deb-n-rob2006

HI ALL ,

i have a few questions as i am in panic mode now, :scared:

We are front loading as my husband is an Oz citizen (been married 3 years) , so we have already had the meds done and the police checks.( for me and my 2 kids) . but to get everything in order, can anyone give me any other advice on what else to get ready before we go full steam ahead and put the application in and let them take our money. what paper work do we have to get validated??? and send with the application,and how much will that cost (approx) .who do we go to??? Do you think that we will have to have an interview?, and how long down the line will that happen?. I have looked on all the websites , but i would like some info from you guys and your experiences.

1/ what paperwork do we send off with application?
2/ what do we get validated?, and who do we go to to get that done,
and how much (approx)
3, what problems have you lovely people come across , during the application process. is there anything they have asked for that thru you and you didnt expect.
4/ will we need letters from family ,friends from here and over there.

i know i have repeated every in bullet point style but just thought i would make things clear



debs

thebears

hi Debs
We did a visa for my wife (to give her an option to work) with me being a Kiwi.
We used an agent but basically we had to supply:
Marriage license
Birth Certificates
My long birth certificate (NZ have a short and long version apparently)
Letters of support from friends and family - think these also needed to be signed in front of a solicitor - cost about £20
They need to have proof off your relationship is real and not made up. This requires both formal documents ie the marriage and birth certificates and the informal photos and letters of support. The additional item we had to prepare was a little story about how and where we met and a bit about our life together - do it with a glass of wine Something to put away for your kids when their older.

Kiwi

The process was actually more straight forward than I anticipated - the visa was submitted mid Dec 05, We got her passport back before Xmas 05 with the Visa Stamped inside.

deb-n-rob2006

thank you for your reply,
did you have to send everything off at the same time, or wait for them to request the letters and other details, didnt you have an interview????

sorry about the continous questions

nursemand

cannot be of much help re: spouse as going for PR visa

one top tip is got all my documents verified via local magistrates...just rang them up...gave me time and signed them
best thing was they did not charge

wishin you all the best

thebears

The agent complied everything and they do a cross check by another person in their office and then send everything together. They did say it is best to have everything sent in together.

No interviews were required. They said if anything came up in the Medicals it would be referred to Sydney - but no problems there.

Dont worry about the continous questions - it wasnt so long ago we were on the other side of getting the Visa and suffering similar apprehensions.

Kiwi

deb-n-rob2006

thanks kiwi,

you have been a great help , will on to it a.s.ap ,

probably need a bottle tho not a glass

debs

kmtsst

Hi Deb
We have just done our spouse visa really easy. If you are front loading it you will be doing all the paperwork on the inter net yea? This tells you everything you will need.The only thing it doesn't say is they will want some photos of your hubbie the aussie as they didnt request this we didnt send mine in. So we received a letter asking for them which held us up a bit . But all in all only took 10 days to be giving the nod. We got letters from my mum& dad my sis & bro who are Aussies so it has to be on the proper paper and 2 sets of are friends. We also wrote how we met how long we have been together all that sort of stuff good fun remembering those days. We also got everything validated by our solicitor,any paperwork that is a legal doc{birth cert ,passports marriage cert etc etc} One last thing they ask for your hubbies Aus birth cert or Aus passport I sent in my Aus birth cert and then they asked for Aus passport so send both in not just one.Your children are they not your hubbies as they wouldn't need to do medicals or even apply for the visas they would automatically get aussie citizenship if your hubbie is their dad. Hope this helps if you would like any more info just pm
Sam

kerrie/wayne

hi ya im a ozzie and my husband is from the uk ,i didnt use a agency i did it myself and save myself a loy of money ....if you do decide to go it alone my best advise is to read every properly and take your time get allyour documents sorted send then off and then emigration will send for you to do your medical and police check {dont forget medical and police are only valided for 1 year }.


if i can help feel free to ask
good luck

kez x

Hutch

I'm the worst form-filler on the planet and I managed to successfully apply for a spouse visa for my wife. Just download the PDFs off the Dimia site, print them out and fill them in. We sent the forms off along with stat decs from friends and family, some bills in both our names, a collection of photographs of us together on holidays and things and, of course, marriage certificate, passports and the other official documents. Got Catherine's visa back in five days flat - and one of those was a bank holiday! Believe me, if I can do it, then anyone can.

You may not actually need to validate your visa, if you plan to leave the country within the next two years. Validating just means activating it - when you arrive in the country, you tell the immigration official that you have a visa that you'd like validating and they make the appropriate entry on the computer. Once you've validated your visa, you then have another five years within which to enter Australia for residential purposes. If you've been married for three years, and have things like the joint bank account/bills to prove it - then it's unlikely that you'll have to go for an interview of any sort.

Just download the forms, work through them methodically, follow the check-list on the last page of the form and you'll be fine.

deb-n-rob2006

hi ya sam,

yep we have all had our meds and my little boy is my husbands , but he wont get citizenship as he was born before my husband got his ( really long story ). he is british but lived out there for years, came back met me and we got married. left again(for 18month to get citizendship ( he has 2 kids over there too) and came back , and has been here with me for the last 2 years saving for us all to go over. yep told you a long story. as theres more but i wont go into it now.
i have the forms here already to fill out :scared:
ok so all i need to do now is getis bills, statments from bank, letters from relatives and friends, photos, get everything validated by a solicitor and send.

what sort of things did family and friend have to put in their letters , is it just to say that they have known us to be together for over 4 years and what we have gone through to get us here. and that they have known us for soo long , do thesre have to be signed infront of a solicitor ????

debs :scared: :scared: :scared:

kmtsst

Hi Deb
Yea family and friends just said how long they had known us as a couple and that we do family and couple things together .Yea a solicitor or somone high up has to wittness them aswell, bank stament i sent 2 one from about 4years ago and an upto date one didnt send any photos only the passport one like i said earlyier.Everything photocopys dont forget only sent a couple of bills gas and electric
Sam

matt-and-jenny

Hi Debs, I'm the Perm Resident, Matt is on the Spouse Visa, we did our own application, front loaded everything and got it within 2 days.
1) Send EVERYTHING. Just to be sure! We also did a contents page to put at the front!
2) We got just the official documents (ie copies of Birth Certs, passports etc) validated by a solicitor. We just went into our village and they charged us £5.
3) We weren't asked asked for anything - as I seaid, we went a bit crazy with supplying stuff - worled for us tho! They phoned Matt for a mini interview over the phone, then straight after the interview, told him he'd been accepted.
4) I think it's form 888 (?) your friends and family need to fill out.

Good luck!