Best advice for bring partner to Aus ASAP?

[StephR]

Hi, 

I am an Australian who has been living in the UK for 7ish years. My boyfriend (Scottish) and I are hoping to move to Australia next year, hopefully around August 2022. We are weighing up between two routes - 

a) he applies for the working holiday visa, with the aim to get sponsored by a company within the first year, and eventually applying for the Partner Provisional Visa (309) and then the Partner Permanent visa (100). He is 30 years old currently, turning 31 in 6 weeks, so we would need to apply for this soon! 

b) we apply for the Partner Provisional Visa now, and hope that it is approved within the next 12 months or so. We are not married, but we are living together and have been together for 3+ years. Although we cohabited for most of COVID at his parents house, we only 'officially' moved in together 3 months ago. 

So my questions are as follows (sorry there are a few!) 

- which route would you say is better? 

- will the working holiday visa get us to Australia quicker? 

- are we unlikely to be approved for b) given we don't have joint bills etc dating from a year ago? We have loads of other stuff - family holiday pics, whatsapps, emails, etc

- we are considering getting married in the next year anyway. Would it help our application to do it before applying for route b)? 

- Are wait times completely blown out due to COVID? What do you think is a realistic time frame at the moment? 

If anyone has any or all the answers to the above, I would love to hear them! 

Thanks :) 

[paulhand]

I’d say book a consultation with a friendly (and obviously registered) migration agent to go through your options … it’s a 45-60 minute conversation to cover all the variables properly, so it won’t be free but will likely be money well spent. There are lots of moving parts at the best of times, now even more so. 

[Quoll]

Partner visas through London are being processed in about 4-5 months at the moment apparently so if you get onto it now, chances are you'll get the visa well before you want to leave. ASAP isn't really a phrase in the lexicon at the moment - nobody is moving to Australia "ASAP" at all because of the restrictions imposes by governments and airlines, those of us who are here aren't allowed out yet!   Talk to an agent "ASAP" to keep your best options going. 

[Marisawright]

I agree with Quoll.   No point jumping through all those hoops when you're eligible for a proper partner visa.  

The big problem with a WHV is that they may not even be offered next year, or it may be difficult to get permission to travel, so you'll be stuck.  Whereas if you get your partner visa now, you'll be able to travel regardless of what restrictions are in place.  

[rammygirl]

As Paul said a consultation about possible strategies would be money well spent. You didn’t , for example mention the prospective marriage visa.

[Nyxkat]

I would also suggest speaking with a MARA registered agent to get an idea of what would be best for your circumstances. It's a first step a can really help clarify what you need and where to start and narrows down your options so is well worth the small consultation fee. There's no obligation to go with the agent you consult either, you can decide that later. Though I highly recommend one. There are some on this forum with good reputations including Paul Hand who has already replied here.

[StephR]

16 hours ago, paulhand said:

I’d say book a consultation with a friendly (and obviously registered) migration agent to go through your options … it’s a 45-60 minute conversation to cover all the variables properly, so it won’t be free but will likely be money well spent. There are lots of moving parts at the best of times, now even more so. 

Thank you Paul. I will probably be in touch, this sounds like the best route forward!

[StephR]

11 hours ago, Quoll said:

Partner visas through London are being processed in about 4-5 months at the moment apparently so if you get onto it now, chances are you'll get the visa well before you want to leave. ASAP isn't really a phrase in the lexicon at the moment - nobody is moving to Australia "ASAP" at all because of the restrictions imposes by governments and airlines, those of us who are here aren't allowed out yet!   Talk to an agent "ASAP" to keep your best options going. 

This is very interesting to know, thank you! Haha and yep, I used 'ASAP' knowing that as soon as possible might well be late next year, and subject to many things. Great advice to talk to an agent ASAP though. 

[StephR]

11 hours ago, Marisawright said:

I agree with Quoll.   No point jumping through all those hoops when you're eligible for a proper partner visa.  

The big problem with a WHV is that they may not even be offered next year, or it may be difficult to get permission to travel, so you'll be stuck.  Whereas if you get your partner visa now, you'll be able to travel regardless of what restrictions are in place.  

This is my main concern with the WHV route, we'll just have to jump through more hoops and pay more cash down the line. May as well get it done now. 

And yeah I feel similarly dubious that the WH visas will be back up and running soon. Thanks for your advice!

[Vernon Bain]

To go over your alternatives, I'd recommend scheduling an appointment with a good (and obviously registered) migration agency.