clairechesh Posted September 11, 2022 Share Posted September 11, 2022 Hello everyone, I have been with my husband since 2010 when we met in Australia whilst I was on a WHV - my partner is Australian. We have been living in the UK for the last 11 years and have a little girl who is 2. We are now looking to make to move to Australia and wondering which partner visa is the best to apply for - off shore or on shore. Looking at the processing times, I am concerned as my husband’s UK visa is due to end August 2023. I wonder if I can enter Australia in a tourist visa and apply onshore? However, worried about how long this will take as it will mean I am unable to work. I should also add that I am a primary school teacher with 10 years experience and looking to continue teaching in Australia. Thank you for taking the time to read and for any help Claire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted September 11, 2022 Share Posted September 11, 2022 The processing times on the Immigration website include applications from "high security risk" countries, which can take two or three times longer, so they're misleading for UK applicants. British offshore applicants are usually processed much faster because it's not a security-risk country. Last year, London applicants were being approved within three months. It's slowed down again now but still, a year should be enough time. Best plan is to apply now, offshore. It's likely approval will come through before you need to leave. If it doesn't, you travel to Australia anyway as a tourist, then you'll just have to hop across to Bali or New Zealand when the visa is about to be approved. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon the Hat Posted September 11, 2022 Share Posted September 11, 2022 As Marissa said, get it done asap and you will be fine. Much better to get on with it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMcKie Posted September 11, 2022 Share Posted September 11, 2022 (edited) As both @Marisawright and @Jon the Hat have said I would apply ASAP for the 309/100 visa. I was in a similar scenario with my partner's UK visa expiring in less than a year, but we ended up having 4 months to make the move before the visa expired. I would recommend an agent to take the stress away and for me personally it did speed up the process for when I could apply. Good luck! Edited September 11, 2022 by JMcKie grammar 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephR Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 On 11/09/2022 at 20:52, clairechesh said: I wonder if I can enter Australia in a tourist visa and apply onshore? However, worried about how long this will take as it will mean I am unable to work. My partner and I are about to apply for an onshore partner visa in a couple of months once we leave the UK. However, to your question above, I believe that once you apply for the visa onshore you'll be granted a bridging visa which should kick in once your tourist visa expires (so, three months?). And you can work on this bridging visa, is my understanding. But please somebody tell me if I am wrong!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 4 hours ago, StephR said: My partner and I are about to apply for an onshore partner visa in a couple of months once we leave the UK. However, to your question above, I believe that once you apply for the visa onshore you'll be granted a bridging visa which should kick in once your tourist visa expires (so, three months?). And you can work on this bridging visa, is my understanding. But please somebody tell me if I am wrong!! You are right but you may find it hard to get an employer to take you on because they see it as a temp visa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMcKie Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 2 hours ago, Marisawright said: You are right but you may find it hard to get an employer to take you on because they see it as a temp visa You are correct with saying this and a recent scenario I know of may be different due to it being a student visa initially rathern than a tourist visa. My friend had a bridging visa recently while waiting for his 820 approval after his student visa expired and the employer just asked brief questions about the strength of their relationship and explained if the visa was denied they wouldn't be able to sponsor him (I would imagine most companies would be the same). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted September 21, 2022 Share Posted September 21, 2022 Just a thought. Would it be wise to get UK citizenship for your husband before leaving UK? Your child has dual citizenship after all. Best all the family strive to have the same down the line. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephR Posted September 21, 2022 Share Posted September 21, 2022 Is this known to be a very difficult thing? I know that there is a skills shortage in my partner's industry at the moment so we weren't super worried, but if this is a very common problem it would be great to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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