Partner enter Australia on 309 Visa without me?

[LMT]

Hello to all

I'm new to this and have been getting my husbands (UK Citizen) application for a 309 visa ready for the last couple of months. 

I am aiming to get it lodged in early January 2020. I know it is going to take at least 12 months to get approved.

I'm an Australian Citizen and my Son who is 15 is also Australian Citizen.

We have been together for over 12 years and married for 4 years.

My questions are as follows (I hope they make sense!!!)

1.  I am trying to make this move as seamless as possible for my son's education. He is currently in Year 11 in UK and i know in Australia he would be in Year 10 equivalent being 15. 

Has anyone else moved a 15 year old and how did you deal with the school transfer into the Australian system?

2. I feel i need to get my son into the Australian school system asap due to his age and future career choices, this being said, i am considering going over before my husband's visa is granted. I know it's risky but doubt he will be refused the 309 visa. I am considering doing this at the end of the school year in UK July 2020. 

3. Once my husband's visa is granted would he be able to enter Australia on his own, or does he need me accomanying him to enter?

My husband is happy to wait until it is granted as we also have a business to sell. He would stay in our current rental property until visa granted, then come over to Australia.

Also me and my son going earlier would allow us to set up a home, and get the pets sent over, so they stay with my husband UK end and come to me at the other end once house organised.

So this would mean he would be spending approximately 6 months or so, still in the UK whilst we are in Australia.

Is this feasible? Has anyone else done it this way??

Would be grateful for any advice.

 

 

[paulhand]

I’ll let someone else answer the schools questions, but that all sounds good on the visa front. Do keep records of keeping in close contact whilst you are apart. Yes, he will be able to come to Australia by himself to join you. 

[wrussell]

1.  &  2. Possibly,  but not certainly. Make sure that your child does not remain in the 'wrong' class level for longer than an assessment period. Getting dumped into  class 1/2 way through a semester is not desirable. 

3. It is possible, but MOST unlikely, that your husband would not be able to enter Australia before you do : 8502  The holder of the visa must not enter Australia before the entry to Australia of a person specified in the visa.

There will be an entry date (usually the expiry date of medical or PCC) You husband can enter Australia , however briefly, and come and go for 5 years.

Do not be amazed if getting your pets here costs more than getting yourself here.

[wrussell]

If you really want to get the school issue under control download (or otherwise obtain) the syllabi statements for the state where you intend to live. 

[Quoll]

As long as your son is in Australia in the January of the year he's just turned or about to turn 16 he should be fine. He just needs to do the full 2 years of the yr 11/12 course. If he can't do that then delay your arrival until he's finished A levels. Moving before 16 into the Australian system is easy enough but it gets harder once they've turned 16. A levels convert well into Aus university entrance requirements. Ignore the year  level names in the two countries just look at the peer cohort age group.

[LMT]

Thank you for your replies.

I have rang the home affairs on in Australia, and they have confirmed my husband does not need me accompanying him to enter. ( I will already be there.)  As they explained it is "his" visa to enter and does not require me to be there.  I would be going before my husband as mentioned to get my son started in the school system. My son will finish  his GCSE's Year 11 at the end of the school year here in the UK in July 2020. I will not remove him from the UK system until the GCSE's are completed.  I will look  into the syllabus for SA as that's where i come from and are going to.

I have explained to my son that if he starts school in September 2020 in Adelaide, i would expect due to age and year differences to the UK , he would do the final year term of year 10, then in January 2021 he would start year 11 and carry on from there. I think this would also help him ease into Australian school life to do the last term in Year 10.  He's not really happy to do year 11 again but have said he will have a huge advantage of being very familiar with year 11 coursework and possibly have an advantage to making Year 11 in Australia less stressful. I think to go into year 12 would throw him completely off balance.  He is an August baby he's always been youngest in his class. He will still not be 16 even when finished his GCSE's. But that's another issue of the UK school system and summer born children.......i will not digress.

It's tricky i wish we had planned to go a bit earlier in his schooling but we only made a final decision in  March this year after much thought. Funnily enough it has been me delaying the move for years, because i had not reconciled leaving the UK, after 20 years here. But after another visit back home early in the year i was then convinced i was ready to go home.

The pet's are a massive expense but essential to our family feeling complete. Some may say we are mad but pet owners who have taken theirs will know what i mean.

I feel like my pets should be in business class for the cost involved!!!! 

 

[wrussell]

1. Rely on  information provided by immigration 'help' lines at you peril.

2. The step to year 11 is the biggest academic step of all. Years 11 and 12 should be treated as one big year. Repeated year 11 to get a running start is a good idea. Those who repeat year 12 are penalised for doing so.

3. What happens at home is vastly more important than what happens at school.

4. I can send you  an excellent recipe for dog casserole.

[wrussell]

your
 

[wrussell]

https://www.sace.sa.edu.au/studying/subjects/mathematics

This will dump you in the middle of what you need you should be able to work your way around from there.

 

[Quoll]

He isn’t “repeating” year 11. He won’t have done the coursework, it’s a foreign country with a different education system! All he will be doing is joining his age cohort and starting a new curriculum in a foreign country. If reports are true from people arriving, he will find it a doddle, wouldn’t worry about it. Don’t even think about trying to start him in year 12 - that’d be like expecting him to do well in A levels after missing the first year of the course

 

Edited November 2, 2019 by Quoll

[ali]

I would agree with Quoll that he may not be familiar with course work - depending upon the school it may depend what options are available to him (they may not be the same as he's been studying in the UK).

[LMT]

Thanks again for further information, i will explore all options presented.

My main intention is to ensure he is there to start the Year 11 in Australia that is a given.  

My husband has suggested that the local takeaway will happily accept the dogs, and the cat would make a nice pair of slippers.

 

[AliQ]

58 minutes ago, LMT said:

My husband has suggested that the local takeaway will happily accept the dogs, and the cat would make a nice pair of slippers.

In that case, leave husband behind and just take your lovely dogs & cat !

[LMT]

Ah no he does love them as much as me.  He lives by the mantra Happy Wife Happy Life........

[safarichick]

On 02/11/2019 at 09:24, LMT said:

Thank you for your replies.

I have rang the home affairs on in Australia, and they have confirmed my husband does not need me accompanying him to enter. ( I will already be there.)  As they explained it is "his" visa to enter and does not require me to be there.  I would be going before my husband as mentioned to get my son started in the school system. My son will finish  his GCSE's Year 11 at the end of the school year here in the UK in July 2020. I will not remove him from the UK system until the GCSE's are completed.  I will look  into the syllabus for SA as that's where i come from and are going to.

I have explained to my son that if he starts school in September 2020 in Adelaide, i would expect due to age and year differences to the UK , he would do the final year term of year 10, then in January 2021 he would start year 11 and carry on from there. I think this would also help him ease into Australian school life to do the last term in Year 10.  He's not really happy to do year 11 again but have said he will have a huge advantage of being very familiar with year 11 coursework and possibly have an advantage to making Year 11 in Australia less stressful. I think to go into year 12 would throw him completely off balance.  He is an August baby he's always been youngest in his class. He will still not be 16 even when finished his GCSE's. But that's another issue of the UK school system and summer born children.......i will not digress.

It's tricky i wish we had planned to go a bit earlier in his schooling but we only made a final decision in  March this year after much thought. Funnily enough it has been me delaying the move for years, because i had not reconciled leaving the UK, after 20 years here. But after another visit back home early in the year i was then convinced i was ready to go home.

The pet's are a massive expense but essential to our family feeling complete. Some may say we are mad but pet owners who have taken theirs will know what i mean.

I feel like my pets should be in business class for the cost involved!!!! 

 

We moved over Oct 2017.  My youngest daughter turned 16 end of Aug 17 having just finished her GCSEs.  We are in QLD and put her into Y10 for a couple of months then in Jan 2018 she started Y11 to do her QCE.  With the new ATAR system it is a 2 year course so your timeline for your son sounds good.

[LMT]

Thanks glad to hear from someone with a teenager in the same situation.

That's my intention, giving him a couple of months in Year 10 to adjsut before hitting Year 11 & 12.

How has your daughter settled into life in Australia?

My son has been 4 times for holidays, yet i think holidays are always different to "real life" he is very keen to go, we have a lot of family there.

He has not once said he doesn't want to go, and he says i am fretting about him making friends he's not worried at all about that.  I think i might have a dilemna on my hands if he had a girlfriend!!!

My husband and I are keeping our fingers crossed he doesnt find a love interest in the UK between here and now!!!  We did jokingly say to him don't get a girlfriend until you get to Australia!!!......

Would be keen to hear how your daughter is getting on..

[wrussell]

On 02/11/2019 at 23:06, AliQ said:

In that case, leave husband behind and just take your lovely dogs & cat !

Extracts from one of my scrofulous novels: a recipe for dog:

 

The  wife  has  had  a  quiet  word  with  the  hotel

manager. It is costing us three thousand pesos for the feast,

about a hundred Stateside dollars. We could have bought the

dog  from  a market  in  the province  for  five hundred. Dogs

for  sale  lie with  their front  legs  tied behind their shoulders

and  their back  legs  tied  together, muzzled with a  length of

twine, breathing frantically. 

Filipinos  respect  rabid  dogs.  If  a  dog  bites, you do

not  kill  it. You  tie  it  up  and  see  how  it  shapes  up  over  a

week  or  so.  If  the dog  carks  it,  the victim has  a  choice of

vaccine  or  death—rabies  is  usually  fatal  if  not  treated.

Vaccine  means  bankruptcy  for  the  average  family.  Most

victims  here  say  their  prayers  and  take  their  chances with

the local medicine men. The mutt we are having for dinner

seems only mangy. 

I cannot bring myself to lie, so I tell Martin my wife

has ordered a dish  in his honour, kitu, which is  Ibanag  for

dog.  I  could  have  said  aso, which  is Tagalog  for  dog,  but

there is an outside chance he might have understood. I can

always plead  that  I  thought his wife would  interpret. After

the feast, Martin agrees to meet us up North in a few days.

 . . . 

‘A change in diet can't be that important, Andrew.’

‘Martin, you have just eaten a fu**ing dog.’

‘Should we ask for a doggy bag?’

I  love  the  way  the  English  can  toss  off  immortal

bons  mots  on  their  walk  to  the  gallows.  They  must  stay

awake all night. What a shame that ruling the world became

too much for them.

[safarichick]

5 hours ago, LMT said:

Thanks glad to hear from someone with a teenager in the same situation.

That's my intention, giving him a couple of months in Year 10 to adjsut before hitting Year 11 & 12.

How has your daughter settled into life in Australia?

My son has been 4 times for holidays, yet i think holidays are always different to "real life" he is very keen to go, we have a lot of family there.

He has not once said he doesn't want to go, and he says i am fretting about him making friends he's not worried at all about that.  I think i might have a dilemna on my hands if he had a girlfriend!!!

My husband and I are keeping our fingers crossed he doesnt find a love interest in the UK between here and now!!!  We did jokingly say to him don't get a girlfriend until you get to Australia!!!......

Would be keen to hear how your daughter is getting on..

She had a rocky start settling in.  She was missing her UK friends plus got chatting to a boy before we left and he was feeding her all sorts.  A few months after moving she changed schools due to some bullying which knocked her confidence.  Fast forward 2 years, she graduates this week gaining her QCE, passed her driving test 3 months ago and is totally loved up for over a year with the boyfriend.  She has a part time in a cafe and is just waiting to hear if she's been successful in a traineeship with the Council.  I know a few older teenagers who moved back to the UK after only a couple of months of being here due to leaving a boyfriend behind in the UK that they had only recently met, so make sure he does not get a girlfriend before you leave, a game changer!!!!!

[LMT]

Thanks for the teenager advice, i know a love interest would be a game changer!!!!