Residents Return Visa

[North to South]

Hi,

My existing initial 5 year visa expires in September 22 and want to travel back to the UK for Christmas so will need to apply for a RRV.  However, when looking at the guidelines you need to have lived in Australia for 2 years or have substantial ties to Australia.  I moved here at the beginning of January 2021 after being delayed by Covid so will be just outside the 2 year window, but do have ties to Australia - Own a house, my daughter attends school here and my wife works here, but not sure if these will be seen as acceptable or not when applying.  I'm also not sure when you need to apply as looking online there is a 155 which seems to be quite quick turnaround, or a 157 which seems to take a few months.

I would appreciate any thoughts or comments on this as I don't want to book flights if there is any risk of not being granted RRV if our ties to Australia are not enough and we need to wait for the 2 year eligibility.

Thanks :)

[Marisawright]

As I understand it, you apply for the 155 and if you don't meet the criteria, you're automatically assessed for the 157.  

Your solution would be to delay booking your flights until you've applied for and got the RRV.  You don't have to wait until the expiry date to apply for the RRV.

[rammygirl]

Yes you just apply for an RRV the questions and answers decide on what visa you are given. If you meet the two out of the last 5 year rule a five year visa is granted almost straight away.

If you don’t you need to provide evidence of close ties, yours are all valid.  My son provided a job contract, property lease and details of family here.  You do need to upload actual evidence as support. Those applications take a few months so I would apply in plenty of time. You should get a 1 year RRV.

[paulhand]

I agree with the others. If you have been in Aus since Jan 2021 and have jobs and a child in school, there should be few issues with a 155. It will likely  take several months to process though and will be granted for a year.

[North to South]

52 minutes ago, paulhand said:

I agree with the others. If you have been in Aus since Jan 2021 and have jobs and a child in school, there should be few issues with a 155. It will likely  take several months to process though and will be granted for a year.

Thanks Paul, if you're here longer than two years, with our ties, is it likely we'd get a longer RRV than the one year to avoid going through the process if we want to travel overseas the following year and avoid paying the  $410 each as I'd rather delay our trip to get the slightly longer visas and save what would be $1200 in another year ?

[paulhand]

Once you hit 730 days you will automatically get a 5 year RRV. No need to separately demonstrate substantial ties. 

[Marisawright]

1 hour ago, North to South said:

Thanks Paul, if you're here longer than two years, with our ties, is it likely we'd get a longer RRV than the one year 

Yes you’d automatically get the full 5 years 

[North to South]

Thanks for the comments it most appreciated.  We just need to decide whether to travel in December or wait until Easter where we know we'll get the five year RRV.

[Marisawright]

49 minutes ago, North to South said:

Thanks for the comments it most appreciated.  We just need to decide whether to travel in December or wait until Easter where we know we'll get the five year RRV.

I know it would be nice to be home for Christmas but the weather would be awful!  It would certainly reduce the stress if you just leave it till Easter. 

[North to South]

This may seem a daft question, but if we went in July this year for a couple of weeks, would that impact our 'living in Australia' for 2 years if we applied for RRV's next year ?

[GrandpaGrumble]

4 hours ago, North to South said:

Thanks for the comments it most appreciated.  We just need to decide whether to travel in December or wait until Easter where we know we'll get the five year RRV.

I agree with Marisa.  If it was me I'd just wait until I could get the 5 year travel facility, given that you're not far off qualifying for it anyway.

Also I'm assuming that "my existing initial 5 year visa" is shorthand for "the existing 5 year travel facility on my current permanent visa"?  As far as I'm aware you can't get an RRV if you're on a temporary visa (unless, possibly, you've had a permanent visa in the past) ... though I don't completely understand the eligibility rules, which are complicated, and there might be exceptions.

[GrandpaGrumble]

5 minutes ago, North to South said:

This may seem a daft question, but if we went in July this year for a couple of weeks, would that impact our 'living in Australia' for 2 years if we applied for RRV's next year ?

I'm not an agent, but my understanding is that it's 730 days out of the last 5 years, and doesn't have to be a continuous 730 days.  Full eligibility criteria are here:

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/resident-return-visa-155-157#Eligibility

[paulhand]

8 hours ago, GrandpaGrumble said:

my understanding is that it's 730 days out of the last 5 years, and doesn't have to be a continuous 730 days. 

This is correct ... 730 days cumulatively in the 5 years before the application date.