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820/801 Online application issues...

17K views 46 replies 15 participants last post by  jenz 
#1 ·
My partner and I have just momentarily submitted our 820/801 Defacto application Online.

Regarding migrating and non-migrating family members the following two questions are asked:

MIGRATING FAMILY MEMBERS

Q: Are there any family members applying to migrate with the applicant?

A: No

NON-MIGRATING FAMILY MEMBERS

Q: Does the applicant have any family members not included in this application?

A: Yes

I was then asked to supply a list of all non-migrating family members, to which I included the details of 11 non-migrating family members.

At not point does the application state that non-migrating family members will be required to obtain health checks. However the email/letter of "Acknowledgement of application for a Partner (Temporary) (class UK) (subclass 820) / Partner (Residence) (class BS) (subclass 801) visa" reads:

This letter confirms that your application has been received for processing for the following applicants.

and then goes on to list myself and the 11 non-migrating family members noted in my application.

We checked, double check and triple checked all of the questions. Ive even since printed off a copy of the application and we have definitely filled it in correctly & answered the questions in the format they are asked.

What neither of us can understand is why non-migrating family members would be required to obtain medicals, when as it stands currently, no family members have any plans to come out to Australia in the immediate future. Additionally, my Uncle & Aunt who already have Australian residency/citizenship have also been asked to obtain medicals.

Is this just a glitch in the system? I know the online application service only recently went live earlier this month, but I can't see anyone else having had this issue with their applications.

As we have answered all the questions accurately and correctly, could IMMI turn around and cancel this application, not refund us our application fee and tell us to submit and pay for a new application?

Were kind of stuck in Limbo right now, as no immigration office is open until Monday Morning.

If anyone can shed some light on this, we would really appreciate it.
 
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#2 ·
The question should relate to dependant family members and if you claim someone is dependant they are required to undergo health/character checks regardless of whether they would be migrating or not.

As soon as the DIBP reopens you need to contact them immediately and explain the situation. It's likely that you'll be permitted to claim an error and have the response changed to 'no' and everything would be resolved, but you will have to drive this forward.
 
#3 ·
Hi Adam,

Thanks ever so much for your quick reply.

At no point is any inclination made that these questions related to dependant family members at any point on the page these questions are asked.

At least you've helped to put my mind at ease.

I suppose the reference to the questions relating to "dependant" family members must have been missed out in the proofing & subsequent public release of the application form earlier this month.

I'll be making sure I'm one of the first people calling them on Monday.

Thanks again.
 
#5 ·
In the meantime you could attach Form 1023- incorrect answers-to the application. Download from DIBP website.
 
#7 ·
We got the exact Same email! We freaked out when we read it because we answered that question as you did....we assume it's a mis understanding as we clearly only applied for the only applicant (and only paid for one person) and then when you go to upload documents they are listed again but you can't upload any documents for them
 
#12 ·
Sorry to hear your in the same boat as us Rhirhi.

We too noticed that a lot of the sections for uploading the documents overlap.

We've decided not to start uploading anything until we have spoken to them on Monday.

We've put everything into PDF files so far and used an iPhone app (GeniusScan) to "Scan" them. You basically hold your phone above the document you want to scan, take a photo of it, crop it so that you select the corners of the document your scanning & it then flattens everything out without skewing the text - Its been so useful for us doing an online application.

We've also used it in the past to take scans of receipts, hotel bills etc too.

Once you have all your documents scanned in onto one PDF file, you can then go through selecting each file and move them into subfiles i.e have all your social activity stuff in one file, your financial aspects in another and so on.

If we have any issues on Monday and IMMI turn around and say its our fault, then were going to ask our local Federal member of the house of representatives to look into all of this, as its clearly an issue with the application form, not how we answered the questions.
 
#8 ·
So annoying....we applied on December 24th and we have been worried sick but we can't call them until Monday.....to top it off we reached our "60 file maximum" and can't load any more documents!!! All the things it asks you to upload seem to overlap with one another too....so confused....our application probably looks like a mess. If I had my time again I would have for sure sent it by post!
 
#13 ·
Hi,

That app sounds great!
We used our scanner (it look forever! Especially when we thought we had to rearrange it all). We had everything into financial, social, nature of the household and nature of commitment.

If they try to turn it around on us.....I think I'll snap. Hahaha. The whole process has been so stressful.... And this....clearly something out of our control would just be the last straw. I think you've got the right idea contacting an ombudsman or something. Hopefully we can do the same even though we're applying offshore (309)

Good luck! Let us know how you go! I'll keep you updated :)
 
#34 ·
Organizing scans

Hi,

That app sounds great!
We used our scanner (it look forever! Especially when we thought we had to rearrange it all). We had everything into financial, social, nature of the household and nature of commitment.
Hi rhirhi,

Just a question about the scanning, did you put scans together to a single pdf file or just added them as separate scans? I'm thinking of those documents who has more than one side, it would probably be easier to put the documents together in one pdf file so that you can scroll through the pages there. But I don't know if they require that or not, what they would prefer. Cheers!
 
#15 ·
My partner and I have just momentarily submitted our 820/801 Defacto application Online.

Regarding migrating and non-migrating family members the following two questions are asked:

MIGRATING FAMILY MEMBERS

Q: Are there any family members applying to migrate with the applicant?

A: No

NON-MIGRATING FAMILY MEMBERS

Q: Does the applicant have any family members not included in this application?

A: Yes

I was then asked to supply a list of all non-migrating family members, to which I included the details of 11 non-migrating family members.
I started filling in the form for my husband's 309 application last night, and ran into similar problems on this question as well. It wasn't until I reached the next question

Does the applicant have any parents, siblings or children including those that are deceased?

That I realized my error, and went back and changed the answer for the previous question (about non-migrating family members) to No (there is some information provided by clicking the ? but its really not very clear).

My main confusion now, is where we should be listing my husband's minor daughter (she doesn't live with us, and is not migrating), and whether we will need her to have a medical as well.
 
#18 ·
I thought that was the case, so based on that am I correct in that the child should be listed under the question

NON-MIGRATING FAMILY MEMBERS

Q: Does the applicant have any family members not included in this application?

rather than the following question that asks about parents/siblings etc
 
#17 ·
I had no issues with the online application. Just waiting on a casw officer and acknowledgement of the physical police check we sent.
 
#19 ·
Hi there,

Did you manage to have any luck Scotster86?

We phoned the london hotline (no other choice although we're applying in Berlin) and the man really didn't seem to know anything about the system....he said it's new and they are still working things out -_- he said "it will all pan out in the end". He then said we should email Berlin....so thats what we've done.....fingers crossed!
 
#20 ·
We called, we were answered, but had to call back again...

Hi there,

Did you manage to have any luck Scotster86?

We phoned the london hotline (no other choice although we're applying in Berlin) and the man really didn't seem to know anything about the system....he said it's new and they are still working things out -_- he said "it will all pan out in the end". He then said we should email Berlin....so thats what we've done.....fingers crossed!
Hey Rhirhi,

Sorry I haven't replied or let you know this sooner, but I've been trying to climb out from underneath all of the repetitive forms that are required for the application process :p lol

I called IMMI this morning and made the first person I spoke to aware of the form issue regarding "non-dependants". She wasn't all that interested, so then questioned her on the broken hyperlink option within my "ImmiAccount" to open up the "Application Checklist" - again she was not interested.

Last night I ended up going through all of the questions, copied them into an excel file and made note of every documents that requires certification etc. As the checklist would open, I confirmed these with her.

She also said that my Partner had to have a police & medical check done, even though they are Aussie by birth :eek: . (It turns out this is nonsense in our case & would only be required under certain circumstance, which my partner is not under :D )

:confused: So with all this questionable info from her in mind, I called by to speak to a colleague of hers (Marlon) that was the polar opposite in terms of helpfulness - He couldn't help me more if he tried.

If you have any additional documents that you need to send to IMMI that you were not able to include in your application, then Marlon advised that they can be sent to the office that is processing your application by email, in my case: partner.temporary.NSW@immi.gov.au which is ONLY to be used for application that will be processed Onshore here in Sydney.

You should be able to obtain the contact email address similar to this for your application from IMMI in Berlin when you can get in touch with them, should you require to do this in the future.

Also note that you will need to include all of your info (visa grant details) at the top of each email (and its advisable to include it at the top of each document page too - as advised by Marlon. just in case a page goes astray etc).

Marlon advised us to complete a "Form 1023 - Notification of incorrect answers" form and post it into the Sydney office to correct the "Dependants" issue with our application, so we completed the form and were going to post it off later in the day.

After speaking with Marlon, we ended up going in and out of my "ImmiAccount" and uploading documents that we had thus far completed. Then around the later part of the afternoon, I noticed that someone from IMMI had clearly been in and had a look at what we were up to and our uploading progress. All of the non-migrating family members that were previously showing in my "ImmiAccount" had now disappeared & we hadn't even been to the post office to send the 1023 form off.

You may find that this happens to you also, but as a precautionary measure, I'm going to call IMMI back (couldn't today as they had already closed when we realised all of this) and ask if the form 1023 will still be required.

Marlon additionally advised he wasn't already aware of the issue with dependants not being mentioned when it should be, or that link to the Application Checklist was broken. He said that he would file an internal message for both issues to be looked into.

:)

P.s. Wish us luck in having the local postmaster/JP in the next town certify 50+ documents for us tomorrow - lol
 
#22 ·
Are you sure Adam? The little "?" symbols say that things still need to be certified.

This would be great News. I'm having to stay up tonight to get everything all ready for tomorrow. The JP is only available one day a week for certifying stuff like this. So not having to get everything certified would be a great help with everything, especially on New Years Eve! :D

I suppose it does seem strange to upload a copy of a copy thats been copied - lol
 
#26 ·
I have a question regarding online lodging and it is in regards to the statutory declarations from AU citizens and I was wondering if anyonw could help.

Is it something they have to lodge online or do they still fill the paper 888 form and then we scan it when we apply. I need to lodge my application very soon and I wanted to know as, if it continues to be the paper form first, I can ask our witnesses to start getting it ready.

I tried to start filling up the information on the application to see how it was when it reached that section, but I am currently out of Australia and the system detected that (I guess it checks your location before you completely submit it) so I was unable to proceed until I get back.
 
#27 ·
Hi Abby603,

With our application, we had the paper 888 forms filled out, took colour scans of them all & then attached them online.

I personally can't see them not wanting the paper forms, as when you fill out the forms online, you do not have any space to include your supporting witnesses statements. You would probably be best calling a IMMI Contact Centre for absolute confirmation on this.

Hope this helps :D
 
#28 ·
So we just found out that our application will be going to the back of the link, bottom of the pile, or however else yo want to call it. Apparently is due to my UK Police check dragging its feet - maybe things will move faster when it arrives?

Were a bit gutted to be honest. We were hoping for a quick turnaround once the UK Police check arrived back, but unfortunately its not going to be so.

At the end of the day were still happy, as it means that we don't have to think about anything until the end of 2014. I think we have enough to worry about just now anyway (selling the house, moving back up to QLD to be closer to both our families etc), so its probably a saving grace.


C'est la vie, lol :p
 
#29 ·
That's a bummer, Scotster86, but hopefully it'll just give you enough time to do everything that needs to be done to move back to AU without having to rush too much.

I am still struggling with this application and, as I go, more questions arise... Did any of the people who already submitted it provided actual statutory declarations about the history of the relationship, nature of the household, social context, financial stuff, etc. apart from everything that already has to be filled up in the online form?

It just all feels so incredibly repetitive and if statutory declarations (witnessed and signed) need to be provided for all those things, they will say practically what was already mentioned in the online form.

Any ideas?:confused:
 
#30 ·
That's a bummer, Scotster86, but hopefully it'll just give you enough time to do everything that needs to be done to move back to AU without having to rush too much. I am still struggling with this application and, as I go, more questions arise... Did any of the people who already submitted it provided actual statutory declarations about the history of the relationship, nature of the household, social context, financial stuff, etc. apart from everything that already has to be filled up in the online form? It just all feels so incredibly repetitive and if statutory declarations (witnessed and signed) need to be provided for all those things, they will say practically what was already mentioned in the online form. Any ideas?:confused:
Hey Abby603,

I'm still in Oz as I made an onshore application, so that's one good thing at least.

I actually called up bout this too, as I was of the same opinion. I was told to submit everything we felt was relevant, where we would then be contacted if any further clarification or other info if it was required when our application is assessed - not exactly the answer I was looking for.

Where your asked to submit this stuff online in your ImmiAccount, we have attached our proofs in the sections that do not have a "?" Beside them - such as photos, skype transcripts, landline phone bills, receipts & hotel bookings etc.

It seems to me that as this is still a new process for online submission and it is still in its infancy, a lot of the call centre staff at Immi are not exactly sure what should go where either, as they don't seem to have all been trained on how the online application looks, works or what is being asked of applicants. We've been given different opinions on what should be submitted where & this is obviously not good from an applicants perspective as we want to make the application as clear as possible, with what is required & where it should be attached being clearer to reduce future work by Immi staff and also the applicants.

I've even found myself taking onboard what one call centre advisor says and then immediately calling back, getting a second opinion if it doesn't seem to be right & then questioning the previously advised information to see what they say. I know this may come across wasting my own and Immi's time, but when your told something that really doesn't seem right, what else can you do?

One advisor even said to us that they had not even seen or been trained on how to answer questions about the online application process yet.

From what we have found out so far, it all really depends on what your case officer deems as being necessary to make a decision on your application. The call centre staff can answer your question saying that should be ok, but you might be asked for other things or clarification by your case officer.

I suppose its understandable that things are this way, as no two applications will ever be the same really. However we do feel that things should be made as clear as possible. We don't want to waste anybody else's or our own time either now or further down the line.

If your ever unsure about anything, I would always suggest that you call Immi to get clarification on the issue(s). Always take note of what you asked, who you spoke to and the response that you were given. I do this with any organisation or business that I call & it can help in the future if you need to justify why you did something that is then deemed to be incorrect etc.

Good luck with your application! :D
 
#32 ·
So after all my struggles last night, I got my visa granted today before I was even done uploading documents!

I am obviously very happy about this, but it still feels so unreal! I was already planning everything that I was gonna upload tonight when I got home after work.

Anyway, good luck everybody with your visas and thanks once again for all the help :)
 
#33 ·
So after all my struggles last night, I got my visa granted today before I was even done uploading documents! I am obviously very happy about this, but it still feels so unreal! I was already planning everything that I was gonna upload tonight when I got home after work. Anyway, good luck everybody with your visas and thanks once again for all the help :)
So happy for you Abby. Congratulations on your good news!
 
#37 ·
I just received an email reminding me to ensure any outstanding information thats missing from our application should be submitted without delay.

It also said that we should soon receive a case officer, and we wondered how long others have waited one they received this email.

Thanks in advance for providing info. :D
 
#39 ·
My application has been approved and I was granted an 820 Visa on Thursday 04/09/2014. We are so happy and relieved at the same time.

My Partner received a call around 13:40, He was asked the following questions:

Do you see the relationship continuing due to your age differences?

Your partner was homesick and returned to the UK previously. Since submitting your application, has your partner had the same feelings, or do they have them now?

Do you have any questions about the application?


I hope everyone else has a good result like we have had so far. All the best for your own applications!
 
#43 ·
My application has been approved and I was granted an 820 Visa on Thursday 04/09/2014. We are so happy and relieved at the same time.

That's awesome news - congratulations!!

Could you give any advice/tips on how to present documents? For example- I have been highlighting away on bank statements showing all sorts including every time we've spent at Woolworths! I have highlighted to prove we both were where we say we were when we first met but I've no idea where I write to explain exactly what I'm highlighting.

In fact, I have no idea where to even begin with the whole application.

Thanks

Claire
 
#40 ·
hi members I hope you all are doing great , I'm new on this site Anyone please help me about the current MRT processing time for partner visa refusal I had my partner visa refused in 29th of August 2014 and currently going to Loge MRT which is very frustrating can some one please help me . Is anyone won in MRT or going through MRT ? Plz give ur suggestion witch can support my MRT case ? Thanks 4 help .
 
#41 ·
Please do not hijack threads



Hi Sammy,

Whilst I appreciate you are looking for help, may I suggest starting your own thread topic regarding your questions. Posting what you have done above in this thread is unlikely to result in the correct people being able to view/and or reply to your questions.

After a quick google search, I found this:

MRT-RRT - Processing times

I appreciate your own refusal date falls out with the dates quoted within the link, however it may give you an answer in part.

Personally, I would suggest calling IMMI and speaking to them. I belive they would be able to answer your questions.

Good luck with your appeal.

Scott
 
#44 ·
Claire - there's a link at the top of the forum - Partner Wait Times & Resources. In that post is a link to an overview on the online application process. If you don't know where to start, I suggest giving that a read.

What I did to explain what I was highlighting was this:

I typed up a note explaining how we used our joint accounts for purchases. I then said something like "Following are our bank statements. An orange highlight means this was [my hubby] paying for a joint household expense. A pink highlight indicates [me] paying for a wedding expense." Something along those lines. I then printed out that note, actually highlighted the words "orange highlight" in orange highlighter, "pink highlight" in pink highlighter, etc. on the note itself. Then I signed it, put the note in front of our collection of bank statements, and used our scanner to scan the stack of documents into one PDF document (lower quality as to keep file size down as much as possible, but still color). I then compressed the file further so it met the 5MB file size limit (instructions on that in the link I told you about already). Best of luck. :)
 
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