thomvrf

Hi everyone,

New to this forum, but my wife and I have been planning to emigrate/immigrate for a while now. We want to move to be closer to her family and to start our own family there (specifically in Brisbane).

We've got a plan to get us there and I just wanted some feedback and to know if there are any potential issues.

So situation is that my wife is Australian, we have a baby on the way (due Jan) and I'm 30, experienced professional (digital product manager) but nothing that will get me any points for a specialised job visa.

Applying for a spouse visa from UK is expensive thanks to needing JP to sign everything (amongst other things), so I'm looking to get all my documents in order to take with me, apply for my work/holiday visa just to get me into the country and apply for my spouse visa as soon as I can when I get there.

Once I have my bridging visa, it should make getting work a lot easier, but I will be looking before anyway on the chance I can get a sponsor.

Does this seem like a feasible plan? As far as I know we are working with immigration rules and regs, but keen to know if there are any major flaws or if anyone has moved using the same plan.

Thanks

BritInParis

An Australian partner visa is the same price whether you apply for it in the UK or Australia. You don't need to get a JP to sign anything in either country. Just provide good quality colour photocopies of your supporting documents if you apply on paper or good quality colour scans if you apply online.

The only relative drawback of applying in the UK are the processing times. These are far longer if you apply in Australia but you do have the advantage of being able to switch onto a bridging visa when your existing visa expires. Bear in mind that you will need to wait for any visa you hold to expire before you can switch onto a bridging visa so the shorter the better if you want to work as soon as possible, i.e a subclass 651 eVisitor visa. Your bridging visa will normally come with work rights if you're applied for a partner visa.

If your baby is due in January then your wife won't be able to fly until after the birth and I would suspect that she would not be keen to move countries whilst dealing with a newborn. Processing times for a spouse visa from the UK are roughly six to nine months at the moment so if you looking to make a move whilst the baby is three to six months then applying in the UK now for your spouse visa would be preferable as you would be able to start work immediately once you land.

You can apply for your baby's Australian citizenship by descent once they are born so they won't affect your application.

old.sparkles

Hi there and welcome

I thought that spouse visas were about the same cost whether applied for offshore or onshore (and may be more expensive onshore but I'd have to look it up on DIBP site to be sure)

If you enter Australia on a WHV you will have to abide by the rules of that visa until a bridging visa applies. The bridging visa only applies once the WHV expires which would mean that you would be limited to a max 6 months with an employer during that time. The WHV is valid for 1 year after entry.

Although, you are not allowed a dependent in Australia on the WHV so once the baby is born, that would maybe cancel the WHV early.

I would think the better option may be to apply for the spouse visa from UK. Your wife can continue ante-natal care with NHS. I'm not sure about having to have JP sign everything - someone with more experience with spouse visas will probably be able to clarify but for skilled visa I used a notary public.

Bermudashorts

No it does not seem like a very good plan to me. The best plan would be to apply for a spouse visa from the UK and move when you have it granted.

There is no need to get any documents certified, clear colour scanned copies is fine. A WHV is not an option for you once the baby is born and arriving in Australia on a tourist visa with the intention of remaining is not a legitimate use of the tourist visa.

thomvrf

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the responses, really helpful information.

Two things I didn't realise:

1) That I didn't know a JP doesn't need to sign and verify my documents. It seemed like that was needed for all official docs. So as long as the copies of my birth certificate, marriage certificate etc... are clear copies that's totally fine?

2) That a bridging visa can't kick in until an existing visa expires. Very useful thing to know.

We wouldn't be looking to move until May or June next year, but I guess we just need to wait until my application has been accepted.

We'll apply for Australian citizenship for baby, but is there anything else I need to take into account with this in mind?

The main advantage for us applying within Australia is the bridging visa. I got the impression that if you apply from the UK, you have to remain here until it has been approved. I did read in a blog that someone went on a holiday visa, applied for their spouse visa within Aus (defacto in this case) and got the bridging visa and everything went pretty smoothly. Is this not a valid option for me?

Bermudashorts

You indicated an interest in acting within the rules in your first post. So the point about this approach is that, whilst you may well get away with it, it isn't a legitimate use of a toursit visa. If it were the case that you walked up to an immigration officer and announced your plans, you would probbaly be refused entry.

Considering that you seem to have time to lodge and obtain the partner visa in the legitimate manner, I cannot see any reason why you would do nothing now and then just take your chances next year.

BritInParis

In that case apply for your partner visa now from the UK. It will likely to have been already granted by the time you want to move. The sooner you get the application in, the closer to the front of the queue it will be.

Once they became an Australian citizen you should obtain your child's Australian passport before you travel to Australia as an Australian citizen they can no longer travel to Australia on a British passport with a visa. Other than that there's nothing else you need to do. You don't need to inform your case officer.

It could be but if you move to Australia on a visitor visa with the express purpose of lodging another application in-country to stay permanently then the immigration officer at the border would be well within their rights to cancel your visitor visa and return you to the UK as you would not be a genuine temporary entrant. Not likely perhaps, but it is a possibility. If you're not looking to move until next summer then there's every reason to lodge your application offshore rather than onshore, not least zero waiting time before you are able to work in Australia on arrival.

thomvrf

Thanks, I really appreciate the advice. Knowing I don't need a JP to verify all my docs was definitely useful and I think applying now would probably work best for me. Wish me luck!

Hedvika

Hello,
I think it's illegal to go through tourist or work visa to spouse, plus price is same in UK and there anyway. And every half year price changing, now it changed due to the Brexit so new price may come up on January 2017. It will be different situation if you are waiting now for the visa, they may make it faster due to the pregnancy.Apply in UK

Pollyana

Its not illegal.

Its perfectly legal to be on a tourist visa, or one of the working visas, and then apply for a spouse visa.
However one does need to be careful of one's intentions if entering the country on a tourist visa - they are designed for holidays, therefore the holder should be intending to leave again at the end of the holiday. However, plans can change and if the visa holder changes their mind after arrival, and applies for a spouse visa onshore, thats perfectly within the law. If DIBP suspect that the intention is to stay and apply for another visa onshore they may refuse entry.

Being pregnant will not speed up the grant.

I can't see why you think BREXIT would affect Australian visa prices, its got absolutely nothing to do with Australia

Hedvika

well after Brexit they changed the prices up from £3400 to £3850, and if someone is pregnant and waiting to hear the verdict they will look at it to speed it up

Bermudashorts

The price is not set in £ it is set in $ and did not change because of Brexit. Exchange rate fluctuations occur all the time, it wasn't so long ago it was $1.5 to the £ so the application was much more expensive then.

They do not prioritise visa grants because of pregnancy. In fact, I do not believe they ever prioritise. There is only one queue, there is not a general queue and a priority queue.

Hedvika

well price changed because I am going to apply for the visa and I was watching it over months, so they did changed in UK straight after Brexit and you can request to make it faster, but if they will look at it or not, it's not in your hands. Plus the price is in all currencies not in Dollars only, you choose which one you want to show it. They didn't change price in June as they could, they may change from next January may not.

Pollyana

Actually, this july was one of the rare occasions when the price of a Spouse Visa didn't rise! Its set in $Au not £ and so when translated into £ may have been affected by the exchange rate, but the actual price has not changed since July 2015. When you look on the DIBP site it calculates the rate into your chosen currency depending on the current exchange rate. Its $6865 and has been since last July.

https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa/Fees
There are many reasons why people want their visas expedited, not just pregnancy, but DIBP work on facts, not emotions, and being pregnant will not speed anything up. In fact it can slow down applciations as many women do not wish to have xrays while pregnant.

moneypenny20

Regardless of when it happened it had nothing to do with the UK referendum. DIBP often use June/July to make price increases/visa changes.