A whole load of questions.

[Tulip]

Hello everyone. Loving the new forum look.

 

I've been reading up and would love some advice on a few issues I have. I'm going to be applying for the partner visa; so two parts, temp and permanent. Here's the little paragraph in case someone is reading this in my position and wonders about the two part thing;

 

 

Applying for a Partner visa is a two stage process:

 

 

1. You apply for a temporary (subclass 309) and permanent (subclass 100) visa by lodging one application. The temporary visa is valid until a decision is made on the permanent visa.
   
2. If you are granted the temporary visa, you will be eligible for consideration of a permanent visa two years after lodging your application. Generally you must demonstrate your relationship is still genuine and ongoing.
   

 

First of all; I understand that you have to pay £1,335 for the visas and both are lodged at the same time. So when I've paid for that and, supposedly, gotten my temp visa and moved over for those two years, do I have to pay again when my permanent visa is being reviewed?

 

Secondly; my OH and I's relationship is a little unusual. He's Australian/Scottish (dual citizenship), I'm English. We've been together for three years, but that last year is the only one we've spent together. We decided to be together in December 2008, and in December 2009 he flew over for Christmas, then I came over to Aus December 2010, and then he moved over in Feb 2011. I think I can locate a few conversations from those dates from my old laptop via MSN, though we spent a lot of those days on Skype. Since he's moved here, we haven't been able to afford to move out since we had to wait a couple of months for his passport and NI number to come through and I was having trouble finding work, and then finally he managed to land a job but I still haven't been able to find one. Hence, no moving out together, we're still at my mum's. This means we have zero utility bills, zero references, etc.

However, we won't be lodging until 2013 as we wed in August 2012 next year. We also plan to stay for Christmas, so we're thinking we'll lodge right after we're married and then just wait and hopefully move Jan/Feb 2013.

This means I'm worried we'll be very lacking in evidence; we're opening a joint account very soon, but will things like bank statements from me having money transferred from my account to his/vise versa also help? Is it true we have to have 12 pieces (one for each month?) of evidence? I have a few photographs though I know these don't count highly, and can get statements from family members (would these be ok?), but I would love some advice about other things we'll need.

 

We're very tight on money being that I don't have a job and we're saving for the wedding and a deposit for a house when we move out as well as paying rent to my mum, but we're hoping we can do this; we've worked out it'll cost us about £5,000 to move over as we won't be shipping anything, have no kids, and just one dog to ship over. The dog is probably the most expensive thing, and we'll probably go over that budget, but with that in mind, the wedding has had some major cut backs, which is fine with me.

 

One other thing that concerned me;

 

You and your partner must show a mutual and ongoing commitment to a shared life to the exclusion of all others.

 

When we move over we'll be staying with Mark's family until we both find a job; will this effect that we're 'going it alone' and make us look too weak to consider?

 

Health check; it says not to undergo one unless requested to do so. But plenty of people stack their applications so it goes through quicker with health checks...could someone please explain this?

 

"You should provide 'certified copies' of original documents. 'Certified copies' are copies authorised, or stamped as being true copies of originals, by a person or agency recognised by the law of the country in which you currently reside. All departmental offices outside Australia have the facility to certify or witness documents if necessary; this service may attract a charge. "

 

I'm very unsure about this; how do I certify copies? And which documents do I need to certify? Should I be getting the Post Office to certify bank statements, etc?

 

Other than that, any advice in general about things we'll need and to watch out for would be hugely helpful. If someone could perhaps give a list of everything they gave and their situation and how long that took, I would be so over the moon.

 

Thanks so much in advance; I realise this is a mammoth post!

 

Here's a picture of a puppy to keep you sweet. Her name is Eggnog.

 

[Tulip]

I already have another question;

 

I've just found this on the booklet online.

 

9

Application stages

You plan to marry

your Australian

fiancé(e).

See page 31.

You and your Australian partner:

• are legally married; or

• have been in a de facto relationship for

at least the entire 12 months prior to

the date of application.

See page 35.

You are still in the relationship with

your Australian partner 2 years after first

applying for the subclass 820 visa.

See page 35.

You are still in the relationship with

your Australian partner 2 years after first

applying for the subclass 309 visa.

See page 35.

You and your Australian partner:

• are legally married; or

• intend to legally marry in the near

future and prior to migration; or

• have been in a de facto relationship for

at least the entire 12 months prior to

the date of application.

See page 35.

You are still in the

relationship with your

Australian partner

2 years after first

applying for the

subclass 820 visa.

See page 35.

You:

• travel to Australia;

• then marry your Australian

partner while the subclass 300

visa is valid; and

• then make an application (in

Australia) to stay in Australia.

See page 35

Subclass 820 – Partner

(temporary)

Subclass 801 – Partner

(residence)

Subclass 300 –

Prospective Marriage

(temporary)

Applying from outside Australia

Subclass 309 – Partner (provisional) Subclass 100 – Partner (migrant)

Subclass 820 – Partner (temporary) Subclass 801 – Partner (residence)

 

 

Can I apply for the visa whilst in Aus? Would this make it easier/more difficult?

[Guest]

Hey, welcome to the forum. There's a lot of information in your questions, which makes it a lot harder to answer them succinctly.

 

1. You only pay the one application fee for both parts of the 309/100 visa. (the cost will go up Jan 2012)

2. If you get married, the 12 month defacto rule is waived - so getting evidence should be easier. The wedding certificate is not enough alone.

3. Living with parents won't matter, providing you are living as a couple.

4. All applicants for PR visas need to do a health check. Some wait for the CO to ask, some frontload. these days I don't believe it makes anything happen quicker.

5. List of people who can certify in the UK: dima_cert - Australian High Commission

6. Official documents need to be certified - passports, birth certs, marriage cert.

7. Yes, you can apply onshore - but arriving on a visitor visa then applying for a partner visa is frowned upon. Also, onshore is more expensive and takes longer.

[Tulip]

Peach, you are an absoloute peach! Thank you so much for your help!