Ayshe Francis Posted January 8, 2014 Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 Hi, I'm trying to find out if I can apply for an onshore partner visa whilst I am in Australia on a ETA visitor visa? My husband has PR visa. We've been together nearly 10 years and married nearly 5 years. We have 2 kids together. The reason I wasn't included in my husbands initial application for his visa is because I was serving in the British Army and wasn't in receipt of a discharge certificate. Anyway when I went on maternity leave with our last child we all came over to Perth so we could spend time together as a family. I've therefore just technically been on holiday in Perth but my maternity leave finishes soon and I will then receive my discharge certificate and be eligible to apply for my partner visa. However I don't want to go back to the UK without my husband and elder son to apply offshore. Can I apply for an onshore partner visa whilst I'm on a ETA visitor visa? Any help or advice? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lou8670 Posted January 8, 2014 Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 Nightmare! I have a funny feeling you won't be able to stay and will have to leave Australia to apply but I don't have any experience of this to be able to give you any indication as to whether this would likely be the case. I would suggest speaking to a migration agent for some advice. Good luck! Lou Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy little Vegemite Posted January 8, 2014 Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 Unless your visa has a 'no further stay' condition on it then I think the answer is yes, you can apply onshore and will be granted a bridging visa once your tourist visa expires. The only problem is that I think you will have the same work conditions as the visa you entered on, ie. no work rights, until your partner visa is granted, which I think is taking around 12 months for an onshore application. Since you've got a little one this might not be a problem for you if you were planning on being a stay at home mum for a while? Also I think the onshore visa costs more than the offshore, but being together as a family probably outweighs the price difference, and offshore visas are taking 8-9 months so you wouldn't get it much quicker if you applied offshore either. Your case sounds pretty straight forward to me really and I wouldn't think an agent was needed to progress your application, but their initial advice to make sure that you can apply would probably be handy! We are 6.5 months into waiting for my partners offshore visa to be granted before moving over in a few months, sometimes it seems forever and sometimes it seems to have gone really quickly! Good luck, Cath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayshe Francis Posted January 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 Thanks for your responses. It's all good, I spoke to immi and have been told that I can apply onshore and I can work once my current visa expires and my bridging visa would kick in the following day! The cost is what it is. More expensive to do it onshore but not as expensive as doing it offshore and adding the cost of a return flight into it! Difference is it could be up to 3 years before me and the baby get permanent residency which would mean we'd not be able to get citizenship for about 8 years. Seems strange that my hubby and eldest son will be going for citizenship about the same time I get PR status! Still at least we'll be together! Thanks again for responses! x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy little Vegemite Posted January 11, 2014 Report Share Posted January 11, 2014 Excellent, that's great news! I don't want to get your hopes up unnecessarily but I think that because you have been married with children for over two years, you will skip over the two year temporary bit and get PR straight away. The next bit I'm not quite so sure about, someone else might have more of an idea, but I think your time in Oz from when you arrived on a tourist visa will count towards the residency requirements for applying for citizenship, so you might not have as long to wait as you think. Good luck getting all of your evidence together for your application, it was a nice little trip down memory lane for us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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