Pollyana

Hi,
HELP!! New at this game of posting questions, and just as new to the minefield of immigration procedures!
I'm looking to emigrate to Oz on a fiancee visa, in order to marry an Aussie; have just seen that applications lodged in the UK and "front loaded"(?) can now be processed in 2-3 weeks. Does anyone know if this is really the case?
Lots of minor questions too, which I'm sure someone out there can answer, but to start with, can anyone tell me whether my fiance can visit the UK between me lodging the application, and the final date of my emigrating, or does he have to stay in Oz?
Also, all these documents that have to be signed by a magistrate etc - is a serving Police Officer acceptable?
Anyone out there give some advice to a confused applicant?!

Jaj

    >On Thu, 19 Dec 2002 16:48:00 +0000, Pollyana wrote:
    >Hi,
    >HELP!! New at this game of posting questions, and just as new to the
    >minefield of immigration procedures!
    >I'm looking to emigrate to Oz on a fiancee visa, in order to marry an
    >Aussie; have just seen that applications lodged in the UK and "front
    >loaded"(?) can now be processed in 2-3 weeks. Does anyone know if this
    >is really the case?

Not for Fiance visas. I'd count on something more like 6 months.


    >Lots of minor questions too, which I'm sure someone out there can
    >answer, but to start with, can anyone tell me whether my fiance can
    >visit the UK between me lodging the application, and the final date of
    >my emigrating, or does he have to stay in Oz?

He does not have to stay in Australia, and can visit the UK (if the
British will let him in!)


    >Also, all these documents that have to be signed by a magistrate etc -
    >is a serving Police Officer acceptable?

A Justice of the Peace would be better. I believe the AHC London will
accept certifications from solicitors too. But avoid any solicitor
who wants to charge per page, most will certify a whole sheaf of
documents for GBP5 or GBP10.

Jeremy
This is not intended to be legal advice in any jurisdiction

Pollyana

Thanks for the info - gives me a start at least, esp about him being able to visit the UK, which no-one else has been able to clarify at all!
Something else I'm in search of is a UK bank account or credit card into which I can deposit money in Oz. Probably sounds odd, but I will need to be able to transfer money to elderly family regularly - hence I want an account I can deposit into and they can draw out of. Can't open an joint Aussie one unless we both front up to an Aussie bank, so I need a UK one. Any ideas anyone?!

Alan Collett

Jeremy,

I'd be allowing 5 to 6 weeks for a front-end loaded fiance visa thro' London over the Xmas and New Year break (usually about 3 to 4 weeks outside holiday periods) - it takes nothing like 6 months for a visa grant under this category in our experience.

Best regards.

Jaj

With regard to a bank account, you'll have to do international
transfers. You can't deposit money into a UK account just by visiting
an Australian bank branch.

Not sure how much it costs to transfer money from the Australia to the
UK. I think the Commonwealth Bank charge GBP15 to transfer money from
the UK to Aus, or at least that's what the charge was a few years ago.

You can certainly keep your UK credit card in Australia (most banks
will let you do this, especially if your credit record with them is
good) but it's not a good idea to use one a lot as you'll be losing a
few percent on foreign exchange.

Jeremy

    >On Fri, 20 Dec 2002 06:40:45 +0000, Pollyana wrote:
    >Thanks for the info - gives me a start at least, esp about him being
    >able to visit the UK, which no-one else has been able to clarify at all!
    >Something else I'm in search of is a UK bank account or credit card into
    >which I can deposit money in Oz. Probably sounds odd, but I will need to
    >be able to transfer money to elderly family regularly - hence I want an
    >account I can deposit into and they can draw out of. Can't open an joint
    >Aussie one unless we both front up to an Aussie bank, so I need a UK
    >one. Any ideas anyone?!
    >--
    >Posted via http://britishexpats.com

This is not intended to be legal advice in any jurisdiction

Jaj

Alan
The Managers processing guide to end August 2002 states that London's
75% grant time for subclass 300 visas was 27 weeks. So maybe I was
erring on the side of caution in saying 6 months, and perhaps
front-loading would cut a month or so off that.

Jeremy

    >On Fri, 20 Dec 2002 10:50:59 +0000, Alan Collett wrote:
    >Jeremy,
    >I'd be allowing 5 to 6 weeks for a front-end loaded fiance visa thro'
    >London over the Xmas and New Year break (usually about 3 to 4 weeks
    >outside holiday periods) - it takes nothing like 6 months for a visa
    >grant under this category in our experience.
    >Best regards.

This is not intended to be legal advice in any jurisdiction

Alan Collett

No, front-end loading can reduce the processing time for a fiance visa application in London to 4 to 6 weeks ...

Best regards.

Pollyana

Thanks guys - especially thanks Alan for pointing me to this forum!; looks like I've now found the right place to get my questions answered! Especially good to hear that this new "front-end loaded" system is as quick as the website promises. The UK credit card info is very helpful - I had assumed they would want repayment and accounts closed etc. Shows that in the field of immigration nothing should be assumed I guess!
Anyone got any recommendations for shipping agents ? Not much stuff to go, and almost no furniture amongst it, mostly books and personal gear, going to Brisbane. Also - bit of a longshot this one - anyone out there got married in Brisbane and able to recommend a celebrant? We need to find someone and get things sorted when I'm there in February, so I'm trying to forward plan!

Leigh

Alan Collett wrote in message news:...
    > No, front-end loading can reduce the processing time for a fiance visa
    > application in London to 4 to 6 weeks ...
    >
    > Best regards.

Hello - have been following info re: prospective marriage visas and
marriage visas with interest for short while now as this is the path
my partner and I are looking at (he's English - in London, i'm
Australian) ... I'm wondering about how long we could expect to wait
for the fiance visa to come through, and now wondering what 'front end
loading' means?

thanks for your advice - and some interesting reading over the past
few days,

leigh

Pollyana

Hi Leigh,

I haven't tried putting a link on a forum before, so I hope this works!
I found front-end loading on the site for the Australian High Commission in London - basically (as I understand it) if you send all the forms in together, including the medical and the Police check, then it should get processed an awful lot faster. Obviously if they need more than just the basic info and forms, then there will be a delay, but for a straight-forward application it is a new fast-track. (If this is wrong info, I'm sure someone will correct me!)

If you go to this page -

http://www.australia.org.uk/vti/html/partner_mig.html

and scroll down to "FIND OUT MORE" you will find a link to a document on front end loading.

Good luck!

Leigh

Pollyana wrote in message news:...
    > Hi Leigh,
    >
    > I haven't tried putting a link on a forum before, so I hope this works!
    > I found front-end loading on the site for the Australian High Commission
    > in London - basically (as I understand it) if you send all the forms in
    > together, including the medical and the Police check, then it should get
    > processed an awful lot faster. Obviously if they need more than just the
    > basic info and forms, then there will be a delay, but for a
    > straight-forward application it is a new fast-track. (If this is wrong
    > info, I'm sure someone will correct me!)
    >
    > If you go to this page -
    >
    > http://www.australia.org.uk/vti/html/partner_mig.html
    >
    > and scroll down to "FIND OUT MORE" you will find a link to a document
    > on front end loading.
    >
    > Good luck!

thanks - still in the researching madly phase - but this is helping.....L