Visa Timelines and Costs Advice

[bearnova64]

My Australian girlfriend(she born there) and I ( I am born in England) wish to move permanently to Australia and marry there. We have lived together in the UK for 4 years in a property we own. I have a few questions please.

1)I would apply for a permanent subclass 100 visa and the temporary 309 visa at the same time and the authorities decide which visa to grant me based on my weight of evidence and if my case is strong and straight forward they would grant me the 100? With the total cost being about £5,400?

2) How long roughly is it taking from submission of an application to get a visa decision?

3) Once I get the decision I have to in person enter Australia within 12 months of being granted the visa to activate it?

4) Once activated I have 5 years from this activation date to make the permanent move to Australia, otherwise I have to go through the application process again and pay the fees for a second time?

[FirstWorldProblems]

Yes that's pretty much all correct.  The time it takes to get a decision depends on overall volumes of applications, your circumstances and the quality of your application.  Someone like me with 22 years married to an Aussie, dependant children, mutual wills and power of attorney, 60 pieces of uploaded evidence, etc etc is probably going to be quicker than a person who's been in a relationship for a year, separate bank accounts and no common friends.   From what you've shared  your situation sounds pretty strong so I'd be surprised if you have to wait too long, but for a better guestimate you'd want to hear from a migration agent of timelines for similar, recent cases.

 

[Raul Senise]

7 hours ago, bearnova64 said:

My Australian girlfriend(she born there) and I ( I am born in England) wish to move permanently to Australia and marry there. We have lived together in the UK for 4 years in a property we own. I have a few questions please.

1)I would apply for a permanent subclass 100 visa and the temporary 309 visa at the same time and the authorities decide which visa to grant me based on my weight of evidence and if my case is strong and straight forward they would grant me the 100? With the total cost being about £5,400?

2) How long roughly is it taking from submission of an application to get a visa decision?

3) Once I get the decision I have to in person enter Australia within 12 months of being granted the visa to activate it?

4) Once activated I have 5 years from this activation date to make the permanent move to Australia, otherwise I have to go through the application process again and pay the fees for a second time?

1) 309 and 100 are lodged together. If certain requirements are met they will approve the 309, immediately followed by the 100. If not they will process the 309 first, and process the 100 after 2 years.
 

2) Current published processing time is 90% processed in 32 months. Median is 10 Months. Processing times vary greatly. 

 

3) 12 months of validity of Medicals for first entry.
 

4) If one does not become a Citizen within 5 years, they need to apply for an RRV to renew the travel facility on the visa. 

[Cheery Thistle]

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-processing-times/global-visa-processing-times
 

This link gives you an indication of processing times for all visas. 

[bearnova64]

Raul you said "12 months of validity of Medicals for first entry." and what exactly does this mean please?

I do HAVE TO enter Australia within 12 months of being granted the visa to activate it? It is a non negotiable?

Also you said  "If one does not become a Citizen within 5 years, they need to apply for an RRV to renew the travel facility on the visa."

Is the RRV expensive? 

So it is not the case that "Once activated I have 5 years from this activation date to make the permanent move to Australia, otherwise I have to go through the application process again and pay the fees for a second time?"

 

[Cheery Thistle]

To activate the visa you have to enter (usually within 12 months of either the medicals or the grant date). I doubt it’s negotiable unless you have strong extenuating circumstances? 
if you don’t then move then I’d expect the visa expires? Why would you want to go through all of this and then not move? Perhaps you should be seeking advice from a licensed professional? 

[Nemesis]

45 minutes ago, bearnova64 said:

Raul you said "12 months of validity of Medicals for first entry." and what exactly does this mean please?

I do HAVE TO enter Australia within 12 months of being granted the visa to activate it? It is a non negotiable?

Also you said  "If one does not become a Citizen within 5 years, they need to apply for an RRV to renew the travel facility on the visa."

Is the RRV expensive? 

So it is not the case that "Once activated I have 5 years from this activation date to make the permanent move to Australia, otherwise I have to go through the application process again and pay the fees for a second time?"

 

You must enter Australia within 12 months of either the police check or the medical, whichever was done first. Exceptions are very rare.

This first activation visit can be as short as a few hours, you do not actually have to make the permanent move in that time. You then have the remainder of the 5 years to make the move to Australia. 

Current RRV fee looks like $465

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/fees-and-charges/current-visa-pricing#

[bearnova64]

1 minute ago, Nemesis said:

You must enter Australia within 12 months of either the police check or the medical, whichever was done first. Exceptions are very rare.

This first activation visit can be as short as a few hours, you do not actually have to make the permanent move in that time. You then have the remainder of the 5 years to make the move to Australia. 

Current RRV fee looks like $465

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/fees-and-charges/current-visa-pricing#

Oh so the 5 year clock to make the permanent move starts ticking from the date the police check or medical is done, whichever is first?

Do they usually approve the RRVs and that $465 would be the only additional cost if I needed to apply and if approved is it extended for another 5 years? Or a lesser period?

[FirstWorldProblems]

Here's an excerpt from my grant letter.  Perhaps others vary, but I don't know why they would

 

 

The expectation is that you become a citizen before you visa expires.  One of the qualifying criteria is 4 years of residency.   

After the five years I can still stay in Australia, even if I am not yet a citizen, but if I want to leave the country, then in order to get back in I'd need an RRV.  If a person has substantial ties to Australia (job, house, family) it's trivial.

You can explore the detail of all this at https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/.  

 

 

[Raul Senise]

8 hours ago, bearnova64 said:

Do they usually approve the RRVs and that $465 would be the only additional cost if I needed to apply and if approved is it extended for another 5 years? Or a lesser period?

It depends on the circumstances and whether an applicant qualifies. If residency requirements are met, the RRV can be granted for 5 years. If residency requirements are not met but substantial ties to Australia are present, then a 1 year RRV can be granted. 

[Ken]

11 hours ago, FirstWorldProblems said:

Here's an excerpt from my grant letter.  Perhaps others vary, but I don't know why they would

 

 

The expectation is that you become a citizen before you visa expires.  One of the qualifying criteria is 4 years of residency.   

After the five years I can still stay in Australia, even if I am not yet a citizen, but if I want to leave the country, then in order to get back in I'd need an RRV.  If a person has substantial ties to Australia (job, house, family) it's trivial.

You can explore the detail of all this at https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/.  

 

 

It seems then that the systems has changed and they no longer take the date of the medicals and police checks into account when calculating the first entry date. Back in 2009 my visa grant date was 01 July 2009 but the initial entry date was 05 September 2009. Rather than stating "must not arrive after" the visa grant stated "If a visa holder wants to travel, or remain outside of Australia for a period of time after 01 July 2014, and has not become an Australian citizen, they must hold a current Resident Return Visa (RRV) to be able to return to Australia as a permanent resident".

Similarly my son's visa grant date was 11 January 2012 but with visa condition "must enter Australia before 12 August 2012" and "allows permanent residence in Australia and also allows travel to and from Australia until 11 January 2017". 

[Raul Senise]

6 minutes ago, Ken said:

It seems then that the systems has changed and they no longer take the date of the medicals and police checks into account when calculating the first entry date. Back in 2009 my visa grant date was 01 July 2009 but the initial entry date was 05 September 2009. Rather than stating "must not arrive after" the visa grant stated "If a visa holder wants to travel, or remain outside of Australia for a period of time after 01 July 2014, and has not become an Australian citizen, they must hold a current Resident Return Visa (RRV) to be able to return to Australia as a permanent resident".

Similarly my son's visa grant date was 11 January 2012 but with visa condition "must enter Australia before 12 August 2012" and "allows permanent residence in Australia and also allows travel to and from Australia until 11 January 2017". 

No, things haven't changed. The grant letter above was likely for someone who was in Australia at time of grant. So no first entry date needed. 

[Tulip1]

My first entry date was a year from my recent visa grant and not from date of medicals/police clearance.  

[Marisawright]

17 hours ago, bearnova64 said:

So it is not the case that "Once activated I have 5 years from this activation date to make the permanent move to Australia, otherwise I have to go through the application process again and pay the fees for a second time?"

 

If you visit Australia just to activate your visa, then you make no attempt to move permanently before the 5 years is up, then you WILL have to go through the whole application process and pay the fees a second time. There is a residency requirement to be eligible for an RRV - you must have actually lived in Australia for at least 2 years out of the 5.

[paulhand]

All my recent (since Covid) offshore grants for permanent visas have been with a one year from grant first entry date, regardless of the dates of police or medical checks. 

[Marisawright]

@bearnova64, remember also that it's 5 years from date of grant, not date of activation

[FirstWorldProblems]

5 hours ago, Raul Senise said:

No, things haven't changed. The grant letter above was likely for someone who was in Australia at time of grant. So no first entry date needed. 

If you are referring to the excerpt from my letter that I posted above then you are mistaken.  I wasn’t in Australia. 309/100

[Nemesis]

6 hours ago, paulhand said:

All my recent (since Covid) offshore grants for permanent visas have been with a one year from grant first entry date, regardless of the dates of police or medical checks. 

Thanks for the updated info Paul

[Nemesis]

6 hours ago, Marisawright said:

If you visit Australia just to activate your visa, then you make no attempt to move permanently before the 5 years is up, then you WILL have to go through the whole application process and pay the fees a second time. There is a residency requirement to be eligible for an RRV - you must have actually lived in Australia for at least 2 years out of the 5.

You don't necessarily have to live in Oz for 2 years, you can be granted a 3 month or 1 year RRV without the residency requirement, but I agree that without living in Oz at all the chances if any RRV are greatly reduced.

[Alan Collett]

On 26/09/2023 at 00:40, bearnova64 said:

My Australian girlfriend(she born there) and I ( I am born in England) wish to move permanently to Australia and marry there. We have lived together in the UK for 4 years in a property we own. I have a few questions please.

1)I would apply for a permanent subclass 100 visa and the temporary 309 visa at the same time and the authorities decide which visa to grant me based on my weight of evidence and if my case is strong and straight forward they would grant me the 100? With the total cost being about £5,400?

2) How long roughly is it taking from submission of an application to get a visa decision?

3) Once I get the decision I have to in person enter Australia within 12 months of being granted the visa to activate it?

4) Once activated I have 5 years from this activation date to make the permanent move to Australia, otherwise I have to go through the application process again and pay the fees for a second time?

From lodgment to grant for some of our UK based partner visa applications - see below.

Add the lead time to prepare the application, which is a function of how quickly you can get the required documents together.

Feel able to contact me if you'd like a freebie chat!

Best regards.

[InnerVoice]

On 26/09/2023 at 21:30, bearnova64 said:

I do HAVE TO enter Australia within 12 months of being granted the visa to activate it? It is a non negotiable?

So it is not the case that "Once activated I have 5 years from this activation date to make the permanent move to Australia, otherwise I have to go through the application process again and pay the fees for a second time?"

The term 'visa activation' is rather misleading and seems to cause a lot of confusion. The visa is already active from the date of grant and no one needs to make a special 'activation trip' to Australia, just as long as they emigrate before the date of first entry in the grant letter.

In the case of @bearnova64 obtaining his partner visa should be relatively straightforward, assuming the application is made correctly. He'll know the approximate processing time, and if they know when they want to emigrate they can time the application so that the visa isn't granted too early.

I appreciate in the case of skilled applicants they don't know if they'll be granted a visa, so it's going to be harder to plan, but given the overall cost of migration an additional trip to Australia is a cost you can probably do without if you can avoid it.

[Alan Collett]

9 minutes ago, InnerVoice said:

The term 'visa activation' is rather misleading and seems to cause a lot of confusion. The visa is already active from the date of grant and no one needs to make a special 'activation trip' to Australia, just as long as they emigrate before the date of first entry in the grant letter.

In the case of @bearnova64 obtaining his partner visa should be relatively straightforward, assuming the application is made correctly. He'll know the approximate processing time, and if they know when they want to emigrate they can time the application so that the visa isn't granted too early.

I appreciate in the case of skilled applicants they don't know if they'll be granted a visa, so it's going to be harder to plan, but given the overall cost of migration an additional trip to Australia is a cost you can probably do without if you can avoid it.

That's not right.

You have to validate - ie clear immigration on arrival in Australia - before the required first entry date, which is 12 months from visa grant.

You can then make the permanent move afterwards while the travel facility is available, for 5 years after the date of visa grant - see the must not arrive after date in the visa grant extract above.

If you want to arrive in Australia after those 5 years and aren't an Aus citizen with an Aussie passport you'll need to look at the Resident Return visa requirements.

Best regards.

[paulhand]

It's also worth pointing out that your visa is not 'locked in' until you make this first 'activation' trip. You have an obligation to advise them of any change in circumstances and, if those would have affected the eligibility for the visa, they are able to cancel it. 

[InnerVoice]

10 minutes ago, Alan Collett said:

That's not right.

You have to validate - ie clear immigration on arrival in Australia - before the required first entry date, which is 12 months from visa grant.

You can then make the permanent move afterwards while the travel facility is available, for 5 years after the date of visa grant - see the must not arrive after date in the visa grant extract above.

If you want to arrive in Australia after those 5 years and aren't an Aus citizen with an Aussie passport you'll need to look at the Resident Return visa requirements.

Best regards.

Apologies for the incorrect terminology, but my point is if you make the permanent move within 12 months from the visa grant then you don't need to make a separate trip to validate the visa, as many end having to do.

[FirstWorldProblems]

24 minutes ago, InnerVoice said:

In the case of @bearnova64 obtaining his partner visa should be relatively straightforward, assuming the application is made correctly. He'll know the approximate processing time, and if they know when they want to emigrate they can time the application so that the visa isn't granted too early.

I engaged migration agent @paulhand to advise and guide me through my options and the process.  It was really helpful.  I was also trying to get the timing just right - finding that sweet spot where the visa would arrive before I needed it, but late enough that I wouldn't have to ever get into the RRV situation.   Paul gave me a really thought provoking piece of advice - right now you are in great health and your visa application is going to sail through, but it's a reality that as we get older, our risk of health conditions increases and if you are unlucky enough to get one that disqualifies your application, then that's it.

I duly got on it straight away.  RRV is much easier to deal with than a declined application.