Allocation of visas

[ionaprie]

Does anybody know when the High Commission receive their annual visa allocations? My husband and I are quite shocked at how long partner 309/100 visas are now taking. When we originally enquired, over a year ago, we understood the process to take upto 5 months so obviously disappointed to now see they can take upto 9 months!

 

After talking to the Australian Emmigration dept. it was explained that it all depends on the number of visas allocated that year, so therefore we got to thinking, at what time of year does this occur?? Only from the desperate point that we hope the whole application/process will happen quicker than 9 months! We met in Australia over ten years ago and although have lived in the UK for the last nine, we always intended to return for our children to have an Australian upbringing and now our house has sold we just want to get on with it! It looks like we'll be renting a house for longer than we first thought- not to worry, all good things come to those who wait, even impatient ones like me!!

[Rupert]

Just apply as soon as you can, it doesn't make any difference when they decide upon allocations and quotas. The sooner you apply, the sooner you will get it.

[MaggieMay24]

Knowing how long it may take won't change how quickly they process your visa, so I agree with Rupert that you should just get your application in. The way DIBP is going, the processing times are only going to get longer so the sooner you get your application in, the better.

[Ozmaniac]

Have you considered coming to Australia on a 3 month eVisitor visa and applying for an onshore Partner visa while you're here? Onshore visas take longer (13+ months) and cost more ($4575 vs $3085), but you'll be granted a Bridging visa (with unrestricted work rights and full Medicare eligibility) that will take effect when your eVisitor expires and allows you to stay in Australia until a decision is reached on your Partner visa application. You're not really supposed to come on a visitor visa with a view to applying for an onshore visa while you're here, but many thousands of people do it every year without any problems. Your children are presumably already Australian citizens so getting them into school won't be a problem.

[Rupert]

Have you considered coming to Australia on a 3 month eVisitor visa and applying for an onshore Partner visa while you're here? Onshore visas take longer (13+ months) and cost more ($4575 vs $3085), but you'll be granted a Bridging visa (with unrestricted work rights and full Medicare eligibility) that will take effect when your eVisitor expires and allows you to stay in Australia until a decision is reached on your Partner visa application. You're not really supposed to come on a visitor visa with a view to applying for an onshore visa while you're here, but many thousands of people do it every year without any problems. Your children are presumably already Australian citizens so getting them into school won't be a problem.

 

"You're not really.." Not at all more like. OP hasn't shown any inclination to want to flout the rules so I didn't know that encouragement to do so is necessary..

[Guest]

I didn't think partner visas were capped as such. Only PMV's are is my understanding.

 

You are best applying ASAP and just getting in the queue. It does not magically speed up at certain times in my experience. Current wait time for the past couple of years has been 8-9 months for off shore. There was a period when some were getting grants around 6-7 months in but now it's defo 8-9 months.