Jez

Hi
I am waiting for an independent skilled visa (I.T.) to be processed through
DIMA. Would it be possible to change this to a de facto spouse visa (my
partner is an Australian), and would it be practical to do so?
Thanks for any help / points of view.
Jez.

ptlabs

1) A skilled visa application cannot be "switched" to a family (spouse) visa application. You will have to lodge a brand new application if you wish, which is perfectly legal.

2) A spouse visa starts off with a 2-year temporary visa. After the 2 years are up, you get your permanent visa if your relationship is still ongoing. Otherwise, it'll be looked at by DIMIA to determine your case.

3) A skilled visa is permanent from the time your visa is granted. i.e. no 2-year temporary visa.

4) A spouse visa may take months, while a skilled visa may take a year +. If you're already in the queue for a skilled visa, it makes sense for you to wait a little longer (depending if you applied to AHC London or APSC)


Peter

Alan Collett

Actually, if you are in the UK a front-end loaded spouse visa application shouldn't take more than 3 weeks from the date of application to the date of visa grant. More comments here:
http://www.gomatilda.com/news/article.cfm?articleid=218

If you want to move to Australia sooner rather than later and want to be able to work there I'd consider a de facto spouse visa application - recognising the points made in Peter's post though.

Best regards.

Woon K. Choi

If you are on a bridging visa most likely you cannot apply for another visa
in Australia.
If the visa is still valid which you used to have before the application of
independent skilled visa then you can apply for spouse visa.
But it would be hard to persuade the officers to believe that you are in
genuine and continuing relationship with your de facto spouse.
"Jez" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Hi
    > I am waiting for an independent skilled visa (I.T.) to be processed
through
    > DIMA. Would it be possible to change this to a de facto spouse visa (my
    > partner is an Australian), and would it be practical to do so?
    > Thanks for any help / points of view.
    > Jez.

Jaj

Jez
Don't mind the first reply, it's not answering your question at all.

The answers to your questions are:

1. No it's not possible to change a skilled independent application
to a spouse application.

2. A disadvantage of a spouse visa is you normally spend 2 years on a
temporary visa before getting PR. There are numerous implications
from this, including a delay in eligibility for citizenship.

3. Your skilled PR application is in the system and you've nothing to
gain from withdrawing it.

4. There's nothing stopping you lodging a separate spouse visa
application, if you don't mind the additional fee.

5. Your options are, if you want to come to Australia sooner,:

a. If you don't mind re-applying and can afford the application fee,
you can always get a spouse visa. You'll just have to leave Australia
to be granted your (permanent) skilled visa.

b. If you don't want to pay the application fee for a spouse visa
(something like A$1175 if my memory is correct) you'll have to
investigate other temporary visa options (457 visa, working holiday
visa etc).

In either case you're looking at a trip to Singapore or NZ to get your
skilled PR visa. Also, it's very important that the people dealing
with your temporary visa application (spouse or otherwise) know
there's a permanent application already in the system. Your skilled
PR case officer needs to know about any temporary visas you apply for
plus any trips to Australia.

6. What strategy you go for depends on when you applied for skilled,
and where would you be applying for a spouse visa (London are fairly
quick with these by all accounts, if documentation is complete).

Jeremy

    >On Thu, 28 Nov 2002 23:12:07 +1100, "Woon K. Choi" wrote:
    >If you are on a bridging visa most likely you cannot apply for another visa
    >in Australia.
    >If the visa is still valid which you used to have before the application of
    >independent skilled visa then you can apply for spouse visa.
    >But it would be hard to persuade the officers to believe that you are in
    >genuine and continuing relationship with your de facto spouse.

    >"Jez" wrote in message
    >news:[email protected]...
    >> Hi
    >> I am waiting for an independent skilled visa (I.T.) to be processed
    >through
    >> DIMA. Would it be possible to change this to a de facto spouse visa (my
    >> partner is an Australian), and would it be practical to do so?
    >> Thanks for any help / points of view.
    >> Jez.

This is not intended to be legal advice in any jurisdiction

Peter

1) A skilled visa application cannot be "switched" to a family
(spouse) visa application. You will have to lodge a brand new
application if you wish, which is perfectly legal.

2) A spouse visa starts off with a 2-year temporary visa. After the 2
years are up, you get your permanent visa if your relationship is
still ongoing. Otherwise, it'll be looked at by DIMIA to determine
your case.

3) A skilled visa is permanent from the time your visa is granted.
i.e. no 2-year temporary visa.

4) A spouse visa may take months, while a skilled visa may take a year
+. If you're already in the queue for a skilled visa, it makes sense
for you to wait a little longer (depending if you applied to AHC
London or APSC)


Peter

P.S. I posted this a few days ago, via BritishExpats.com, but it never
got filtered to Usenet, so I'm "reposting" it.


"Jez" wrote in message news:...
    > Hi
    > I am waiting for an independent skilled visa (I.T.) to be processed through
    > DIMA. Would it be possible to change this to a de facto spouse visa (my
    > partner is an Australian), and would it be practical to do so?
    > Thanks for any help / points of view.
    > Jez.