Stamp in visa.

[Pozz]

Hi guys

 

I was granted my 457 visa a couple of days ago and have been reading through the various messages and criteria that are attached to it.

 

It states that I need to get the passports stamped with the visa and advises where to go.

 

I was under the impression I wouldnt need an actual stamp as it is electronically logged.

 

What should I do?

[RobDav]

We're here on a 457 and don't have a stamp. It's optional but if you have time I would get one as otherwise you have to present a print out of your visa when getting a mobile phone contract, signing a flat tenancy, opening a bank account etc.

[Pozz]

Is it possible to get it done once im in Oz?

 

I dont fancy posting my passport off at the moment and havent time to pop to London.

 

Cheers

[RobDav]

I'm not sure but if you haven't got time then I wouldn't worry. Just make sure you have a copy of the email with your visa number etc. Print a copy off and hang on to the email in electronic format.

[Guest panicstation]

Hi Pozz, I'm in the same boat. From what I can gather it is all electronic for certain countries including the UK and it is connected to your passport number so whenever you enter or leave the country it recognises that you have the Visa. As RobDav says, you will need to present it to register for things or set up contracts.

 

I've just emailed a friend who went over in March to see if she needed anything.

 

Good luck

xxx

[Quinkla]

There's nothing to fear from posting your passport. Just send it registered post and include a registered self addressed envelope back to yourself. You'll get the passport back within 2-3 days. Passports get sent to embassies every day for visas - I have posted to UK embassies for Vietnam, Mozambique, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Australia. No problems whatsoever.

[cluster13]

Hi,

After a week of running around i am off to get our stamps in sydney.

Although everything posted says you don't need the stamp, once you try and get a TFN (tax File number) it states that you have to show your passport with Visa entitlement.

So starting this week i will be, Off to the imnigration department (which closes for visas at 11am ) to get our passports stamped, then using this information to send off for TFN's, then getting medicare cards, then getting RTA (so we can buy a car, you can not get an Oz driver licence for the first 12 months on a 457).

all these things depend on evidence of who you are and the starting point is the visa in the passport what ever else you read.

I wish we had done ours in the UK but believed that the electronic system was enough

[LKC]

We've been here on a 457 for 18 months and do not have stamps in our passports. They are not a requirement of the visa, and we have had no trouble in obtaining TFN's, medicare cards, cars, driving licenses, a mortgage, buying a house or anything else without. If we needed to show our visa status at any point, we just showed a print out of the e-mail we got from DIAC. My husband has an Australian (NSW) driving license which he applied for after six months of being here. I have no idea why you would need to wait for a year. I waited because I would have to have a P2 license, and the lady at the RTA said to just wait until I had been driving for over three years. It tells you about the six month thing here International visitors to NSW. In actual fact you don't need to change it at all on a 457.

 

Our TFN's we applied for online, I think they may have asked for our passport numbers but we certainly didn't have to prove anything else to them. It was a fairly simple process from memory, and they took less than a week to come through.

 

For Medicare, we just took our passports and e-mail notifications. You will only be issued these on a yearly basis. We had no problems reapplying either.

 

From the RTA you need a customer number to be able to buy a car.

[Quinkla]

I've lost count of the number of times I have had to show my visa - and people expect to see a sticker in a passport, not a home-printed e-mail letter. Then again, my visa category is one for which evidencing is mandatory.

[cluster13]

We've been here on a 457 for 18 months and do not have stamps in our passports. They are not a requirement of the visa, and we have had no trouble in obtaining TFN's, medicare cards, cars, driving licenses, a mortgage, buying a house or anything else without. If we needed to show our visa status at any point, we just showed a print out of the e-mail we got from DIAC. My husband has an Australian (NSW) driving license which he applied for after six months of being here. I have no idea why you would need to wait for a year. I waited because I would have to have a P2 license, and the lady at the RTA said to just wait until I had been driving for over three years. It tells you about the six month thing here International visitors to NSW. In actual fact you don't need to change it at all on a 457.

 

Our TFN's we applied for online, I think they may have asked for our passport numbers but we certainly didn't have to prove anything else to them. It was a fairly simple process from memory, and they took less than a week to come through.

 

For Medicare, we just took our passports and e-mail notifications. You will only be issued these on a yearly basis. We had no problems reapplying either.

 

From the RTA you need a customer number to be able to buy a car.

Reading the criteria for the TFN i didn't think we were eligable for the online application, I'll give it a go and see what happens.

thanks for the advice

[cluster13]

OK, i've just completed TFN online and ebverything seems ok (the web page says eligable if visa to work) but the paperwork say Perm residence. I appreciate the advice as it has saved me a trip into the city if it works. i'll try miranda tomorrow for Medicare cards with the visa email.

thanks again.

steve

[LKC]

OK, i've just completed TFN online and ebverything seems ok (the web page says eligable if visa to work) but the paperwork say Perm residence. I appreciate the advice as it has saved me a trip into the city if it works. i'll try miranda tomorrow for Medicare cards with the visa email.

thanks again.

steve

 

No worries. Getting the stamp in the passport was one of my stresses when I arrived, but after reading the paperwork about 6 million times and googling etc, I came to the (correct) conclusion that it isn't necessary.

 

The medicare office at Miranda was pretty efficient. I just filled in the paperwork, the lady photocopied the passport photo pages and also the entry stamp from when we arrived and also the visa e-mails for all of us and then a few days later the medicare card arrived in the post. You can request a second card, Matt and I both have one so that we can go to the GP etc independently without remembering to get the card. It is valid for a year, then you just renew it. You can register for the online services with Medicare once you have your card, which gives you access to your childrens vaccination records and GP visit history etc.

 

Not having the visa stamp hasn't been a problem at all, as I say. We have a mortgage, I have an abn and a tfn for a trust that I set up for something, we have both bought cars etc too.