An Australian resident...finally!

I haven't blogged properly in a while; we have been pretty busy with lots of exciting things happening. My visa was finally approved last week, which involved a four-night trip to New Zealand (more about that in another post), but I now have permanent residency! I originally applied for a temporary partner visa (subclass 309), but ended up being granted a permanent visa (subclass 100). I thought I'd share the timeline of my visa processing for those who are considering making the move down under, or who are already embarking on it.

8th March: submitted application via post.
12th March: email received from case officer confirming receipt of application and informing me that there was currently a 5-6 month wait. I was also asked to attend a medical examination as soon as possible.
27th March: attended medical examination in London.
4th April: received confirmation from my case officer that the medical results had been received and she would be in touch when my visa was ready to be approved. 
9th May: confirmation from case officer that I could travel to Australia on a tourist visa while my partner visa was still being considered.

12th July: we arrived in Sydney with me on a three-month eVisitor visa.

10th August: I received an email from my case officer that said they were ready to grant my partner visa and that I needed to leave Australia for at least three working days in order to do so.
3rd September: we flew to New Zealand for four nights.
7th September: we arrived back in Sydney and confirmed with the border staff that I was now on a permanent residency visa (partner visa subclass 100).

So in all it took almost six months, but that was because I was already in Australia and had to leave so the visa could be formally granted. It was actually five months from submitting the application to receiving the email to say they were ready to grant the visa. We still believe we did the right thing by coming out here before it was granted though, as we wouldn't have got out here until at least October if we had waited for it in the UK.

I would love to hear others' experiences of the visa process - drop me a comment or contact me on Twitter (@hollygalt).

Details

Australian Government, Department of Immigration and Citizenship
Website: www.immi.gov.au/migrants/family/family-visas-partner.htm 

Visa granted!

'Dear Mrs Galt

The processing of your application has reached the stage where I am in a postition to grant your visa...'

I finally received this email last week from my case officer at the Australian High Commission in London! Unfortunately though, as we were so impatient and came over here before it was granted it means I now have to leave Australia for at least three working days. So we are now looking into last minute deals to go anywhere within a 3-4 hour flight from Sydney. At the moment we are hoping to go to Auckland for four nights at The Langham as they are doing a really good deal, but this could all change if we don't book it soon! This news has coincided with Steve landing a couple of interviews this week, so it all depends on the outcome of these meetings.

Hopefully though, this time next week I will be flying off to spend a few nights here...

Images from The Langham website

This aside though, it has come as an enormous relief that my visa has finally be granted. It now means I can start looking for a job as soon as I return to Sydney, which is not only good news for our financial situation but also for my sanity! If we both get jobs in the next four weeks, we should be able to secure our own place by the beginning of October which is the thing I am focused on at the moment. It is really hard to settle anywhere when you are living out of suitcases, and the need to nest is growing by the day!

Some good news!

We've had some good news this morning regarding my visa. No, my partner one hasn't been granted, but I've been told by my case officer that I can definitely travel over to Australia on a three-month visa and wait there until my partner visa is finalised. We already knew that this was possible, but it's great to finally have it in writing from someone official! So we will be booking our flights at the end of the month, to leave in July. This has come at a great time as Steve has found lots of good jobs online so can now send out his CV with a definite arrival time in the country. It would be really handy if he has some interviews, or fingers crossed even a job, when we arrive as I won't be able to work on this temporary visa. On a grey day like today, this news has made us smile!

My Australian visa process so far...

As my blog is partly about making the move down under I thought I’d share my experience of the visa process so far. I’ve found it useful to look online to see what other people have done and how long it has taken. I looked on forums and the occasional blog, but they mostly related to the skills visa (if you are hoping to go to Oz based on work skills) rather than partner or family visas. I hope that others reading this will gain something from my experiences.

My new husband, Steve and I decided to make the trip to Oz last year when we were busy planning our wedding (see forthcoming blog posts for our wedding experiences!). We got married in the UK but Steve has wanted to go back to Australia for the last few years and I believe I owe him a year or two of my life to try it out. Thus we decided to apply for a visa straight after the wedding when I could apply as a Mrs and we had the whole stress of planning a wedding out of the way. We thought that we could get a visa within 6-8 weeks of applying, as our friends had done a couple of years ago when they were first married (same situation as us – he is Australian; she is English). How wrong we were. Lots of looking at online forums later (Poms in Oz is a great source of help and support) told us that most people were looking at a four month wait at best, and at worst six months. 

Bondi Beach.

We had to get a move on then. When we’d finally said goodbye to all the Aussies staying our place after the wedding, it was mid-February and I got down to researching what had to go in the visa application and getting my passport changed to reflect my new surname. This took 10 days to be returned to me, so we were now at the end of February and still no nearer to getting the visa. The next week/10 days was spent getting together all evidence I could find that Steve and I had been living together for the six years we claimed to be living together – this included rental agreements from our last three rental properties, bills and bank statements addressed to us both at the same address at the same time. We had a problem in that we do not pay any joint bills at our current abode, as we have a lovely landlady (the mother-in-law of a good friend of mine) who includes all bills in our monthly rent, so we had nothing to show in that respect. We also included emails dating back to when we first started seeing each other, and numerous photos from our travels, wedding, my graduation and at various parties with friends and family on both sides. These were returned pretty quickly when we did send the application off though, so I don’t think these make much difference. I did, however, include at the last minute copies of invitations to weddings with both of our names included as well as various Christmas, Valentine’s and birthday cards between the two of us and from both sets of parents.

We sent the application off on 8th March 2012 and had an email confirming receipt from my assigned case officer (CO) on 12th March 2012, which also confirmed our fears that it will probably take 5-6 months to be approved. My CO requested that I go for a medical as soon as possible so I booked in with the Knightsbridge Doctors at their West End branch. I would highly recommend them if you are looking for a panel doctor in the South East as they were super efficient and really lovely when I nervously arrived a few weeks ago! The examination took 40 minutes and included a chest x-ray, blood test, urine sample, eye test and general poke around (although nothing invasive!). I had a really nice and down-to-earth female doctor, who explained to me everything that she was doing. It is pricy though, at £270. However, it was all uploaded online and sent to Australia House within three days so it is speedy.

And so now we are playing the waiting game...hoping it’s not going to take the full six months that they have suggested.

In summary, we sent the following to Australia House (recorded delivery):

• Statutory declarations from Steve’s cousin, best friend in Oz (who we lived with for a year in London) and father.

• Emails between us from the beginning of our relationship, and from friends inviting us both to various events.
• Copies of greetings cards to each other and from families and friends to both of us, joint invitations to weddings, christenings. 
• Copies of bank statements and letters from the council showing us both living at the same address over the last five years.
• Copy of car insurance documents showing me as the policy holder and Steve as a named driver for the last few years.
• Copies of rental agreements at the three properties we have lived in together, and a letter from our current landlady stating how long we have been in our current flat and that she knows us as a couple in a committed relationship (she attended our wedding).
• Copy of a statement from our joint bank account.
• My police check certificate.
• Copy of our passports, birth certificates and marriage certificate.
• Photos (these were sent back straight away; can’t hurt to send them though).