lhumphreys Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 Hi Guys, My partner and I currently live together and he is going to move back to Australia (he's a citizen). I'm going to stay put for a few months while he gets himself settled and gets started with a job etc. The plan is for me to move over next year, once I finish out my contract. I'm a nurse and already registered with AHPRA so think I will have work options upon going as well. Anyhow, long story short I'm debating whether to go to Australia on a tourist visa and apply for the partner while in Australia and/or to apply from here. My concerns are that I don't want to be away from my partner for possibly 13+ months, if it ends up taking that long. However, I am nervous that if I apply from within Australia I will also have to go possibly 13+ months without working while waiting for it to get approved. If I do decide to apply from outside of Australia am I allowed to go visit? If so, what happens if I were to be approved for my visa while visiting? Thank you all for the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 (edited) If you meet the requirements put it in now and don't dither. If it's straightforward you might be ready to go with visa once your contract finishes. There's always a risk that if you rock up to Australia on a visitor visa without the intention to be a proper visitor that you will be turned around at the airport. Not worth the risk, honestly. Once you've applied yes you can inform your CO and go over for a visit as long as you are out of the country when your visa is issued. Edited September 10, 2017 by Quoll 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemesis Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 If you arrive on a tourist visa and apply onshore for a 820/801 then you get working rights on the Bridging Visa - that will kick in when the tourist visa expires. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhumphreys Posted September 10, 2017 Author Share Posted September 10, 2017 Thank you so much for the responses! Does the bridging visa also have a possible 13 month wait time for approval or are you automatically on it while waiting to find out if you got the partner visa (as soon as the tourist visa ends)? Although, it sounds like the offshore is possibly the safer option. We are also considering getting married (paperwork wise at least) with a formal ceremony to follow in Australia next year. Is having a marriage license finished a more secure route than just being engaged? Thank you so much for the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 The on shore partner visa is currently running at about 15 months from lodging to grant. That is IMHO a long time to be on a bridging visa (which many employers are not keen on nor do they seem to understand). You would also have to be on a tourist visa for the first 3 months till it runs out and the bridging visa kicks in. Off shore the current processing times are seeming to be shorter and are often coming back within 6 months from lodging but this is not a given for each person and some do wait longer. No one can know how you application would go or how quickly it would process. What others experience may not be your own. But generally most are not waiting anything close to 13 months at present (that can change at any point though). Have you read the most recent pages of our partner visa thread to see what the processing times are for lots applying in recent times? Might be worth a look to see others experiences. If you are working out your contract and its say 6 months, why wait to apply, is where I go out from. If your partner is planning a move back in a few months or a bit longer, then to apply off shore asap would be my preference. If you can lodge and prove the de facto already why delay. If you know you want to move, get it going. Immigration could in the future change the process or requirements, have the wait times blow out, put the price up, any number of things that could potentially stuff things up if you wait 6 months to lodge or wait till on shore. I'd also ensure you understand the on shore requirements and the 12 month de facto and that if you are apart for a period of time you must be able to prove to immigration in your application that you remained de facto during your time apart (Skype, email and FB logs won't cut it on their own). You'll need to be able to fully document you are still a couple and be able to explain the time apart. So if you have a joint UK bank account, keep it open and both pay money into it or move money between accounts if he has one in Aus (or open one from the UK and use it to put money in to??), your partner could register your relationship if the state allows once back in Aus, those sorts of things. Him going and you staying behind for a few months could be an issue if you cannot account for it properly when required. To throw a spanner in the works, can you not get a visa based on your nursing? It may be cheaper and quicker? No clue as not really up on that side of things but if its possible, it may be worth exploring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 1 hour ago, lhumphreys said: Thank you so much for the responses! Does the bridging visa also have a possible 13 month wait time for approval or are you automatically on it while waiting to find out if you got the partner visa (as soon as the tourist visa ends)? Although, it sounds like the offshore is possibly the safer option. We are also considering getting married (paperwork wise at least) with a formal ceremony to follow in Australia next year. Is having a marriage license finished a more secure route than just being engaged? Thank you so much for the help! De facto, engaged, married, what you need to be able to do is meet the requirements for immigration to grant you a visa. Many people are not married and apply, many are already married. I don't think it makes things more secure as you still need to prove all the same other things same as you would as a de facto couple. Don't marry just to try aid the visa is where I sit. Marry when you are ready and wanting to, and if that is in Aus in a couple of years, wait Do you have proper supporting evidence for your de facto for the time required prior to lodging? If you are hoping for PR straight from the off then iirc its 4 years (?) together and being able to account for that properly. So if you can prove 4 years de facto, do so. If you've only been together as a de facto couple (dating doesn't count), then do you have evidence to back this up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhumphreys Posted September 10, 2017 Author Share Posted September 10, 2017 We have been together for a little over 3, so sadly not the 4, but yes do have documentation with leases, bills, etc for more than 12 months. We really just came to this decision about a week ago and I have been reading and reading, however it hadn't occurred to me to even look into the skilled migration. I will now definitely check that out. Also, when we go to Oz in December together I think what you said makes a lot of sense to open a bank account together there that we can both contribute too to show the ongoing connections to one another outside of phone records, etc. I am very nervous about choosing to take this time apart, but we are in the US and he has had the roughest time here with work. He goes to a million interviews and they tell him he's the best candidate etc but that they are not doing visas due to our current administration's instability on visas. His current workplace is disrespectful, underpaid, and borderline abusive all because he is on a visa and it is breaking him down. In the US I can't keep him here unless we are married, and as mentioned earlier we plan to do that next year in Oz. We already had flights booked home for Christmas, so decided he would stay while I finished out my workplace contract. Do you think this will be held against us when it comes time to apply if I continue to go down the partner visa path? Thank you so much for such a detailed response. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 If you're going to get married anyway, you can apply for the Prospective Marriage Visa - you get 9 months to get hitched then you apply for your spouse visa. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemesis Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 2 hours ago, snifter said: Do you have proper supporting evidence for your de facto for the time required prior to lodging? If you are hoping for PR straight from the off then iirc its 4 years (?) together and being able to account for that properly. So if you can prove 4 years de facto, do so. If you've only been together as a de facto couple (dating doesn't count), then do you have evidence to back this up? Its three years with kids, or two years without. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 6 minutes ago, Quoll said: If you're going to get married anyway, you can apply for the Prospective Marriage Visa - you get 9 months to get hitched then you apply for your spouse visa. But why go about going through that if you already meet the de facto anyway? It's just more cost and another visa on top surely. Plus it's an off shore visa only iirc and takes as long as the partner visa to come through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 I really don't know the processing times for off shore from the US. I'd have skipped a whole heap in my earlier posts if I'd known that is where you are applying from. I was going out from UK times more. I'd look into skilled migration in case it's a possibility and perhaps run your case past a reputable migration agent to ensure you are well informed and making the best decision as to which visa you apply for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhumphreys Posted October 3, 2017 Author Share Posted October 3, 2017 Hey @snifter Thanks for the response! After looking into it I am going forward with the skilled migrant visa due to cost and speed (and also way less paperwork since I am already licensed). Thank you so much for your advice! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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