We have just recently done medicals and police clearances, they were sent back last week I think. Assuming all is well when will we be asked to post the bond and then what happens after that? Does it take long after posting bond to get final decision? Presumably once you're asked to post bond you're ceratin to get a visa?

Once medicals are passed, and all other paperwork is in order, they will ask for the bond. There is a timeframe as to how quick you have to get it there, could be 40 days, cant remember. It's a pretty good indication that you have been accepted, in fact its definate as far as I can see, but until you get that slip in your passport, you never know.

Our bond was requested about 3 weeks after the meds went back. It was then a further 2 weeks before they aknowledged they had the bond.

Maybe a silly question but I'm very inexperienced. What is the bond for, is it a set amount and does it apply to all visas?

Thanks

Tony

Welcome TNN.

The bond gives you 5 points on the points test you take to see if you are eligible for a visa. When I first started to look to go, my occupation was on the MODL (Occupations in demand), which gives you 10 points, so I qualified easy. I got lazy, did nothing, my occupation was no longer MODL, and they increased the qualifying score by 5 points I seem to remember. That meant I had to pay them AUD$100,000 (GBP40K roughly) to get the necessary points. They hold it for 1 year, you get interest etc etc. It's not a bad thing actually.

I gave my experience of paying our bond earlier this year on:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=353501

Hope it is of some use...

Gav

Thanks everyone.

If I've calculated the points correctly and put my aunt forward as a sponsor, I'll have 125 points, so hopefully (please please please) no need for the bond.

Tony

There could be a bit of confusion here - there are 2 "bond" types in immigration, one is the $100K bond (australian "investment") which gets you 5 bonus points on a 47SK application, and the other is the Assurance of Support (AoS) bond which is required for sponsored visas and which can be $3500 or more (usual is $5000 for a family of 2 adults). Everyone here seems to have assumed that the OP was interested in the $100K bond, but that wasn't really clear to me in the post. Also, TNN you will be required to pay the AoS bond assuming that I read you post right and you applied for a sponsored visa class. You might have to pay both if you also need the 5 bonus points.

Cheers,
Brian

Thanks for the extra info Brian!

Tony

No problem, and in fact if you have 125 points then the investment bond should not be required. If you are going for a 138 then the pass mark is only 110 points, so you have plenty of points to spare. The AoS bond on the other hand is required for 138 subclass visas. A 139 subclass is not points tested at all, but also requires the AoS bond.

Cheers,
Brian

Hi!
We just had the bond request last week. Be prepared cause they don't give you long to transfer your money!!