PMV

We have been advised my partner visa will be finalised in December. I will be going to Australia mid-Nov on holidays, and then will go offshore while visa is being finalised. I will book as a minimum my onward journey from Australia before I go there on holidays .. but we're still deciding about what point to book my partner's trip, and my return flight to Australia.

We're thinking of going to Auckland, then touring Bay Of Islands for a week. We have been advised to go offshore min 5 working days.

I'm interested to hear what you did for your offshore trip.

Where did you go? Did you enjoy it? Any pros/cons?

Did you book your trip far in advance, taking a guess with dates, and knowing you may have to pay change fees if the visa dates change? Or did you wait till you had a firm date, and pay possibly quite dear last minute flight prices?

Did you stay much longer than the min advised processing time? And was the min processing time roughly accurate?

BTW Are you normally given a set amount of time before you which you must go offshore to have a partner visa finalised? Obviously I will be leaving the country before my tourist visa expires in Feb, but due flight high prices in December, we are also toying with travelling mid Jan.

I know all cases are different, and what happened in your case may be completely different to what happens in our case, but I'm just interested to hear your stories