AussieDiva

Hello there everyone! This is my first post so be gentle with me

I am an Aussie who has finally given up on life in London after 13 years - my hubby and I have decided to make the move back to Oz with our two girls, 4 and 7 months...

As I am still a citizen I have no probs, but I have to get a spouse visa for my OH (and include the girls on the form) - does anyone out there have an experience of how long these take to be approved? We are desperate to get out there and ideally want to be gone by the beginning of April 09. Is this totally unrealistic?

Thanks!

Nat

SillyOldBag

Its not at all unrealistic. If you start gathering all your paperwork now and get your medicals done for your husband and your girls and the police check on your husband, spouse visas seem to be processed very quickly by the AHC in London. My prospective spouse visa which was fully front-loaded with medicals/police report was approved in 2 weeks from submission to grant. Some take slightly longer but with you having been together for so long and with 2 kids, provided there are no police or health issues then you should be well away by April.

There are plenty of us around who have been through or are going through the process so if you have any questions then I'm sure you'll get plenty of good advice here!

Good luck with it all

goldchoccycoin

Surely your girls are Aussie Citizens - so they just need passports. Only your hubby needs a visa. Good luck.

AussieDiva

Unfortunately not - they were both born here so they are British citizens who are entitled to Aussie citizenship but do not automatically get it - they still have to go through the application just like my OH. Rubbish I know.

To add to insult, I have to sort out my own British citizenship at the same time - my mum was a Brit so I have Right of Abode, but having lived here 13 years and married a Brit I am entitled to either Citizenship by Descent through mum, or through naturalisation - through mum is HALF the price, but I don't get to automatically pass it on to any further kids I have away from the UK...whereas if I get naturalised I DO. This is probably going to take WAAAAY longer than my hubby's Aussie visa no doubt, but I am hoping it can take place even if I am away from the UK, although I dont know this for sure...


Nat

OzSheila

Yes, we had to do the same. OH and I are both Aussies who had been in the UK for 14 years. We had to apply for our 3 English born children's "Australian Citizenship by Descent". Now that we have been back in Oz for 3 years they, I believe, have become "full" Australian citizens. Talk about a joke!

AussieDiva

I know - congrats on the move back tho - you're in Melbourne? That's where I'm from originally, you too? Perhaps I should start another thread "Expat Aussies finally returning home?"...not sure if that really fits into BE?? Sometimes I feel more British than Australian, you know? I left Oz when I was 21, so I've spent my entire adult life in the UK...

AussieDiva

Thanks so much for your post - thinking we could be out there in January for my birthday now!!!!!! Whooohoooooooo!!!!! Barbies, the tennis, F1....

itigo

Hi

I am the one applying for a spouse visa as hubby is the Australian. We too are going for the beginning of April 2009 and I haven't sent my application in yet - nearly finished.

We are just applying for our 3 month old's Aus citizenship and passport (4 year old already has it and a passport) and his British passport then we are good to go! Can't wait. Into rented this week - becoming very real now.

My DH got his British citizenship in August - it is a kerfuffle with the test etc. He's just had his passport interview but is worried as he couldn't remember some info and felt he was being interrogated! He is him though so he should be fine!

Good luck with the application.....

Itigo

slipshot

Don't get that. If you are Australian and your husband British, and the kids were born here, you can apply for Australian citizenship because of you being the mother as an Australian citizen, then apply for the passport.

I'm English, Mrs is Aus, we're not married and having had three kids, in 2004, 2006 and 2008, all of them have full Australian passports and full citizenship. The younger two have British passports as well - the oldest does not as the laws were different in 2004. All were born in the UK.

Thus maybe there is another reason?

AussieDiva

Hmmm, I think I may have misunderstood the conditions of the spouse visa thing - basically my OH is guaranteed Australian citizenship but we have to go through the citizenship hoops first so we thought we should probably include the girls on his app just to get everything all on the same track...do you think instead it would be better to just apply for the girls' citizenship separately?

Obviously I need to sort the citizenship before I can get their passports...

rrichards50

I agree. I had mine fully packaged. Sent it special delivery on the Friday to get there Monday and had an email of approval on the Wednesday for my defacto spouse.

AussieDiva

Ok just checked and there seems to be a very easy form for the two girls to get citizenship on their own terms - may be easier to just do theirs separately. I figure if I lodge all three applications together in person at Australia House, then I can cover the certification of the docs at the same time. Has anyone tried this?

AussieDiva

Also - does anyone know how long a spouse has to live in Australia under a permanent spouse visa before they can apply for a passport?

Thanks for all the great replies so far!

slipshot

You are correct - ti is a very easy form if you have the right birth certificates etc, and it normally comes back within a week. Then, you just do the longer thing of applying for a passport for them which does require a visit to the embassy in London.

A pain, but the upside is that they then have Australian passports for the rest of their lives and thus no longer have to worry about visa and the like...

It's probably cheaper to get the passports as well...

James516

http://www.citizenship.gov.au/applying/spouses.htm
From DIAC.

Sounds like your husband will most likely get a 100 visa straight away (how long have you been married?), so it will be 4 years living in Oz for him.