Partner visa advice

[Grace100]

Hello, new here! Not sure if I've posted in the correct section. I am Australian born but have lived in Scotland for the last 34 years. My husband and I were toying with the idea of a possible move to Australia. I'm 49 and he is mid 50's. We have a daughter who is 22 and a son who is 20. Son still at Uni and isn't really interested in a move to Australia. My daughter has recently graduated and has a job and would probably go at the drop of a hat. She was looking into it herself. I work as a Teaching Assistant and my husband is in the oil industry. We realise that getting jobs like we have here is probably unrealistic due to our age.

Was thinking of applying for the Partner visa? If you were  lucky enough to be granted one

a) How long do you need to stay in Australia once its granted ie/ is there a minimum stay? 

b) Would this make my husband a resident and could we come and go as we pleased between the UK and Australia? We would ideally like to retire there not sure how this works with no retirement visa anymore. Sorry for all the questions

Would be grateful for any advice as it is a very expensive visa to apply for

Thank you 

 

[can1983]

59 minutes ago, Grace100 said:

Hello, new here! Not sure if I've posted in the correct section. I am Australian born but have lived in Scotland for the last 34 years. My husband and I were toying with the idea of a possible move to Australia. I'm 49 and he is mid 50's. We have a daughter who is 22 and a son who is 20. Son still at Uni and isn't really interested in a move to Australia. My daughter has recently graduated and has a job and would probably go at the drop of a hat. She was looking into it herself. I work as a Teaching Assistant and my husband is in the oil industry. We realise that getting jobs like we have here is probably unrealistic due to our age.

Was thinking of applying for the Partner visa? If you were  lucky enough to be granted one

a) How long do you need to stay in Australia once its granted ie/ is there a minimum stay? 

b) Would this make my husband a resident and could we come and go as we pleased between the UK and Australia? We would ideally like to retire there not sure how this works with no retirement visa anymore. Sorry for all the questions

Would be grateful for any advice as it is a very expensive visa to apply for

Thank you 

 

If you have been together for more than 2 decades and continue to be a genuine couple as immigration see it your husband would get permanent residency straight away and then could come and go as they pleased. There's no minimum stay (my first stay was 3 weeks after activating my permanent residency for example)

The issue with not moving and staying much in say the next 5 years is that he wouldn't qualify for citizenship in that time and so your husband would need to apply for pr again. There are minimum amounts of connection you have to show to renew it, or you can go through the whole partner visa application again but I suspect there's a limit to how many times you can do this before you start to raise questions. Really it would be best to try to move for 4 years to get him citizenship then he really can do what he likes.

22 year old having left formal education doesn't usually qualify as a dependent so their options are limited (because they also dont have enough experience to qualify for their own visa)

son being still at uni would probably qualify for a visa

Maybe speak to a registered migration agent regarding son and daughter?

 

Edited January 17, 2022 by can1983
typo

[Tulip1]

13 minutes ago, can1983 said:

If you have been together for more than 2 decades and continue to be a genuine couple as immigration see it your husband would get permanent residency straight away and then could come and go as they pleased. There's no minimum stay (my first stay was 3 weeks after activating my permanent residency for example)

The issue with not moving and staying much in say the next 5 years is that he wouldn't qualify for citizenship in that time and so your husband would need to apply for pr again. There are minimum amounts of connection you have to show to renew it, or you can go through the whole partner visa application again but I suspect there's a limit to how many times you can do this before you start to raise questions. Really it would be best to try to move for 4 years to get him citizenship then he really can do what he likes.

22 year old having left formal education doesn't usually qualify as a dependent so their options are limited (because they also dont have enough experience to qualify for their own visa)

son being still at uni would probably qualify for a visa

Maybe speak to a registered migration agent regarding son and daughter?

 

Would her children not be Australian if she is? 

[can1983]

11 minutes ago, Tulip1 said:

Would her children not be Australian if she is? 

ha ha yes of course I'm an idiot, citizenship by descent should be possible if you were 15 when you left Aus and were born there

[Marisawright]

1 hour ago, Grace100 said:

 I am Australian born but have lived in Scotland for the last 34 years..... My daughter has recently graduated and has a job and would probably go at the drop of a hat. She was looking into it herself.

 

Surely, if you are Australian born, then all your children can claim citizenship by descent?  

Your husband will easily get a partner visa.   It takes a few months to come through, but after that he just needs to make a visit to activate it, and then he has about 5 years to make the permanent move.   During that time he can come and go as often as needed.  

Edited January 17, 2022 by Marisawright

[Quoll]

10 hours ago, Marisawright said:

Surely, if you are Australian born, then all your children can claim citizenship by descent?  

Your husband will easily get a partner visa.   It takes a few months to come through, but after that he just needs to make a visit to activate it, and then he has about 5 years to make the permanent move.   During that time he can come and go as often as needed.  

That rather depends on whether the OP took out another citizenship before (wasn't it 2002?) voluntarily (ie not born with it) in which case Australian citizenship was automatically lost.  It can be applied for so that if children were born when citizenship had been lost, then I think there is some shenanigans they have to go through to get it re-established so that citizenship by descent can then follow.

[paulhand]

12 hours ago, can1983 said:

or you can go through the whole partner visa application again

That's very unlikely to be necessary in these circumstances. 

11 hours ago, Tulip1 said:

Would her children not be Australian if she is? 

They will almost certainly be eligible for citizenship by descent. 

[can1983]

14 hours ago, paulhand said:

That's very unlikely to be necessary in these circumstances. 

They will almost certainly be eligible for citizenship by descent. 

Perhaps im wrong on this too but if you apply for a partner visa and get pr but then only spend 6 months (for example) in 5 years onshore how would you demonstrate substantial ties to Australia, would marriage to a citizen be enough?

[paulhand]

6 hours ago, can1983 said:

Perhaps im wrong on this too but if you apply for a partner visa and get pr but then only spend 6 months (for example) in 5 years onshore how would you demonstrate substantial ties to Australia, would marriage to a citizen be enough?

It is certainly a substantial personal tie, of benefit to Australia. 

[Grace100]

 

Hello again, 

Thanks everyone for the replies. We are mulling it over, it's an expensive difficult decision mainly due to our ages and potentially leaving good jobs to not having any once we are there and having our kids living in a different country from us is a big issue, obviously they are not kids but young adults and will be making their own decisions . My brother lives in Brisbane and we may just have to be happy with visiting him and coming back to live in the UK. Then we sit and think to ourselves well you only life once we should just go for it,  no regrets and all that. Again I appreciate all your advice and feedback which have answered some of our questions.  
Thank you!

[Marisawright]

50 minutes ago, Grace100 said:

We are mulling it over, it's an expensive difficult decision mainly due to our ages and potentially leaving good jobs to not having any once we are there and having our kids living in a different country from us is a big issue, obviously they are not kids but young adults and will be making their own decisions . My brother lives in Brisbane and we may just have to be happy with visiting him and coming back to live in the UK. Then we sit and think to ourselves well you only life once we should just go for it,  no regrets and all that.

Did you notice the mention of getting citizenship by descent for your children?  That could still be worth doing as it gives them flexibility down the track, even if they're not interested in moving now.

For yourselves, what's the attraction of moving to Australia?   Have you tried writing it down, putting the pros and cons in two columns - it might help you weigh them better?  

There is a negative you might not have considered - jobs.  Australia is very ageist.  Like a lot of my friends, I found it almost impossible to get a job in my field once I hit 55.   I must say, I assumed it was the same all over the world - and then we went back to the UK in 2015 and I was amazed how easy it was to get a job. It will depend on what work you do, of course. 

[Grace100]

On 20/01/2022 at 21:54, Marisawright said:

Did you notice the mention of getting citizenship by descent for your children?  That could still be worth doing as it gives them flexibility down the track, even if they're not interested in moving now.

For yourselves, what's the attraction of moving to Australia?   Have you tried writing it down, putting the pros and cons in two columns - it might help you weigh them better?  

There is a negative you might not have considered - jobs.  Australia is very ageist.  Like a lot of my friends, I found it almost impossible to get a job in my field once I hit 55.   I must say, I assumed it was the same all over the world - and then we went back to the UK in 2015 and I was amazed how easy it was to get a job. It will depend on what work you do, of course. 

Hello, 

Yes sorry I forgot to mention that during one of the lockdowns my daughter did fill in the forms for the citizenship by descent. She did a semester abroad in Canada with her 
uni course and she needed to get two sets of fingerprints done as she had been there over a certain time (can't quite remember exactly) she was then supposed to send them to Canada for analysis. It is a bit of a hassle to be honest she spent £150 just to get the fingerprints done, but she hasn't bothered to do anymore about getting them analysed, which to me was stupid not to follow it up and a waste of money. I agree if you are able to get the citizenship by descent then I think they should do it anyway.

As for us , my husband especially has always wanted to try living somewhere warmer  (we do realise that it is  a very long way to go just for the weather and the heat does get too extreme at times which we know as well) and to be somewhere different as he has lived all his life in Scotland (which again is no back thing). Even before lock down we had gone on about it for years and realise we should of done something about it a long time ago. Due to family illnesses it was put on the back burner. To be nearer to my brother as well should of came before the weather, just the way I typed it oops!

We have spent endless nights writing down pro/con lists, we are the type of people who look on the pessimistic side. We basically end up talking ourselves out of it but then a few months down the line start talking about it again. If money wasn't the issue it would be easier, it is a gamble that's for sure. Thanks again for the advice.