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It's the first post of this thread.
PMV and 309 Timeline for Washington, D.C.
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Did you actually say to them "he's coming to Aus to wait while the PMV processes" or something along those lines? The magic words are "He's coming to Aus to holiday with me for the next few months."We have done that AusUsa, but then last week I got super nervous with him arriving on a one way ticket and imagined them not letting him in and me having to purchase an international ticket just to get to the other side of customs to see him lol. I figured we wouldn't be approved anytime soon and he will have to leave the country in 3 months so I booked him a weekend to NZ, this was still much cheaper than an unnecessary return ticket to USA and I bought the return NZ flight for under $350. It's a shame my children and I couldn't go with him but we will just be returning from a family holiday to WA earlier that week
I had also emailed immigration notifying them of his coming back to Aus and received a generic email stating that a tourist visa is not meant for waiting out a PMV visa, hence the nervousness.
It's so frustrating to be in limbo with our lives, it's like we are all poised to start a race and the damn starting buzzer won't work.
And thanks CG for updating
Seriously, it's like walking a tightrope. You can do the exact same thing, but if you call it something different, suddenly it's not okay. If they want people to not use tourist visas to wait out processing, then processing needs to be less than a freaking year. I understand they have quotas they have to abide by, but when processing time is beyond ridiculous, they should be rewriting the rest of their policies to easily accommodate couples that want to visit each other. It's seriously heartless, the way things are now.
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Thanks CG.Okay, had to go all the way back to Page 67 (yeesh
I'm hoping the holiday season doesn't slow the grants too much. HP and Mellie, hope you hear something soon! Heats, any luck on the police checks?
Not yet. 4 weeks and 1 day so far waiting on the FBI for my wife's check (the sponsor) My docs are all done. CO said that she will be ready to make a decision as soon as the FBI gets me that paper.-- looks like early Feb at this point. I have fears of Obama and congress getting into it over some of these executive orders and the gov being shut down for a few weeks causing further delay. I cant do anything about it... the FBI wont take extra $$ to speed up our request so we just wait.
Hi CG,
throw me/my Fiance into the mix too when you have time.
PMV - online - applied 29th November, 2014
thanks
Hmmmm I'm thinking, I may have said visit during processing with the understanding that he can stay no longer than three months at a time. Maybe I'll send an email replying that reiterates that he is travelling during this time.
It is rather ridiculous, but in a couple of years it will all be a story of interest to tell (I hope lol).
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WendyB and Hyperion, I added you!
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In my experience we may see a couple more grants than usual in early-mid December as COs try to get work off their desks before they leave for holidays. Once we get to the Christmas holidays, though, yeah, it does slow things a bit for a little while.
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Mine's only a week or so over the 7 month mark now, and I figured the Thanksgiving week was a bust for them anyway, so if they're kind of still holding to that 7ish month grant, I'll probably hear something by 12th(?). (Please let me hear something by the 12th...)Okay, had to go all the way back to Page 67 (yeesh
Also, it's really interesting that ALL of the recent grants are at 6-7 months despite their newly quoted 12-15 month timeline (lucky you guys!). I'm guessing that must mostly apply to new applicants (but that's just a guess on my part). Also I feel awful for H. Protagonist and Mellie, who have been waiting longer than anyone. I've been there - hang in there, guys.
...Or I'll continue to grow increasingly nervous that my trip here has had a negative impact on my VISA and I'll spend my holidays in fetal position with a bottle of Merlot.
I wish I at least had a CO so I could have an idea of the temperature of the water, so to speak, but all of my police/health checks are in, so maybe it just means I'll get that magical email saying, "You've won a jaunt to New Zealand! Leave, and when you pass Go you'll collect a VISA!" That's what I tell myself is going to happen, anyway.
Will keep you guys posted on this thrilling nail-biter of a story.
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H.Protaganist atleast you can make a positive out of a negative! I honestly hope you get approved real soon and I think you will! Would make for a perfect Christmas Present aswell! I honestly would not stress though about you staying in Australia on a tourist visa affecting your partner visa. If anything you think they would speed up the process since they can see you and your partner want to be together. And I would say you already have a Case Officer considering I applied in July and have been told that I have a case officer but have heard nothing from them. I would say you will be getting approved by January hopefully earlier and at the end of the day your only getting closer to the approval so that makes it a little easier when you think about it that way.
My partner and I are going to be doing the same thing, and go on a holiday to NZ or Bali once his visa is approved. We are really hoping it is approved before February but who knows now. I just want to start my life with him, for the last four years we have been back and forth and now we are finally ready to settle down in Australia atleast until we are ready to go back to USA in years to come.
My partner did ring immigration while I was in the States recently and tried to get more information out of them about our visa. They won't budge just keep repeating the 12-15 month wait which really annoys me cause I hope to god it isn't that long. My partner plans on flying out to Australia March 1st and leaving his job which will mean he will not have an income here which sucks because we want to be saving money not losing it.
I really am hoping for some positive news in the next few weeks for some of the applicants that applied in April-June. I hope you all get approved soon
If anyone hears of anything from their Case Officer or gets approved please keep us updated on here as it gives the rest of us hope!
Felicity.
My partner and I are going to be doing the same thing, and go on a holiday to NZ or Bali once his visa is approved. We are really hoping it is approved before February but who knows now. I just want to start my life with him, for the last four years we have been back and forth and now we are finally ready to settle down in Australia atleast until we are ready to go back to USA in years to come.
My partner did ring immigration while I was in the States recently and tried to get more information out of them about our visa. They won't budge just keep repeating the 12-15 month wait which really annoys me cause I hope to god it isn't that long. My partner plans on flying out to Australia March 1st and leaving his job which will mean he will not have an income here which sucks because we want to be saving money not losing it.
I really am hoping for some positive news in the next few weeks for some of the applicants that applied in April-June. I hope you all get approved soon
If anyone hears of anything from their Case Officer or gets approved please keep us updated on here as it gives the rest of us hope!
Felicity.
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Ekkk! Now I'm really nervous cause my hubby and I don't have any of that together stuff seeing we are a new couple. (We spelt that out in our application, not sure if that will help or hinder our case). We are a bit lucky though that we aren't in a hurry for the big tick of approval as he has his daughter living with him till July 2015 and I am taking long service leave for 3 mths (Easter- early July) to take the opportunity to live in the US as a family with my son before we settle here. I was exchange student where my husband lives (D.C.), so I can't wait to be back in my US 'home' for a few mths and not just a few weeks.
DCHubbyAUWife - had you guys been living together for a year when you applied? Or did you register your relationship? At least one of those has to be true for the 309, but evidence of a shared life is still required. You may want to comb some of the threads on here for what kind of evidence you could supply - I'm still a newbie in the immigration process, but I know they'll be looking for evidence in the four categories. My partner and I went for a PMV because we hadn't had the time to really build a substantive body of evidence, since we'd only lived together while I was there in Australia on a visitor visa, even though we did register our relationship and do have a shared bank account.
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Not to make you MORE nervous, but being a new couple isn't a reason for them to waive that. Showing shared finances and households is a requirement for both married and de facto couples. The only difference is that de facto couples (at least, those who haven't registered their relationship) have to have that type of evidence for 12 months or more, whereas married couples don't need it for quite that long. For this reason, many registered migration agents recommend that married couples wait and live together and collect at least a few months of evidence of this nature before applying. If I were you, I'd start collecting it right away and uploading it as you get it. Technically you were supposed to have had this type of evidence when you applied, and creating more evidence from the period after application won't count nearly as strongly, but it's better than nothing.
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She said "hubby," so having gotten married waives that 12-month requirement, but they still need that type of evidence.
This is exactly what the PMV is for - couples who want to marry but haven't had a chance to live together and collect this kind of evidence yet. That's why my husband and I went for the PMV ourselves.
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Nope, we met in Jan and married in July..our relationship was completely via phone and internet between meeting and meeting again a week before marrying. We saw no indication in any material we read in the booklet or on the Immi website about being together for a year first. We just knew it was going to take 12 months or so to be processed so we just applied as soon as my hubby returned to the US after we got married. We both have kids and careers and obligations (mortgage, loans, child support etc.) so neither of us were able to drop everything to move straight away without an income. I looked into going to the US on a temp partner visa for the duration of the wait (so we could lice together and I could work to continue to pay my mortgage) but basically we were told if I did I would lose my application fee and maybe put Randy's Australian 309 application in jeopardy. Unfortunately the US immigration don't see that not all ppl applying for temp partner visa want to stay in the US permanently (it automatically changes). Seing we are both over 30 no hope of getting a working holiday visa.
My bad- the year requirement is for defacto applicants, not married couples. I blew right past your use of 'hubby.' I think CollegeGirl is right though - it would be good to gather as much evidence about the genuine nature of your relationship and upload it as you can.
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And honestly, relationships where the people haven't known each other very long - while Immi understands legitimate ones happen, it is the type of relationship they deem a higher risk and they'll scrutinize your situation even more closely. So anything you can do at this point to add more financial/shared address/household evidence would be a good idea. I hope it's enough. It's not a matter of WHEN you get your visa - they're not going to just hold off on granting it until you accumulate more evidence. It's a requirement for you to provide adequate evidence in all four categories at the time you apply - nature of household, financial aspects, social context, and nature of commitment. What they would do if you didn't have enough of what they require is (typically) ask you if you have any more, and if you don't, they'd reject it, which would be awful. That's why I'm really yammering on about this... I don't want to see that happen to you.
That's why I'm really yammering on about this... I don't want to see that happen to you.
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Not to make you MORE nervous, but being a new couple isn't a reason for them to waive that. Showing shared finances and households is a requirement for both married and de facto couples. The only difference is that de facto couples (at least, those who haven't registered their relationship) have to have that type of evidence for 12 months or more, whereas married couples don't need it for quite that long. For this reason, many registered migration agents recommend that married couples wait and live together and collect at least a few months of evidence of this nature before applying. If I were you, I'd start collecting it right away and uploading it as you get it. Technically you were supposed to have had this type of evidence when you applied, and creating more evidence from the period after application won't count nearly as strongly, but it's better than nothing.[/QUOTE]
I wouldn't expect them to waive it, but we spelt our circumstances out very clearly and gave as much evidence of our relationship as we could in all areas, including plans for the future. We hit the 60 doc limit and have had to email more (don't know CO but Randy has been in contact with the DC office a fair bit over other issues such as his non immigrating children), of course we are 'collecting' evidence as we are in a relationship that will grow and we'll need this for the next stage or if asked for more by CO, but besides opening a joint savings account in Dec when he's visiting, we don't intend on creating more for the sake of it. To be honest, we have found the entire process and lack of info and transparency by the Immigration dept. completely frustrating. We read the partner visa booklet and all info very carefully and spoke to the info line numerous times with questions but I'm blown away by some of the extra insights that are posted here. If you don't use an agent or didn't know of sites such as this before applying, it's not really an equal playing field is it? One of my best friends went through same process 13 years ago (almost exactly the same as our case only they met online - she's from Maine, her husband from my town), and they said it was a completely different experience back then...cheaper, less complicated and quicker. Sign of the times unfortunately. I guess it's a good thing we don't need that stamp/paper till July 2015...
I wouldn't expect them to waive it, but we spelt our circumstances out very clearly and gave as much evidence of our relationship as we could in all areas, including plans for the future. We hit the 60 doc limit and have had to email more (don't know CO but Randy has been in contact with the DC office a fair bit over other issues such as his non immigrating children), of course we are 'collecting' evidence as we are in a relationship that will grow and we'll need this for the next stage or if asked for more by CO, but besides opening a joint savings account in Dec when he's visiting, we don't intend on creating more for the sake of it. To be honest, we have found the entire process and lack of info and transparency by the Immigration dept. completely frustrating. We read the partner visa booklet and all info very carefully and spoke to the info line numerous times with questions but I'm blown away by some of the extra insights that are posted here. If you don't use an agent or didn't know of sites such as this before applying, it's not really an equal playing field is it? One of my best friends went through same process 13 years ago (almost exactly the same as our case only they met online - she's from Maine, her husband from my town), and they said it was a completely different experience back then...cheaper, less complicated and quicker. Sign of the times unfortunately. I guess it's a good thing we don't need that stamp/paper till July 2015...
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