Newstart Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Hi, I'm Australian born and bred with a British hubby. As we will have been married nearly five years by the time we return to OZ and will have a one year old. There won't be the two year waiting period. So instead of applying for a partner visa whilst in the UK. Would it be foolish to wait until we have moved over there and then apply for the partner visa? From what I can see, either method seems acceptable to them. My other question is about the relationship evidence /statement. How sappy do you need to be? Quite frankly being a private person, I rather not share much other than the direct questions like how did we meet? Etc If they are expecting a mills and boon account with lots of lovey dovey personal diary entries, I'm gonna be in trouble. We are romantic and we are soulmates, I just don't feel comfortable sharing that with strangers at immigration. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kezzles Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Hi I just submitted mine onshore and we had to do stat decs to talk about our commitment to each other including emotional and physical...awkward but just be honest I am sure Immigration have read lots of different stories and you are just another applicant to them. Its better to add some emotion than not in my eyes. You have to write about the history of your relationship too. Loads of advice on the website on what to include. I have heard offshore is quicker as onshore is taking 18 months to process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Off shore is quicker if you lodge in the Uk. This also means there are no issues with the on shore bridging visa and the person on it perhaps struggling to secure work as often employers don't look fondly on the bridging visa. If you are eligible for going straight to the 100 I'd apply off shore and get it granted then make the move. Otherwise your partner could find it's an 15 month wait on shore till the 100 comes through and that's a lot of time waiting and possibly facing employment issues. As for stat decs, they do expect you to say how you support each other emotionally but we didn't go in to great detail. Just how I supported hubby when he got a new job iirc and we needed to move to a new area and so I was prepared to do that. When I was unwell how he supported me. I wrote about how we went and cheered hubby along at his bike races, watched him play cricket and he supported my interests. Didn't write intimate stuff that's for sure. Fwiw we applied off shore and I was granted the 100 straight away. Also while waiting for it to be approved we got on with the planning for the move and we were ready to go 2 months after it was granted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robfromdublin Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 I was quite factual with mine and did not go into any of the lovey dovey stuff. I addressed the emotional support by talking about how we helped each other through bereavement or times of stress, not so much love letters 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beffers Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 I'd be applying offshore as it's cheaper and quicker in terms of processing - if you went over before you had applied, would he go over on a tourist visa and then apply onshore? Depends on whether the tourist visa has a no further stay note attached to it, in which case he couldn't get a bridging visa. If you're young enough, he could go over on a working holiday visa and then apply for a bridging visa whilst you submit your onshore partner application. In terms of relationship evidence, our stat decs on mutual commitment etc focused on how we had supported each other during the relationship and what interests we had in common, etc. We didn't really go into much lovey dovey stuff, although did mention about how we first met, in quite a bit of detail, and how our relationship developed from then on, including our engagement and deciding to move in together and all that kind of thing. Mine was 5 sides of A4 and my hubby's was about 7-8 sides I think. We detailed about joint holidays and we also did a separate joint statement on future plans which was just one side of A4 and signed by both of us. They have read hundreds of these and am sure they can pick out genuine and not so genuine ones. If you're sketchy with details about how you met or cagey about providing details on these things, they may think you're dodgy! Just best to put it down on paper and just get it out of the way! You're right in terms of being together for that long with a child that you won't have the two year waiting period, but I also know one couple who had been together for six years with a child, but were only granted the temp two year visa - it's not an automatic right to get the 100. Good luck with the statements! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newstart Posted March 17, 2017 Author Share Posted March 17, 2017 Thank you so much guys. I would never have thought about bereavement - hubby helped me through the loss of my dog as well as my parent last year. I have also supported him in giving up his job to work for himself. I will apply offshore and get it sorted before I arrive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peach Posted March 17, 2017 Share Posted March 17, 2017 In my case we had been together a while had two kids and a mortgage. We wrote one stat dec between us, that ran to a page and a half of typed A4 wasn't lovey dovey at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozbabe Posted March 18, 2017 Share Posted March 18, 2017 **FOLLOWING** Im in a similar situation , I'm an Australian married to a Scotsman,living in the uk . We've have been together for 13 years , married for 8 years and have 2 year old twin boys. We've already paid for a migration agent and have been sent ALL the paperwork which I might add is quite overwhelming!! We're trying to make a decision about on shore or off shore . We've only recently found out that on shore was an option and it's really tempting!! Snifter : could you'd you elaborate on what you meant by ' employers don't look on bridging visa fondly'? My husband is a chef with 20 years experience so hopefully there is a need out there. I do understand that some jobs require you to be a permanent resident.. Also has anyone heard or read of a price increase in the application this year?? Kind Regards xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 18, 2017 Share Posted March 18, 2017 (edited) ......................................... Edited March 18, 2017 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 18, 2017 Share Posted March 18, 2017 (edited) Scottish & Aussie couple here. We didn't write separate stat decs on our relationship, we entered all information online via our immi account application and that seemed to be enough. Neither of us do Mills and Boons either (vomit) so all we wrote is how and when we met, how our relationship developed (ie: decision to be 'exclusive', move in together, married, child etc.). We wrote how we made decisions together on finances, where to live, to holiday together, decisions about our child etc. Included that we support each other emotionally (that's as far as I wrote) through all ups and downs and went into a bit of more detail about our defined roles at present. It is better to include as much information as possible. People who we told about our application were surprised as they thought it was a 'done deal' being married to an Aussie, you just turn up and work. People had no idea that it took a LOT of paperwork and information, full health examinations, police clearances plus a fee of over £,4000 (at current rate). It's a big thing, not something you should take lightly and gloss over. Missing information would just cause delays and if you really didn't provide enough evidence, you could be rejected and you don't get the massive ridiculous fee back. Loads of us used this forum to ask many questions and received useful advice. Ask away if you need to, many times it can be much quicker than phoning the immigration call centre! All the best with your application. @Ozbabe - regarding bridging visas - basically on some occasions when you're in Australia you can apply for a visa to cover the time between visas ie: you're on a certain visa and you apply for a partner visa. When the original visa lapses you could be awarded a bridging visa that has certain rights before a decision on your new visa is made. There are different bridging visas giving different rights. Some allow you to leave Australia, some don't etc. etc. etc. Many companies can see a bridging visa as a big risk and can be unsure of the bridging visa rights themselves. They're a type of 'holding' visa with (for some visas) not a huge amount of rights. Lots of companies do take on people on bridging visas of course with no issues, depends on the company. Edited March 18, 2017 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemesis Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 It's a big thing, not something you should take lightly and gloss over. Missing information would just cause delays and if you really didn't provide enough evidence, you could be rejected and you don't get the massive ridiculous fee back. Loads of us used this forum to ask many questions and received useful advice. Ask away if you need to, many times it can be much quicker than phoning the immigration call centre! All the best with your application. @Ozbabe - regarding bridging visas - basically on some occasions when you're in Australia you can apply for a visa to cover the time between visas ie: you're on a certain visa and you apply for a partner visa. When the original visa lapses you could be awarded a bridging visa that has certain rights before a decision on your new visa is made. There are different bridging visas giving different rights. Some allow you to leave Australia, some don't etc. etc. etc. Many companies can see a bridging visa as a big risk and can be unsure of the bridging visa rights themselves. They're a type of 'holding' visa with (for some visas) not a huge amount of rights. Lots of companies do take on people on bridging visas of course with no issues, depends on the company. You can't apply for a bridging visa A (the usual bridging visa). if you are onshore, holding a substantive visa, and apply for another visa, then usually a bridging visa will be issued by DIBP. You can apply for a BV B, if holding an A and wishing to leave the country, but an A can only be issued by DIBP if and when appropriate, and you don't actually apply for it. Definitely agree with your comments about not taking this lightly. We provided shedloads of evidence and statements at both temp and PR stages and still got rejected; they said we didn't have enough photos - 2 people the wrong side of middle age, who both hate having pics taken - and my OH was doing FIFO work between oz and the UK, not wanting a permanent job in oz utnil he had PR. Oh, and they considered getting married when in our 50s was 'strange.'So beware, there are many pitfalls before you can consider it a done deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 On 19/03/2017 at 8:37 AM, Ozbabe said: **FOLLOWING** Im in a similar situation , I'm an Australian married to a Scotsman,living in the uk . We've have been together for 13 years , married for 8 years and have 2 year old twin boys. We've already paid for a migration agent and have been sent ALL the paperwork which I might add is quite overwhelming!! We're trying to make a decision about on shore or off shore . We've only recently found out that on shore was an option and it's really tempting!! Snifter : could you'd you elaborate on what you meant by ' employers don't look on bridging visa fondly'? My husband is a chef with 20 years experience so hopefully there is a need out there. I do understand that some jobs require you to be a permanent resident. Often employers don't understand a bridging visa and prefer people to be on a PR visa. Quite often people applying for a partner visa onshore and therefore on a bridging visa can struggle to secure work. Many employers are not keen to hire people on a bridging visa. Honestly, given the many months a person could be stuck on a bridging visa waiting for their visa grant (it's a lot longer onshore generally), you are probably better off applying off shore, getting the visa and then making the move. Cost is the same and the off shore processing is moving a lot quicker these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarahjane9566 Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 On 19/03/2017 at 9:07 AM, Ozbabe said: Snifter : could you'd you elaborate on what you meant by ' employers don't look on bridging visa fondly'? My husband is a chef with 20 years experience so hopefully there is a need out there. I do understand that some jobs require you to be a permanent resident.. I have been here now for over 3 years on a bridging visa and have not found work. To be honest after about 8 months of solid job hunting I abandoned it because I was tired of hearing you must be a permanent resident to apply here. There was one reasonably well paid job where the recruiters said I was by far the most experienced and suitable candidate for the position but the employer just wouldn't risk being required to sponsor me if the Partner Visa was refused. On the other end of the scale a low paid job driving hotel guests to and from the airport was refused because I didn't have permanent residency yet i spent 5 years driving European Tour holidays for a well known UK tour company. It wasn't the lack of experience is was a problem of being on a bridging visa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kial91 Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 I moved here with my Aussie girlfriend in February 2015, came on a working holiday visa and just applied for the partner visa in October 2015. I have heard it takes longer to process applying onshore (12-15 months) but once your on the bridging visa it doesn't really matter how long it takes due to already being allowed to stay in the country. If you have work that is. I was Lucky to find a really good employer who took me on whilst being on WHV. In our application we were quite detailed to be honest, its better to have it all there for them to see instead of them having to contact us for extra information etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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