GG81 Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 I am starting to panic about our visa application. Everyone keeps telling me how difficult it is, but we have just completed ours online and did not find it difficult at all? We will be sending it off next month when we can pay for it and am thinking that maybe the difficult part comes when starting to upload documents? My husband is a UK citizen. We have been together almost 10 years and have two children who are Australian citizens by descent. I am Australian. Our situation isn't complicated in any way. Can someone reassure me that it doesn't always have to be complicated? I just saw another thread on here about definitely getting an Immigration lawyer. Surely if your situation isn't complicated you don't need one? Thanks for any advice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon the Hat Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 We applied a month ago without an agent in basically the same situation, albeit more like 14 years together. The evidence is not difficult, but it is time consuming. Make sure you have it all ready before you apply and then upload it promptly, and you should be fine. Note there have been some quick approvals recently <3 months, so I have already done my medical and uploaded UK police certificates. just waiting on imminent arrival of my wife's AFP check (which has taken over a month already but is in the post) then I think I have everything uploaded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG81 Posted May 2, 2018 Author Share Posted May 2, 2018 Thanks Jon, that's made me feel a bit better. I'm going to start gathering all documents.. good point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 I didn’t apply online as back when I did mine it wasn’t an option. I do agree with the above though, it’s more time consuming than anything if you’ve been in a long term relationship or marriage and have kids etc. You have lots of evidence to provide, sort out the wheat from the chaff in it all and so on. It took me about 6 weeks to go through it all, whittle it down and make sure I had what I felt was important to include. Suggest you try and ensure you can account for the early years also with some form of supporting evidence, be it a bill or two from back then or bank statements. We’d been married about 7-8 years when I applied but I submitted evidence for each year, just one or two bills or car insurance naming us both or some such, then for the year leading up to lodging I included a bill or statement from each of the 12 months. Plus things like wills, life insurance policy naming us both etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon the Hat Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 I found the fact that I never delete emails was a great help - my yahoo account had old car insurance documents, holiday itineraries etc. All useful stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 Don’t forget your husband will need things like full birth certificate naming his parents. Plus the kids birth certs naming you both, Aus citizenship by descent certs, Aus passports etc. They usually want to see all that re the kids to show they are ok to move (sponsor and applicant are the parents) and don’t need a visa etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon the Hat Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 Yes... In my enthusiasm I used a few upload slots on that, applications then certificates when they were granted in 3 weeks! Much quicker than i expected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG81 Posted May 2, 2018 Author Share Posted May 2, 2018 Thanks this is all really helpful and encouraging. We might struggle for documents for early days as I don't really keep bills etc but I guess I can try estate agents for past tenancy agreements at least.. Thanks for info re kids.. it wasn't on the list of documents needed on gov website but ill add it to my list now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon the Hat Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 We did as well, but I hopfeully have enough with wedding evidence, buying a home together in 2006 etc. Utility bills not so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsShields12 Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 I applied for my partner visa in Feb 2018 , Me and my husband have been married for just over two years and have two biological children. I done my partner visa online ( without an agent, they are very useful though ) . I front loaded with my medicals and police checks. I was granted my partner visa subclass 100 ( straight away ) in 4weeks exactly . I didn’t find any of it particularly difficult , The members on this site were invaluable for early information . Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG81 Posted May 3, 2018 Author Share Posted May 3, 2018 Oh wow, that's super quick! I wonder why some take so long? We have been wondering whether to start the process of police checks and medical (we both need one for the UK and OZ).. do these normally take awhile? Also, although I don't have old utility bills, I managed to dig out old lease agreements from all the houses we have lived at over the years and emails dating back to when we first met. Do you think this is sufficient evidence? I feel a bit funny about someone reading our personal emails but hey ho, needs must! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 3, 2018 Share Posted May 3, 2018 12 minutes ago, GG81 said: Oh wow, that's super quick! I wonder why some take so long? We have been wondering whether to start the process of police checks and medical (we both need one for the UK and OZ).. do these normally take awhile? Also, although I don't have old utility bills, I managed to dig out old lease agreements from all the houses we have lived at over the years and emails dating back to when we first met. Do you think this is sufficient evidence? I feel a bit funny about someone reading our personal emails but hey ho, needs must! I’d not include personal emails if it were me. It never occurred to me to include that sort of thing at all after 7 or so years of marriage and a child together. I didn’t include any FB or social media stuff either as I had plenty of other more substantial evidence (bills, life insurance, joint bank account going back years etc, plus a holiday booking and the odd invite to weddings as a couple). The leases would be great if you have a couple but you don’t need to hand over personal emails IMHO. The lease agreements show you as living together back then. It’s just nice to have a few things like a lease or the odd bill from earlier on to include, not just more recent stuff. Rounds out the application if you like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted May 3, 2018 Share Posted May 3, 2018 (edited) It takes longer if you apply in Australia. It's much quicker if you apply in your home country. Maybe that explains the difference between you? Just recently I had a bit of a spat with a migration agent on this site, because I dared say that a partner visa was straightforward. He claimed it was one of the most frequently refused visas - but after pushing, he admitted that was because so many people are applying with non-genuine relationships, or partnerships that haven't been together long enough. I'm guessing that's where the idea comes from that it's difficult to get. If you've been living together for a few years, especially if you have children, it's just a case of putting the evidence together to prove that. Time-consuming but not difficult. I wouldn't be including personal emails either. You don't need to go back that far - they're not interested in your courtship, it's only your "genuine relationship equivalent to marriage" that counts. Edited May 3, 2018 by Marisawright 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG81 Posted May 3, 2018 Author Share Posted May 3, 2018 Thank you so much all of you. I'm starting to feel a bit better about it all! Will hold of personal emails then.. I guess I just thought it gives proof the relationship has been going for as long as we said.. But the first tenancy agreement is about 2 years later so that's still around 8 years. Dedication if we weren't actually together! ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon the Hat Posted May 4, 2018 Share Posted May 4, 2018 My only other comment is that the AFP check is taking a looong time to make it to the UK. Took about 3 weeks to be prepared, and has not arrived yet 18 days after that, so if you are in a hurry maybe kick that off. I am not clear whether the sponsor's police check influences the last entry date or not, but we are happy enough to go to Australia for a holiday etc before end of March next year so this was not an issue for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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