[Lelliott75]

We’re all set to go down the route of submitting a 309 visa any day now with the intention of applying for a visitor visa within the next month. We had assumed this would enable me to come out to Australia with my husband and children so that we can be there by the end of this year instead of waiting a year. However, a friend has just put doubt in my mind by saying she’d heard if you apply for a visitor visa after applying for a spouse visa then it supercedes it.
Can I just double check that this is not the case please. Can I legally enter Australia on a visitor visa, still have a 309 application in place, and then leave the country when my partner visa is granted (or obviously earlier if my visitor visa expires before the issue of the 309)?

 

[Skybluebrewer]

Yes, you can. I did it myself but with an ETA 601.

 

[CCMS]

My advice is not to listen to advice from well-meaning friends, who are usually wrong. How can the grant of a tourist visa cause the replacement of a visa that has not been granted yet?

There is nothing stopping you from having multiple applications in the system.

 

[ampk]

But know what to do (if anything) when a visa is granted.

 

[CCMS]

But know what to do (if anything) when a visa is granted.

Indeed, you don't want some unfinished temporary visa application lurking in the background once the partner visa has been granted.

 

[Lelliott75]

Phew, that’s a relief. I didn’t think it would cancel out my partner visa but I just wanted to check that it’s possible to enter Australia the way I’d planned. So another couple of questions now then re the visitor visa:

Can I apply for a 12 month visitor visa (rather than a 12 month validity one with multiple 3 month entries)?

Is there anything specific I need to mention or attach when applying for the visitor visa and do I use the same medical/police check for both my partner visa and the visitor one?

Thanks very much for all the replies

 

[ampk]

Can I apply for a 12 month visitor visa (rather than a 12 month validity one with multiple 3 month entries)?

** You can apply for that yes - does not mean you will get it granted.

Is there anything specific I need to mention or attach when applying for the visitor visa and do I use the same medical/police check for both my partner visa and the visitor one?

** Medical and police may not be required for you for the Visitor Visa application - mention the Partner Visa application and comply with the GTE requirements in the application.

 

[Lelliott75]

Can I apply for a 12 month visitor visa (rather than a 12 month validity one with multiple 3 month entries)?

** You can apply for that yes - does not mean you will get it granted.

Is there anything specific I need to mention or attach when applying for the visitor visa and do I use the same medical/police check for both my partner visa and the visitor one?

** Medical and police may not be required for you for the Visitor Visa application - mention the Partner Visa application and comply with the GTE requirements in the application.

Ok, so what reasons might they grant/not grant the visa. If I state that I've applied for a partner visa and want to be able to stay in Australia with my husband and children (and that he can financially support me) but will leave when required to do so, will they likely grant me the 12 month visa?

What are the GTE requirements??

 

[CCMS]

Generally people get multiple entry visas with maximum 3 month stays under these circumstances.

The main concern is “ Genuine Visitor” requirements, not GTE ( sorry to be pedantic amp).

 

[ampk]

I fall for that every time Nick!

That and the cost from a PMV to 820.

I fix planes better than I do visa stuff - honest.

 

[CCMS]

I fall for that every time Nick!

That and the cost from a PMV to 820.

I fix planes better than I do visa stuff - honest.

Each to their own. I'm not much good with planes...

 

[mrsmorrow28]

I am curious as to why people choose the off shore submission (309) rather than the on shore (820) which would allow you to be on a bridge visa therefore not requiring to go in and out as a visitor?

 

[Lelliott75]

I am curious as to why people choose the off shore submission (309) rather than the on shore (820) which would allow you to be on a bridge visa therefore not requiring to go in and out as a visitor?

Having had the replies I've now had (with the uncertainty of how long a visitor visa I could get, together with the length of processing time for the 309 visa), and doing a bit more research, I'm now beginning to wonder if the best route now is to apply for a visitor visa in the first instance. If there isn't a "no further stay" attached to it then maybe I should enter Australia on that visa and then apply for the onshore partner visa. However, if there is a "no further stay" attached to the visitor visa then I'll just stick with my offshore partner visa.
I don't want to pay the huge costs for an agent (because I've practically done the application and it's very straightforward for us) but I just need someone to advise me of the best route with a leave date from the U.K. of December this year.

 

[CCMS]

I am curious as to why people choose the off shore submission (309) rather than the on shore (820) which would allow you to be on a bridge visa therefore not requiring to go in and out as a visitor?

Everybody's circumstances are different and not everybody is in a position to apply onshore.

If new proposed sponsorship rules are introduced it may become problematic to apply onshore for people on temporary visas

 

[Aussie83]

For many is simply not an option. Personally we would of preferred to and would of saved a lot of money to do it onshore.

I am curious as to why people choose the off shore submission (309) rather than the on shore (820) which would allow you to be on a bridge visa therefore not requiring to go in and out as a visitor?

 

[mrsmorrow28]

All fair responses. The only thing that stopped us was that we would have had to wait until November, entered on the tourist and lodged as soon as we landed and our MA advised that if we did that the new restrictions on Sponsors may have come in and they didn't know what that looked like.

If it weren't for that, I would have much preferred us to do on shore and have my husband be able to work and be in Aus without the Visitor visa dramas looming over us at the end of 6 months haha

 

[Lelliott75]

All fair responses. The only thing that stopped us was that we would have had to wait until November, entered on the tourist and lodged as soon as we landed and our MA advised that if we did that the new restrictions on Sponsors may have come in and they didn't know what that looked like.

If it weren't for that, I would have much preferred us to do on shore and have my husband be able to work and be in Aus without the Visitor visa dramas looming over us at the end of 6 months haha

So are you saying that going onshore isn't a good idea now because of possible sponsor changes?? I'm so confused about the whole thing now...it's really stressing me out!!

 

[CCMS]

So are you saying that going onshore isn't a good idea now because of possible sponsor changes?? I'm so confused about the whole thing now...it's really stressing me out!!

The new sponsorship requirements have not been implemented yet and we don't know if/ when they will be.

However, as Registered Migration Agents we have to alert our clients to this potential complication.

 

[ampk]

You can plan around government sitting times with certainty.

 

[mrsmorrow28]

So are you saying that going onshore isn't a good idea now because of possible sponsor changes?? I'm so confused about the whole thing now...it's really stressing me out!!

Nope, as mentioned above.
They are not implemented as yet however when we were deciding to lodge off or onshore back in March, our MA warned us that they could possibly come in to play, so we decided that we did not want to have waited until December to lodge onshore to then have those restrictions imposed on us when we could have been 8 months into the offshore application by lodging in the UK back in March/April. Especially as being apart is not an option for us