jamesfree Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Right a quick little background on me and my situation so hopefully someone can help steer me in the right direction as what to do, thanks. Right I'm 26 year old IT Professional who is planning to move to Australia (Canberra for the first few years) to live with my Girlfriend of over 4 years who has just moved back to start Uni. I'm confused as to how to get my partner visa as what route is best, whether I should apply for one from London or travel to Australia first on a working holiday visa and then apply for my Partner visa as soon as I arrive. Also what type of working restrictions are there while I'm applying for my partner visa and can these be lifted during the application as I'm keep to get a job as soon as possible after arriving. Also I understand a lot of roles in Canberra seem to be for the government and therefore only open to Australian citizens, will I really struggle to find work even with a Partner visa ? Thanks for all your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lebourvellec Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 You could do either... Offshore processing cheaper and a few months quicker than onshore, but you would need to leave Australia for a few days for the visa to be granted, offshore partner visas are currently taking about 9 months, onshore about 13 months but sometimes they can be granted quickly? Do you have at least 12 months of evidence regarding you relationship - this should be living together. If you apply for the partner visa in Australia on your WHV, you will get Bridging Visa A - but this will only kick in once your WHV has expired, once you have applied for your Partner visa and have found an employer you can apply to get your 6 month work restrictions removed. Depends how quickly you want to get to Australia, getting the documents arranged for the Partner visa may take some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Personally I'd go over on a WHV. You say GF so am not sure if you would qualify for a de facto partner visa or not (there are minimum requirements). If you are up for it, get a WHV visa, go do your 3 months regional work elsewhere in Aus, to give you your second year on your WHV then you have plenty of time to do the de facto living together, after the year or so, gather your evidence to support your application and apply onshore. Have a bit of an experience of Aus, make sure you like it and things are going well with your GF and so on and you can apply at a later date. Is what I would do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesfree Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 Thanks for your help so far, my only problem is wanting to get into a permanent job asap after arriving in Canberra and would have trouble to get a job in my field (IT) on a WHV. If I apply for a partner visa say in this country and then travel to Aus while its still being processed how do I enter the country ? would I need to get a WHV or some kind of temp visa ? Evidence for our relationship should be fine, we lived together for 3 years so have bank statements in each of our names at that address as well as join travel insurance for the past 2 years etc and about 10 holidays together in that period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lebourvellec Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 If you apply for Partner visa in London, you would need a visa with work rights to enter Australia, therefore WHV would be your best option, but if your Partner visa was not granted by the time your WHV expires, you would not be eligible for a Bridging Visa. With Partner visas, you may only get a Temp visa for 2 years to start, which is then converted to PR if you are still together, you may get PR straight away if you can show you have been together for 3 years, but often not guaranteed. Either way you are going to be on a WHV for some time while the Partner visa is being processed. Personally I feel it would be easier to apply within Australia as your partner will be their to help with the application and will give you time to get evidence together and statutory declarations etc. http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/booklets/1127.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Thanks for your help so far, my only problem is wanting to get into a permanent job asap after arriving in Canberra and would have trouble to get a job in my field (IT) on a WHV. If I apply for a partner visa say in this country and then travel to Aus while its still being processed how do I enter the country ? would I need to get a WHV or some kind of temp visa ? Evidence for our relationship should be fine, we lived together for 3 years so have bank statements in each of our names at that address as well as join travel insurance for the past 2 years etc and about 10 holidays together in that period. Sounds good re the living together etc. You and your GF both need to fill out applications to submit, she as your sponsor. So its not just you applying per se. If you apply off shore, you can travel to Aus on a tourist visa (and I guess a WHV but am not sure about this so hopefully someone else will clarify). But you'd still have the same restrictions re the 6 months only per employer on a WHV. You may need to wait for your medical etc to be done before you fly out to Aus so it could be a few months till you could go. On the other hand, getting a WHV is usually taking about a week, you can be on a plane in 2 and then go about the partner visa further down the road in Aus. Yes it costs a bit more but for me, its the more attractive option personally. Gathering all the evidence etc can take a while. I've been with my husband for 7 years living together and it still took us about 6 weeks to gather everything, get it certified, make copies, write statements, get stat decs and other statements etc. All up I think it was over a period of about 2-3 months making sure we had ticked every single box, had every scrap of evidence we could etc. I'd think you'd be fine to get a job in IT on a WHV. The downside is you can only work for 6 months for each employer. On a tourist visa you can't work at all and if you only had a 3 or 6 month one you'd have to renew while there etc and it might not be granted..... In all honestly, you probably, with hindsight, could have applied for your partner visa while you GF was still in the UK and you were living together. Probably would have been the most straightforward easiest option and you could be on your way to Aus with her visa approved or soon to be and able to work pretty soon after arriving (going offshore to activate visa) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 LV said it far more succinctly than I :cute: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesfree Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 Lets say I arrive with a WHV then and apply for my partner visa as soon as I arrive while the application is being processed can I have my working restrictions lifted ? Also what happens if my WHV expires while my partner visa is being processed? They don't seem to make this too easy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Lets say I arrive with a WHV then and apply for my partner visa as soon as I arrive while the application is being processed can I have my working restrictions lifted ? Also what happens if my WHV expires while my partner visa is being processed? They don't seem to make this too easy Is doing the 3 months regional work to give you your second year on your WHV not an option at all? Would then give you ample time to make your application and not run out of time on your WHV. You would have well over 18 months then to get everything sorted. That way it won't expire. As has been said by LV, chances are you would not get a bridging visa on a WHV if your PV application wasn't done by then. Why take the risk, get the regional work in the bag and give yourself breathing room. 2 years total in Aus, not one. All for 88 days regional work. I think the same working restrictions apply. So WHV ones. Someone else will comfirm if this is correct I am sure. And no, they don't make it easy. It is more long winded going about it the way you are and there are more things to consider and work out this way, but it can be done. You just need to be prepared to compromise a bit and also be prepared to jump through a few more hoops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Will you struggle to get IT work in Canberra on any sort of temporary visa be that WHV or partner - yes you will. You might manage a short term contract but so much will be out of your reach unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesfree Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 I mainly just wanted to get into my field (IT) as soon as possible and earning some decent money so I can settle down in Canberra with my Girlfriend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 I mainly just wanted to get into my field (IT) as soon as possible and earning some decent money so I can settle down in Canberra with my Girlfriend. You may have to be prepared to look outside the box a little then. The average wait time for an onshore partner visa application is about 13 months. A WHV is only 12 months. If you do your regional work you'll gain a whole extra year. Regarding the work, if its like Quoll says, depending on your skills and experience you could look to working remotely from home for a company elsewhere in Aus. But get your regional work out the way to give you breathing room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Or file in the UK (which will require you being organised), wait for the visa to be granted and go out with full working rights. But maybe only on a temp 2 year visa anyways, not a PR one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lebourvellec Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Maybe you should look at GSM depending on your occupation this maybe a quicker route to get PR. Look at skill select you will need positive skills assessment and maybe IELTS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesfree Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 My occupation is listed on the ACT Skilled visa occupation list so this is always an option. How easy are these to get ? I for example have worked as one of the current occupations on their list here: http://www.canberrayourfuture.com.au/portal/migrating/article/skilled-visas/ for over 4 years now how to they asess my skills will I need to do some assessments/tests? Thanks for all your help so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lebourvellec Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Yes you will need a skills assessment from ACS - which will take 8-12 weeks http://www.acs.org.au/migration-skills-assessment http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/booklets/1127.pdf Is your occupation on SOL 1 If it is you could apply for 189 or 190. If your occupation os on CSOL would will need the state nomination. http://www.immi.gov.au/skills/skillselect/index/visas/subclass-190/ For 190 you need to meet the 60 point ass mark, if go for 189 it is best to have as many points as possible so sitting IETLS to gain extra points. Once application is lodged, you should receive a CO within 5 weeks, and providing all information police checks and medicals could have visa quickly after, if front load medicals and police checks. There is no onshore/offshore with GSM visas so can be offshore when apply and onshore when granted. As for cost it would work out about the same as the onshore partner visa which is $4000, the 190 is $3060, but you would have skills assessment $450 and IELTS is £125, not sure the cost of ACT State Nomination but likely around $200. I would advise you to speak to a Registered Migration Agent to run through both options to see which is best for you. But 189/190 will be more straight forward and you are just relying on your own skills and work experience, rather than having to provide lots of information regarding your relationship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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