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Hello all, This website was AMAZING for me when I was applying for my permanent residency. A lot of the information here helped me navigate the process of applying for and being granted my 190 visa by myself. My American friend is now in the same situation but is struggling to find a website similar to this one that's tailored to Americans. Can anyone point us in the right direction? Is there a group on this site that have US Citizens in the same position? She is trying to get her 189/190 visa (she's applying for both). She's a Civil Engineer and has all the points needed as well as confirmation from Engineers Australia that she's a qualified engineer. The biggest hurdle she's coming up against is the police check from the US. Does anyone know if the Federal check from the FBI will suffice or if she needs to get state and local ones as well....? Thanks in advance! You guys are awesome!

Hi everyone, I have applied with my partner for the 186 Visa and he has 2 drink driving convictions (one in 2008 and one in 2015). In both convictions he has received a fine and the license was suspended for 8 months (no jail time and no one was injured). On his student visa he hasn't declared those offences and the visa was granted. We then discovered that he couldn't apply for a further visa due to PIC4020 for the next 12 months so he left the country. Will Immigration be ok with these 2 drink driving? We have gathered character references (one of them is from the Sponsor) and he did a statement saying how he reformed since. I have been in the country for 5 years working for the same Sponsor and we want to make sure that he will pass the Character Test.

Process of obtaining Police Check from Islamabad (Updated May 2019) 1. Completed form (attached). 2. Original passport and ID card. 3. Attested copy of passport (photo page and the one next to it) and ID card. 4. Proof of residence in Islamabad. (Electricty or gas bill or home lease or allotment letter with your name, if you dont have anything with your name on it just bring the electricty or gas bill of the house you living in, bill has to be in your fathers or mothers name if not yours. 5. 1 passport size photo attached on the form (Blue or White background). 6. Bring all of this to Islamabad Police Citizen service Centre F-6/1 Islamabad. (Opposite and on the right side of Mr Books and Nandos, with the signals, they are constructing level 2 of the centre so it looks like you cant go there but level 1 is operational and a very comfortable place to sit and wait). 7. Take a token and wait and then they will fill in all the details and you can pick up the Certificate after 3 days from the same centre, call 051-9201522 to confirm before picking up. 8. NOC if you are government offical. Please note: Some of the information on the form is old so just fill up the form how I montioned above and it will be accepted. Also this is the new way of getting the police check in Islamabad and alot of the local police station doesnt even know of this process and they will just waste your time and send you to main branch in G11. Hope this helps

Hi all, We should hopefully get a decision from South Australia for subclass 489 SS latest 28th November 2018 (20 weeks from date of application). However, my wife, son, and I will be on holiday overseas from 1st December 2018. I will return to UK 5th January 2019, but my wife and son will be staying on until 1st week in March 2019. If we are lucky enough to get sponsored by South Australia, my fear is we get asked to provide police checks and medicals whilst we are away. This could delay the proces by up to 3 months, which I would like to avoid if possible. My question is; should I arrange police checks and medicals for November 2018 so that we are covered for every eventuality without delaying the process, or wait until all of us are back in the UK and get the checks done in March 2019? Conscious doing it before we go away is a somewhat risky approach as we could be forking out for the checks without actually knowing if we will obtain state sponsorship. Also aware that this will give us less time to validate our visa, although not so concerned with this as we would jump on a flight the next day after our visa came through (if necessary).

Hi all, My wife is a dual citizen (British/Philippines). She arrived in UK January 2010 and lived here ever since although has returned to Phillipines every 2-3 years for extended periods of 3-4 months (one time 6 months). As I understand it, a police check is required for every country she has lived in over the last 10 years so roughly 2008 to 2010 would require one from Philippines and 2010 to date UK. I was hoping for some clarity on the following: 1. Is it possible to obtain a police check for Philippines whilst we are in UK? If so, typically how long does it take to come through? 2. Will the Philippine police check automatically cover all the times my wife has spent extended periods of stay in Philippines since 2010 or do we need to stipulate the dates? 3. Will we receive the Philippine police check electronically or a hard copy through the post? Many thanks in advance.

Hi, I was wondering if anybody could give me advice about something related to my visa application process or if anybody has had similar experiences and could share their views? We applied for 189 visa on 22nd December with front loaded documentation and haven't heard from the HA Department yet. I have recently seen that the processing times are getting longer and longer and that people keep getting contacted for unusual documentation or unusual checks. I have heard (and also read in this forum) of a number of cases where people have recently been asked to provide a police check for countries where they have lived for less than a year, even though the guidance in the HA website clearly says that you only need to provide police checks for places where you have lived for 1 year or longer. In my case, I have lived in 3 countries: Spain, Italy and UK. However, I only provided police checks for Spain and UK because I only lived in Italy for 5 months. But now I am starting to wonder whether they might request the police check for Italy too. I am assessing what to do because I really want to avoid CO contact (which could ptentially delay my grant by 3-4 months based on the current time scales?) and I am full of questions and doubts. I can order the police check by post, that is not a problem. However, if I upload it now into my Immi Account, 3 months after the lodgement, will that have an impact on my position in the queue? Will I go back to the queue with the March cases because that is when I submitted my last document? Can somebody shed some light please? I would be very grateful for your comments. Thank you.

I have searched the internet for an answer and can't find one. My husband and i need a USA police check (FBI check). We have different surnames. Should we send these separately in different envelopes or can we send them together? This seems like such a trivial question but I'm really confused by this. I'm guessing it should be sent in separate envelopes? Kind regards.

Hi All, Been ages since I logged on to this forum, but I thought I would share with you my story for obtaining a partner visa. It has been a lengthy process but I would like to highlight the area of my (albeit minimal) criminal past which threw a few spanners into the works. Before I go on, please do this thread the courtesy of reading this: I am not a criminal or immigration lawyer so cannot answer questions such as; I have been convicted of XYZ, can i get a visa? Or; When I was 16 I did something silly, can I get a visa? I do not know, every case is advised on its individual merits. GET YOURSELF AN IMMIGRATION LAWYER. Sorry for the above, but the amount of threads hijacked with divs who ask the same inane questions without actually reading the thread made me go a little stir crazy and didnt answer my specific questions. So, application lodgement - October 2016, loads of evidence, immigration lawyer said this is water tight... Fast forward to June 2017 - nearing the front of the que, immigration lawyer asked me for my police checks, done and came back with NO LIVE TRACE. I knew it was there, was hoping it had dropped off but thanks to Ian Huntly, the UK law changed for items to remain on my record until I reach 100. Assault with ABH caution before you ask. Two days after all the documents were submitted, Immigration asked me for more information related to the offence and circumstances why it happened - sometimes this happens, others it doesnt. Depends on your case officer. Here is where I requested my SUBJECT ACCESS FORM from the UK. Here is where my mind went into overdrive with worry. A google search doesnt reveal much about what is contained on a SAR. So I would like to put all you naughty people with a criminal past at ease of what is contained on the Police National Computer: First/last name; DOB; Gender; Ethnic Appearance; Place or birth; nationality PERSONAL - height; build; shoe size; eye colour; glasses; right handed; hair; accent; facial hair Address/marks scars INCIDENT DETAILS Police photo location; arrest/summons ref; police station owner ARREST/SUMMONS HISTORY This is where you have to be 100% clear to immigration as to what to write as the SAR will detail the following: Caution date; Adjudication (caution, no further action etc); Offence description (mine read; ASSAULT OCCASIONING ACTUAL BODILY HARM); Location (where it happened) My SAR was submitted with a stat dec outlining the causes of why it happened as well as how it was not a reflection of my character. October 2017 - visa granted! I hope this helps with anyone with MINOR criminal histories, and I know exactly how nerve wracking it can be going through this process, especially given all the arm chair garbage opinions out there. Good luck

Hi, We applied for PR via the 186 Direct Entry route last December. My husband's employer nomination was approved the other day and, the next day, we were sent for our medicals (which we're doing on Tuesday). They didn't ask us to redo our UK police checks though and I'm wondering if they've forgotten and will ask at a later date (in which case should I redo them now, to save time, as they take around 4 weeks to come back?) or if they figure that, since we're now in Aus (on a 457) and haven't left the country since the police checks were done, there's no way we could have committed a crime in the UK since the checks were carried out....? Also, roughly how long after the medicals do people tend to get a decision made on their visa...? Thanks in advance :-)

Hi I will be submitting my EOI soon for 189 Visa. My partner will be included in my application. Once the EOI is submitted, we will arrange medical examinations. Does my partner need to have the medical too? I have my HAP ID as I have already signed up to E-Medical via my Immi Account. I can't work out if my partner also needs to sign up to E-Medical to get her own HAP ID. She isn't applying for her own visa, as she is part of my application. I had to select which visa I was applying for when I registered with E-Medical, but obviously my partner won't be applying for the visa herself, I couldn't see anywhere to include her.... Any advice please?

Hi Folks, Applied for 190 visa on 20/3/17, was asked to provide more work history, form 80 and medical on 28/3/17 . Everything submitted by 10/4/17, medical clearance on 12/4/17. Just wondering.. my partner had 4 cautions on his UK police check from more than 5 years ago - will this affect the visa at all? If so, how? How long normally does it take to hear back from all submitted paperwork for visa grant? Will 3 arrests be an issue? Feeling nervous.. Thanks x

Hi all, I have tried to find my answers in previous posts however there is lots of conflicting information and not an answer to a specific question that I have so here goes... I am about to apply for a skilled independent 189 visa, and I am adding my de facto partner to the application We are living in Australia at the moment on a WHV, I have all required to apply... skills assessment, qualifications, ID, medicals completed, UK police checks and although we have not lived in Aus we have Aus police checks just incase, IELTS completed for points etc Our UK police checks came back and although mine is fine, no trace; my partners has a stepped down caution for possessing a class A drug in 2012. He is going to contact the Uk police for further information as I have read this is commonly asked for He tells me that he has also been arrested in the past, 4 times for being drunk and disorderly, was taken to the police station and issued a fine with no further action My questions are 1 - where does he actually declare this? We have looked at the application form and character reference stat dec many times, it states has be a conviction therefore we initially said no as it is only a caution 2 - If he requests a subject access from ARCO, does this just list all information held against him, or will it provide more information about this particular issue which I assume DIBP will require more information for 3- Does he declare the other arrests? Should we be worried about these past issues? 4- Should he write a letter and upload this with our application, explaining his guilt and how he is a reformed character which he genuinely is? Any help would be greatly appreciated, at present we are finding it difficult to locate an appropriate RMA and we also are having difficulty visiting a RMA as we work long hours and are not in a position to take time off at present Cheers

My girlfriend and I are from the UK and have spent over 12 months travelling around Australia. We are having our 457 visa and de facto visa submitted by our employer. We we need to submit Police checks but are unsure if we need Australian police check or one from the UK. Can someone help please. Thanks

Hi all, I have my 189 visa (with my husband together) submitted. We are offshore from low risk area. We have done the health check. I am wondering do we need to apply for police check now. If so, when should we apply for police check? We both have stayed in Australia for 4-7 years during our studies 5 years ago. Do we need to apply for police check before we are allocated a CO? Or we should wait till the CO request us to do so. Moreover, where do we need to apply for police check? both in Australia or only in our country? The 2nd question is we are newly married just before my submission of EOI. We have been together for 4 years but just started to live together after married. Do I have to upload any other evidence besides the marriage certificate to prove our relationship? Christy

Hello all, i am in the process of applying for a partner visa and need a police check for canada as i lived there for over a year. I am currently in australia and have had my prints done but my question is what do i send with them? i have seen the list of info required but i cannot for the life of me find a form to fill in with my address and reason for request etc. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated! thanks

Hi all, hoping someone can help me out, is anyone aware of the current processing time for a spouse visa lodged in the UK? Also can I go ahead and get medical and police check done and submit with visa application? thanks al

Hey there guys. i previously spent 11 months in oz on a WHV. I recently got a CO appointed for my 175 visa application and have uploaded police checks for every country i have lived in for more than 12 months. No repsonse yet but i am expecting an email any day requesting a penal clearance from the AFP. Anyone else been in the same position where it was asked for even though you spent less than 12 months in the country?.

Hi all, I posted AFP application + int'l bank draft from Singapore and it reached AFP at 7 Dec 2011 (according to Aus Post). However, when I enquire the status of my application AFP said it's not recorded in their system. How shall I proceed from here?

Hey, I am off to Perth in 11 days and am currently waiting for AHPRA to prosess my paper work for Nursing Registration. I am aware that I will need a police check and a working with children check. How do I go about this? Do I need to contact the local police force here in the UK and also obtain another police check on arrival in Perth?? Any info would be much appriciated.. Thanks Carly

Hi All, I am applying for an ENS 856 visa, my employer should be putting their part in sometime this month (Jan). I have done all of my medicals and got police checks from Oz and UK back in September but am waiting on a police check to come through from Japan which may not come until mid March. My question is: Should I wait for the Japanese police check to come through or can I send the rest of my application after my employer has applied and send through the police check at a later date? Thanks, Richard

Hi, Appled for an Australian police check, Anyone know how long it takes? Says 30 days, is this accurate?

I have applied for the general skilled migration 175 VE, applied October 5th 2007, Was allocated a case officer last week. Wondering if anyone had any idea on what happens after the request for more info. They asked for aussie police check and medicals. Done the medical on monday waiting for blood test then thats done. Just waiting on the police check. Trying to work out a time scale for getting there.