Bianca UK-OZ

hi everybody
I was hoping anybody would know if the chance is good that fitter would stay on the MODL..... we are worried that it will be taken off. We will only send our application by Oct, as still have to do new passports, from SA, and also do TRA etc, all takes time... When do they update the MODL?
Any other fitters out there who have applied or in the process of applying....???

cheers

George Lombard

Hi Bianca,

The MODL gets updated twice a year, normally. I have heard a rumour that it may be updated in June this year to go with some other changes planned (and please, this is just an unsubstantiated rumour about which you could do nothing) however in previous years it has normally been changed in April and October. The changes relate to demand in the Australian labour market - this is impossible to predict with any accuracy, but the Fitter occupation has been on the list for quite a long time now so it would be surprising if it were removed.

The important point to make is that obtaining new passports is certainly not a sensible reason for delaying an application - as long as you meet the criteria, if there is any significant deadline approaching you should apply and then give secondary documentation like that after application.

Cheers,

George Lombard

Bianca UK-OZ

Thanks George,
we we thought that we couldn't apply unless the passport is valid for at least 2 years (this is on the ozzie immi website...), our passports are only valid for another 18 months, and we need to include a copy of passport in the application (we are going for 136 MODL). They also said this copy of passport should be the SAME passport you are planning to use for this visa-stamp when it is granted.... can you maybe help and tell us if we can use a copy of this current passport, apply in the mean time for new ones, and then use the new ones for the actual stamp, as issued by Oz house in London?
Hope this makes sense. Anybody else who had this situation?

cheers

George Lombard

Hi Bianca,

No, you can definitely apply at any stage - the requirement you're referring to is prior to visa grant, it's not a bar to lodging the application. I'm not making this up :-)

Cheers,

George Lombard

JAJ

There is a difference sometimes between what DIMA demand and what the law insists on. Only the latter element is mandatory. Lots of people change their passport during processing without problems.

That's where part of the value-added in using a competent agent comes from.

You do have to do TRA, however, before you apply.

If you are living in the UK, do you not have British passports?

Bianca UK-OZ

hiya, wow, thanks for quick replies... . UK passports, yeah thats another story... we do qualify for UK passports since Oct last year - been here 6 years filling shortage occupations, but as you know that takes time to do the naturalisation, and tests etc, so we are putting that through by the end of this year... when finances allows us.

In the mean time we want to get the Ozzie TRA done, apply for 136 visa and renew SA passports. Thanks for help, now we will get TRA done asap, and GO FOR IT!

Another question, we are still South African. My children were born in the UK, we have full unabridged birth cert for both of them, issued in the UK.... do we also need to get full cert's form South Africa, as they are South African, or will the UK ones do? It takes aaaages to get the cert's from Africa - that is IF you ever get them!

thanks again!

JAJ

It takes months - not years - to do naturalisation. If you are planning to apply for naturalisation and your spouse is not a British citizen then you are expected to plan to remain resident in the United Kingdom.

You can change your mind after becoming British citizens - but not before.

Bear in mind that if you want to keep your South African citizenship, you need to get permission to naturalise in the UK from the South African authorities first.

Also bear in mind that if you choose not to become British citizens, you will lose your UK permanent resident status pretty quickly once you move outside the UK.

So be careful.

If they were born in the UK then why do you think they need South African birth certificates? Their UK birth certs should do. In fact, are you sure they could even get South African birth certs if they were not born there?

Were your children born before or after you were granted Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR)?

- if born after you got ILR then the child is *automatically* a British citizen => just get the child a British passport from the Passport Office.

- if born before you got ILR, then your child is not British but has an *entitlement* to be registered as a British citizen irrespective of whether you plan to go for naturalisation or not. Download form and guide MN1 from the Home Office website:
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/app...msandguidance/

The fee for MN1 registration is GBP200 (one fee covers any number of children applying at the same time). This entitlement expires at age 18, so it is a question of "use it or lose it".

Bianca UK-OZ

thanks a lot JAJ, lots to think about .

We had to register the births in SA, so can still get the cert's there if we want/need. We have PRes here, and have started the process of letting SA know about our aquiring UK citizenship.

We will probably now do UK cit first, takes about 6 months I think and a few more weeks for passports. Residency in Oz is not granted until you validate it in Oz, is that right? So if visa is Okay'ed by Oz, and we get UK Cit in mean time, it will still be okay, as long as we validate Oz PR visas AFTER we get UK citizenship?

Thanks for your help, and sorry so many things, but we dont want to lose our validity to apply UK citizenship.

JAJ

No, sorry, it doesn't work that way. Start by reading this (pdf) document from the Home Office Nationality Instructions:
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/doc...xf?view=Binary

While it is ok for naturalised British citizens to leave after becoming citizens, if you plan to do so beforehand you run the risk of being refused naturalisation.
(as your children are UK born they would be registered British anyway even if you were refused).

If you are currently living in the UK and declare an intention to remain then the Home Office would not usually look any further into this unless they had information to the contrary.

No-one can tell you (other than reference to the document above) what risks applying for Australia migration before being sworn in as a British citizen could entail for your naturalisation. On the other hand if you delay applying for Australia, then you could lose points or the rules could change. So you will have to manage the risk and decide what's really important to you.

Applying for naturalisation in country A at the same time as immigration to country B may cause problems depending on the laws in both countries. If you have been living in the UK for 6 years then you have already been eligible to apply for naturalisation for a while - why on earth have you been wasting time if this is important to you?

You need to do the Life in the UK Test before applying for naturalisation : http://www.lifeintheuktest.gov.uk

Bianca UK-OZ

thanks for the link. Yes, wanted to do it sooner, but due too illness, a move for work and finances, we have to wait and save up... doesn't always workout the way you want or as soon as you'd like, but we are grateful that we have chances

thanks again, take care