Partner Visa 820/801 Submitted - Request for more information emails.

[GoogoobarabajagalInStraya]

Hey Poms!

First post. Just wanted to share my application situation for anyone going through a similar experience. Sorry it's long!

I was originally in Aus on a year working/holiday visa, that turned to two after I realised a year just wasn't long enough! I met my now partner in the first few months of my first year when I was working with him for his family, we started dating seriously after another few months and I fell pregnant at the end of my first year here. My second year was spent saving up for upcoming arrival of bub and the expense of a partner visa (ouch!), while still having and enjoying amazing experiences in FNQ.

I applied for de facto visa in December 2017. I had at this point only uploaded the basics, form 80,  my passport and birth certificate, photographs of us together, proof that we had been living together for over a year, our son's birth certificate (born september 2017), proof of joint bank account and joint ownership of a car. I received confirmation of them receiving the application and was approved a bridging visa within a couple of weeks.

I was sent a Request for More Information on 26 Feb 2018, a lot sooner than I was expecting! Immigration wanted;

AFP checks for both of us, I applied online and received these fairly quickly;
UK police check for myself, I applied online and have as of yet not received it in the post;
Partner's/Sponsor's Birth Certificate, He didn't have one but again, applied online and received and uploaded quickly;
Form 888(witness statement), I had one of these and was waiting for the other, Uploaded on signed by JP and haven't been asked for another?!;
Form 40sp, printed and had partner fill it out (reluctantly, he hates paperwork);
Immigration Health Assesment (Medical, chest Xray, HIV test)

I slowly worked through and uploaded most of these, on 07 Feb 2018 I received another Request for More Information asking for the rest of what I hadn't gotten around to yet. I was pretty impressed to be honest as I wasn't expecting this much correspondence, especially this early into the application. I was quoted 17-24 months process time, they seem to be working quite fast.

I am now just waiting on my UK police check and my medical, which is tomorrow! I am currently 4 months pregnant with bub no.2 so was advised by Bupa to choose not to have chest X-ray until after the new tiny human is born. They even suggested that 9/10 times they will not even ask me to go ahead with the X-ray after, which is going to save me a few dollars. Fingers crossed.

That's me and my situation. I will update as soon as I hear back from them after my medical and have uploaded UK police check. I'm looking forward to finding out whether they'll keep processing at the rate of knots they are, or, once I've given them everything they need, they spend the next 19 months ignoring me and leaving me in limbo!

Good luck with all your endeavours!