cyclemark

Anyone have any experience of this scenario?

Wife & I moved to Aus from UK in 2002, but then moved to Switzerland in 2005, where we still are. I got myself citizenship, but my wife was a couple of years behind on permanent residency because she was sponsored by myself. So her permanent residency expires March 2009.

We plan to return to Aus, but for financial reasons(aka low Swiss tax) it would be better if this was later(ie after March 2009 rather than before) In which case my guess is my wife would have to re-apply for permanent residency, presumably being sponsored again by myself.

I guess the visa people might take a somewhat dim view of us having to do this, so is there a danger that she would not be able to get a pr visa again?
Also bearing in mind that we have two daughters, one born in Aus, one born here, who both have Australian passports. Along with their Dad! Poor Mum is the odd one out.

Any recommendations from anyone?

Cheers!

GaryVFR8s_Wife

Not 100% sure of the Australian Governments view on the fact that your wife had PR previously and allowed it to lapse. But would have thought with you being an Australian Citizen you'd have every right to apply for a spouse visa for her, as you did previously.

It might be worth maybe emailing an immigration agent or someone in that sort of field and see if they know of any rules that might disallow your wife to re-apply?

Sorry this isn't very informative, but would be interested in finding out how you get on.

pomref

Dont stress ,all she needs to do is apply for a RRV Resendent Return Visa as she is all ready a PR It was $120AUD but it might have gone up a bit now, Just explain on the form her close ties to AUS ie your a family unit coming back home to AUS , I would also do it now before her visa expires at the embassy in Switzland and she will be given im sure 5 years RRV Pr visa.

JAJ

With Australian citizen spouse and dependent children ("substantial ties to Australia"), and an absence of less than 5 years, there should be no problem getting an RRV under current law.
http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms.pdf/968i.pdf

The Australian Embassy in Berlin deals with visa issues for Switzerland. Cost is still A$120.

Has your wife thought about applying for Australian citizenship under the new section 22(9) of the Citizenship Act as she may well be eligible.

cyclemark

Thanks for this, had not thought of the citizenship option so wil investigate further.

The RRV looks possible, only catch I can see is that for the 3 years we were in Australia, my wife was on a PR visa for only half of that time. For the other half it was the 'temporary' spouse visa. Therefore I am not 100% certain she will meet the requirement to have lives in Aus for 2 yrs out of the previous 5 yrs.

Thanks again!

JAJ

Once again. If you read form 968i you will see that the requirement for a 5 year basis is either 2 years physical presence as a permanent resident or "substantial ties".

Not both. It's not clear to me why this confuses so many people (including a lot of migration agents).

cyclemark

Ah, one little word (either) changes the whole meaning!
Apologies for missing this and thanks again for your help.