sasswa

Fingers crossed guys. We've sent it all in today to arrive at Australia House tomorrow morning by 9am.....eeeek.

Now the hard work commences with buying the flight tickets and getting rid of everything - is it really that difficult?!

We're planning to go in late May as well.....so don't know if we can get it all done but hey, I'm keen so reckon we can.

Good luck to all waiting too.

Sass

Spouse Visa sent today 01/03/07

Tracemul7

Best of luck - sent our spouse visa application yesterday!

let me know when you hear anything.

Tracey x

grahampaula

Good luck.

damielgerry

We sent our app on 22/02/07. Australia House received it the next day 23/02/07 and debited our visa fee on 26/02/07.

Apart from the Visa fee we haven't heard anything yet. It's only been a week but the wait is driving us crazy. We just want to know so we can pack up and go home!

I'll update everyone when we hear something.

damielgerry

Hey guys,

Our visa arrived this morning. We are over the moon and it still hasn't sunk in yet that we've got it and can go.

The fact that we got it today means that the whole thing took less than a week - they received it Friday, approved it the following Thursday and posted it the next day. We didn't here from them during the process.

We didn't know what to expect as poeple on this forum have given timeframes from 1 week to over a month. We were expecting to receive an email first saying that they were processing it then to have to wait a few weeks. We're so pleased that its come so soon so now that we can start making definte plans.

Good luck to you guys. You sent them off only a few days after ours so fingers crossed that yours arrive soon!!

Phoenix

Sent ours on 18th Jan - requests for further info for my son - sent off those - still waiting should have been there by now !

Anyway - Good Luck and congrats those who have theirs already

Emma10

Hello,

Were just in the process of getting our families to write the statements we need and getting all our documents certified and stuff. Did you send all the application forms in together? What about your medical and police checks, did you get them done first before sending in your 47sp?

Im quite confused by the whole process and not really sure what your supposed to do when!
Can you give me some guidance?

Cheers

sasswa

Emma,

There is loads of people in the same boat on this forum and if you do a search and type in 47sp or spouse visa it'll come up with every post related to this particular visa.

But quickly replying to your question.....we've both been faffing with the whole visa thing for months/years and we finally pulled our finger out last year getting the boring stuff done. Police check takes AGES so I'd recommend getting that done first (you send the original with everything later), the medical we did back in November (but book ahead coz they can get quite busy) and they send straight to Australia House. Aus House then keep it until you've sent your application and match it up.

Like everyone on here, we sent ours with EVERYTHING in tact.....we've noticed they took the fee from our bank last Friday but hey, that means nothing coz even if we don't get approved they still can have the money.

Hoping for a speedy response though.

Definately download the Partner Migration booklet from immi website (immi.gov.au)......was very helpful. And any tricky questions, don't hesitate to ring them, they are very helpful.

Sass

sasswa

I'm assuming then that you sent your passport in with the application?

damielgerry

Hi Emma,

We sent absolutely everything in at the same time. We wanted to make sure that there was no reason for DIAC to come back and ask for more information. I've read many times that if DIAC need to request further information from you that it can slow down the process dramatically.

As for the police checks and medicals, we got all that done before we sent off the application. The police checks we sent off for about 2 months earlier. They can take over a month to come back so it's important to get this started early on. Once you have them you send the originals off with the application. The medical we got done a month before sending off the application. Our doctor said that it would take about 2 weeks before the results would be sent off to DIAC. You can get these done after you send off your application when DIAC request them (which might be a good idea if you're at all unsure whether you'll actually get the Visa as they are quite expensive) but again we wanted to make sure that DIAC had everything they needed to make a decision on our application there and then - which in the end paid off for us as they had made a decision and granted the visa within 5 working days of receiving our application!

I think it's important to provide everything they ask of you. In the end our application was 380 pages (including all the forms). We provided almost every single piece of evidence that we felt proved our relationship. I think it's better to give them too much than not enough.

I'm going to post a detail description of what we provided: Table of Contents, sub TOC's, types of evidence, etc soon so I'll post a link to that link in this post so that you can have a look.

I have to admit that the process was very stressful at times. It is possible to do it without a miration agent but you have to be prepared to get yourself organised and put in the hours as it will end up taking up a lot of your time. In the end though it will be more than worth the stress and when the postman knocks on your door and hands you back your return addressed special delivery envelope with your visa in your passport you'll forget about everything you needed to do to get it.

Good luck with your application. My advice is to use this forum for any assistance you need. The people here are extrememly friendly and helpfull and will do everything they can to help you out. We couldn't have done it without these guys.

damielgerry

Hi Sasswa. Yes we did. Partner visas, as a general rule, tend to come back quite quickly so sending your passport off with the application will speed up the process of getting your visa back sooner.

Wilso16

380 pages - mine isn't any where near that long!! Hope I haven't missed anything.

Did you also include a Form 80? I was told by the DIAC that this wouldn't be required unless requested.

damielgerry

Hi Wilso. Yeah 380 pages including all the forms. I wouldn't stress if yours is less than that. Like I said I wanted to make sure that DIAC had absolutely no reason to come back asking for any further information from us and so we included everything piece of evidence that we could. It was probably much more than they needed but better safe than sorry I say.

We did include a form 80. From what I've read DIAC will ask you for it so it's better to do it upfront so as not to hold up the process later on.

Emma10

Thankyou so much for your replies. Ill get organised and get my police checks done and my medical booked. We are wanting to go back to Oz in early September so hopefully I havent left it too late to get it by then.

Just out of interest how much are the medicals?

damielgerry

Hi Emma,

Happy to help. You've got plenty of time if you're not wanting to leave until September!

My partners medicals cost £220. We got ours done in Manchester. You have to get it done by a doctor on DIACs list of allowed UK panel doctors so it limits your options in regards to shopping around for a good price. The medicals can be really expensive, especially when it's a family that's going, as every member of the family (except any Aussies) need to have a medical done. Be careful; like I said before, if you have any reason to think that you may not get the visa, it may be wise to wait until after you've lodged the application to get them done. DIAC will request the medicals towards the end of accessing your application - ie once you've met all the other visa requirements. If you get the medicals done before lodging your visa and for whatever reason DIAC reject your application the medical costs can't be recouped.