Hi all

Currently in Sydney on our validation trip. At passport control they gave us all an entry stamp. I asked does that mean we have validated our visa. She said she was passport control and didn't know. She could only state that we were ok to enter.

There was nobody from emigration to talk too. They didn,t stamp the 175 section. Is this correct ?

thanks for help.

What happened is what you should have expected to happen.

What?????? Does that mean, in refering to the OP's question, that it is ok?

Yep, that's okay. Nothing else happens - just that one little entry stamp. Your visa is now validated .

When you leave Australia, you'll get a departure stamp. That's o.k. too.

Your fine, everything happened as it should have.

The only thing they do is stamp your passport just like everyone else. If they let you in the country then it's been validated. Congrats

brilliant,

thanks for the replies.

Sydney's pretty cool.. loving it so far.

Cheers

So if you are only just validating the visa with a holiday and then return to the uk, how long are you then allowed to be out of australia without it effecting your visa?

As long as you long up until the expiry date of your visa. You would need to return (to live) at some point before your visa expires. This could be the day before it expires if you like although I wouldn't cut it that close.

Lol.. It’s cute when new migrants expect like a big party when they step off the plane, with immigration all there to welcome them to their new home, maybe even a bottle of wine.

Unfortunately it’s nothing like, just get in the line with everyone else, get stamped with everyone else, collect your bags and go.

We recently received the grant letter and planning to move to Sydney for validation, is it mandatory all applicant need to enter at same time ? or secondary applicant can enter at later stage anytime before the expiry of the last entry date ?

Mine was very pleasant, a guy ushered us through away from the rest of the crowd as well, cleared customs and immigration in no time!

Must of been all the open sores on my face!

So i was granted visa in 2008 and it says multiple travel, must not arrive after 2013, permitted to stay in Australia.
If i arrived for 1 day only and left am i allowed to return any date after?

Yes, any day up until your expiry date sometime in 2013. You can't arrive after that date.

What sort of visa do you have? I don't think it makes any different just in case.

perm visa, so what happens after that date if i was only in the countty a short time in 5 years?

For more info look here:
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Visa_Validation-Australia

It mentions arriving in Australia 2 years before your visa expires but it is not necessary. It does however make your life simpler as you would be able to easily get a return resident visa if you need to leave the country for whatever reason.

If you arrived right before the expiry date you should still be able to get one as long as you can establish some strong ties to Australia (place to live, job, etc). If you don't plan to travel out of the country at all once you arrive then you'd have time to do all this.