Cheese please Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Hi all My Australian fiancé and I have recently concocted a plan which will hopefully see us move to Australia end of April 2014. The idea is that we will pack in our jobs in February of that year and then strap on our backpacks to tour South East Asia for 3 months, whilst our belongings are being shipped half way round the world. Just to add to the organisational puzzle, we’ll also be getting wed in Thailand on the way. It’s all very exciting for us and we’re really happy having made this decision, but I’m very aware that there’s quite a lot of paperwork, planning and hoops to jump through to make it happen. I’m reasonably confident that everything should go through OK with the partner visa – we’ve been living together for over 2 years now and will have a solid amount of evidence to prove this and our relationship in general. I’d say I’m a pretty healthy individual too. My question is – when should I start my visa application? Having merrily browsed this forum I’ve gathered that once the visa is granted, the date that you have to enter Australia is based on the expiration of health/police checks (one year?) so if I want to arrive in Australia in April 2014, I am assuming I should I wait until April / May 2013 to kick-off the process. I’d certainly want to start the application before the annual increase in charges, which I believe is in July. Just wanting to get a feel for whether you think this is this a sensible conclusion or if I’ve completely over-looked or misunderstood something that could jeopardise our plans? Just a bit of background... the moving country thing and starting afresh isn’t a worry for me. A couple of years back I left a secure job in England for the life of a temp in beautiful Edinburgh. Obviously not quite the same as a move across the other side of the world, but still, a big uprooting for me. I’m also not a stranger to Australia having spent a year out there on a WHV and holidaying there since… I love it there! Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheese please Posted September 14, 2012 Author Share Posted September 14, 2012 Cooooeeeeee... anyone there? A 'bog off, stop asking silly questions' would be better than a wall of silence... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GeorgeD Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 It's half past midnight on a Friday night on the East Coast of Oz right now...give us more than 24 mins to think of a reply! You've got an idea of how it works...police check and medical are valid for 12 months. You would need to do them after April 2013 for them to be valid in April 2014 for first entry. You have 1 year from the date of grant, Police check or medical to enter, whichever is earliest. Wait til April/May 2013, get the PCC and meds done then and you've got time for the visa to be granted and for you to enter Oz in April 2014. If you wait too long then there's a chance your visa won't be granted in time! I believe Offshore applications are currently taking 6-8 months. Timescales have been creeping up for the last few years. This trend may continue and it could be longer by the time you come to apply. Would you be able to afford a trip to Oz before then? If you qualify and have strong evidence now, why not apply now??? Once granted you only need to validate your visa with a single entry to Oz, you can turn round again and fly back. Once validated you can globetrot for the next year if you want before you need to settle in Oz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 George the two posts were ten days and 24mins apart. :biggrin: OP applying a year in advance seems ok. Or you could apply now and validate as George suggested. There is no right answer really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheese please Posted September 14, 2012 Author Share Posted September 14, 2012 I waited 11 days without a peep from anyone! :'( Hooray, thanks both for the reply! I think that more than anything I wanted to check I wasn't making the wrong assumptions about things. You're right about there not being a correct answer as there's too many factor involved, but it's good to get other folk's thoughts. I think then I just need to go full steam ahead early May and have confidence that the visa would be granted in time. You have to assume that with the police and health checks running out after 12 months, that they have to ensure that they grant the visa within this time period too... or is that me being too logical? I'm actually heading to Oz this Xmas *starts day-dreaming about swimming in the sea on Xmas day*. A trip we planned and paid for before we made all these other big plans, so there's no way we'll be able to afford another trip in-between, unfortunately, as that really would have been the perfect solution! What's actually the worst thing that could happen (other than not getting the visa granted at all)? If I leave the UK in February 2014 and my visa still hasn't come through, does that matter? Do I have to be in the UK for it to be granted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bell123321 Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 I waited 11 days without a peep from anyone! :'( Hooray, thanks both for the reply! I think that more than anything I wanted to check I wasn't making the wrong assumptions about things. You're right about there not being a correct answer as there's too many factor involved, but it's good to get other folk's thoughts. I think then I just need to go full steam ahead early May and have confidence that the visa would be granted in time. You have to assume that with the police and health checks running out after 12 months, that they have to ensure that they grant the visa within this time period too... or is that me being too logical? I'm actually heading to Oz this Xmas *starts day-dreaming about swimming in the sea on Xmas day*. A trip we planned and paid for before we made all these other big plans, so there's no way we'll be able to afford another trip in-between, unfortunately, as that really would have been the perfect solution! What's actually the worst thing that could happen (other than not getting the visa granted at all)? If I leave the UK in February 2014 and my visa still hasn't come through, does that matter? Do I have to be in the UK for it to be granted? Just wanted to say I will be in Australia at Christmas too Can not wait to to experience an Australian Christmas. Where abouts are you going? I am off to Sydney for two weeks at Christmas. I do not have answers to your questions unfortuntly, I am not sure of your age but I think you can also apply on-shore so you could potentially get a WHV and then apply onshore but I guess if your not planning on going till April 2014 you might as well apply in May 2014 from the UK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Vixenpops Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Hi cheeses person lol The spouse visa takes (in my opinion) 3 months to gather the evidence and 6-8 months processing You can apply in uk and be anywhere when the visa is granted (as long as its not oz) if you are in oz you need to leave while it's granted and then come back You need to check yr email while travelling in case your case officer needs you and you also need to inform them of your travel plans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GeorgeD Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 George the two posts were ten days and 24mins apart. :biggrin: OP applying a year in advance seems ok. Or you could apply now and validate as George suggested. There is no right answer really. Cough...didn't see the dates, just saw the time. Apologies. And it was half past midnight. I think I may have mentioned that...Just saying...move along, nothing to see here :biggrin: As Vixenpops has said, there are only two places in the world according to DIAC...Australia (Onshore) and everywhere else (Offshore) so you don't need to be in the UK for grant time...if you applied Offshore, you just need to be Offshore at grant. You can go to Oz during processing time (I did this on an eVisitor visa for 8-10 weeks then went back to the UK for a month or two) Another thing to consider is that you can apply without a PCC or Medical! Your CO will ask you for them pretty much as soon as you apply...but delaying supplying them could extend the time you have, post grant, to make your first entry. Alternatively, I believe you can kick off the process with PCC and Medical and then further down the line get new ones! This will cost money and be a bit of a pain to organise (although you can use ANY panel doctor anywhere in the world.) I think the key for you is just to get the timescales for applying right. Other mad cap ideas are likely to involve more cost and organisation (meds, flights, paperwork, etc) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheese please Posted October 3, 2012 Author Share Posted October 3, 2012 Just for anyone that might be interested, I ended up emailing Australian immigration about this just to see if I'd get any more guidance, this is their reply: Thank you for your enquiry. It is down to you to decide how you wish to proceed. It is at the case officer's discretion when he/she wishes to see the police and medical checks. If you decide to apply for the visa now you may wish to include a cover letter explaining your circumstances. The case officer will then be able to advise you further. In case he/she requests your checks early, you may wish to request and submit them again closer to the time of approval of the visa. Alternatively, you may wish to wait until May 2013 before lodging the partner visa application. So basically it's as you folk on here helped me figure out already, unless I want to potentially pay twice for the checks ( I don't!), best just send it all in May and hope for the best as there's no guarantees. Oh and no to me getting a WHV. Been there and done that in 1999 - a loooong time ago! Again, thanks for all your contributions. No doubt I'll be back on here soon with more questions. My next step in this process is scoping out potential areas to live in Sydney when I go out for Xmas... hooray! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BackToAdelaide Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 Apologies if I've missed it, but I don't think anyone has picked up on the fact you said you had been together for over 2 years. I would recommend considering applying after you hit the 3 year mark if you think you can wait that long as you should then qualify for the permanent visa straight away instead of the temporary one. Of course if you want to get things going sooner you can still get the temporary one but it seems like you have some time to play with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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