Croker

Hello!

I'm new to the forum and would appreciate some advice. My girlfriend (an Australian citizen) and I (a British citizen) met on holiday and the plan is for us to get married and for me to relocate out to Melbourne. It'll take me about 18 months to get my affairs in order here (mostly just to pay off any outstanding loans etc. so I move with a clean slate), so the idea is for me to go out permanently in about June 2015.

I'll be travelling out to Melbourne in June 2014 for a visit (and also to propose!), and then she'll come to the UK at the end of the year, before - all being well - I make the permanent move in the following June.

We feel that the Prospective Marriage Visa is the best option for us for a number of reasons - although I have a (relatively) senior job in immigration, it isn't in one of the skilled worker categories. We also do want to get married and live together permanently in Melbourne as husband and wife, and given that we have to spend some time apart whilst I get my finances in order, it seemed the most logical approach to apply for a visa which takes into account the fact that I am outside Australia at the time of application. It also allows me to work once the visa is granted and I arrive in Australia, which is also useful. Support in the initial stages of my time in Australia also shouldn't be a problem, as my girlfriend is a lawyer who owns her own property, and is happy to support me until such time as I am working and settled in fully.

My understanding is that PMVs take about 7-9 months to be issued in the UK, so by my reckoning, I should lodge the application in around November 2014 in order to make the move in the following June. Is that about right?

The other questions I have really pertain to the application process itself; I'm assuming that we need to collect documentary evidence of our relationship (easy enough with the emails/phone calls we've been making, as well as photographs of us together on holiday etc) to submit in support of the application. Naturally, I'll also provide evidence of our engagement etc as this will have occurred before I lodge the application. Is there anything else that we need to be doing, or any other information we will need to provide? Also, I'm assuming I'll need to have a medical check as part of the process?

If and when the PMV is granted, I'm aware that I have 9 months to go to Australia and get married. Once we're married, though, what happens then? I'm assuming that we notify immigration and provide evidence of the marriage, and my understanding is at that point, we lodge an in-country application for me to gain permanent residence in Australia as a partner. Is this correct? If so, am I deemed to have continuing leave in Australia until the second application is decided? And does anyone know roughly how long that application would take?

I'm 36 and she's 40, by the way - not sure if this has any bearing on our application, but I'll throw it in as useful information anyway!

If anyone can provide any further advice or tips, I'd be extremely grateful. I know I've raised a lot of questions but I'm really just at the beginning of this process and this site seems like an excellent place to start. Thanks!

Bermudashorts

I think you have a pretty good handle on things and just a couple of comments from me. Firstly the processing times change from time to time, I believe it is about 7-9 months at the moment, but next week it might change to two months, or it might change to a year, so you need to have some flexibility in your plans accordingly.

The second comment, is that this is just a PMV so you don't need to go mad with the evidence, all you need to do is prove you have met in person. So one photograph should do it (although I probably would put in a bit more), but you do not need to prove the relationship any more than that, this is not a partner visa.

Croker

Thanks for the information - I'll stick to the prospective November application date, then, as if it takes a year then it's not too far after my planned date of June 2015, and if it only takes 2 months then I'll still be able to go to Australia in June 2015, as that will fall inside the 9 months granted by the visa (although we'd have to move the wedding up accordingly!).

Nice tip on the evidence, thanks for that, but will continue to collate everything anyway. Working in immigration myself has given me the experience that it's better to have information and not need it, rather than the other way about! I would have thought, too, that although they might not need all the info for a PMV, it would probably be worth having for the in-country partner application, so I'll keep filing everything away!

If anyone has any other information they think I should know, then please get in touch. Thanks, Bermudashorts!

SillyOldBag

I agree with BS that you do seem to have a good understanding of what is involved and how it works.

This is the path that I followed to come to Australia. I probably sent way more evidence of the relationship than was actually required for a PMV but I like to be prepared. It's good that you are starting to gather bits of evidence as you go, rather than a big rush all at the time you want to submit the application.

When you submit the spouse visa application onshore you will be granted a bridging visa until the temp spouse visa is granted. A couple of things to note are that when you first come to Australia on the PMV you will only be eligible for reciprocal health agreement cover on Medicare (emergencies basically) - as soon as you apply for the temp spouse visa, you will be entitled to full Medicare cover and will get a temporary card until your visa is granted. The other thing that some people sometimes are not aware of is that the 2 year time period for when the spouse visa becomes permanent starts from when the application is submitted, not from the date of grant. Of course, this is all way down the line for you, but I thought I'd mention it.