 3 years (NZ citizen) are looking to move to Australia sometime in the next year or two. We currently live in New Zealand so will be applying for the visa from here but we're just not sure which one to apply for. What are the main differences between the 461 NZ family visa and the 309/100 visa/ is there any benefit of applying for one over the other? Thanks so much for any info you can give, I really appricate it!

Hey, I applied offshore about a year and half ago. Today I got an Email saying ¨Due to a transition from paper to electronic processing systems, we unfortunately misplaced your original paper application. If you kept a copy of form 147 and supporting documents at the time, could you please scan the documents, attach them to an email and send them to immigration.berlin@dfat.gov.au ¨ Does this mean I must restart my process? Or do I keep my spot in the queue so tho say?

Good afternoon I had previously lived in Australia on 461Visa (5years) but left austraila in 2019 thou visa was valid till 2022,but i asked to Australian Immigration to cancel it and paid fees for it, Is there any chance i revise it or I have to re_apply 461 from start, as i just checked the processing timings has been gone upto 3 years/32-36 months. Thank you Jay

Hello, As the de-facto partner of a NZ citizen residing in Australia, I am considering to start an application for a 461(New Zealand Citizen Family Relationship) visa. I am concerned about the very lengthy period (two years) it takes to be approved. I understand that I will get a bridging visa during this period. Will I have work rights while on this bridging visa? Also, Immi website says that if I apply from Australia I have to be in Australia when they make their decision. What happens if I leave Australia while the visa is being processed? Is the process cancelled? Thanks!

Hey Everyone, Keen to hear anybodies recent stories and processing times for their 461 NZ Family Relationship visa? I have a complicated visa history with this... Firstly, I am American, my husband is NZ citizen. We have been married 3 years, (have 2 children, 2 years old-and 8 months.) We applied 1st in June 2019, heard back 4 months later that we had to reapply offshore, as we didn't qualify to apply onshore ( was 9 months pregnant when we applied.. so gave birth in AUS.) We left AUS in November 2019. Myself and our 2 children, are currently in USA waiting to hear back and my husband is in AUS working as we patiently wait. So our family is currently seperated. Lodged visa on February 12, 2020. We received an email saying that all information was provided and that if anything else is needed a case worker would let us not, and that we dont require a case worker to be approved if they have everything. So i guess we want to know for people who have been successful, and have children, how long it took you? and im assuming im low risk? Thank you!

Hello I hope you can help! I’ve put the information below relating to my fiancé and I moving over to Australia. (NB we’ve been living together in the UK for four years and had a joint bank account for around three years or so and have lots of docs to back that kind of thing up). 1. I’ve been offered a role in Sydney, but only if I can start within 3-4 months 2. I’m currently living in London (British with a British passport) with my fiancé who is from New Zealand with a NZ passport 3. Id like to get over to Aus asap so I can apply in country for a visa that will allow me to work within a 3-4 month period (assuming that I have to apply in country for this to work) 4. I need to come back to the UK before moving to Aus permanently within the three month visitor term as: A) we’re getting married mid August in London B) my fiancé will be leaving his London job but we could really do with some more time to work in the UK and save up before moving to Aus in say, September/October ideally So my question is - can we do all of that within the immigration requirements? For example can I: Apply in the UK for a visitor visa for three months Go to Aus with my fiancé and on day 1 apply for a partnership visa (461?) and automatically apply for a BVA (does he need to be with me for this or can he stay in London?) Then travel back to the UK after approx one week on my visitor visa Come back to Aus in Sept/Oct before my visitor visa has expired and my BVA has kicked in (so no need to wait for the BVA and then convert to BVB to travel to London and back again when returning to Sydney so I can work) Is that following the rules? A separate option I hoped might be possible: Is there any way to make this work without going to Australia twice (ie apply for the partner visa (461?) in the UK and still be able to move to and work in Aus in the next 3-4 months)? Very grateful for any help you can offer! Many thanks!

So here's our situation - My partner is a British citizen, I am an NZ citizen and we are currently waiting on a decision for the 461 temporary resident visa. We applied in March this year in Auckland, and our main problem was that we were together for only 8 months when we applied for the visa (as you probably know, the minimum is 12 months), but we explained in our application that this was due to the fact that I had to be in Australia by February for the start of university year. So we are currently long-distance, and have been since February this year, with plenty of evidence of flights home, holidays, etc. to show that we have still seen each other regularly. We heard from our CO in August, asking for further documentation (not the right police checks, evidence of our relationship since we submitted, etc.) - we were given a 28 day deadline but one of the police checks took around 21 working days to arrive, so we emailed our CO and asked for an extension on the deadline as it was clearly not do-able. She never replied and we just submitted what we had, and submitted the police check when it arrived. It shows on our application on the TTS website that the application was "submitted for processing" again in late August (before the 28 day deadline) so I worry that they're not going to consider our additional documents which are critical in proving that we've still been together since we applied. I'm also concerned that since it says it was submitted again, does this impact the wait time and so we have to wait 10 - 12 months again? Does anyone know anything about this? Or had any experience with late submissions/no responses? It gets even trickier. My partner's not going to extend his NZ visa, which finishes in November as we had a holiday planned to Thailand, and were really hoping to hear back regarding the partner visa while we were in Thailand or even earlier and planning on coming back to Aus together. I'm continuing my studies here, and so we are planning on coming back together after our holiday (him on a tourist visa), and just having him stay with me until we hear back. He's also considering applying for a student visa, as it allows him to actually be doing something productive while he's here and work on the side too. Does anyone know if we can apply for multiple visas at the same time? I'm aware that he will have to leave the country prior to the partner visa being granted, but if he goes on a student visa, will this impact our partner visa application? We have contacted our CO about our plans for him to come to Aus on a tourist visa after our holiday but considering she has not been in contact with us since asking for the additional documents, I am doubtful that we will get a response, or notification if she plans on granting the visa. If it is granted while he's still in the country, does that render the entire thing pointless? I haven't seen much on NZ citizens bringing partners to Aus so any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated! Thank you

Hi! Just wondering if anyone has been through this situation before, it's a bit complicated! I moved to Australia 3 years ago with my then Kiwi de-facto partner on 461 visa, we broke up about a year and a half ago and i know my visa is still valid as it's not predicated on us staying together. But, my situation has now changed, i met a new partner and we would like to move in together. My visa does stipulate that it is valid providing i don't start a new relationship with a non special category visa holder. She would like to sponsor me to stay in Australia as a de facto partner but, if we move in together my visa becomes invalid and we would need to be living together for a year to obtain de facto status and thus a permanent residency visa! anyone have any ideas? Cheers

Hi there, I've been looking through the threads but can't find anyone in a similar circumstance, so I'm wondering if anyone has any insights. Just over two years ago my ex and I applied for a 461 visa (NZ partner visa) from the UK to move to Australia. I'm a NZ citizen and my ex partner is French. We ended up splitting up before actually moving to Australia, so the visa wasn't used to enter the country. I moved here by myself. I'm now dating a British girl (complicated much!) who's on a 417 working holiday visa. We would be eligible for a de facto visa as we've been together for the requisite amount of time etc, but I'm worried the previous visa might jeopardise our chances. Does anyone know if there's a stand down period? Are you only allowed one within a given time period? I'm thinking the fact that the previous visa was never used to enter Australia must count in our favour, and my ex would write something to say she has no intention of coming over if that would help. Any info would be greatly appreciated! Many thanks

Hello, I have a 461 visa, my de facto partner is kiwi and is going to the UK for a year or so however I am keen to stay in Aus and we will still be in a relationship. Am I allowed to continue to live/work in Aus once my de facto partner has left Aus? And can I leave and come back to Aus without my de facto partner being in Aus on the 461 visa? From the visa terms, it only says your de facto partner must accompany you on arrival to Australia but doesn't seem to say anything about once you've arrived. Thanks!

Hi there I have just joined this site and wanted to say hi and my reason for being here !! I am a UK citizen currently in Nz and i have just sent off for the 461 visa as my OH is a kiwi, and her brother and dad both live in Perth where we are hoping to go. I would love to hear from anyone who has been in the same situation and would be keen to give any first hand advice. Fingers crossed it all goes to plan

Hi Guys, Just signed up and could really use some advice! My boyfriend and I have been looking into a subclass 461 visa, but i'm not sure if we're actually eligible for this (i have a feeling we're not). He moved to Australia before 1st September 1994, and was therefore known as an 'exempt non-citizen' i believe. It's probably a silly question, but i've read so many contradictory posts and my brain is absolutely fried! Thanks so much. ..Forgot to mention, he IS a kiwi! Just read somewhere that those who moved to Aus before 94 automatically went on the 444 but wouldn't necessarily know about it as it's electronically noted, starting to think this actually is an option now. If anyone has applied for this visa please let me know!

Hi Everyone! I am living in Australia for more than 3 years now with a Kiwi partner. We have some evidences such as lease and electricity bill on both names, photos, joint bank account to prove our relationship. Can you suggest other documents we need to provide? Also, I am married in my country and no document to prove that we are divorced or separated apart from physically away from each other. Will my marriage affect the approval of my application for subclass 461? All your replies are highly appreciated. Thank you in advance...

Has anyone entered Australia on this visa before they received the visa document? By this I mean - has anyone entered as soon as they were notified by phone that their application was approved? I've been here since mid December and my partner has submitted his 461 application yesterday (would've applied sooner but the Irish passport agency have taken 5 months to renew his passport!). He will find out next week as to whether it's been approved but it will take another 2-3 weeks before it's fully processed. Ideally though he'd like to get on a plane as soon as he gets the call rather than wait another 3 weeks. For anyone about to say - what's another 3 weeks....we have a daughter who was 5 months old when we left the UK and everyday he misses counts. Plus I'm pregnant again and would love for him to to be there for the 20 week scan at the end of the month.

Hey there, Me and my partner both met eachother in Sydney over 2 yrs ago and have just applied for the 461, shes a kiwi and im british and we are a same sex couple. Its taken us 2 months to get our file up together in order to prove that we are e genuine couple. However good news though, immigration only had our file for one day and are satisfied we have provided enough evidence. They have now requested that i get both aystralian and uk police checks done as i lived in oz for 2 yrs before. Has anyone else applied for this visa? I know the maximum number of yrs they grant you is 5 but on what basis do they make this decision? I'm now confident we wont struggle to get the visa but what i am wondering is how many yrs i will get? How many yrs did you get if you applied? Im almost now a fully qualified (nvq level 3) vehicle painter and im hoping to get the 5 yrs so i can work and develop these skills in oz before applying for permanent residency later down the line. Anyone got any experiences or advice with this? Thank you Tara x

Hi Guys Firstly, wow what a great site!!! We are new to this site and have kicked off our plan to move as a family to Oz. Wife is a Kiwi and I am British and we really fancy moving to Oz from the UK. Melbourne is target city but we will go where the work is.... We also have our 2 year old daughter as well. We are looking at applying for me on 461 which allows me 5 years as a temporary resident and to work. However, it all looks a bit suspiciously simple; especially the processing time 2 months - has anyone on here come to Oz on this visa? Are there any pitfalls? Also anyone on here who works in Purchasing/ Procurement and made the move. I would love to hear your experiences. As Newbies - please be gentle.... BTS

My partner and i are applying for the subclass 461 visa as she is Kiwi and I'm from the UK. Im currently studying and finish my course in june this year. we were originally planning on putting on our application form that we intend to enter australia in jan 2012, however we may have the option to leave in August this year instead as our saving is going very well. Does anyone know if the exact date you put on your application is the date in which immigration grant you entry into australia or do they issue you with the visa and give you a year to enter the country meaning the beggining of your visa will actually start the day you enter? We arent sure as to how they go about entry dates with this visa, i have been on the working holiday visa before and they just grant you a years space in which toenter the country. Can anyone help?

Hi, I am a NZ citizen and my wife has got this 461 visa 2 years back and now we would like to move to Australia. She travelled before on a visitor visa, including myself (NZ citizen). After getting the 461 visa can she travel alone to Australia and secure a job or do we have to travel together. I would appreciate if someone can please help me with this query.

I hope someone can help. My girlfriend has dual nationality british/nz. She has lived in UK since she was a child. We live together in UK. Does anyone know I can apply for 461 visa even though we haven't lived together in NZ?

Hi can anyone help? we have a few questions around sorting out visas for Australia from the UK. My Partner is a New Zealand Citizen which means that we could enter Australia and provided I follow her in I could get in on a sub class 461 this has some drawbacks especially if we settle and grow old so would prefer not to go that route. As the 461 visa only takes 12 weeks and is a low cost would it be better to apply for this visa, enter Australia and then try to get a potential employer to sponsor me for a 457 visa ? (am I actually allowed to apply for another visa once I am in on the 461) Or Would it just be best to take the risk enter on the 461, start my new life and make sure I get the right amount of insurance to cover me for medical, pension & disability. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Cheers Rob