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Visa Update

March 7, 2018 by Vicky 1 Comment

You may recall that way back in July 2014 I applied for a De Facto Partner Visa. You can read my previous updates here, here and here.

Well after submitting document after document and help from all of our family and friends, we have finally heard that my Visa has been granted. It took almost 4 years in total which wasn’t helped because the Visa is granted in stages.

Firstly immediately upon applying I was granted a Bridging Visa which lasted about a year and meant I had to apply for a different Bridging Visa so I could leave the Country. I was able to work during this time because I was staying in Australia under a Working Holiday Visa which entitled me to work when I applied for permanent residency. I understand that not everyone can work when they first apply for this Visa so you have to check your circumstances.

Next after my application was considered and after providing further information (bank statements) I was granted Temporary Residency which removed the travel restriction. I had to wait until two years had passed from the date I first applied for the Visa to submit the final application and then my Permanent Residency was granted which took about 20 months to be processed.

Again we had to submit further information for the final stage of the Visa last October and I’m not sure if that delayed the final decision but the timeframe on the immigration website was 15 to 20 months for the final decision so I was just within that time.

At each stage we had to submit Statutory Declarations from me and the Aussie explaining how we are in a De Facto relationship, evidence from friends and family as well as Police checks and other documents. I also had to have a medical done before my temporary residence was granted which involved blood tests and an chest x-ray.

I now have a Partner Subclass 801 Visa sponsored by the Aussie which lasts for 5 years. I understand that in 5 years time I would have to apply to extend the Visa by a further 5 years or I could apply to be an Australian Citizen a year after obtaining permanent residence.

The process was lengthy and not straightforward and I feel like my experience as a Lawyer helped us a lot.

It is lovely to have the reassurance that a decision has been made, I can live in Australia now and finally have the stability that I won’t be asked to leave the Country at any moment. which was a risk if they decided not to accept my application.

We’d now like to also thank all of our family and friends who provided Statutory Declarations for us over the last few years!

Visa Update – Evidence

April 21, 2014 by Vicky 2 Comments

We’re having a break from filling out the forms for the visa and this weekend I’ve been concentrating on gathering the evidence we need to demonstrate that we are in a genuine relationship and that we’ve been together more than 12 months.

So this weekend I have been looking through all of our photos to find the photos we have taken together. These are the photos from his visits to the UK, mine to Australia and then since I arrived last August which were quite a lot as I take heaps of photos!! I’ve found about 20 showing the various stages of our relationship and saved them all in to one document that can be uploaded/turned in to a PDF.

I’ve also been taking screenshots of our What’s app conversations, Skype calls (I just discovered that Skype only save them for 6 months so it’s best to keep these records if your planning on doing the same kind of application – although the Aussie has managed to find a way round this – no idea how but can ask if needed by anyone), phone call logs since I have been in Australia (it looks like the iPhone call logs aren’t that great either and I can’t go back before then without a 3rd party application or website).

I also wanted screenshots of a sample of text messages since we got together to show we weren’t just dating but were in a relationship. This proved difficult on the phone itself as the iPhone is very slow at displaying old texts and you have to do them in blocks of messages. I did some research and found some downloadable programs that find your backed up texts on your computer and displays them for you to save as a PDF if you want (at a charge). I didn’t want them all so took screenshots of the messages I wanted.

I might take screenshots of all references to Australia and the Aussie from Facebook maybe if they are easy to find.

I also thought it would be helpful to get my phone bills as I used to have to pay to send text messages to the Aussie so they are all on there but they only keep them online for 2 years so I’m going to have to get them to send the others to my family so they can send them to me.

I will also be trying to arrange to print all emails we have sent to each other and relating to our travelling together. I’ve flagged the ones I want up and its over 150 so that’s going to be fun to print! I think probably we just need a sample so I will go through them and select a few.

I’ve also read it might be helpful to show emails, texts etc where I refer to the Aussie and our living arrangements so I think I will probably screenshot/print those as well.

I’m not sure if I am going overboard or there is more we need to demonstrate our relationship but this is all I can think of at the moment so hopefully it will be ok.

All in all I feel like this when it comes to the computer!

woman asleep on computer (Small)
(Image from here)

*** Please note that I am in no way giving visa or legal advice about applying for visa’s in Australia or anywhere else – this is just what I have found and is only relevant to our situation ***

Life Juggling

March 27, 2014 by Vicky Leave a Comment

There is a certain degree of juggling going on in my life at the moment. Between keeping in touch with family and friends in the UK, blogging, job hunting, visa application stuff and of course spending time with the Aussie I feel like there are a lot of “balls in the air” at the moment but it is worth it.

As you know I finished working for the company where I had worked for about 5 months last week. I have a job lined up to start but not for a few weeks so I thought I would try and find something temporary for a few weeks to get out of the house, earn some money and of course spend time in the air conditioning.

Sadly it appears that it is not meant to be as even with my criterion being only administration work in an office for 2 to 3 weeks there just isn’t anything around, even with my amazing recruitment consultant who found me my last job literally in 24 hours after I joined.

I’m filling the time as best as I can but there is only so many movies you can watch and so much window shopping you can do. Today i’m meeting up with my friends for lunch and quite looking forward to it.

Visa and Passport
(Image from here)

This break in work does also give me/us the opportunity to start getting things together for a visa application.

We have decided to apply for the Onshore De Facto Partner visa (subclass 820 and 801) which will mean that I am able to remain in Australia after my working holiday visa expires in August and also visit the UK for my friends wedding in September and for Christmas with my family.

This is by no means an easy decision and I know it has been tough on my family and friends when I told them that I was going to apply for the visa and remain in Australia but they have all been amazing and so so supportive which makes me feel truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends back home.

The visa process is so confusing and very involved, the Aussie thinks I am joking when I grab the receipts for dinner etc from the keypad thing but it is needed.

I sometimes think that I am a Lawyer but I have had to visit the Immigration Office in Darwin numerous times to check things or ask our questions so I can totally understand why people use migration agents to help them even with the expense. I’m determined to do this by ourselves with a little help from Immigration, the visa website in Australia and the many many online forums where you can speak to people and ask your questions or find the answers because someone else has answered it.

After quite a bit of research I have made a list/table of each aspect of our application and what we need to provide to Immigration with our application forms.

We have to prove that we are in a genuine relationship which includes:
♦ LOTs of statutory declarations from our friends and families that they are currently writing for us as well as our own;
♦ That we have lived together for more than a year (or been in a serious relationship for more than a year);
♦ How we support each other financially, emotionally etc;
♦ That we or particularly me are of good character through Police checks; and
♦ I will eventually have to have a medical to show i’m healthy and won’t require lots of medical treatment.

I suspect that this is going to cost us a fortune in printing and scanning costs before we even get to the fee for the visa, police checks and medical but I think it will all be worth it!

I’ll try and keep you updated on my visa application as it progresses but we are hopeful it will be submitted within the next few weeks, fingers crossed.

Forums I have found helpful (although you should always refer to the Immi website and/or the Immigration Department)
Poms In Oz
Australia Forum
Expat Forum

*** Please note that I am in no way giving visa or legal advice about applying for visa’s in Australia or anywhere else – this is just what I have found and is only relevant to our situation ***

About Me!

My name is Vicky and I am a Lawyer from the UK who upped sticks and moved to the Northern Territory in Australia in August 2013!

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