# Offshore vs Onshore partner visa?!? Please help?



## mzanin (Aug 26, 2011)

Hey people, I'm an Australian and just got married to my Indonesian girlfriend of 3 years last month in Bali.

I just started looking into the visa application and we're totally frustrated with the situation:

Basically it will take roughly *12* months for the partner visa to be granted  This means as it stands we will have to do long distance for *12* months until she is able to come here (she is currently living in Indonesia). 
We both agree that this is far too long so we are looking at our options.

1. She still applies for the partner visa *OFFSHORE *and also applies for a working holiday visa and if granted comes here for 12 months until partner visa is granted.

2. She applies for the working holiday visa *FIRST *and if granted with no "No further stay condition" comes here and applies for the partner visa *ONSHORE*.

3. She applies for the working holiday visa and if granted with a "No further stay condition" applies for the partner visa *OFFSHORE *and then comes here.

4. We both move to either Singapore (she can do a company transfer there), or Switzerland (I'm dual citizen) and we live there and won't have to deal with this ridiculous visa situation.

Basically is it OK for her to come here on a working holiday visa and apply for partner visa while inside Australia OR is it better for her to apply for partner visa in Indonesia and come here on a working holiday visa and wait?

Taking into account the waiting time, if she could be here within 3 months time that would be more than desirable.

P.S. We are going to try to get the permanent residency (and skip the temporary visa) straight away since we've been in a relationship for almost 4 years.

Please any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


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## aussiegirl (Dec 15, 2009)

If you want to be together while the partner visa is being processed (if she applied offshore) she could still come over and visit you on a tourist visa. But, of course it will have a NFS condition, and she would have to go back out of Australia to wait for the partner visa to be granted.

The best option you gave above, in my view, would be apply for the WHV and apply onshore for the partner visa. It doesn't make sense to apply for the partner visa and then the WHV since that would confuse DIAC: why do you now want a WHV when you have applied for a partner visa? It could also cancel your partner visa if the WHV were granted. Not a hundred percent on that, but I've heard something like that from somewhere.


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## Mari (Jun 15, 2011)

Hi there, 
First of all - congratulations on getting married 
now to visa stuff - if your wife gets a visa with a NO FURTHER STAY you will not be able to apply onshore, NFS means that while you are on that visa you can't apply for ANY other visa onshore. 
the 12 month thing is just a *time **assessment*, basically they tell you the max time it MIGHT take, it might take much less, especially if you have a "decision ready app" - meaning you got all the paper work done properly. 
also - she can come here to visit once you submit the partner app ofshore, you just have to make sure your CO knows of it so they can tell her when to get out of OZ because partner visa is about to be granted. 
good luck!


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## mzanin (Aug 26, 2011)

Cheers for the quick replies ,

So aussiegirl reckons that it's best to apply for a working holiday visa first. 
The problem is that if it has a NO FURTHER STAY condition then she couldn't apply while in Australia. So that would then become useless for us. What determines if a visa gets a NFS? So there's quite a bit of risk (and potential money wasted) involved here.

Mari reckons it's best to apply offshore, and wait the partner visa to be granted.
We asked the immigration and they said the *average* processing time is 12 months not including the time taken to get the paperwork done. 
So I'm looking at roughly *September next year* before she can come to Australia. We have already been through long periods of long distance and one of the reasons for getting married was to settle down. She's working over there now and only has about 12 days leave per year so a holiday visa wouldn't be good enough.

Both of these situations are looking pretty grim. If I have to do long distance for 12 months then I may as well get divorced now.


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## Mari (Jun 15, 2011)

mzanin said:


> Cheers for the quick replies ,
> 
> So aussiegirl reckons that it's best to apply for a working holiday visa first.
> The problem is that if it has a NO FURTHER STAY condition then she couldn't apply while in Australia. So that would then become useless for us. What determines if a visa gets a NFS? So there's quite a bit of risk (and potential money wasted) involved here.
> ...


Look mate, don't be so discouraged, trust me I feel your pain, I came to OZ on a tourist visa to be with my GF, we wanted to apply onshore, so you can imagine the state I was in when I saw the NFS on my visa, and I did everything to make sure I don't get it - plenty of funds, letter from bank, you name it I had it, so now I will be leaving OZ in 2 months and lodging my de facto visa app offshore, plus, my GF was sponsored herself in July 2007, so we can only apply in July 2012, and not a day sooner, she will come to visit me, but she's a full time student, so it will only be for a month or so during Uni break, and, since we are a same sex couple we can't even get married, like you and your GF, we got registered in NSW, but it's not exactly the dream wedding we would love to have and can't. 
so cheer up dude! trust me you could have it harder than this, no reason to throw words like "divorce" around. 
but that's just my 2 cents.


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## mzanin (Aug 26, 2011)

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm sorry to hear that you're going through a similar (or even worse) situation. It doesn't sound encouraging about trying to prevent a NFS then 

I'm just trying to figure out what the best possible option is without having to spend too much time apart. 

It really would be ironic if I ended up having to quit my job and move overseas for that to happen


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## Mari (Jun 15, 2011)

I don't actually know if they put NFS on WHV, I think It's worth to ask that on the forum, is there even a possibility to get a WHV from Malaysia? I never herd of anyone having a WHV with that condition on it, I think it's worth posting a new thread to find out  anyway, tourist visa is not a good option for you.


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## SarahM (Feb 8, 2011)

I don't think WHVs come with NFS conditions because:
1. Some people from certain countries are eligible for a 2nd year, and
2. WHVs already have restrictions on extending your stay with a tourist visa (it's not allowed) - so there are not a lot of visas that can be applied for on a WHV (partner visas are obviously allowed)

Malaysia is eligible for the WHV:
Visa Options - Working Holiday - Visas & Immigration
However it's not eligible for a 2nd year WHV, but who cares about that


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## mzanin (Aug 26, 2011)

SarahM said:


> I don't think WHVs come with NFS conditions because:
> 1. Some people from certain countries are eligible for a 2nd year, and
> 2. WHVs already have restrictions on extending your stay with a tourist visa (it's not allowed) - so there are not a lot of visas that can be applied for on a WHV (partner visas are obviously allowed)
> 
> ...


Thanks for the information. So you're saying that WHV don't come with a NFS condition? I called the immigration last Friday and they seemed to think that it did. But then again I've called them a few times and each time they've given me contradicting information.

Then again it could be because I was asking for a *Working Holiday Visa* not a *Work and Holiday Visa*. (They are two different visas).
There is a clause at the bottom of the page that says:


> Note: Most countries under this visa program have a limit on the number of Work and Holiday visas issued per year.


What can my wife do to guarantee or at least improve her chances of coming over here on the WHV?

Also I want to be sure that there are absolutely no risks involved in applying for this visa after she's already applied for the partner visa.
I still think it's safest if she applies for the partner visa offshore and comes here on the WHV afterwards (in which case it doesn't matter if she gets a NFS because she's already applied for another visa). Does this make sense, or does applying for a partner visa onshore after she gets the WHV still a better way to go?

If all else fails then I'm afraid I'll have to move overseas for a while until the visa is granted.


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## dan (May 16, 2011)

get a WHV and then apply onshore.. in sydney if you can... a few people on this forum (sarah M, ms totti) have had their 802 fiance visas approved in a matter of a week. there is no guarantee you will have it approved in this timeframe, but i reckon it is the best option. the 802 should hopefully be approved by the time the WHV is up anyway.

i sympathise with how you are feeling... my partner has had enough waiting and has just had a tourist visa approved.. she will be here in 10 days and we can't wait to be together again. unfortunately she can't work.... but it's better than nothing.


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## mzanin (Aug 26, 2011)

Upon closer inspection the Work and Holiday visa can get a no further stay put on it so I'm not going to risk it. 

I would love for my partner to apply inside Australia but if she gets a no further stay then there's nothing we can do 

I think it's rubbish that the Australian government are making it so hard (and long) for even a married couple to get a visa. It's completely ridiculous. 
They could at least give the applicant a temporary holiday visa while the partner visa is being processed. 
It's not like Australia is running out of room anytime soon...


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## missmullen (Jun 9, 2011)

Hi mzanin,

I understand your frustration but there is no point in getting upset over it, the rules are there for a reason and unfortunately it's just something you're just going to have to accept. 

Also there is actually nothing to stop you applying for a Tourist visa while you're Partner visa is in the system, you would just need to let your CO know as you need to be out of the country at the time of the grant.


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## homeboy0312 (Jun 24, 2011)

Hi there,

Not sure if you have thought of this... and not sure whether this works at all, but worth a shot...

How about if your Indonesian wife applies for WHV, goes to Australia, and if she gets a NFS on her WHV, apply for the partner visa offshore in Indonesia but she could still go in and out of Australia as she wants... but just make sure the CO is notified that she would be in Australia and please inform you guys when the visa is granted so that she can leave on time...

I believe there's always a way out.. stay positive!


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## dan (May 16, 2011)

i sympathise with you... we are all going through the same thing mate. it sucks.



mzanin said:


> Upon closer inspection the Work and Holiday visa can get a no further stay put on it so I'm not going to risk it.


risk what??

the way i see it is this:

#1 apply for WHV visa, grants your missus 12mo in australia
#2 arrive in australia, apply for 802 (onshore) visa in sydney
#3 if you are lucky the 802 visa gets approved within days (like has happened for sarahM, ms totti and others on this forum) and you are good
#4 if you are unlucky, your 802 visa takes 11mo to process and you are good
#5 if you are really unlucky your 802 visa takes 15mo to process. before your 12mo WHV is up you apply for a tourist visa and your partner can stay in australia but not work. worst comes to worst, you have to take a cheap flight to new zealand.

this situation is not ideal, but consider yourself lucky. if your partner was swiss then she couldn't get a WHV visa and the situation would be way way way more complicated.


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## missmullen (Jun 9, 2011)

dan said:


> i sympathise with you... we are all going through the same thing mate. it sucks.
> 
> risk what??
> 
> ...


Hi Dan,

I think that by "risk it", the OP meant that if a No Further Stay condition gets placed on the WHV, then none of those onshore visa application options you've outlined would be possible...


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## SarahM (Feb 8, 2011)

I'm not making any guarantees here, but a *first year* working holiday visa, in my opinion, would not come with a no further stay condition.

Why put a no further stay condition on a visa that _already_ restricts you from extending your stay with a tourist visa? You can't apply for many visas on a WHV, a partner visa is possible, so no further stay conditions aren't (I haven't seen any) imposed, because the visa applicants have no choice but to leave.

That's just what I think, I would be more worried about tourist visas coming with the condition, but I doubt it would happen on a WHV.


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## dan (May 16, 2011)

so if the WHV has a "no further stay" on it you leave the country at the end of 12mo, fly to new zealand, have a look around, then fly back to australia and auto-magically get granted a 3mo tourist visa?


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## SarahM (Feb 8, 2011)

dan said:


> so if the WHV has a "no further stay" on it you leave the country at the end of 12mo, fly to new zealand, have a look around, then fly back to australia and auto-magically get granted a 3mo tourist visa?


They look out for people doing this, they'll obviously suspect anyone who seems to want to remain in Australia after spending a year there.
New Zealand is also strict about people using it as a back door to Australia, and will deny people entry if they think they are.

Still, I don't guarantee anything!!


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## dan (May 16, 2011)

hmmm, fair point sarah
i guess after 1yr your partner will probably want to visit her friends/family/etc in indonesia.. so go home for a week or two... maybe apply for an e-visitor visa before returning if you are worried?

i think this is pretty low risk tho.. if you apply onshore and have a complete frontloaded application it seems you are a 90% chance of getting an approval within 12mo.


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## mzanin (Aug 26, 2011)

Ah crap sorry guys, why wasn't I notified that more people commented on this post... Anyway thanks for the replies.



SarahM said:


> I'm not making any guarantees here, but a *first year* working holiday visa, in my opinion, would not come with a no further stay condition.
> 
> Why put a no further stay condition on a visa that _already_ restricts you from extending your stay with a tourist visa? You can't apply for many visas on a WHV, a partner visa is possible, so no further stay conditions aren't (I haven't seen any) imposed, because the visa applicants have no choice but to leave.
> 
> That's just what I think, I would be more worried about tourist visas coming with the condition, but I doubt it would happen on a WHV.


Unfortunately I checked, double checked and possibly even triple checked this with immigration and the WHV can still get a "no further stay"...

So, my wife is going to submit her spouse visa application next week in Indonesia, and then apply for her WHV.

This means that it doesn't matter if she gets a "no further stay".

Does anyone see anything wrong with applying offshore and then coming to Australia on a WHV?

For dan:



dan said:


> so if the WHV has a "no further stay" on it you leave the country at the end of 12mo, fly to new zealand, have a look around, then fly back to australia and auto-magically get granted a 3mo tourist visa?


A "no further stay" means she CANNOT apply for any other visa regardless. So it would prevent her from applying for the spouse visa inside australia.


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