# Processing time partner visa from US



## queliwantstogo (Apr 29, 2013)

Hi all,

I just applied for an offshore de facto partner visa (309) in the US about a week and a half ago, and I am lucky enough to have already received a case officer and to have heard back from him.

I was just wondering if anyone else in this forum is from the US and is applying for this visa - or has already had this visa granted? If so, what stage are you at in processing / how long has it taken?

Also, if they request more information from you, do they stop looking at / processing your application until they receive the extra info? How much can this delay processing?


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## MrsMae (Apr 11, 2013)

Welcome to the forum! I hope this is a quick process for you. I applied back in October, received a CO right away and have heard nothing since. I'm at 6 and half months currently. There is a thread on applications sent through the DC office if you search for it. It will give go a good idea on timelines and such. Good luck


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## queliwantstogo (Apr 29, 2013)

MrsMae said:


> Welcome to the forum! I hope this is a quick process for you. I applied back in October, received a CO right away and have heard nothing since. I'm at 6 and half months currently. There is a thread on applications sent through the DC office if you search for it. It will give go a good idea on timelines and such. Good luck


Thank-you so much for the welcome and warm wishes! Best of luck to you too! Are you currently with your partner or have you had to wait separately?


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## MrsMae (Apr 11, 2013)

I am in the US and my husband is back home in Australia. We've been apart for about two years now. It took us a long time to get all of the paperwork together. He comes every few months for about a month or so. We've decided that we are sick of waiting and he's coming to visit in May and I'm going back with him on an ETA if our visa isn't approved by then. I hope you guys at least get to be together during the wait!


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## MrsMae (Apr 11, 2013)

http://www.australiaforum.com/visas-immigration/18542-washington-dc-timeline-bradsterusa.html

Here is the link to the other thread I was talking about!


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## queliwantstogo (Apr 29, 2013)

Thanks so much for the link!


You and your husband must be so strong to have lived apart for 2 years; I hope that your visa is approved before he needs to leave, but i am glad you have a plan of its not. I think you may need to be in the US for your application to be granted, though, so you might look into that - i will see if i can send you the information later today. 

its really unfortunate that these applications take so long to process. If it took a few months, I would understand that, but it simply should not take more than half a year except in extenuating circumstances.

My partner and I aren't together during the waiting process, and we likely won't see each other until our visa is granted. We've been together for almost 3 years, but we have only been in the same place for half of that time. He is still in university in Australia and doesn't get much time off, but I was fortunate enough to have him visit me from December to February on his summer holiday.


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## MrsMae (Apr 11, 2013)

It's hard being apart so long. And yes if I have to go on an ETA I'll have to hop to Bali or something close once my visa is ready for approval. A few people on here have done that as well. I hope we don't have to resort to that, but we'll do it if we have to  I emailed the embassy about our travel plans a couple of weeks ago, so I'm still hoping to hear from my CO before we leave in June. I hope you guys don't have to be apart for too long.


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## jmcd16 (Aug 5, 2012)

You said you already heard back from your case officer?I assume that means you are not talking about the standard acknowledgement email stating your application has been submitted for processing and encouraging you to get medicals/police clearances if you haven't already? What are your case officer's initials? And what did he/she have to say?


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## queliwantstogo (Apr 29, 2013)

jmcd16 said:


> You said you already heard back from your case officer?I assume that means you are not talking about the standard acknowledgement email stating your application has been submitted for processing and encouraging you to get medicals/police clearances if you haven't already? What are your case officer's initials? And what did he/she have to say?


Yeah, I was lucky enough to get the acknowledgement email with my case officer's last name and then to hear from my case officer later that week. -- It wasn't a decision on my visa or anything close, but it was directly from the case officers email address.

I already submitted my US police check and visa medical exam with my initial application. I didn't know that the rules for submitting an AFP were a bit different, though (you have to get an AFP if you have spent 12 months total in Australia, consecutive or not and whether just visiting or not - and that bumped me up to like..,. 375 days there). So that's what the contact was: a formal Request for More Information, saying I'm required to submit an AFP.

Am I allowed to give my case officers name/initials?


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

queliwantstogo said:


> I think you may need to be in the US for your application to be granted, though, so you might look into that - i will see if i can send you the information later today.


As MrsMae said, that's actually not the case. You have to be _offshore_ when your visa is granted, but not necessarily in your country of origin. You apply for a tourist visa, let your case officer for your partner visa know you've applied, and ask that they let you know before visa grant so you can get offshore again. When DIAC lets you know they're about to grant your visa, you can go wherever you want outside of Oz - NZ and Bali are the cheapest options, depending on which side of Oz you're on.

There is a _slight_ risk in doing this. DIAC does not HAVE to let you know before they grant... so theoretically, they _could_ grant it without telling you to get offshore, which would nullify your visa. But as we see more and more people doing it here on the forums (as a result of longer processing times), I have yet to see a case where DIAC did NOT let the person know in time for them to get offshore.


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## jmcd16 (Aug 5, 2012)

It seems that initials are ok. For example, mine's initials are D.N. That appears to be what has been deemed accepteable.


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## queliwantstogo (Apr 29, 2013)

jmcd16 said:


> It seems that initials are ok. For example, mine's initials are D.N. That appears to be what has been deemed accepteable.


Alright, mine is RM


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## queliwantstogo (Apr 29, 2013)

Thanks, Collegegirl, this is cool to know,


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## dg_aussie (Feb 3, 2013)

DC has had our app for 5 months as of today. No word yet, other than the generic email. There is also a US social group you can join.  Good luck and congrats on getting the app in.


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## queliwantstogo (Apr 29, 2013)

Thanks, good luck to you too!!


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## jmcd16 (Aug 5, 2012)

queliwantstogo said:


> Alright, mine is RM


Lucky duck. RM seems to be moving a lot faster than DN. Damn the luck of the draw (at least in my case... celebrate it in yours  )

My AFP only took like 1.5-2 weeks -- which, if I remember correctly, was way less than the time they were saying back then (Aug 2012). Hopefully, I get approved before the dang thing expires. The form is a lot like form 80, so if you filled that out, grab a copy so that they match... and simply for ease.

If you haven't already, you should join the Americans in Australia forum that Bradster put together: http://www.australiaforum.com/groups/americans-australia.html 
There are lots of Americans-to-Oz-specific info/discussions in there.


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## queliwantstogo (Apr 29, 2013)

jmcd16 said:


> Lucky duck. RM seems to be moving a lot faster than DN. Damn the luck of the draw (at least in my case... celebrate it in yours  )
> 
> My AFP only took like 1.5-2 weeks -- which, if I remember correctly, was way less than the time they were saying back then (Aug 2012). Hopefully, I get approved before the dang thing expires. The form is a lot like form 80, so if you filled that out, grab a copy so that they match... and simply for ease...


Thanks for the link, jmcd; I'm subscribed to it now!

Yeah, the AFP website says it can take up to 15 business days to process, so I am hoping I at least have it within the month. (I submitted my AFP app online the very night my case officer sent me the request hehe). I did my visa medical check back when I was in Australia (August 2012 as well) because I didn't realize pulling all the paperwork together once back in the US would take so long, so I am hoping my visa is magically approved before September 2013. Odds are I will have to redo it; but I asked my case officer if she advised I get the ball rolling early and redo now, and she told me not to redo it unless advised in writing. Blah!


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## bashishot (Feb 8, 2013)

We are just about at the 3mo mark. 

I have a question though. Did you all submit AFP's with your application and if so, why? I was under the impression I didn't need to submit one. I'm American, husband is Australian, we are both the parents of our kids and I have only spent 12 weeks total in Australia and my husband has been in the US the rest of the time.


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

bashishot said:


> We are just about at the 3mo mark.
> 
> I have a question though. Did you all submit AFP's with your application and if so, why? I was under the impression I didn't need to submit one. I'm American, husband is Australian, we are both the parents of our kids and I have only spent 12 weeks total in Australia and my husband has been in the US the rest of the time.


You only need an AFP Check from the sponsor if there are minor children involved in the application. You'd need an AFP check from the applicant if he/she has lived in Oz for more than 12 months.

I've never heard of them asking for it under any other circumstances, though of course everything is always at the CO's discretion.


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## bashishot (Feb 8, 2013)

There are minors coming with us (3 and 5) but they have Australian citizenship and passports so I assume we don't need it unless they ask. So they are listed on the application but not included in it


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

bashishot said:


> There are minors coming with us (3 and 5) but they have Australian citizenship and passports so I assume we don't need it unless they ask. So they are listed on the application but not included in it


Right, I think that's different. Those children aren't being sponsored by your partner for this application - they're already citizens. Here's the relevant part of the Partner Migration Booklet, pages 16-17 *in bold*:



> The Australian Government considers that the safety of children is paramount and this is reflected in policies about the sponsorship of minors for visas to enter Australia. *The government wants to ensure that children seeking to enter Australia under partner category and child visas are protected from being sponsored  by people with convictions for child sex offences or other serious offences indicating that they may pose a significant risk to a child in their care.*
> 
> A sponsorship limitation in the Migration Regulations prevents a sponsorship from being approved if one of the proposed applicants is under 18 and the Minister is satisfied that the sponsor has a conviction or outstanding charge for a registrable offence. *Sponsors of partner or prospective marriage visa applications which include an applicant aged under 18 years, are required to provide an Australian Federal Police (AFP) National Police Check* and/or foreign police certificate(s) as part of the process of assessing the application. The results of the police certificate(s) are used by the department to assess the sponsorship application and whether or not the visa application satisfies public interest criteria relating to the best interests of the children.


Your kids aren't applicants, nor are they being sponsored in this application, so this wouldn't apply to them.


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## bashishot (Feb 8, 2013)

Thanks CG! Reading these threads sometimes makes me think I forgot a bunch of stuff in my application!

P.S. Loved reading your blog. You are an excellent writer!


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

bashishot said:


> Thanks CG! Reading these threads sometimes makes me think I forgot a bunch of stuff in my application!
> 
> P.S. Loved reading your blog. You are an excellent writer!


Thank you SO much! That is SO SWEET.


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## bashishot (Feb 8, 2013)

I mostly loved your Little Prince reference but I won't stray off topic anymore haha


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

Man, if you saw that, you read pretty far back!  I was hesitant to post it here because people can be judgmental about appearances, etc., and some of it is pretty personal... but if DIAC found it and figured out who I was, I'd actually be HAPPY, because it's just more evidence that we're genuine! In fact, might have been smart to link to it somewhere in our application... oh well.


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## bashishot (Feb 8, 2013)

Haha boredom one night plus a love story...it was like reading a book! You guys have a great story! Just know that not everyone judges on appearances. If everyone did, no one would get anywhere in the world!


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## queliwantstogo (Apr 29, 2013)

CollegeGirl said:


> You'd need an AFP check from the applicant if he/she has lived in Oz for more than 12 months...


This is where I was caught. The applicant needs an AFP if he/she has *spent* more than 12 months in Australia total in the last 10 years. This time spent in Australia does not have to have all been consecutive and it does include short visits, even if you weren't technically living there (I.e. tourist visits).

They should really make more of a point of that on the immigration website.


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## bradsterusa (Oct 24, 2012)

bashishot said:


> Thanks CG! Reading these threads sometimes makes me think I forgot a bunch of stuff in my application!
> 
> P.S. Loved reading your blog. You are an excellent writer!


I Felt the same way, but I think sometimes we are more hard on ourselves application wise, after reading the forums then immigration might be!


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## queliwantstogo (Apr 29, 2013)

bashishot said:


> Thanks CG! Reading these threads sometimes makes me think I forgot a bunch of stuff in my application!
> 
> P.S. Loved reading your blog. You are an excellent writer!


I worry about not having provided enough information with my application too. - especially in terms of evidence of the relationship

I am applying for the partner visa based on having a de facto relationship with my partner. I lived in australia with my partner for just under 12 months, but we registered our relationship with the NSW Registry of Births and Deaths and submitted that certification with our visa application - so that we may have the 1-year relationship requirement waived.

The thing is - because I was there on a work and holiday visa (meaning I had work restrictions and couldn't make a lot of money) and my partner is in University and not working, we lived out of one bedroom in his parents' house rather than having our own place together and used his mum's old car rather than buying a car of our own together. So we don't have a lease with our name on it or car insurance taken out together or anything.

With our application, we both wrote our stat dec's - and mine was about 8 pages long. We provided our 2 supporting dec's - one from a mutual friend, who was there when we met for the first time, and one from my partner's mum. And I provided about 20 cards total - some from him to me, some from me to him, some from our families to the other partner, and a few addressed to both of us at the same address. I also provided a small flat photo book that I made for each of us as an anniversary gift. We also opened a joint account together about halfway into my trip to Australia and started using it to pay for groceries, dinners, trips to the movies, and a few activities we participated in together on trips. So I provided a few bank statements showing those transactions.

I didn't know that I was meant to supply dinner receipts, movie ticket stubs, and stuff like that, though. I am really worried we don't have enough physical evidence to prove the validity of our relationship.


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