Guest Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 (edited) Hello all, I lodged my spouse visa on 20th February. We were asked to provide different document, however the 888 form wasn't mentioned in the email. Online it says "recommended", I Would like to know if you provided the 888 or not (if you weren't asked either but online said recommended). Thanks Stat decs usually go in with your application at time of lodging. IIRC it states you are meant to include at least 2 from people who are eligible to write them. We sent 3 in although we also had a couple more done by family and friends, just we went with the ones that arrived by the time we wanted to send our application off. In the partner booklet PDF it says the following. From the wording it seems to indicate to me you don't *have* to use the actual form 888 but that they still expect stat decs of some sort to be submitted and certified etc. Personally, I'd have people use the 888 when writing their stat decs for you so there is no room for error or missing things out etc. Statements from persons who know you and your partner It is the department’s policy that these statements provided about you and your partner should be in the form of a statutory declaration. The persons making these declarations must be: • aged 18 years or over; and • either an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident. You must also supply with these statements proof that your supporting witnesses are Australian citizens or Australian permanent residents. While it is not mandatory, for this purpose, form 888 Statutory declaration by a supporting witness relating to a partner visa application is available from the department’s website www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/888.pdf or from any office of the department or Australian mission. http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/booklets/1127.pdf Edited May 6, 2014 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grabri Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Stat decs usually go in with your application at time of lodging. IIRC it states you are meant to include at least 2 from people who are eligible to write them. We sent 3 in although we also had a couple more done by family and friends, just we went with the ones that arrived by the time we wanted to send our application off. In the partner booklet PDF it says the following. From the wording it seems to indicate to me you don't *have* to use the actual form 888 but that they still expect stat decs of some sort to be submitted and certified etc. Personally, I'd have people use the 888 when writing their stat decs for you so there is no room for error or missing things out etc. Statements from persons who know you and your partner It is the department’s policy that these statements provided about you and your partner should be in the form of a statutory declaration. The persons making these declarations must be: • aged 18 years or over; and • either an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident. You must also supply with these statements proof that your supporting witnesses are Australian citizens or Australian permanent residents. While it is not mandatory, for this purpose, form 888 Statutory declaration by a supporting witness relating to a partner visa application is available from the department’s website www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/888.pdf or from any office of the department or Australian mission. http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/booklets/1127.pdf thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Heard from our CO late yesterday evening.....she has received my partners medical and police check and no further information is required (we were concerned she would ask for more about my partner's depression but nope) and now we just have to sit tight while it gets processed so only another 3 months to go (hopefully sooner, but I am not holding my breath).......this waiting game is rough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vickyplum Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 (edited) I got my visa, I got my visa, da da da dah! Granted today (after a polite "could you possibly give any indication of grant date" email) and it was emailed to me 30 mins later! 309 temporary visa, must validate by 2 December! Now what to do next?!?! Edited May 9, 2014 by vickyplum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbbieRey Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 I got my visa, I got my visa, da da da dah! Granted today (after a polite "could you possibly give any indication of grant date" email) and it was granted 30 mins later! 309 temporary visa, must validate by 2 December! Now what to do next?!?! OMG a huge Congratulations.... Oh I applied a week before you - fingers crossed any day now, mine was through an Agent, so haven't emailed them. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 I got my visa, I got my visa, da da da dah! Granted today (after a polite "could you possibly give any indication of grant date" email) and it was granted 30 mins later! 309 temporary visa, must validate by 2 December! Now what to do next?!?! Congratulations VP. Are you happy enough with the 309, I can't remember but I thought that your relationship was long term like mine. You must have given the 'what next' a lot of thought over the past months. Do you expect to validate and return later or make the move permanent in 2014. Spill the beans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vickyplum Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 (edited) Yes happy with the 309 - we have only lived together just over 2 years (together 4 in total) so it would have been nice to get the 100 but I am happy either way! To be honest, I'm /we are not entirely sure what we will do. I suspect there will be a validation trip in September/October and the move will take place in January/February. I would want to move far enough in advance of Xmas so that the jobs/rental market doesn't slow down, as presumably it does like in all cities around the festive period -- OR to move early 2015 when things are hopefully speeding up again. So in my mind (although pending discussions over the weekend!), validation to take place in the next six -- or less months, use the trip to look at suburbs (Sydney) and to put out feelers re. jobs etc, try to look at things from a different point of view, rather than being "just" a holiday maker, and then come back here. Our tenancy agreement ends February 2015 so while not essential to tie in with that, seems to make sense to use that as an end date. But TBC! I'll be on the forum asking a whole different set of questions now :cute: Congratulations VP. Are you happy enough with the 309, I can't remember but I thought that your relationship was long term like mine. You must have given the 'what next' a lot of thought over the past months. Do you expect to validate and return later or make the move permanent in 2014. Spill the beans. Edited May 9, 2014 by vickyplum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owliswise Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Congrats! Hope others get there through soon enough I got my visa, I got my visa, da da da dah! Granted today (after a polite "could you possibly give any indication of grant date" email) and it was emailed to me 30 mins later! 309 temporary visa, must validate by 2 December! Now what to do next?!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossFit Mark Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 How does everyone add their visa timeline at the bottom of posts? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vickyplum Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 How does everyone add their visa timeline at the bottom of posts? Thanks MovingtoTasmania kindly explains how to do this at the bottom of page 889 of this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozza Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 Congrats to everyone who recently got visa approvals - u ripper!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossFit Mark Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 MovingtoTasmania kindly explains how to do this at the bottom of page 889 of this thread. Thanks very much- all done now :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie King Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 (edited) Does anyone know if you are usually given the grant date before the visa is granted? I am planning on leaving around the 25th June. This will be two weeks shy of the eight month mark, so I may go to Bali to activate the visa. Thanks!!!!! Any other PMV November 2013 visas waiting out there? 11/11/2013 Visa Lodged London. 12/12/2013 Case Officer assigned. 14/03/2014 Health Check. 15/03/2013 Police Check sent. ................... Edited May 10, 2014 by Jamie King Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle1976 Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 Visa application lodged and Payment taken!!! Just adding my stats so far.... exciting and nerve wracking already!! xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 I got my visa, I got my visa, da da da dah! Granted today (after a polite "could you possibly give any indication of grant date" email) and it was emailed to me 30 mins later! 309 temporary visa, must validate by 2 December! Now what to do next?!?! Congrats feels great doesn't it. Are you making the move or validating? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 Does anyone know if you are usually given the grant date before the visa is granted? I am planning on leaving around the 25th June. This will be two weeks shy of the eight month mark, so I may go to Bali to activate the visa. Thanks!!!!! Any other PMV November 2013 visas waiting out there? 11/11/2013 Visa Lodged London. 12/12/2013 Case Officer assigned. 14/03/2014 Health Check. 15/03/2013 Police Check sent. ................... Not that I am aware of. You must inform your CO if you intend to travel to Aus though. They cannot grant on shore and need to liaise with you when it's ready to grant then. If you were offshore it would just get granted. On shore changes how they work it. Apt for your tourist visa in advance and before booking your flight, just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vickyplum Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Thanks. It feels great but a bit odd too! We'll be doing a validation trip in Aug/Sep and will make the big move early 2015. Congrats feels great doesn't it. Are you making the move or validating? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenLozza Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 Hi PIO, New to this forum been reading as far back as 2011, so much reading and envious of the peeps who have been granted, I submitted my application for 309/100 in November and CO assigned in November, I thought if my application look genuine then I'd be issued with the Temp 309 visa but my CO wrote back stating no need for the temp as I qualify for the 100 straight off and that's what she's considering at the moment. Medicals done April, Now just waiting, and waiting and waiting for approval hopefully??? She did say processing times of 8-9 months and sent me a letter stating no more info required and has been passed to Senior Migration Officer, I can travel to Australia on a different Visa but they are unable to help in which visa i should travel on, although they said I'd need to depart Australia and be off shore and re-enter Australia to activate my Visa when its granted. So we are staying put until that glorious day. Is everyone still getting their visa's around the 8 month mark? Thanks Steven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snmp Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 Hi all, I've been following this thread for about 18months, since me (UK) and the OH (Oz) decided that we would like to live in Australia. After reading through the posts and the OH seeing & speaking to Immigration here and in Oz, we thought it would be best for him to come and live here until we qualified for the min 12 months living together. We submitted on the 30th April and so excited that the countdown has officially started! Just one quick question- I've read that quite a few people got an email a few days after submitting with their receipt, I know it can take months for the CO to be assigned and for them to get in touch but is it normal that it's been nearly 2 weeks and we haven't received this initial email? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rheia Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 Just one quick question- I've read that quite a few people got an email a few days after submitting with their receipt, I know it can take months for the CO to be assigned and for them to get in touch but is it normal that it's been nearly 2 weeks and we haven't received this initial email? No email for me. The only way we knew the application had been received was because we sent it via tracked mail (and I obsessively checked that). We had no communication at all until the CO email after about 6 weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vickyplum Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 It's quite common not to hear for quite a few weeks - I waited nearly a month for my acknowledgement email. But I knew the application had been received, as the money was taken off my credit card, very quickly! Hi all, I've been following this thread for about 18months, since me (UK) and the OH (Oz) decided that we would like to live in Australia. After reading through the posts and the OH seeing & speaking to Immigration here and in Oz, we thought it would be best for him to come and live here until we qualified for the min 12 months living together. We submitted on the 30th April and so excited that the countdown has officially started! Just one quick question- I've read that quite a few people got an email a few days after submitting with their receipt, I know it can take months for the CO to be assigned and for them to get in touch but is it normal that it's been nearly 2 weeks and we haven't received this initial email? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rheia Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 It's quite common not to hear for quite a few weeks - I waited nearly a month for my acknowledgement email. But I knew the application had been received, as the money was taken off my credit card, very quickly! Haha, true. They're really quick doing that. We had the mail tracking first, then on the second day the money was taken out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snmp Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 No email for me. The only way we knew the application had been received was because we sent it via tracked mail (and I obsessively checked that). We had no communication at all until the CO email after about 6 weeks. Not sure which I'm checking more obsessively- PIO or my email inbox & junk folder! I'm spending more time doing this than organising my wedding!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronansmyth Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 I seem to be in the exact same boat as others on here, but maybe just a couple of weeks ahead. My wife is Aussie and we have been living together in the UK for about 8 years. I submitted my application on the 3rd of April, the money was taken instantly, but there has been radio silence since then. I was not sure if I should be worried as that was just over 5 weeks ago now, but reading this thread has made me feel slightly better. We're not planning to move until mid 2015, but I am going to a friend's wedding in Melbourne in January, so will need to work out how that works too... Fingers crossed for everyone else in the same position! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 I have dual citizenship, South African and British, I've lived in London for over a decade now and applied for 309 de facto visa in April this year. In terms of waiting times, does anyone know if I will be considered low risk (8 months) or high risk (12 months) as one of my citizenships is ETA eligible and one isn't? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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