Brucolino Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 (edited) Hi all, I am on a PR visa (189) which I activated in Nov 2017. I stayed in Australia with a family member for 3 weeks or so but then went back to Europe for Christmas and to come back to Australia with my partner. We returned Feb of '18. Since then I am living/working in Australia. My partner had to go back due to serious illness in his family(cancer) and wants to be close to them for support. Treatment has been on-going for the past 2 years and will continue. We don't know what the future holds right now. The distance and time-zone difference has been extremely difficult for us especially since we recently got enganged. With everything going on I am thinking/more or less decided I should also leave Australia. My current work assignment ends in September after which I am thinking of leaving. It's far from ideal and I feel very sad about it all.. but I don't feel like I have much of a choice. Rather than turning my back on Australia indefinitely I'm hoping of keeping the option to return open. My questions: Can I apply for a RRV before my 5 year PR unlimited travel expires? Do I need to have stayed in Australia for 2 years before applying for a RRV? Would people recommend I stay on a few more months to meet the 2 year residency requirement? If so - would I be able to count my residency status from Nov onwards(when my PR visa was activated)? Or will the fact I returned to Europe for a couple of months work against me? How long does the RRV extend to? Is it just 1 additional year or more? If anyone else has gone through a similar situation please feel free to offer advice. Thanks everyone x Edited March 8, 2019 by Brucolino Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 When does the travel part of your visa expire? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucolino Posted March 8, 2019 Author Share Posted March 8, 2019 December 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 11 hours ago, Brucolino said: Hi all, I am on a PR visa (189) which I activated in Nov 2017. I stayed in Australia with a family member for 3 weeks or so but then went back to Europe for Christmas and to come back to Australia with my partner. We returned Feb of '18. Since then I am living/working in Australia. My partner had to go back due to serious illness in his family(cancer) and wants to be close to them for support. Treatment has been on-going for the past 2 years and will continue. We don't know what the future holds right now. The distance and time-zone difference has been extremely difficult for us especially since we recently got enganged. With everything going on I am thinking/more or less decided I should also leave Australia. My current work assignment ends in September after which I am thinking of leaving. It's far from ideal and I feel very sad about it all.. but I don't feel like I have much of a choice. Rather than turning my back on Australia indefinitely I'm hoping of keeping the option to return open. My questions: Can I apply for a RRV before my 5 year PR unlimited travel expires? Do I need to have stayed in Australia for 2 years before applying for a RRV? Would people recommend I stay on a few more months to meet the 2 year residency requirement? If so - would I be able to count my residency status from Nov onwards(when my PR visa was activated)? Or will the fact I returned to Europe for a couple of months work against me? How long does the RRV extend to? Is it just 1 additional year or more? If anyone else has gone through a similar situation please feel free to offer advice. Thanks everyone x My understanding (an RMA would give you qualified advice). Most people apply for the RRV in the months before their travel portion of their substantive visa expires - I'm not sure you can apply for it a few years in advance for it to sit in the background. You have to have been actually living in Aus for 2 years out of the 5, so my assumption is that your 3 weeks in November will count but not your absence in between you returning in February 2018 Personally, I would recommend you being able to fulfill the residency requirements, but you also will need to show some ongoing ties to Aus. The visa is usually granted for either 5 years or 1 year depending on fulfilling the criteria (which can be found on the immigration website). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 14 hours ago, Brucolino said: December 2021 In that case, you cannot apply for another RRV now. You need to wait until 2021. By far the safest solution is to stay in Australia until you've fulfilled your two-year requirement. Your time absent from Australia will not count. If you don't fulfil your two year requirement, then when you apply for your RRV, you'll have to show evidence of "strong ties" to Australia. If you have no home, no job and no relatives in Australia, that will be impossible, and you won't be able to get a RRV. You will lose your PR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucolino Posted March 9, 2019 Author Share Posted March 9, 2019 Thanks Ali, My sister is living here and has been for the past 5-6years so I do have family ties in Australia. I was hoping to find out if family illness is potentially categorised as an exceptional circumstance when it came to a decision regarding the RRV and the length of extension. The diagnosis was unfortunately made straight after our VISA was granted. We still came out here in the hope the treatment would be successful. Unfortunately the cancer has metastasised and treatment is continuing. It's this uncertainty that is making it very difficult to plan ahead. It's been incredibly straining on our relationship living in different continents and we are spending a fortune on back and forth travel which is why I am making the decision to leave Australia. I still want to try keeping my options open though. It's all very stressful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucolino Posted March 9, 2019 Author Share Posted March 9, 2019 7 minutes ago, Marisawright said: In that case, you cannot apply for another RRV now. You need to wait until 2021. By far the safest solution is to stay in Australia until you've fulfilled your two-year requirement. Your time absent from Australia will not count. If you don't fulfil your two year requirement, then when you apply for your RRV, you'll have to show evidence of "strong ties" to Australia. If you have no home, no job and no relatives in Australia, that will be impossible, and you won't be able to get a RRV. You will lose your PR. Does this include time outside Australia spent on holidays? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 31 minutes ago, Brucolino said: Does this include time outside Australia spent on holidays? No, you can't count any time you spent outside Australia for any reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 Your other option is simply to make sure you return to Australia in mid-2021. Get yourself a home (rented or bought, doesn't matter), get a job, then once'you are established, apply for a new RRV. Then you'll be able to show "strong ties" because you are already settled and working, and you'll have a much better chance of getting a RRV. But of course, the snag is that you won't be able to leave Australia again until it's granted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucolino Posted March 9, 2019 Author Share Posted March 9, 2019 2 minutes ago, Marisawright said: No, you can't count any time you spent outside Australia for any reason. Just to clarify. I have been on holidays outside of Australia, both in Asia and Europe while still renting here and being employed here (as part of my holiday leave). So these dates would not count as me living here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 29 minutes ago, Brucolino said: Just to clarify. I have been on holidays outside of Australia, both in Asia and Europe while still renting here and being employed here (as part of my holiday leave). So these dates would not count as me living here? No they do not. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulhand Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 16 hours ago, Brucolino said: Can I apply for a RRV before my 5 year PR unlimited travel expires? Do I need to have stayed in Australia for 2 years before applying for a RRV? Would people recommend I stay on a few more months to meet the 2 year residency requirement? If so - would I be able to count my residency status from Nov onwards(when my PR visa was activated)? Or will the fact I returned to Europe for a couple of months work against me? How long does the RRV extend to? Is it just 1 additional year or more? To answer the above questions: - yes, you can apply at any time, but in your case there is no point until you have spent 2 years in total here, as you would actually shorten your travel period if you applied now. - no, but until you have you will only get a one year RRV, which would be pointless. - yes - you count the actual number of days you were physically in Australia. When you get to 730, that's 2 years - if you meet the 2 years in 5, then 5 years. If not, 1 year. As mentioned by @ali it would be worth you running your scenarios by an RMA to make sure you fully understand how this works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucolino Posted March 9, 2019 Author Share Posted March 9, 2019 (edited) 13 minutes ago, paulhand said: To answer the above questions: - yes, you can apply at any time, but in your case there is no point until you have spent 2 years in total here, as you would actually shorten your travel period if you applied now. - no, but until you have you will only get a one year RRV, which would be pointless. - yes - you count the actual number of days you were physically in Australia. When you get to 730, that's 2 years - if you meet the 2 years in 5, then 5 years. If not, 1 year. As mentioned by @ali it would be worth you running your scenarios by an RMA to make sure you fully understand how this works. Thanks Paul! Very helpful indeed. Do the 2 years need to be within consecutive years or is it enough to just have the 730 days throughout the 5 year period? I will definitely be joining my partner for a few months after completing my work assignment in Sep. to support him and his family. But I'm now thinking of returning to make up the 2 years. Thanks to everyone for your inputs Edited March 9, 2019 by Brucolino Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulhand Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 Cumulative within the 5 year period immediately before you apply. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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