[MarkNortham]

Hi Brit_in_aus -

Thanks for the question. They likely won't be able to help her via phone, however she could lodge (on form 424A) a Freedom of Information request for that time period requesting a copy of any application she lodged. Alternatively if the date is required on the form, you could put "01 Jan 1900" which is the "recognised" date that can be entered into a field on some visa applications when a date is required but is not known by the applicant despite best efforts. You might also include a note with the application explaining that she doesn't have the date, if she remembers the year then she could put that in the note, etc.

Hope this helps -

Best,

Mark Northam

Hi Mark! Quick question. My Aussie partner has already sponsored an ex partner. She was from Europe and the relationship ended more than fifteen years ago.

Because it was so long ago he has forgotten the date he lodged the sponsorship for her. I know we will be asked this information at the application, so just being organised!

Can he call Home Affairs or IMMI for this info? Thanks for your time! 🙂

 

[MarkNortham]

Hi Vik-per -

That screen can be confusing - you can only upload 10 files at a time, however you generally have a total of 100 files (see indication at the top) total. Merging PDFs is a good idea - just make sure how you merge them is logical (ie, you could merge all the photos, tickets and evidence from a particular vacation trip into one file) - also note the 5MB size limit - you will make friends with your PDF shrink/compress/optimise software before long!

Note that you get 100 files for the sponsor and 100 files for the applicant, which changes once the sponsor is "approved" midway through the process - at that point you don't get to upload any more for the sponosr, so definitely consider loading up the sponsor section with anything related to the sponsor. Other files are for files you want to submit that do not fall into any of the categories that are available, so feel free to use that as appropriate.

Hope this helps -

Best,

Mark Northam

Hi Mark,
Thank you again for answering my questions so far its greatly appreciated.
So we paid our fee and it was approved today and now im uploading documents to the immi account. From what i can see a lot of our documents will be in the "relationship" requests and it only accepts 10 files. Can the rest be uploaded onto the sponsors section? )if that makes sense. The "other" documents uploads section at the bottom is that just for documents the CO requests or can more be uploaded there?
Im thinking i might have to merge some pdf's together cos we have a lot of evidence to attach lol.

 

[MarkNortham]

Hi Shushuk -

Thanks for the note - see my responses below after each question at ***:

Dear Mark
Thank you so much for offering your knowledge and expertise with us.
A few questions:

1) I lodged 309 today and soon after got an email requesting biometrics and health check. One month ago i had these done for a 600 but my 600 was refused. Do i need to redo biometrics/health check.
*** You will need to do the health check again as it is more extensive for a partner visa. You might be able to get them to reuse your biometrics - have seen this work and not work depending on the case, doesn't hurt to try.

2) if i do need to do these what do i do about meeting the 14 day deadline. Everything is in lockdown in my country.
*** It is ridiculous that they publish these things with 14-day deadlines when it is literally impossible to get them done within that deadline. Suggest you immediately email them back to advise that you are unable to make the appointment for health or biometrics (assuming that's the case) and request additional time.

3) i noticed the website says translators outside Aus do not need to be accredited but they must state their qualification. Does this mean anyone of any priofession can translate our docs? Do they need to have done any english proficency tests or is simply knowing english enough?
*** No, should be a professional licensed/qualified/etc translator qualified in your country to translate government documents. If you cannot find a NAATI certified translator in your country, I'd go for a similarly licensed professional translator that has a seal, and has some sort of official recognition or license for his/her work and is qualified to do official translations for government documents in your country. I also recommend putting the translator's contact info on the documents.

4) my wife lives in australia so we have no joint accounts or shared expenses etc. We are financially stable and never needed to send each other money. We only lived together for 3 months after our wedding in december. We lived with my parents. We do plan on sharing living expenses once living together. In the meantime what evidence can we provide for the financial aspect.

*** You might show evidence you both contributed to the bills/expenses when you lived together for the 3 months, evidence you paid for gifts or wedding expenses that benefitted both of you, etc

Hope this helps -

Best,

Mark Northam

 

[Brit_in_aus]

Thank you for such a quick reply, Mark. This was very helpful and reassuring. He remembers his ex's full name, date of birth and the year, so it shouldn't be too difficult for the CO to find it.

He will wrote a note to explain he cannot remember the date exactly due to time passing, but this is all the info he can give to best of his ability.

Cheers again, Mark. You are a diamond for all the time you put into helping people!

 

[sauzer]

Thank you for all your help Mark!
What is your personal view about the actual travel ban ? What is your guest about the end date? Do you think they can allow visa holders to enter Australia , and keep tourism banned ?

 

[MarkNortham]

Hi Brit_in_aus -

Thanks for the kind words! Glad I could help, and with the info you said you have, shouldn't be an issue.

Best regards,

Mark Northam

Thank you for such a quick reply, Mark. This was very helpful and reassuring. He remembers his ex's full name, date of birth and the year, so it shouldn't be too difficult for the CO to find it.

He will wrote a note to explain he cannot remember the date exactly due to time passing, but this is all the info he can give to best of his ability.

Cheers again, Mark. You are a diamond for all the time you put into helping people!

 

[MarkNortham]

Hi Sauzer -

Thanks for the note. I hope I'm wrong, but I expect the travel ban will be one of the last government restrictions to be lifted. As to when, I'm guessing sometime towards the end of this year or beginning of next, but that's entirely dependent on a couple of things:

Vaccine - if a vaccine is developed this year, that could hasten the end of the travel ban or lifting of parts of it - people who are vaccinated may be more easily allowed to travel to Australia.

New spike in infections - if the social distancing rules are lifted in Australia and that results in a spike (increase) in cases, that could push back the lifting of the travel ban considerably

Politics - students represent 9% of Australia's gross national product, and a reduction in students will put the education sector under tremendous pressure. This combined with the overall lower infection/severity rate of younger people (no medical evidence here, that's based on news stories, etc) might push the travel ban to open sooner for students.

Overseas situations - if containment is not effective in major countries overseas, that could push the travel ban back.

The NZ "bubble" - given New Zealand's world-leading efforts and success at containing the virus, I'm guessing we might see the travel ban lifted first for NZ residents who have not traveled overseas.

All of this is just guesswork - we'll have to see how things develop over the coming months.

Hope this helps -

Best,

Mark Northam

Thank you for all your help Mark!
What is your personal view about the actual travel ban ? What is your guest about the end date? Do you think they can allow visa holders to enter Australia , and keep tourism banned ?

 

[Shushuk]

Hi Shushuk -

Thanks for the note - see my responses below after each question at ***:

Dear Mark
Thank you so much for offering your knowledge and expertise with us.
A few questions:

1) I lodged 309 today and soon after got an email requesting biometrics and health check. One month ago i had these done for a 600 but my 600 was refused. Do i need to redo biometrics/health check.
*** You will need to do the health check again as it is more extensive for a partner visa. You might be able to get them to reuse your biometrics - have seen this work and not work depending on the case, doesn't hurt to try.

2) if i do need to do these what do i do about meeting the 14 day deadline. Everything is in lockdown in my country.
*** It is ridiculous that they publish these things with 14-day deadlines when it is literally impossible to get them done within that deadline. Suggest you immediately email them back to advise that you are unable to make the appointment for health or biometrics (assuming that's the case) and request additional time.

3) i noticed the website says translators outside Aus do not need to be accredited but they must state their qualification. Does this mean anyone of any priofession can translate our docs? Do they need to have done any english proficency tests or is simply knowing english enough?
*** No, should be a professional licensed/qualified/etc translator qualified in your country to translate government documents. If you cannot find a NAATI certified translator in your country, I'd go for a similarly licensed professional translator that has a seal, and has some sort of official recognition or license for his/her work and is qualified to do official translations for government documents in your country. I also recommend putting the translator's contact info on the documents.

4) my wife lives in australia so we have no joint accounts or shared expenses etc. We are financially stable and never needed to send each other money. We only lived together for 3 months after our wedding in december. We lived with my parents. We do plan on sharing living expenses once living together. In the meantime what evidence can we provide for the financial aspect.

*** You might show evidence you both contributed to the bills/expenses when you lived together for the 3 months, evidence you paid for gifts or wedding expenses that benefitted both of you, etc

Hope this helps -

Best,

Mark Northam

Thank you so much for the info.
Regarding translating can we translate lettrs and texts we wrote each other ourselves but have legal documents eg. Birth certificates done with a proper translator from my home country

 

[grandiax]

Hello, Mark, I have some questions.It would be grateful if I could get some answers because it has been very stressful since I got the request more info e-mail.

This is my timelines:
March 2016, Met my Australian same sex partner.
July 2017 Visited him in Australia.
March 2018, Started living together.
Aug 2018, Married.
22 Aug 2018, Lodged application online,including police certificate for my partner and no criminal record certificate from my own country. 2 form 888 from family and friend etc.
22 Aug 2018, Completed health check later on same day.
Kept uploading evidences of relationship, photos, holiday tickets,beneficiary of each other's super etc from time to time.
22 Aug 2019, computer generated letter-application is being processed.
Kept uploading evidences of relationship, photos, holiday tickets,beneficiary of each other's super etc from time to time.
18 Feb 2020, Request for more information(Sponsor's police check only and evidence of relationship)
19 Mar 2020, Uploaded sponsor's police check and statements from family and friend and more photos.
31 Mar 2020, computer generated letter-application is being processed.

Application status: further assessment.
Sponsorship status: submitted.

My questions are:
1. My partner is Australin born, never married before, no criminal history, why is the sponsorship still submitted, not approved yet?
2. Before I moved in with my partner,I have many oversea travel history due to work, at least twice a month for the past 15 years, is that going to be a problem?
3.When I received the e-mail from the case officer on 18 Feb, it is from ,e-mail is from vistoria permanent partner processsing centre, not temperary partner processing centre, is that normal?
4. the e-mail said no assessment has been done yet, but the case officer did not ask for my AFP certificate, only aske for my partner's, is that normal too?
5. There is big age gap between me and my partner, is that a problem?
THank you very much for your precious time.
G

 

[Boz2112]

Hi Mark,

My wifes visa is being processed in Fiji, we got the request for the medical right before the Virus started to blow up, the medical is cleared according to the account, have you heard of anyone getting a 309/100 grant lately from Fiji?

Boz

 

[ssingh357]

Hi mark

Hope you are doing great

i am applying for my wife subclass 100 visa via immi account. I have submitted the file successfully. When i click on attach document category, it is only asking for photograph-other ( Recommended ) and other documents ( Additional documents ).

i have already called immigration helpline. But it just turn out to be time wastage

how should i submit other documents ( evidence of relation, nature of commitments , financial , social aspects and so on ) ????

when my friend submitted his wife subclass 100 visa in 2017. He said under attach documents, there was full list of documents. He just submitted each document under each category like joint bank account statement under evidence of financial aspects, rent lease under evidence of couple living together, marriage certificate under evidence of marriage and so on.

In my case , it is only showing two category - photograph and additional documents. Any suggestions what should i do ?

Thanks

 

[Karrarmohsin]

Hi
I hope you answer me regarding my visa condition where i have a visa type 489 on 3/11/2019 and it is expired on 3/11/2023 and for first entry it is 3/11/2020 and with the current situation of travel ban it might be impossible to travel to Australia to validate my visa so will the visa be canceled if I couldn't travel to Australia by 3/11/2020 or it still valid until expiry date and i am currently in my home country
Thanks

 

[babyshark]

First of all Mr. Mark, thank you so much for your contribution to this thread. Your answers are all very helpful and what did we do to deserve you?

My partner and I lodged subclass 309 visa in October 2019. We have our commonweath bank joint account together but we're not currently using it and it's only there costing us managing fee. We're looking to close the bank account as we've already submitted necessary documents. Would this be a problem later on?

Thank you so much

 

[Salmn669]

Hi Mark.
First of all I would like to say thank you to you for constantly replying over people quries.
My question is.
I have applied my 820 visa in December 2019 and currently holding student visa,i am wondering that am I eligible for any welfare amount? i am from Pakistan.

 

[vik-per]

Thank you for your answers Mark! So much appreciated. We have uploaded all documents and submitted . woohoooo! Now the waiting game begins .

 

[Brit_in_aus]

Hi again, Mark! I have stumbled on what could potentially be a problem for me.

Last year when I applied for my Student 500 visa I did it in a bit of a rush. I have been looking through this application to get information for my upcoming 820 application.

I answered the question "Have you ever been denied or refused a visa or entry to another country?" as 'no' when it is actually yes. I'll explain.

In 2017 I applied for a Canadian WHV (I am British) and it was rejected because I have one drink driving conviction from 2009. This is my one and only offence on my record. Canada doesn't allow anyone with one drunk drive into the country until ten years after their 'punishment/sentence' ends. So I was refused the visa and told I wouldn't be be eligible to enter Canada until August 2020. I have never tried to enter Canada.

I have never been refused a visa, been deported or overstayed anywhere.

I stupidly forgot all about the Canada application as I did, admittedly, rush and didn't read the application properly. Thankfully all the rest of my 500 visa is correct. Goes without saying on my 820 application I will answer this question as 'yes' and explain about Canada. I never want to deliberately be untruthful.

Australia knows all about my conviction. I have had a Student 500 in 2012 and currently, a WHV in 2014 and an eVisitor in 2019 and I declared it every single time on those applications. All were granted no problem.

I am just so afraid that my 820 will be rejected for me answering a question dishonestly on a previous visa, even accidentally. Really cross at myself right now.

Am I snookered, or can I do anything to fix this? Cheers, Mark!

 

[bhaby_chiq]

Hello Mark, Thank you for giving me an oppurtunity to ask you 🙂 My questions are:

1st: Can my Partner's (defacto) visa be granted even if I lived with my Partner before every 3 mos for my previous visa which is TV. I lived with him every 3 mos since 2016 (in and out OZ) until we applied for my Partners Visa. (0ct.6,2018). We were defacto since Dec 2016.

2nd: If I get a Refusal Letter from them and lose the tribunal, can we still apply for another PV?

Thank you so much Mark ! Godbless you

 

[Anastasia10]

Hi Mark,hope you doing good! I wanted to ask you,Me and my husband lodged the prospective marriage visa in december 2019,i went for the Biometrics in February 2020,and now due to covid19 i think they have stopped working on the visa.Our agent is telling me to make an appointment for medical checks,but from the imi office we haven’t heard something for medical check,do you think that i should make an appointment or should i wait for them to ask it? Also do you know if Australian citizens can travel overseas,as i live in Albania,and my husband in Australia? Thank you in advance ☺

 

[Treloar]

Hi Mark, thanks so much for offering to help answer questions! I have what are probably very basic questions but I'm finding it all overwhelming and I'm anxious not to interpret things incorrectly.

I am the sponsor and am an Australian who is living in the UK and have done so for the last 20 years. My husband and I have been together over 10 years and we have a house, mortgage, 2 young kids etc

1. My husband (the applicant) is the main earner. Does the fact I am currently at home with the kids count against us as I am technically his sponsor? We have financial assets which we would utilise to help relocate.

2. on the form do we put that I am migrating with him? Or is it just him that is technically migrating even though we would be moving there together? Our kids have already got citizenship by descent so would they be classed as migrating or not?.

3. Do the applicant and sponsor's written statements need to be witnessed and signed? I've seen that some couples just self-sign plain word documents (not legal Statutory Declarations) with no witness and have still been approved. Would this be acceptable especially given covid-19 is preventing us from getting near anyone to witness our documents?

4. As a result of covid-19 we didn't get a chance to sort all our documents after lodging our application so we are a little behind in uploading everything. Is it possible that our application will be rejected prematurely because not everything is up there yet? Its been about 6 weeks since we lodged the application.

Thank you so much if you can shed any light on the above!

 

[canaususa]

Hi Mark,

I have a 309 visa, and recently got the notice that I can apply for the 100. As my Australian husband's work circumstances have changed, we are currently living in the US (I am Canadian). I am wondering how long I can continue to hold the 309 visa if I don't submit my 100 application? My understanding is I will be given a certain (~1 year) period to enter Aus once the 100 is granted, and can travel freely for 5 years after I enter. I am worried that with all the Covid-19 things happening, I won't be able to return to Australia, and am nervous about the timing of things!

As well, will the fact that I am in the US affect the decision?

Brand new to this forum, so I hope I am writing this in the correct space! Also thank you for being so lovely and answering so many questions for people!

Thanks!!