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Format for 820 Submission/Bridging Letter

3K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  Ramah 
#1 ·
Hi guys, just a few questions as we are just about to submit our 820 visa as soon as my police checks from the states come in...

1. What is the best format to submit in? I.e. binder, page protectors, file folder? I know to do a cover letter and check list I am just not sure how to put it all together. Also we have a scrapbook of our 20 months we have been together (each page is reps one month) should I turn that in or just take photos of it?

2. Do we need and appointment to turn in it face to face? I have called immigration and they did not provide a clear answer.

3. I am currently on a 500 Student visa, it doesn't expire for 11 more months and like I said we are submitting 820 asap.. I am assuming I will need the Bridging visa as I have seen that 820 takes 12-15 mos... does anyone know what bridging visa they will give me? I have looked at letters A-E and only B allows you to leave Australia, we are planning to leave for a short time so hoping someone has some info on this.

Thanks for any and all responses!
 
#2 ·
The best form to submit it in is none of what you listed - it's online! :) Much easier. Just scan it all in, no having to get things certified. And you can add to your evidence later in the process. You cannot submit partner visa applications in person anymore. That hasn't been possible for several years now. When you apply online, you'll receive an acknowledgment email as well as (typically) another immediate email granting you a Bridging Visa A. Bridging Visa A grants you full work rights. However, those work rights do NOT kick in until after your Student Visa expires, so do note that. You're bound by the terms of your student visa regarding the hours you need to keep studying and the hours you're allowed to work until that via expires. Once it does expire, your Bridging Visa A kicks in. At that point, in order to leave the country for a holiday, etc. you'll need to apply for a Bridging Visa B. This is inexpensive and they grant them in nearly all circumstances these days.
 
#8 ·
You cannot submit partner visa applications in person anymore. That hasn't been possible for several years now. .
I submitted my Partner Visa over one month ago in person
 
#3 ·
Hi guys, just a few questions as we are just about to submit our 820 visa as soon as my police checks from the states come in...

1. What is the best format to submit in? I.e. binder, page protectors, file folder? I know to do a cover letter and check list I am just not sure how to put it all together. Also we have a scrapbook of our 20 months we have been together (each page is reps one month) should I turn that in or just take photos of it?

Have you considered applying online as it'll be much easier to track in my opinion

2. Do we need and appointment to turn in it face to face? I have called immigration and they did not provide a clear answer.

I can't help with this one, unfortunately as we submitted ours online

3. I am currently on a 500 Student visa, it doesn't expire for 11 more months and like I said we are submitting 820 asap.. I am assuming I will need the Bridging visa as I have seen that 820 takes 12-15 mos... does anyone know what bridging visa they will give me? I have looked at letters A-E and only B allows you to leave Australia, we are planning to leave for a short time so hoping someone has some info on this.

The default visa is A. When you need to travel you would have to apply and pay a small fee to get B and state why you're travelling, how long you need etc. The letters after that are only if you had over stayed etc and you can only go forward in the alphabet ie if you have A then you can apply for B but if you have C you can't apply for B

Thanks for any and all responses!
Hope this helps!
 
#5 ·
PS - You'll be able to get Medicare as soon as you apply for your 820 and get that acknowledgment email as well, so be sure to head to a Medicare office soon after. If you happen to get a clerk who tries to argue you aren't eligible, ask for a supervisor. If they still don't know the deal (some Medicare offices are less knowledgeable about Immigration policy than others) you can go to another office. Typically, though, they know and it's not a problem.

Also, FYI, when you're applying online - there's an applicant's application, and a sponsor's application. You'll need to complete both. Each allows you a maximum of 60 uploaded documents, so 120 total. So keep that in mind. We grouped all our bank statements together, all our evidence of shared address together, etc. to minimize the number of upload slots we used, and compressed those files so they were under 5MB. Doing it this way, we didn't come anywhere near the limit.
 
#7 ·
PS - You'll be able to get Medicare as soon as you apply for your 820 and get that acknowledgment email as well, so be sure to head to a Medicare office soon after. If you happen to get a clerk who tries to argue you aren't eligible, ask for a supervisor. If they still don't know the deal (some Medicare offices are less knowledgeable about Immigration policy than others) you can go to another office. Typically, though, they know and it's not a problem.

Also, FYI, when you're applying online - there's an applicant's application, and a sponsor's application. You'll need to complete both. Each allows you a maximum of 60 uploaded documents, so 120 total. So keep that in mind. We grouped all our bank statements together, all our evidence of shared address together, etc. to minimize the number of upload slots we used, and compressed those files so they were under 5MB. Doing it this way, we didn't come anywhere near the limit.
Sorry to intrude on your post mleebee5, I've just got a quick question for CollegeGirl!

I'm still uploading my evidence as I only applied a few days ago! How did you manage to compress your files? I'm merging them into PDFs at the moment. Thanks in advance!
 
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