willow green

Me and my partner are getting married this year, can be in the UK or Australia. Does anybody know the pros and cons of getting married before the move on visa application? we both are qualified as far as the points are concerned. We can apply individually or as a couple.

chrispy

Hi,
It shouldn't make a difference on the visa as long as you can prove you are a couple (joint bills etc). We did get married before coming here but mainly because we wanted our family and friends to be at the wedding whihc to me is more of a consideration if you are planning on getting married anyway, i don't think marriage really ticks any boxes, my colleague has been married 30 years and has two kids and is Australian born and they had to show photsos of them together for proof of a relationship for his spousal visa...

Pinkie

Hi there

We were defacto when we applied and had to do all the evidence bits of statements from friends, joint bills, photos at functions together etc. If you have that evidence it doesn't matter whether you're married. We got married in July after the visa was granted though (same reasons as Chrispy, wanted family there and wanted to start this adventure as we mean to carry on) so visa was in my maiden name. This has caused some problems down the line, won't bore you with the details but make sure you (or your partner, sorry not sure if you're Mr or Mrs-to-be Willow Green!) have visas, passports, bank documents etc all in the same name when you come out and keep them that way until you've settled and can do everything in one go. Saves a lot of confusion!
Enjoy the wedding wherever you end up doing it

willow green

Thanks very much for your reply Pinkie. So how much did you spend on your (you and your partner) visa application if you don't mind me asking?

Adelaide is one of the places we are looking to settle there, mainly because I heard that the house prices are quite reasonable compared to other states. Is it a busy city? We want to stay in a suburb that is commutable to the city (for work), but worry that there might be snakes. Have you seen any snake over there so far?

Pinkie

No worries. I'll have to have a look at what it cost - I keep meaning to get all that info together for my own interest anyway, at the time we just paid it as it was all a bit of a blur. I'll post that later.

As for Adelaide, you could definitely do worse. We thought we'd end up in Brisbane but just fell in love with Adelaide on our honeymoon trip round the major cities here. Prices are reasonable compared to Brisbane etc but they're rising drastically at the minute. I doubt Adelaide will be the cheap option for long but it truly is a beautiful place and the people are incredibly friendly, and so laid back!

There are hundreds of suburbs within what we'd consider a reasonable commute in the UK and of course the further out you go, the cheaper things get. It depends how far you're prepared to travel.

I've not seen any snakes since I've been here but we're living in the city at the minute as we've only just found a house. We did a bush walk at the weekend and you're always aware they could be there but we were with Aussies and they have a very sensible attitude to all that kind of stuff which you will find rubs off on you. They know how to avoid meeting snakes and what to do if they do (very big generalisation I'm sure but they all seem to anyway) so you stop worrying about it so much. I guess it's like knowing that driving your car is dangerous but you don't spend every minute you're driving worrying about it, you just get on with it. So far the good way outweighs the bad and my intense fear of spiders (which I didn't know I had til I got here and met one!) is something I'm prepared to work on for the great things I'm getting to do.

ccraig

If you have someone assist you with your visa application make sure that they tell you what the fees are at the beginning so that you are not watching fees add up throughout the process.

Pinkie

Good point ccraig, I think my post proves that's very easy to do anyway!

We didn't use an agent (although I do think they're extremely valuable for some people our case was fairly straightforward as OH is on skills in demand list and our circumstances are pretty simple) so cost was just for the actual application:-

$350 for OH's ACS skills assessment
$1,990 for visa application for both of us

Rest is in £ as done in the UK and covers both of us (Lancashire area)
Medicals
£290 for medical exam, blood tests etc
£120 for x-rays
£20 for police checks (although we had to get these done twice because of the expiry dates)

Some people have to pay for certification of documents but I got ours done at the local court and they were free, plus of course the medicals etc change depending on your circumstances and where you are.

Hope this helps

willow green

Hi Pinkie,

Thanks for that. "$1,990 for visa application for both of us" - I checked the OZ website it now says

1st instalment
$2060
2nd instalment
$2860

I am a bit confused. If we go as a couple, do we only pay the 1st instalment? By looking at your figure, it looks that way. But it says the 2nd instalment is for the dependents, if one of us is the applicant, does that mean the other is the dependent or not? Sorry if it's a daft question, I am just really confused...

Also skill's assessment, how do they do it? do they give you exams or check your certifications or proof of your experience or what???

Pinkie

Don't worry, I found it quite complicated too and I don't think we're alone - they've redone the site to make a lot more of it clearer but that bit is still unclear. When we applied I was told that if I qualified as a defacto (which I would imagine you do after what you've said) we both went on the same form with OH as primary applicant and I wasn't classed as dependent I was secondary applicant and as such had to provide quite a bit of info myself. When I was stuck I contacted:

[email protected]

London Contact Centre
Migration Branch
Australian High Commission
Strand London WC2B 4LA

DIMA website: www.immi.gov.au
London website: www.australia.org.uk

and they were very good at coming back and clearing things up. I would say based on our experience that you would both go on the same application as partners and as you have no dependents you would only pay the first installment but obviously it wouldn't hurt to check with them.

The skills assessment will vary depending on what you are applying for and may not even be relevant for you guys. Ours was with the Australian Computer Society and OH had to provide copies of all his uni transcripts, certificates plus (and this was the hard bit) references from all his employers in quite a specific format - they had to refer to quite specific things.

It's a lot of paperwork but I'm sat typing this with the sun beating in through the window so I would say it's definitely worth it!!

willow green

That's very helpful , thank you very much Pinki. My hubby-to-be is also an IT guy. By looking at what you said, I think we are going to have problems. Because he did not go to uni for it, he had industrial training which got him in the profession, supported by the employer then. He has been working in the IT for 15 years since (working for himself with a few staff). He needs to go and get a certificate for what he does by the look of it just to prove it can do it??

Pinkie

Their website seems to indicate that you can go down one of two routes - one being the more traditional education based one we did but there is also a "Recognition of Prior Learning' one which your OH would come under I imagine.

See http://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?acti...killguidelines

They were very good when we went through that process so again, you'd be best to get your OH to have a chat with them. You're definitely not out of the running so don't sound so disheartened!! As I said before, there is a lot of paperwork at the beginning, whichever way you go about this. Just take it a step at a time.

willow green

You are so kind and helpful Pinkie! I will let you know how we get on

BrisbaneBound2008

Hiya, My husband and I got married in Australia before we applied for visa - so moving there means even more as its where we got married! Only had 9 guests but it was fantastic and we had exactly the wedding we wanted without any hassel and didn't have to spend £20k on it like I hear the average in the UK is now for the day! We honeymooned in NZ. Highly recommend getting married in Oz if you can wait and it suits your wishes!

Good luck with the visas etc - we used The Emigration Group - they were fantastic.

sara1981

Wow that sounds great! I'm recently engaged and we're gonna get married in Oz. Bit different for me as I grew up in Australia and have people I know there and my dad and his wife are there too but majority of my friends and family are over here. Even so, I did look into getting married over here but even to have something basic was gonna cost so I just thought why bother spending money I don't want to spend on a wedding in a country I don't want to have it in in the first place!

I have a large extended family, quite a few of whom I don't want to invite, so by getting married in Australia means I don't feel I have to invite any of them so that's an added bonus! My perfect day is a nice informal outdoors ceremony with a good knees up afterwards, no posh venues for me and will be max 30 guests, all people I actually want to be there!

I have warned my closest friends already though and they've promised to start saving to come out for it!

Pinkie

No worries, we have had a lot of support and advice from people on here, more than we would have ever hoped for really, and it's nice to be able to offer some help to someone in a similar position. I know how big a deal all this is so if there's anything else, just ask, there's always someone on here who has had the same questions, problems or situations and can offer some advice based on their experience. Might not all be good advice but it's at least it's heart is in the right place

Good luck