Poppy

Hi all

I'm in a bit of shock, I understood that after validation, you had five years to make the move and have just read a thread on the Immigration forum, which said you have to be in Oz three out of the five years?!! eeeek, that is scary as we have been happily thinking "five years, we've got loads of time!!".

We hope to hear early next year as our case is being worked on and were thinking we would validate at Easter.

Please help!!!!

Thanks in advance.

Poppy

WBB

i thought it was 2 out of the 5, but i am not sure.

anybody???

Boomie

I was of the same opinion as you............

love boomie
xxx

Alan Collett

Poppy,

Have a look here:
http://www.gomatilda.com/visas/faqs.cfm#07

Best regards.

HiddenPaw

This is how I understand it:
Your PR visa is valid for a certain amount of time (ours is also 5 years). This means that you can come and go in Oz as you please (without the need for a resident return visa) during those 5 years. The only restriction is that you have to make initial entry (validation) by a certian date. After your PR has expired (5 years) you will need a RRV if you want to come back into Oz.

If you have taken out citizenship then you won't need to worry about the 5 year thing or RRVs.

For citizenship, you can take out citizenship after 2 years of living in Oz. This can be 2 continuous years straightaway or 2 out of the last 5 years (and that needs to include one year in the last 2).

HP

HiddenPaw

Should just say that the 5 years starts when the visa is issued - NOT when you validate
So, say your visa is issued Jan 2004, for a 5 year visa, this would expire Jan 2009. You may have been given 12 months to validate (i.e. by Jan 2005) but your PR will still expire Jan 2009 (5 years from visa issue - and not Jan 2010 which would be 5 years from validation). So if you validated in Jan 2005, you would only have 4 years left to make your move.

Poppy

Thank you for your replies, I really appreciate it, it has cleared it up a bit:

So could we validate and then go just before the five years expires and stay for two years without leaving the country and then apply for citizenship? or does everything have to be done within the five years? I know I probably sound like I am repeating myself = doh!!, but I thought that the only reason you couldn't do it close to the expiry date was that when it does expire, we wouldn't be able to leave and return without a PRV, but if we don't leave Oz within two years , we wouldn't need a PRV anyway and then we could apply for the citizenship??!!!

Did I say it had cleared it up - I was lying - is it just me!!! Ok, it is, but can anyone answer this, I am sorry for being clueless - three kids later, the brain cells have diminished somewhat!!!.

Thanks in advance, and thanks again for those that replied! It will sink in, but it could take a while!!

Cheers

Poppy

happyone298

At the risk of being insulted, can anyone confirm whether it is actually the case that the 5 years starts when the visa is issued by the DIMIA and NOT when validating the visa before the initial entry date..??

Thanks in advance for any help..

Alan Collett

For skilled visas, the 5 years starts from the date of visa grant.

Best regards.