Defacto Visa...a few questions PLEASE HELP! :0)

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[TD=class: alt1, bgcolor: #F9F9F9] I HAVE MY MEDICAL..NOW WHAT?? HELP PLEASE

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hey everyone!

 

So lets start with a brief intro! My name is Amy and i am 27 years old and from the UK.

Been with and lived with my aussie partner for 3 years in april! (can prove 2 years) we are now in auz and i am on a 3 month tourist visa! I arrived on the 30th Dec and my tourist visa expires on March 27th 2012.

 

We have most of the docs ready to lodge the de facto visa. I just have a few questions.

 

Firstly, i have been to get my medical a few days ago...when it arrives should i send straight to immigration without my visa forms (we are still filling in and my boyfriend works in canberra sometimes, hence why they are not completed yet!).

We are also still waiting on his itemised phone bills and our joint bank acc statements.Shouldnt take more than a week though.

This morning i have looked at the police check,can anyone tell me how much this costs and also the processing times? Also do i need one from the UK? My mother is sending over my birth cert (not original from when i was a baby she has ordered a new one online, is this ok). All other stuff like photos, cards, invites etc we have.

 

Basically i think what i am asking is, can i send documents individually as they arrive to me, or should i wait and lodge it all together in a few weeks?

Also, i have a friend i am meeting in NZ on the 5th March. I will by there by the time i have put the visa in, i have been advised that i will need to apply for a bridging visa B which will allow me travel once i have lodged the defacto in 2 weeks before my trip.

This means that by the time my 3 month tourist visa expires (the 27th March) that i will be able to start using me Bridging visa A once i arrive back in the country on the 26th, rather than the tourist visa starting again. I realise i can change the conditions of a bridging visa A to allow me permission to work?!

This is all VERY confusing i know, its not great timing that my friend is coming to NZ, but she's coming for me and i have no choice!!! :-(

 

Sorry for the confusing message...welcome to inside my head!

 

Any comments welcome guy's, i really need some good advise from anyone who has experience with this!!!!

 

Thank you and can't wait to hear your comments!!!!

 

Amy x

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[Guest GeorgeD]

Complicated...

 

It's a shame you didn't apply offshore before you left the UK. It's quicker and cheaper.

 

OK, your tourist visa (which one, eVistitor/e676, etc?)...when you say it ends, do you mean the three months of your first entry end, or does the visa itself end? These are two different things. If it is an eVisitor granted in Dec 2011, it is valid for multiple entries of up to three months at a time for 12 months...so it doesn't run out until Dec 2012, and you can leave Oz and then return. this would mean when you leave to go to NZ at the start of March, the clock resets and you can return and remain in Oz on the eTourist for a further 3 months before you become eligible for a Bridging Visa A.

 

As for being able to change the conditions of a bridging visa to allow you to work, this is by no means straightforward or in any way guaranteed. You would need to show extenuating circumstances, such as extreme financial hardship. This is always difficult to do when your partner is declaring their income and savings and is required to support you once you get your spouse visa and work rights anyway. It's always a bit of a Catch 22 situation. I don't know if they would also consider the fact you have just returned from a holiday in NZ when reviewing your financial hardhip situation. If you are so hard up that you need to work or you won't have food and shelter, then why have you just gone a holiday abroad? Another Catch 22.

 

As for the whole Briding B visa...you can only apply for a Bridging Visa to remain in the country when there is no other legal means and you are awaiting a visa application decision. When you are planning to go to NZ, you won't be on a Bridging Visa...you don't need one as you still have a valid tourist visa. This visa needs to end for you to be given a Bridging Visa.

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Hey,

 

Thanks for your response. I am on a eVisitor tourist visa which yes, won't expire until the 27th Dec. Can you tell me why the immigration would have advised me to lodge both the defacto and the bridging visa B (to allow travel) if its not the best way to do it? Are you suggesting that i should go to nz first and then lodge the partner visa when i am home? The only reason i was gonna lodge in the next 2 weeks is because this is what i was advised to do because of processing times. I don't want to be questioned as to why i am entering auz again at the airport (though i am not sure if i would as i have only entered once of this current visa). Just don't want anything to go wrong. I aldo don't want to stay in australia on a tourist visa when i could be on a bridging one, at least i can TRY and change the conditions of it right? Btw- what are processing times at the min? I was told 12 months!!!! Seems a little drastic!

What is your advise? Would you do what i was originally told and lodge both visas and return to auz before my second tourist visa kicks in, or would you just go NZ and then lodge the defacto at the start of april and wait for the bridging visa A to come in action when my tourist visa is up?

sorry again! I really hope you can help me with this!

 

kind regards,

 

Amy!

 

oh- just 1 more thing.. would the bridging visa A be granted when my eVisitor visa expires in dec...or when the 2nd stint of my 3 month visa is up (27th June?)

[Guest GeorgeD]

Believe it or not, DIAC aren't always the best people to ask for advice! They go to great lengths to point out that they do not offer advice on applications. That's what a registered agent is for...I would urge you to contact one ASAP. It also depends on who you ask at DIAC. If you are in Australia, then you need to apply onshore, so if you told them that then the advice about making an onshore application is simple - you can't make any other application! As for bridging visas, it's a complicated situation and you have no guarantee the person you spoke to is aware of the full rules.

 

Current processing times onshore are around 10-12 months typically (although there is always the odd post on this forum now and again of one being granted in a couple of days, seemingly totally random. There is no reason for this other than pure luck, 99.99% of all other applications take 10-12 months) Applications offshore in the UK are currently taking around 4-5 months. Offshore is cheaper and faster as it is designed to reunite couples...onshore applications are from people who are already together, so there is less urgency. If you had lodged in the UK before you left in December, you could possibly have been looking at a decision in April/May! Many people decide to go to Oz on tourist visas and apply, but the lengthy processing time is a nightmare (and I imagine it is deliberate to put people off doing this!)

 

If you are ready to lodge your Partner Visa application, you might as well do it now, not when you come back. Going to NZ will keep your eVisitor working, so you won't be eligible for a bridging visa even if you do lodge before you go. when you return you will have a further 3 months on the tourist visa before you can be eligible for a Bridging Visa A (as the tourist visa allows you to remain legally for 3 months...you only need a Bridging Visa if there is no other legal means to stay and wait on your application decision.) Your only other option is to lodge an offshore application while you are away, but as you are from the UK, I think you need to apply to the UK, which means you would need to post your application from Oz or NZ and hope they get it and start processing it before you return to Oz. You can, of course, travel to Oz on an eTourist visa whilst your offshore application is being processed (but you won't ever be eligible for a bridging visa as you need to be offshore anyway for the offshore visa to be granted) If you send your application while offshore and return before they start processing it then you run the risk of being denied it on a technicality (and possibly costing you the application fee)

 

I think your best bet is to apply ASAP onshore and then sit it out. You'll get a Bridging Visa A 3 months after returning to Oz. Then you can apply for the work restriction to be lifted. If you have sufficient grounds DIAC may allow this, but it is going to be difficult, particularly as the Sponsor in the Spouse Visa is supposed to give an Assurance of Support that they can provide for their partner financially for 2 years in the event that they have difficulty finding work. Asking to lift the work restriction due to hardship is basically flying in the face of that declaration! I think some people have managed it, but I've always wondered how DIAC interpret that.

 

One final option...apply onshore immediately and cancel your trip to NZ. When your 3 months tourist visa runs out soon you will be eligible for the Bridging Visa A sooner than if you do go to NZ. You can apply for the work restriction to be lifted (with no guarantee of success) sooner. I wouldn't look on it as postponing the trip to NZ. The Bridging Visa B (allowing travel overseas whilst only on a Bridging Visa) is only granted again in extreme circumstances. You also run the risk of reactivating your eTourist visa! Check with an agent about this one...if you are on a BVA but leave and return before Dec 2012 then your eTourist may kick in again..it may be still valid and you can re-enter the country legally on it...and bang goes any work rights you may have had on the BVA!