RRV 157 substantial ties
 

Hi,
could anyone please give me some advice. I am a permanent resident of australia until 26th august but cannot return until October due to financial issues.
i have gone through the application for a 3 month RRV visa as thats all i would need but haven't been in australia for the 2 of the 5 years needed to renew. This is due to my father having parkinson's and we got married in UK as my dad cannot fly very far anymore. My husband is australian.
The visa has asked me for evidence of substantial ties to australia and am wondering if the fact that I am married to an Australian is enough of a tie. I am also a paediatric nurse and worked as a nurse in Australia for 5 years before moving back to UK to spend time with my father but have no job as yet to return as is extremely difficult to get a job before I get there even though am looking.
I pay for a storage shed every month with all our household items in too.
Is there anything else that might help?
was going to give evidence of marriage certificate and my husbands passport as an australian. Evidence of my nurse qualification as am still registered in australia. He also has lots of family over there would it be worth getting some of there passport details to give as evidence of ties to australia even though not my immediate family?
Thank you in advance any advice welcome x :o)

Re: RRV 157 substantial ties
 

The RRV application is actually for a 155 visa, rather than the 157. If you don't qualify for a 155 the Department will assess you against the criteria for a 157.

As you have said, you need to demonstrate that you have substantial personal, business, cultural or employment ties to Australia, which are of benefit to Australia. An Australian partner is clearly a substantial tie, as is your nursing registration. You should list and evidence all your other substantial ties. As long as you have not been away for more than 5 years, the reasons for your absence are not relevant and do not need to be addressed in a 155 application.

Be aware though that these applications are taking 12 weeks plus to process, so you should be applying now if you want a grant by October. Assuming it is granted, it will have a one year travel period.

Re: RRV 157 substantial ties
 

Thank you for the information that is really helpful, although you have me worried about processing time now as on the home affairs website it states 5-12 days.
Thats only reason I have left it so long as was intending to just get the 3 month 157 and wanted to make sure would be within 3 months when applied and granted. didn't realise they would both be assessed.

Thanks again.
Debbie

Re: RRV 157 substantial ties
 

The small print on the Home Affairs website says: "Applications that do not meet the residence requirement will take longer to finalise than the published processing times advertised above. Processing timeframes for these applications can be up to 12 weeks." Lots of people have been caught by this as processing times have gone up from a couple of days to a couple of weeks to the now norm of three months plus.

The 157 is assessed differently and, per departmental policy, is for "applicants who do not meet the requirements for a BB-155 visa, for example, an applicant who has recently commenced living in Australia, but needs to travel overseas for compelling and compassionate reasons."

Do get your application in as soon as possible if you want to hit your proposed timeline.

Re: RRV 157 substantial ties
 

Can I please hijack this thread to ask a quick question.

Does being 'absent from Australia for more than five continuous years' include time spent in Australia for holidays, or does the 5 years 'reset' to the date you last left Australia, even if it was a short trip?

Re: RRV 157 substantial ties
 

Generally, a visit resets the 5 years but the details depend on your visa status during that trip and how you make the application. The calculation assesses a couple of things: where you are when you make the application and, if offshore, whether you were a PR when you last left Australia or how long you have been away since you last left as a PR.

Hard to be more specific without knowing your exact details, I'm afraid.

Re: RRV 157 substantial ties
 

Thanks for that Paul. Happy to provide details if you are able to please help.
My wife was granted a 820 visa when we lived in Australia. We left to live in the UK after our son was born and a month after arriving in the UK my wife was granted her 801 PR visa. The travel facility expires next May, we have been back on holiday only once in April just gone so my wife arrived and left on her 801 visa. It's looking doubtful we will move back to Australia by May so if there is some comfort that she may be eligible for a 1 year RRV if applied before April 2023 that would take the pressure off a bit.

Re: RRV 157 substantial ties
 

Clearly the rules can change, but as things stand, you have 5 years from when she left to apply without needing to demonstrate any compelling circumstances for her absence. She would still need to demonstrate substantial ties - an Aussie partner and child is a great start. A 5 year absence does not preclude eligibility, but does set the higher bar of needing to demonstrate compelling reasons for that long absence.

Re: RRV 157 substantial ties
 

Thanks Paul, that's quite helpful. I guess we will just have to check when we're ready to apply and cross that bridge when we get to it. At this stage we can only prove Australian citizen partner and children. And I suspect living overseas to be closer to family while the children are young is not compelling enough.

Thank you OP and apologies for hijacking your thread! :)

Re: RRV 157 substantial ties
 

Thank you so much for advise I am going to apply tonight, do you think I will need to give them scanned copies of previous visas i have held? they should surely already know that shouldn't they? I have uploaded everything else I can think of!
Thanks
again much appreciated. :o)