poida

Hi,

I've just had a read through of the RRV requirements on the Wiki pages, and wondering if someone can help me understand this section here;

"5 year absence rule" is applied differently if you apply onshore or offshore.
If offshore, and you have continually held a permanent visa, you are ok provided no more than 5 years has passed since most recent departure from Australia. For this purpose, short visits to Australia are ok.
If offshore, and you last left Australia as a temporary resident, you must have spent a total of 5 years in Australia in the last 10 years.

So to explain our situation a bit, I am an Australian (born) citizen, and my wife is a British citizen. We were married in Australia in 2012 and applied for the spousal visa, and was given a bridging visa and then a temporary visa and we lived in Australia continuously until April 2014 when we moved to the UK. My wife's PR part of the spousal visa was granted after we left in May 2014 and she has not been back since we left.

We are considering moving back to Australia, but as I am wanting to apply for my British citizenship before we leave it means we probably would only be able to leave in the later part of 2019 at the earliest, which is after her 5 year travel visa expires. BTW I am on an ancestry visa which expires in April 2019 so earliest I can apply for ILR and UK citizenship is March 2019.

Would she have any issues getting a RRV and when would be the best time (and place) to apply for it? She has no assets in Australia, other than several grand in super. We have two children under 5 with dual citizenship, one born in Aus the other in UK.

Also what would be the easiest and quickest way for her to be eligible for Australian citizenship considering our situation?

Many thanks in advance.

poida

OK, so I've been thinking more about this, and decided that we will come back to Australia for a visit in April 2019 which coincides with when my Ancestry Visa expires. I will still apply for ILR in March but will at least have a return ticket booked just in case.
When we are in Australia we will apply for the 1 year RRV for my wife to give us a year to decide on if we want to return.

Do you think we would have any issues getting the RRV?

BritInParis

Your wife won't meet the 2 in 5 requirement so she won't get a full five year RRV but if you follow your current plan, based on the fact that she has been living abroad with her Australian spouse then she should be granted a 12 month RRV.

You'll need to be in the UK to apply for your ILR so you give yourself plenty of leeway for the RRV to be granted ahead of the expiry date of your ancestry visa. It may be safer to apply for the RRV after you return to the UK.

poida

Thanks BiP, now that you mention it, I was planning on applying for ILR at the 28 days before my visa expires and then visit Australia. I'm considering paying for the premium same day if I can afford it so I have something to show my employer, and then apply for citizenship ASAP through the NCS.

So if I don't get a same day answer on the ILR can I still travel overseas while it's processing?

Sorry for posting a UK question on this thread.

BritInParis

Same day service and then applying for citizenship through the NCS before you travel to Australia is a very good idea. I wouldn't leave the country with an ILR application pending however since ILR can only be issued to someone in the UK.