Spouse Visa
 

On obtaining a spouse visa I understand that you are granted a temporary resident visa for 2 years before getting Permanent residency- is this correct? If so does this mean during those first 2 years there are restrictions in place as far as getting employment and will it also mean that the person will be paying a higher level of tax with no tax free theshold etc yet not have any access to social security benefits?

Plucka

Hi plucka

Not certain on the tax and employment issues, but one point to note is that if you have been in a relationship with your spouse for at least 5 years (not all of which need to be married) they may at their discretion waive the temp 2 years and award a PR immediately. This is what happened with my visa. In my cover letter I pointed out that we had been together for 6 years (married for 4) and enclosed 4 certified letters from family and friends confirming the fact and "respectfully requested" that they consider waiving the temp, which they did without question.

Colin

A full spouse visa includes almost all the rights of someone with permanent residency. That includes medicare, multiple travel in and out of the country and the same rates of tax. When you get the visa they will stamp your passport and that is the ID you will need to get the above. You almost certainly will not have access to social security benefits unless you can prove tremendous unexpected hardship (which seems fair enough).