Ive only just discovered this forum and found some useful information. But still have some questions. Sorry about the length of this post!
I met my boyfriend on my way to the UK While i was on a WHV at the start of 2008. We have been seeing each other now for the past nearly 2 years.
Due to running out of the working part of my UK Visa, I had to come back home to Australia. He followed me 3 months later on a WHV to see if he would like it out here. Well turns out he does, no surprises! but now we need to work out how he can stay here. We didnt live together in the UK, But have been living together at my sisters house since he arrived last August. His WHV expires on the 12th August 2010. Which will be exactly 12 months that we have lived together.
We are meeting with an immigration person on monday to start the process of applying. Very costly, but seeing as we dont have a lot of time and dont want the stress of stuffing it up, we thought this would be the better option. But I want to get other opinions on questions before meeting with her.
Seeing as though i returned to Australia in July 2009, after spending a year and a half in the UK, will i qualify to sponsor him as i havent worked in australia for 2 years? I started back working in Sept 2009. I earn more than the minimum requirement.
Will he have to leave the country in order to get the defacto visa? We were advised he wont as he will get a bridging visa once his WHV is expired and they are processing the Defacto visa.
Is he able to continue working on the bridging visa?
Does he need to get a medical? He is fit and healthy etc..
Any other info would be great too. Thanks for your help
I would think your situation is going to be relatively straight forward except for your 12 months being borderline and a good agent should be able to give advice readily; some may even offer to give you something of an overview for a small consultation fee without committing to their more extensive charging.
I would certainly see what they have to say even if they do not work on a consultation fee for you should at least be able to have a discussion before commitment of fees and perhaps do some weekend reading that might help you decide if you need an agent or not, for you really need to have a good idea of what they can offer and then it is still up to you to collect all the info and they basically collate and submit the application - easy money for those getting it.
The main things that you need to consider are:
1. The 12 months relationship and given that you were not living together in the UK, you'll need a good case to show that this is so right from when he arrived.
It is not guaranteed that it will be accepted as such regardless of what an agent may say
[ they get their money regardless, and then more if engaged for an MRT hearing ] and you will be on the borderline.
12 August is less than 3 months away and so if he has not done any regional seasonal work, it is too late for him to qualify for a second WHV as that would have made your 12 months easy.
Are you in the ACT, Vic. or Tasmania ?for there is legislation in those states for relationships registration and perhaps legislation getting close for other states - the registration being accepted by Immi to waive the 12 months together, though evidence of a relationship still required.
Have a good read of
Booklet #1 and the
eligibility and
applying for this visa sections, the latter having a
Checklist that needs to be used.
Partner Visa: Onshore Temporary and Permanent (Subclasses 820 and 801)
Follow the information closely and it is difficult to stuff it up but I've read some posts of some ripper agent stuff ups.
You qualify to sponsor by virtue of the fact that you are the sponsor and your situation will only be reviewed in respect to you being an Australian and having a relationship, your earnings to determine whether Immi would feel an AoS is needed.
A bridging visa is normally granted when a person with an existing visa applies for a further one and so on the day his WHV expires and you put in a partner visa application, the bridging visa will become effective and allow him to keep working, conditions of previous visa applying.
Yes, he'll need to get a medical and a PCC from the UK and any other country he may have been in for more than 12 months in the past ten years or since the age of 16 and he ought to get all that done to submit with the application, all details via the sections I highlighted.
You are taking something of a risk
[ with all those fees ] by being borderline in time together and living together at your sisters house will mean you'll have limited exposure I imagine to things like joint relationship expenses, so you'll really need to work on that aspect.
If the agent does not cover all of the above in detail, I'd certainly be considering my alternative options.
What some people have been known to do when the time is borderline is arrange to get a bit of further time and you could do that in a couple of ways:
. Bf heads over to NZ and gets an ETA to return
[ and not an eVisa which UK passport holders have an ETA default to and so that may mean seeing a travel agent to have them process one, for an eVisa or other tourist visa will likely have a No Further Stay condition on it and that'll prevent him from applying for a further visa ]
To get into NZ he'll need to have an outbound flight to a country he has a right of entry to and so he would not want to leave it until the last day of his WHV, but at least a few days before with return flight to Oz booked for prior to WHV expiry and then on arrival in NZ he can apply for the ETA.
He then comes back and you get another month or so together before putting in the partner application, so you are clearly past 12 months.
In going to NZ and returning, he ought to travel without any personal documents or information related to previous work, not even business cards or addresses for Immi are on the look out for people planning on continuing to work after a WHV.
Though when on an ETA he can still get a bridging visa, he'll not be able to work until apartner visa is granted.
I would also have all the documents and partner application ready to submit just in case plan B is required and that may be so if in fact he cannot get an ETA - the introduction of the eVisa default is relatively new and it could be that even a travel agent cannot process an ETA for a Brit, though I have read of it being so in the UK.
Anyway, part of the Plan B is that you have some leave you can take at short notice and if no ETA is forthcoming, off you go to NZ as well and after another week together you submit your partner visa there.
It is about $800 cheaper and I have read of some people being lucky enough in making an appointment to lodge in Auckland, going in to do so and having the visa the next day.
If it's not, you kindly make it known you're going to be over there for a couple of weeks and maybe it still comes through.
If not, you return to work and partner can return too on whatever visa he has but in applying offshore he'll need to return to NZ again to have the partner visa granted - it generally being a case of you apply for any offshore visa, you have to be offshore for it to be granted.
Alternately, he can hang out there a bit longer until the partner visa is granted.
Plan C [ if you want one ]
If you are able to arrange a longer break from work or decide you can leave with the prospect of getting another job on return, partner applies for a NZ WHV and you head over together apply shortly after being there as in
B and you can both see about getting some work while there.
Or D.
You just take your short break and he gets a NZ WHV and you apply in NZ, you returning to work and he remaining to work on a WHV there if the partner visa is not readily granted.