[abbafan23]

Hello,

My partner and I will be moving in 6 months from US to Aus and applying for the 820/801 when we arrive (we've been together 4 years) but are trying to sort out the fastest path to work rights/medicare/government assistance for her.

EDIT: Thanks to some very helpful people I've updated this post to our current plan! Please let me know if you've had any similar experiences or have any thoughts!

Our plan:
1) apply for an ETA as my defacto (has anyone applied for an ETA + travel exemption lately? Are the grant times still super quick (ie, a few days)?)
2) Apply for an 820/801 when we land
3) Granted BVA when we apply (work rights and Medicare! Can you apply for centerlink on this?)
4) Receive (hopefully!!!) 820/801 at same time as we've been together for 3+ years!

To those of you who did the ETA > BVA > 820 path, did you start applying for jobs before the ETA was up? Are employers wary of BV-holding employees? What was your experience?

Has anyone applied for the 309/100 visa lately? What have processing times been like? We don't leave for Aus til July so that option may still be on the table if a <6 month processing time is still viable!

Cheers

 

[ZubiSim]

Why do you think you'll get a bvc if applying from ETA?
You can't get work rights on a tourist visa, but your BVA should kick in when your tourist visa ends after 3 months (don't need to leave the country).

 

[JandE]

Is it possible to get work rights on a tourist visa?

No.

 

[JandE]

1. How hard is it to prove financial hardship and get work rights on a BVC, how long does it take, does it affect the 820 processing time or likelihood of not being approved.

You probably need to prove that you can't afford to sponsor your partner.

 

[JandE]

2. If you get a 3 month travel visa, would the bva kick in after 3 months even if you haven't gone to the 12 month expiration, or would that just mean you need to leave the country, and the bva would kick in at MINIMUM 12 months no matter what?

If the 12 month visa has maximum 3 month stays, any pre approved BVA will kick in once that 3 month ends, assuming the applicant is still on Australia.

If the 12 month visa has a 12 month stay period, the BVA kicks in after 12 months, if still in Australia.

 

[abbafan23]

If the 12 month visa has maximum 3 month stays, any pre approved BVA will kick in once that 3 month ends, assuming the applicant is still on Australia.

If the 12 month visa has a 12 month stay period, the BVA kicks in after 12 months, if still in Australia.

Thanks so much for your help!!

 

[kam4646]

Hello,

My partner and I will be moving in 6 months from US to Aus and applying for the 820/801 when we arrive (we've been together 4 years) but are trying to sort out the fastest path to work rights for her before the 820/801 are granted. I will be attending vet school and working part time at first.

Ideas we've had:

1)
-enter on ETA as my defacto
-apply for 820/801 when we land
-granted BVC...no work rights presumably?
-apply for financial hardship to gain work rights (will this affect the 820 as I believe I do agree to help financially support her with the application)

2)
-enter on a tourist visa
-apply for 820/801
-switch to bva after tourist visa ends until 820/801 granted

3)
-enter on student visa for a 6 month tafe course
-apply for 820/801
-work part-time while at the tafe course (she has no huge desire or need for tafe, just the partial work rights it grants)
-switch over to work rights BVA after 6 months until 820/801 is granted

Things that would determine which path we take:
1. How hard is it to prove financial hardship and get work rights on a BVC, how long does it take, does it affect the 820 processing time or likelihood of not being approved.

2. If you get a 3 month travel visa, would the bva kick in after 3 months even if you haven't gone to the 12 month expiration, or would that just mean you need to leave the country, and the bva would kick in at MINIMUM 12 months no matter what? Is it possible to get work rights on a tourist visa? What do you have to prove to get them?

3. Do you need to maintain a grade average on the student visa? This one seems like the path of least resistance but the most expensive with international TAFE fees.

Cheers

I did this exact same thing, US citizen moving to AU with my aussie citizen partner. I just applied for an ETA to enter Australia, and then applied for the 820/801 once in the country. The ETA has a 12 month expiry, with a 3 month stay each time. Just enter AU on the ETA, apply for the 820/801 when you have arrived, and the bridging visa will automatically come into effect after the 3 months current stay is finished (don't need to wait for the full 12 month ETA expiry). It should be a BVA with full working rights (and access to Medicare too!) - I received my bridging visa grant notification automatically at the same time I received the confirmation of application for my 820/801, and it just listed the date it would become valid. Good luck!

 

[Roel]

Not a direct answer to the question you asked, but have you considered applying for an offshore partner visa (309/100)? You can then move when it is granted and she will have full working rights. No one can give you any certainty about timing, but in a lot of cases the offshore version is granted a lot faster than the onshore version.

 

[abbafan23]

I did this exact same thing, US citizen moving to AU with my aussie citizen partner. I just applied for an ETA to enter Australia, and then applied for the 820/801 once in the country. The ETA has a 12 month expiry, with a 3 month stay each time. Just enter AU on the ETA, apply for the 820/801 when you have arrived, and the bridging visa will automatically come into effect after the 3 months current stay is finished (don't need to wait for the full 12 month ETA expiry). It should be a BVA with full working rights (and access to Medicare too!) - I received my bridging visa grant notification automatically at the same time I received the confirmation of application for my 820/801, and it just listed the date it would become valid. Good luck!

Thank you so much for this amazing info!! Have you received your 820 or 801 yet? Also, how did job applications go for you? Did you start applying before the 3 months was up or did you have to wait? My partner is really nervous about working prospects for our move and is trying to get a gauge on whether she can start applying in the 3 month ETA (with the footnote of 'I can start after X date') or if you have to wait to truly be off the ETA to start applying?

 

[abbafan23]

Not a direct answer to the question you asked, but have you considered applying for an offshore partner visa (309/100)? You can then move when it is granted and she will have full working rights. No one can give you any certainty about timing, but in a lot of cases the offshore version is granted a lot faster than the onshore version.

The issue is I am on a very tight timeframe, I'm starting vet school online in February and Semester 2 in Australia in July, and my fear is that the 309/100 will take more than just 6 months (which based off of the aus gov estimates, it probably will) which leaves my partner alone in the US for an undetermined length of time. We can't really afford to individually be paying for an entire apartment so unless granting times for the 309/100 are WAY faster than I thought they were, this option doesn't seem super viable (although let me know if you have experience with this or I am off base, I am open to any good advice!)

 

[JandE]

my fear is that the 309/100 will take more than just 6 months (which based off of the aus gov estimates, it probably will)

Actual processing times for subclass 309 visas finalised in November 2021.

Global median average of 10 months.

25% finalised in under 5 months.
25% finalised between 5 and 10 months.

The time often depends on quality and completeness of application, length of time together and country of application.

Some take longer because they don't submit everything, and wait for RFI's before finalising it.

Some forget to submit the sponsor application causing further delays.

Some make errors in the application, causing more delays while things get more thoroughly checked.

 

[kam4646]

Thank you so much for this amazing info!! Have you received your 820 or 801 yet? Also, how did job applications go for you? Did you start applying before the 3 months was up or did you have to wait? My partner is really nervous about working prospects for our move and is trying to get a gauge on whether she can start applying in the 3 month ETA (with the footnote of 'I can start after X date') or if you have to wait to truly be off the ETA to start applying?

I received both 820/801 at the same time in May 2021 - my application processing took 28 months in total which is why they approved both together thankfully. I started applying for jobs as soon as my ETA was done and my bridging visa kicked in (I was worried most employers wouldn't want to wait for my work rights to start or would be put off by it). I also didn't want to do anything that might jeopordize my 820/801, so I just waited to start applying.

I did however get my CV in order beforehand and was looking at opportunities to get an idea of what was available. I was employed within a week of starting to apply (this was 3 years ago now) - and with the job market the way it is here at the moment, she shouldn't have any trouble at all finding employement, even if it's just something temporary until she can find exactly what she wants.

 

[kam4646]

The issue is I am on a very tight timeframe, I'm starting vet school online in February and Semester 2 in Australia in July, and my fear is that the 309/100 will take more than just 6 months (which based off of the aus gov estimates, it probably will) which leaves my partner alone in the US for an undetermined length of time. We can't really afford to individually be paying for an entire apartment so unless granting times for the 309/100 are WAY faster than I thought they were, this option doesn't seem super viable (although let me know if you have experience with this or I am off base, I am open to any good advice!)

I honestly think your best option would be the 820/801 onshore application if you need to both get over here by July. In my experience, the whole reason we did the 820/801 instead of the 309/100 is because of how long the processing times were (this was 3 years ago, so it may have improved since then). We didn't want to have to wait years until we could even get to Australia. The 820/801 was a better option for us since I could start working in AU after the initial 3 months ETA requirement - which meant that we did need to save up and plan to be on one income for those 3 months, which was fine, but keep that in mind too.

I think the only thing I would be worried about and you would need to look into further, are they even granting ETA's at the moment with covid restrictions? That would be your biggest barrier I think, you might need to find out what tourist options are actually currently available. Good luck!

 

[Roel]

I honestly think your best option would be the 820/801 onshore application if you need to both get over here by July. In my experience, the whole reason we did the 820/801 instead of the 309/100 is because of how long the processing times were (this was 3 years ago, so it may have improved since then). We didn't want to have to wait years until we could even get to Australia.

I can't estimate how the timelines are now, but my 309 was granted after 4.5 months, while people from the same country that went for the 820 had to wait over two years. But it sounds like the OP is on a very tight deadline so this may not be a good option.