# Partner Visa - Moscow Waiting Room



## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

Hi All,

I just wanted to start a post for those waiting for Partner Visas from Moscow.
Please share any info or experiences you are having.

My wife and I lodged our partner visa at the Moscow embassy in June, still now word, and we are expecting a 10-14 month wait.

Someone has set up a useful google doc tracking the status of partner visa applications in Moscow, so please add your info here too if you are applying through Moscow. It seems like visa being granted at the moment were lodged about 9-10 months ago. And there is also a bit of surge in applications around June 2015 due to the increase in the visa application charge. Here's the link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gZiaeJgmKeXTAei7iwDzWQENuMlmZd5Cf7Hj4Tdyhu0/edit#gid=0


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## Soviet_Koala (Jun 21, 2015)

Thanks for sharing the tracking document. We added our details. Also for June 2015. 

Will keep this thread updated.


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## Michael81 (Aug 20, 2015)

Hi Guys,
We are soon to submit a Partner Visa 309 for my wife who is Russian, we have a Australian Born son who is with her while the visa is processed offshore so im interested if any of you have applied for a Visitor visa and if it was successful?


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## ampk (Sep 21, 2013)

On 3 Sep 2014 we received while waiting for PMV, a Visitor Visa for my now wife and her 2 children.

We asked for 6 month multi entry visa but given 12 months multi entry from 3 Sep 2014, it also did not have a No Further Stay condition an we did not need to leave the country every 3 months as some people have to. 

We had before PMV application 6 Visitor Visa's refused by Moscow, and the only way we could get a Visitor Visa was to leave a kid behind.


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

ampk said:


> On 3 Sep 2014 we received while waiting for PMV, a Visitor Visa for my now wife and her 2 children.
> 
> We asked for 6 month multi entry visa but given 12 months multi entry from 3 Sep 2014, it also did not have a No Further Stay condition an we did not need to leave the country every 3 months as some people have to.
> 
> We had before PMV application 6 Visitor Visa's refused by Moscow, and the only way we could get a Visitor Visa was to leave a kid behind.


That is great you got a visitor visa after so many attempts!! How is your PMV going?

My wife has been refused a visitor visa by Moscow three times, but we have been able to get a sponsored visitor visa on two occasions now, valid for a month each.


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## ampk (Sep 21, 2013)

PMV was granted early 2015, we are married and have partner visa now.

Is only 2 attempts as kids are also a visa now days. So we applied 3 visas (rejected), 3 again (rejected) then 2 visas approved, then 3 VISA FOR A PMV???!!!!! and then 3 Visitor again (approved).


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## Michael81 (Aug 20, 2015)

Hi there,
I thought that visitor visa are 3,6 and 12 month
How can they say 1 month? Seems unfair


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## ampk (Sep 21, 2013)

When did you apply for rejected Visitor Visas? Before or after Partner application.

Had your partner been to Australia before?


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

ampk said:


> When did you apply for rejected Visitor Visas? Before or after Partner application.
> 
> Had your partner been to Australia before?


We've had 3 refusals from Moscow embassy. First before lodging the partner visa, 2nd after lodging partner visa and being married and the 3rd was following my partners visit to Australia on a sponsored tourist visa.

She has been granted two sponsored tourist visas, we only asked for a one month stay so this is what they gave us on both occasions. We applied for the sponsored visa after the 2nd and 3rd refusals from Moscow. When they granted her sponsored visa they didn't require a bond, I assuming because we only asked for one month stay.


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## andreyx108b (Mar 7, 2015)

Yerevanits said:


> Hi All,
> 
> I just wanted to start a post for those waiting for Partner Visas from Moscow.
> Please share any info or experiences you are having.
> ...


Guys there is a tracker here for partner visa. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

hope it will be of any use for u...


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## Michael81 (Aug 20, 2015)

Hi Yerevanits,

I would like to apply for a 6 month visitor visa

With your experience would you recommend going for a tourist visa or family sponsored visa?

It's rather confusing which type to apply for &#55358;&#56596;


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

Michael81 said:


> Hi Yerevanits,
> 
> I would like to apply for a 6 month visitor visa
> 
> ...


Hi Michael,

If you want a 6 month visa you'd have to go for the sponsored visa (as far as I am aware the ordinary e600 visa is valid for a year but only has stays of 90 days at a time). You will most likely have to pay a bond if you want a six month visa (this is $5k - $15k depending on your risk). Perhaps you can survive with the multi-entry tourist visa with 90 days stay? If you think you can make this work then go for it, if you get rejected you can then go for the sponsored visa. Our experience with the sponsored visa was pretty straightforward, but we only asked for one month stay and they didn't require a security bond. Let us know what you decide and how you go.


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## Michael81 (Aug 20, 2015)

Yerevanits said:


> Hi Michael,
> 
> If you want a 6 month visa you'd have to go for the sponsored visa (as far as I am aware the ordinary e600 visa is valid for a year but only has stays of 90 days at a time). You will most likely have to pay a bond if you want a six month visa (this is $5k - $15k depending on your risk). Perhaps you can survive with the multi-entry tourist visa with 90 days stay? If you think you can make this work then go for it, if you get rejected you can then go for the sponsored visa. Our experience with the sponsored visa was pretty straightforward, but we only asked for one month stay and they didn't require a security bond. Let us know what you decide and how you go.


Hi Yerevanits,

That's great thank you for your advise regarding Visitor Visa, I think we will try for the sponsored Visa but will not apply till next month for her to visit in May or June for hopefully up to 6 months.


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## Michael81 (Aug 20, 2015)

So its been a week now since I applied online for my wife's 309/100 partner visa, The application status was updated to received the same day I applied which was positive, took me longer then I expected to fill the online application almost 5 hours straight, then took me a few more days to scan and upload my evidence. As she was in Australia for the past 8 months we done her medical check and police reports while she was here mainly for convenience as she lives far from Moscow and she is looking after our 3 month old Australian Born son.

I'm now making arrangements to visit them in April so now need to start looking at a visa for myself to enter Russia, I've also started a Russian Language course to learn some basic skills so I can communicate with her family. 

Hoping the partner visa will come through asap so I can have my family back in Aus 

Good luck to everyone


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

Good luck Michael, if you want you can add your name to this spreadsheet for tracking the progress of applications in Moscow
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gZiaeJgmKeXTAei7iwDzWQENuMlmZd5Cf7Hj4Tdyhu0/edit#gid=0
What kind of visa was your wife on in Australia? Perhaps this will make it easier for your tourist visa applications.


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## Michael81 (Aug 20, 2015)

Yerevanits said:


> Good luck Michael, if you want you can add your name to this spreadsheet for tracking the progress of applications in Moscow
> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gZiaeJgmKeXTAei7iwDzWQENuMlmZd5Cf7Hj4Tdyhu0/edit#gid=0
> What kind of visa was your wife on in Australia? Perhaps this will make it easier for your tourist visa applications.


Hi Yerevanits,

Yes thanks for that its a great spread sheet and I have added her to the list already. She has been to Australia 3 times now, first was a student visa and the other 2 were visitor visa's.


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

Michael81 said:


> Hi Yerevanits,
> 
> Yes thanks for that its a great spread sheet and I have added her to the list already. She has been to Australia 3 times now, first was a student visa and the other 2 were visitor visa's.


That's great, I guess she had an 8503 No Further Stay condition on her tourist visa otherwise she would've stayed?

We're now in month 6 of waiting and no sign of progress yet, we are hoping her partner visa will come in the 10-12 month timeframe. I'll be going to live in Armenia for about 4-5 months from February


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## Michael81 (Aug 20, 2015)

Yerevanits said:


> That's great, I guess she had an 8503 No Further Stay condition on her tourist visa otherwise she would've stayed?
> 
> We're now in month 6 of waiting and no sign of progress yet, we are hoping her partner visa will come in the 10-12 month timeframe. I'll be going to live in Armenia for about 4-5 months from February


Yes that's correct she had the 8503 condition,

Frustrating to be waiting so long with no sign of progress but surely you must be getting close to getting a case officer please keep us updated of your progress 

Did you do online application?


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

If any Australian is currently living overseas with their partner, a good way to get an extra piece of evidence to confirm this is to enrol as an overseas elector with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). 

I just did this as my wife and I will be living together overseas until her visa is decided. The AEC added my name to the overseas electors roll and sent me an email with a pdf copy of the confirmation letter addressed to our Armenian residence.

One little piece of evidence won't change the outcome but every little bit helps!


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

we've done our partner visa and visitor visa - CO for partner visa assigned and requested form 80 so far

does anyone know how strict they are with form 80s? Only because, one business my husband worked for closed down, so he couldn't get in touch with them, so wondering if that will seem suspicious or something? We did state that the business has closed down.


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## Maggie-May24 (Jul 24, 2011)

On form 80 he simply provides the name and address of the employer, plus (I think) his job job title. So the fact that the company has shut down wouldn't matter. A lot of companies shut down.


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## TarlarAustralia (Jun 17, 2015)

Kahliimah said:


> we've done our partner visa and visitor visa - CO for partner visa assigned and requested form 80 so far does anyone know how strict they are with form 80s? Only because, one business my husband worked for closed down, so he couldn't get in touch with them, so wondering if that will seem suspicious or something? We did state that the business has closed down.


I had the same thing, when they asked for an address I simply write 'this business closed down 4 years ago.'
My visa was granted a few weeks ago so it didn't cause any problems.


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

Thanks for that info guys!

On another note, I'm quite shocked at how quickly we had a CO assigned. I've heard it can take months for them to request forms but for us it happened in a week, is this normal or have we somehow hit the 309 lottery by getting a case officer signed super quickly?


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## ampk (Sep 21, 2013)

And then there was silence!


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

Well, we'll see what happens after we get through this seemingly necessary 4 day weekend for women's day ;-;


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## Michael81 (Aug 20, 2015)

Any news from anyone?

this thread has been quite lately,

I've also noticed the amount of applications recorded on the excel spread sheet link are down from last year


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## ampk (Sep 21, 2013)

Moscow no longer process Ukraine, not sure if other countries were also reallocated.


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

Based on the spreadsheet data, the processing times for the visas granted in the 3 months till the end of March has blown out to 11.2 months, this is compared to the 2015 average of 8.8 months.

I wonder if the visa fee increase from 1 July 2015 has resulted in a drop in partner visa applications?


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

We had contact from the embassy in Moscow today, requesting the Form 80 and other information. So for us that was 9.5 months from application to first contact.

We will get them the info requested asap and hopefully a decision won't be too far away!


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

That's strange, we got a form 80 request within a month. I wonder what makes them request forms at such different times. Also, maybe contact them and ask about form 80 processing times as I've heard the security check can take a long time from certain countries, so hopefully you won't be waiting longer for that.


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

Also, I'm looking at the spreadsheet now and I'm seeing a couple rejected, even those who went through an interview. This is a little confusing, in what cases are partner visas rejected? I assumed that if there was not enough evidence that the case officer was satisfied with, they'd request for additional information. I only thought that partner visas were rejected if they were blatantly fake relationships or they dismissed requests for information.


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

Kahliimah said:


> That's strange, we got a form 80 request within a month. I wonder what makes them request forms at such different times. Also, maybe contact them and ask about form 80 processing times as I've heard the security check can take a long time from certain countries, so hopefully you won't be waiting longer for that.


Yeah, I have no idea why they ask for them at such different times for different cases. Perhaps there are different profiles that they look for? Has your husband been in the military? Another forum member from Russia was only recently asked for the form 80 after a similar waiting time as us.


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## Mish (Jan 13, 2013)

Kahliimah said:


> Also, I'm looking at the spreadsheet now and I'm seeing a couple rejected, even those who went through an interview. This is a little confusing, in what cases are partner visas rejected? I assumed that if there was not enough evidence that the case officer was satisfied with, they'd request for additional information. I only thought that partner visas were rejected if they were blatantly fake relationships or they dismissed requests for information.


They are rejected because DIBP believe they are not a genuine couple.

The case officer can requested more evidence but the onus is on the applicant to provide enough evidence. DIBP is under no legal obligation to request more evidence.

We have seen people on this forum rejected and they are genuine. One forum member got a full refund from MRT because it was the biggest form of racial discrimination that they had ever seen.


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

Mish said:


> We have seen people on this forum rejected and they are genuine. One forum member got a full refund from MRT because it was the biggest form of racial discrimination that they had ever seen.


Sigh, I hope they don't reject us because we are young and don't have assets together.


Yerevanits said:


> Has your husband been in the military?


No, the opposite actually, he was specifically excused from doing mandatory military service due to mental health issues. Maybe that could be why? We scanned a copy of the stanp which excused him from service so they may have wanted more information about that.


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## SweetCple (Apr 9, 2016)

*Waiting With Patience & Love*

Hi All

After finding this forum today & reading alot we decided to join & add some words for encouragement to hang in their as we also need due to long processing times, when we originally applied we thought it was only 6 to 8 months but then at application time we heard thru our agent its 10 to 14months.(Prospective Marriage Visa)
We use an agent in Adelaide but the application is lodged by the agent to Moscow online via immiAccount so i guess its still called "Offshore"?, i am permanent resident of Australia for 44 years but came originally from UK very young with my large immediate family, my fiancee lives in Krygyzstan,we've spent 33+ weeks together in Kyrgyzstan since lodging application & its tough for us both waiting to start our life together permanent, we're looking forward so much to the day when its time for fiancee to pack suitcases & welcome her to Australia to be together permanently...words cannot describe this exciting day!! & i'm sure alot of others like yourself are in the same boat!, we can only say stay strong & hang in there with love for each other as life is too short!
As mentioned 33+ weeks vacation from my employment in 14months to be with her is alot but this is love & hope will be evidence of this for the embassy ...we're currently together in Kyrgyzstan for a period of time but now we are close to 13 months waiting...it was on 2nd February 2016 ( 2months ago) the embassy notified us Assessment had started but we haven't heard anything since....we're hoping for a positive answer before i need to head back to Oz.

We only have one question...

When using an agent...does anyone know if we can email the Moscow embassy direct with some more evidence of our genuine relationship...or if we always need to go thru our agent?
We did call which gets diverted to London (i believe) for english language & the lady said we have a case officer assigned, we said we was unaware of this CO assigned, she replied unfortunately she cannot give names over phone due to privacy policy which is fair enough & i was to contact the agent, but when i did this, the agent is nowing trying to contact the embassy as he is also unaware of the actually name as not one email to him states a person identifying themself as the CO....anyway for now...lets all hang-in there & hope for a beautiful result to start a beautiful life together ASAP

Good Luck To All

( DOL- 19th Mar 2015 )
( 2 tourist Visa's refused around July/Aug after PMV lodgment)
( Assessing in Progress 02/02/16 )


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

SweetCple said:


> Hi All


Welcome to the forum!!

Feel free to add your details to this spreadsheet if you haven't already done so 
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gZiaeJgmKeXTAei7iwDzWQENuMlmZd5Cf7Hj4Tdyhu0/edit#gid=0

Sounds like a painful wait and hopefully something comes through for you soon. I wonder how many partner visa applicants get granted tourist visas from Moscow, seems like lots of us have had refusals!!

I'm not sure what you can do about the case officer. I am sure you can add your extra evidence through the immiaccount and keep trying to get a contact.


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## ampk (Sep 21, 2013)

You should ask your agent if you can upload more evidence yourself or get him to do it, 13 months is proof of lasting AND ON GOING relationship.

I uploaded stuff at least monthly.

Moscow is very hard to get any info out of now. Maybe because when did speak to them, it was easy to know they did not even read our 2nd visitor visa application fully.


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

Hey everyone, I've been looking up stuff about the form 80 and some people have said the security checks can take up to 12 months which seems ridiculous. Who here can confirm or deny that or has had any problems with the form 80/knows anything about it? I also can't find anything on the Russian language Aus immigration forums.


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

I think that generally the long wait times for security clearances are on the Australian end and are the result of negative ASIO assessments, someone correct me if I am wrong.


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

Have a look at this discussion to see reasons why people wait two years or longer, a lot of talk about security clearances

http://www.australiaforum.com/visas...waiting-more-than-2-years-820-801-visa-6.html


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

Fair enough.
I'm a little worried about our form 80 because his father (who we don't have anything to do with) is a tax evading douchebag who only ever calls to ask for money or (once he found out he was married to an Australian) if he can migrate with us to Australia (which we of course said no to, and finally blocked his calls)
We aren't even sure of what he's done exactly, we hope it won't harm us in any way


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

I don't know how security clearances and parents work, I certainly hope that the misdeeds of our relatives wouldn't have an impact on such a thing! I would make the assumption that unless his father is one of the Russians included in US sanctions, a kgb operative or a terrorist he'll be fine


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## Elak (Apr 15, 2016)

Hello everyone
I've applied on november for the partner visa, at the end of january CO was assigned and form 80 was requested. I have been granted a visitor visa on may and refused one on november . We have applied for a family sponsored visa last week and waiting for it impatiently ))


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

Elak said:


> Hello everyone
> I've applied on november for the partner visa, at the end of january CO was assigned and form 80 was requested. I have been granted a visitor visa on may and refused one on november . We have applied for a family sponsored visa last week and waiting for it impatiently ))


Sucks you got a visitor visa granted and then refused. Any reason why your first was granted but your second refused? Different stream, longer stay, etc?
We have also applied for a family sponsored visa, and our visitor visa - tourist stream was refused a couple of weeks ago.


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## Elak (Apr 15, 2016)

The first one was before we were in a relationship and i applied for the visa just for traveling , and as i have a long traveling history i got the visa easily. The second one was a bridge visitor visa and i got refused as almost everyone applying to embassy in Moscow((


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

This is absolutely ridiculous. I think it's just about time for all of us in relationships/partner visa applicants who try to apply for visitor visas to make a mass complaint to DIBP. They can't keep rejecting everyone who has made a partner visa application.

My husband's decision record actually said something that wasn't even in proper English, against myself, stating that I "don't go to the criteria" of the application, which neither of us understood.


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## Michael81 (Aug 20, 2015)

Good morning guys,

We were granted a 6 months family sponsored visitor visa last week, After been told by 2 lawyers we had a slim chance of getting it I put a lot of effort in with the application and done it all myself, about an inch thick of paperwork of evidence.
We are both so happy and over the moon and just can't wait to spend time with my Wife and 6 month old baby and be a family again, it's been a tough 4 months without them. 

Good luck to everyone 

Cheers
Mike


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

Michael81 said:


> Good morning guys,
> 
> We were granted a 6 months family sponsored visitor visa last week, After been told by 2 lawyers we had a slim chance of getting it I put a lot of effort in with the application and done it all myself, about an inch thick of paperwork of evidence.
> We are both so happy and over the moon and just can't wait to spend time with my Wife and 6 month old baby and be a family again, it's been a tough 4 months without them.
> ...


Congrats! How did you go about getting a 6 month family sponsored visa? I thought you could only get a 3 month unless it is a special case.
Could you describe all of the things you submitted as evidence, if you needed a bond etc?
Must be such a relief! We are waiting for that feeling too.


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

Elak said:


> Hello everyone
> I've applied on november for the partner visa, at the end of january CO was assigned and form 80 was requested. I have been granted a visitor visa on may and refused one on november . We have applied for a family sponsored visa last week and waiting for it impatiently ))


Welcome to the forum Elak, are you and your partner in Armenia at the moment?

My wife (she is Armenian) and I are waiting on our partner visa now and she has travelled Australia twice on the sponsored family visa, but also had three tourist visas from moscow refused. We are waiting on our third sponsored visitor now and it has already been 5 weeks.


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

Kahliimah said:


> This is absolutely ridiculous. I think it's just about time for all of us in relationships/partner visa applicants who try to apply for visitor visas to make a mass complaint to DIBP. They can't keep rejecting everyone who has made a partner visa application.
> 
> My husband's decision record actually said something that wasn't even in proper English, against myself, stating that I "don't go to the criteria" of the application, which neither of us understood.


Kahlimah, I am totally supportive of this idea. If we can get together a group of people and write to the minister inquiring as to why Moscow is so hard on spouses maybe it might help future applicants. I would like to know what the statistics say about spouses granted tourist visas from Moscow and if they don't comply with conditions in Australia.


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## Elak (Apr 15, 2016)

Yerevanits said:


> Welcome to the forum Elak, are you and your partner in Armenia at the moment?
> 
> My wife (she is Armenian) and I are waiting on our partner visa now and she has travelled Australia twice on the sponsored family visa, but also had three tourist visas from moscow refused. We are waiting on our third sponsored visitor now and it has already been 5 weeks.


Currently i am in armenia, my husband in aus. I agree with the complaint idea, coz thats ridiculous! There are a lot of people ready to complain at the russian forum gday.ru


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## Michael81 (Aug 20, 2015)

Kahliimah said:


> Congrats! How did you go about getting a 6 month family sponsored visa? I thought you could only get a 3 month unless it is a special case.
> Could you describe all of the things you submitted as evidence, if you needed a bond etc?
> Must be such a relief! We are waiting for that feeling too.


Hi Kahliimah,

Sponsored family visa is eligible for 3, 6 or 12 months,

I used the check list below and we put all our effort into providing the best evidence we could and presented it in an easy format for the CO

https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa...0)-Sponsored-Family-Stream-document-checklist

No Bond requested but i did show sufficient funds in our joint account

I guess at the end of the day you need to prove as best as you can that the applicant has no reason to overstay their visa and will comply with all conditions.

We are so happy with the outcome and just cant wait to be together again.

Best of luck to you


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

Our agent got an email from the CO yesterday saying "upon receipt of the requested documents I anticipate being able to finalise your clients application"

She sent him the last of our documents by email as we had reached the 60 document upload limit. Here's hoping that the final decision won't be far away! We will be at ten months since lodging the application next Monday


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

That's great news! I am excited to hear when you'll receive the visa grant


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

Our visa has been granted!!!! In 9 months and 25 days!

We will now have to call immigration and advise them not to proceed with our sponsored tourist visa, in fact we suspect this may have had something to do with having our visa processed relatively quickly for Moscow .

Now we can plan our life in Australia together, so excited!!


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## SweetCple (Apr 9, 2016)

*Hi Yerevanits*



Yerevanits said:


> Our agent got an email from the CO yesterday saying "upon receipt of the requested documents I anticipate being able to finalise your clients application"
> 
> She sent him the last of our documents by email as we had reached the 60 document upload limit. Here's hoping that the final decision won't be far away! We will be at ten months since lodging the application next Monday


Awesome News!....

Our Anniversary is today (13months waiting so far!)


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

That's so exciting! Congrats! Have you planned when you'll be moving to Australia?


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

SweetCple said:


> Awesome News!....
> 
> Our Anniversary is today (13months waiting so far!)


Thanks! Our engagement anniversary was yesterday, so it was a pretty nice present from the Department .

Have you guys been in a defacto relationship now for 12 months? I think if you have then you would be eligible to apply for a sponsored family tourist visa.

I think our case was sped up by the fact that we lodged this sponsored family visa application, as I assume that they wouldn't want to have granted a tourist visa with a partner visa pending, and I have heard previously that the tourist visa people send a note to the partner visa people and ask them what is going on. Not sure if this is true, but we weren't expecting our visa so soon!


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

Kahliimah said:


> That's so exciting! Congrats! Have you planned when you'll be moving to Australia?


Not sure yet, but we could go tomorrow if we wanted, it such an exciting concept!!!

We were planning to go back in June, and so now the possibility of going back earlier is certainly a sweet dilemma


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

I definitely envy that feeling! But it must feel so nice to go from a feeling of having no idea what is happening to really having the liberty to choose exactly what you want to do and when you can do it. It's reassuring to see that someone in a similar position as us getting their visa at just under 10 months. Hope it's the same for us.
We've pushed our trip to Australia back to June/July, pending the grant of the family sponsored. Depending on where you guys are staying in Australia, we would love to meet up and see how you are enjoying your new life in Australia. 
Maybe you can ask DIBP to swap our position in the family sponsored visitor visa queue with the position your application was in before you withdrew it hahaha!


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

By the way, here's a full list of the stuff we've submitted, in case it lights up a bulb in anyone's head to submit the same kind of stuff
In order to keep the upload limit low, we uploaded all relationship sections in one pdf such as:
Statements from us, signed and dated
Financial part: bank statements highlighted according to the statement we submitted with it, cross referenced with receipts. We both are vegans so we are lucky enough to have receipts from indie vegan shops and stuff where we specially order stuff. So if you have special interests such as cars, video games, yoga, anything... show receipts/other evidence of you sharing this interest.
We don't have any assets like houses together or even a joint bank account as it is illegal in Russia lmao so we had to do stuff like this to show financial commitment.
Nature of household: a statement from us stating how we do the housework, how our day works along with our written out daily schedule which we have on the mirror stating chores, exercise, study. My husband's mother's statement supplements this by saying she lets us live in her home while we cook and clean.
Also included mail sent to me at this address which my husband is registered to.
Social context: photos, but not many. We are due to upload more. Statements from my husband's sister and mother. Signed, dated with ID.
Two additional form 888s from my friends. We are due to add probably two more. That's 6 statements in total.
Membership at the same AFL club, North Melbourne (don't hate us cause you ain't us!)
Nature of commitment: skype stats from the month we were apart after meeting for the first time irl, but we are preparing to add everything from when we first met online.
Added myself to the overseas AEC roll and submitted that, also declared myself married and living here to Centrelink

Also, we are due to add:
Wills, we are in the process of learning how to make them legitimately 
Learning about making retirement funds/superannuation funds
We have an upcoming trip to Lithuania which we will be uploading a full document dedicsted to that
Due to the fact that my husband's visa was refused, we changed our entire plans including study plans in order to stay together. I had to drop out of units in uni, will miss exams etc. So we are submitting evidence of that as commitment. 

So, hopefully that gives people ideas. Or if anyone has any criticisms of the evidence we have submitted, also let me know.


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## Elak (Apr 15, 2016)

Yerevanits said:


> Our visa has been granted!!!! In 9 months and 25 days!
> 
> We will now have to call immigration and advise them not to proceed with our sponsored tourist visa, in fact we suspect this may have had something to do with having our visa processed relatively quickly for Moscow .
> 
> Now we can plan our life in Australia together, so excited!!


Congrats!!!


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## SweetCple (Apr 9, 2016)

*Hi Yerevanits*



Yerevanits said:


> Thanks! Our engagement anniversary was yesterday, so it was a pretty nice present from the Department .
> 
> Have you guys been in a defacto relationship now for 12 months? I think if you have then you would be eligible to apply for a sponsored family tourist visa.


Sorry, i missed your post asking if we had been in a defacto relationship for 12months.. i thought "defacto" means living together "continuously" for 12 months???...i have travelled to be with & live in a rented apartment together with my fiance 4 times since january 2015 to current date i'm still here in Kyrgyzstan...so its total 15months defacto..taking into consideration its 34 weeks together..these are the times...from ....January 20th to Feb 6th 2015( 3 weeks) ...&...30th March to 20th May 2015(7+ weeks)...&.. 12th October to 6th December 2015( 8 weeks)....&.... 16th January to 5th May 2016.( 15 weeks )

Does this still class as "defacto"??
Do you have to show bank account $$ & other supportive info for a "Sponsored family tourist visa"?.

Kind Regards


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

SweetCple said:


> Sorry, i missed your post asking if we had been in a defacto relationship for 12months.. i thought "defacto" means living together "continuously" for 12 months???...i have travelled to be with & live in a rented apartment together with my fiance 4 times since january 2015 to current date i'm still here in Kyrgyzstan...so its total 15months defacto..taking into consideration its 34 weeks together..these are the times...from ....January 20th to Feb 6th 2015( 3 weeks) ...&...30th March to 20th May 2015(7+ weeks)...&.. 12th October to 6th December 2015( 8 weeks)....&.... 16th January to 5th May 2016.( 15 weeks )
> 
> Does this still class as "defacto"??
> Do you have to show bank account $$ & other supportive info for a "Sponsored family tourist visa"?.
> ...


This is what it says on the website

"If you are living in a de facto relationship: independent evidence that you have been in the relationship for at least 12 months (for example, joint bank account statements or billing accounts in joint names)."

So I think if you are living together now then you could apply, if you are not living together it might be more difficult to prove.

I think it is probably worth applying, it is only $135 which is nothing compared to the $6800 partner visa. The worst they can do is refuse you, but then at least you will know you have tried all avenues.


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## SweetCple (Apr 9, 2016)

*Hi Yerevanits*



Yerevanits said:


> This is what it says on the website
> 
> "If you are living in a de facto relationship: independent evidence that you have been in the relationship for at least 12 months (for example, joint bank account statements or billing accounts in joint names)."
> 
> So I think if you are living together now then you could apply, if you are not living together it might be more difficult to prove.


Hi Yerevanits...We applied for Tourist Visa twice and got refused going back 6 months ago...but No we're not living together permanent as i can only stay 60 day maximum in Kyrgyzstan with her (country rules), so what i did this time to stay longer was we took a side trip to TURKEY together & my 60days started again in her country(Kyrgyzstan)....As far as joint bank accounts or billing accounts back in Australia we don't have because banks need my fiance to be in Australia....a foreigner canot create a bank account in Australia unless they are there to sign documents & give Identification....saying that, we do have the Apartment rental contracts in both names here in Kyrgyzstan...so maybe this will help satisfy that side of things???
Does the Sponsored Visa require i prove financially with $$$$ in the bank?..or my fiance has to have money in a bank acount?..i as being the sponsor can only prove i have a permanent job in Oz for past 7 years & have a rental property i've been stable in for quite a few years....

Is there any specific requirements i can look at online?
How long does Sponsored Visa allow her to stay in Australia?
Does it go against her for her Prospective Marriage Visa (fiance) if it was refused?
Kind Regards


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

SweetCple said:


> Hi Yerevanits...We applied for Tourist Visa twice and got refused going back 6 months ago...but No we're not living together permanent as i can only stay 60 day maximum in Kyrgyzstan with her (country rules), so what i did this time to stay longer was we took a side trip to TURKEY together & my 60days started again in her country(Kyrgyzstan)....As far as joint bank accounts or billing accounts back in Australia we don't have because banks need my fiance to be in Australia....a foreigner canot create a bank account in Australia unless they are there to sign documents & give Identification....saying that, we do have the Apartment rental contracts in both names here in Kyrgyzstan...so maybe this will help satisfy that side of things???
> Does the Sponsored Visa require i prove financially with $$$$ in the bank?..or my fiance has to have money in a bank acount?..i as being the sponsor can only prove i have a permanent job in Oz for past 7 years & have a rental property i've been stable in for quite a few years....
> 
> Is there any specific requirements i can look at online?
> ...


The good thing about the sponsored family visa is it is processed in Australia. I'm not sure how strict they are on proving the relationship, it is just a tourist visa after all. You can apply for any amount of time up to a year. My wife was given 1 month stay on two occasions because that was all we asked for. A refusal for the tourist visa wouldn't go against your PMV, we were refused twice. As for finances, you just have to show you have sufficient means to support your partner while they are visiting.


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## Michael81 (Aug 20, 2015)

Hi all,

I have a question on how the best way to notify immi though our online account that my wife has been granted a visitor visa and will be coming for 6 months while the partner visa application is still in progress.

There's 2 options 

1. Change of address 

Or 

2. Change of circumstances 


Look forward to hearing from you

Cheers
Mike


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

Michael81 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I have a question on how the best way to notify immi though our online account that my wife has been granted a visitor visa and will be coming for 6 months while the partner visa application is still in progress.
> 
> ...


Our agent previously advised us to use the change of address option.


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## Elak (Apr 15, 2016)

Hi all
I have been granted the visitor visa and the partner visa on the same day 😊
Good luck and patience to everyone


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## Michael81 (Aug 20, 2015)

Elak said:


> Hi all
> I have been granted the visitor visa and the partner visa on the same day &#128522;
> Good luck and patience to everyone


Wow congratulations that's great news


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

Congrats! I am pretty angry that we still haven't gotten any word on our visas then. Applied for the family sponsored 4 april and seeing people get their's granted even though they applied later than us. I guess we will be getting a refusal then. Sigh...


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

Elak said:


> Hi all
> I have been granted the visitor visa and the partner visa on the same day &#128522;
> Good luck and patience to everyone


That's great news!!

Was the partner visa was granted after the visitor as you can only hold one visa at a time. Have you checked VEVO to see what your visa details are?
https://www.border.gov.au/Busi/Visa


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

Kahliimah said:


> Congrats! I am pretty angry that we still haven't gotten any word on our visas then. Applied for the family sponsored 4 april and seeing people get their's granted even though they applied later than us. I guess we will be getting a refusal then. Sigh...


Don't be too worried yet, with your application date for the FSV you are only just about at the service standard which is 1.5 months.

It took them two months to finalise our last FSV and that was after our partner visa grant so they only had to process a withdrawal for the FSV.

Also when we wrote to them about the withdrawal we got an automatic reply, saying if you are writing about processing times and you have applied within the last two months we consider this email to answer to your query as we are currently experiencing delays in processing.


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## Elak (Apr 15, 2016)

Yerevanits said:


> That's great news!!
> 
> Was the partner visa was granted after the visitor as you can only hold one visa at a time. Have you checked VEVO to see what your visa details are?
> https://www.border.gov.au/Busi/Visa


The partner visa was granted 2 hours after the visitor!
Thanks


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## Elak (Apr 15, 2016)

Kahliimah said:


> Congrats! I am pretty angry that we still haven't gotten any word on our visas then. Applied for the family sponsored 4 april and seeing people get their's granted even though they applied later than us. I guess we will be getting a refusal then. Sigh...


Don't be angry, wait till it's 6 weeks then request information from them. Mine took 6 weeks and 1 day


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

Elak said:


> The partner visa was granted 2 hours after the visitor!
> Thanks


Where they both granted at the Moscow embassy (i.e. not a sponsored family tourist visa)? I wonder if they talked to each other before granting the visas?

When are you planning on moving to Australia? My wife and I are leaving from Yerevan to Australia in mid-June.


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

Elak said:


> Don't be angry, wait till it's 6 weeks then request information from them. Mine took 6 weeks and 1 day


We applied 4th of april so today was 6 weeks, they won't give us any information just to "wait"


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## SweetCple (Apr 9, 2016)

*Hello All*

Hi Kahliimah, Yerevanits & All

Just throwing my 5 cents in to say we now know there is a Case Officer Assigned to our PMV but from what date we don't exactly know..we're assuming it was back early February 2016, not heard anything since lodged in March 2015 until a week ago when my fiance' received an email direct to her inbox (not via our agent).."invitation for interview" in her country (Kyrgyzstan)..we're excited that finally we see progress & now this Friday 20th May is the big day for her in a local hotel (kyrgyzstan), here's hoping its not long after the interview that they will grant her visa & we can start our life together in Australia,...we have so much evidence i don't think the embassy would want to view the amount, for example: our Skype history which created from the database an Excel file...our agent (Accidently) started printing it & wondered why from behind closed doors his printer was going for ages....when he looked & saw 50 or 60 pages on the floor & looked back at the printer to see there was queued up another 600 pages he pulled the plug on the printer as it would not stop, it jammed the printer.....funny, but not funny! Lol!
Anyways...good luck to all & if i do say so myself good luck to my fiance' this coming Friday, just like others we are truly in love & only want to be together permanently


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## Elak (Apr 15, 2016)

Yerevanits said:


> Where they both granted at the Moscow embassy (i.e. not a sponsored family tourist visa)? I wonder if they talked to each other before granting the visas?
> 
> When are you planning on moving to Australia? My wife and I are leaving from Yerevan to Australia in mid-June.


I dont know they talked or no but 3 weeks after i lodged the visitor visa i have been asked for additional information from moscow and i sent themevrrything + our wedding highlights video, which I think helped a lot &#128516; 
The visitor visa was granted from Sydney. I
And im planning to move to australia in mid june as well , maybe we'll meet atthe airport


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

Elak said:


> I dont know they talked or no but 3 weeks after i lodged the visitor visa i have been asked for additional information from moscow and i sent themevrrything + our wedding highlights video, which I think helped a lot &#128516;
> The visitor visa was granted from Sydney. I
> And im planning to move to australia in mid june as well , maybe we'll meet atthe airport


If you are in Yerevan perhaps you and my wife and I could meet up for a coffee sometime and chat about migrating to Australia . Send me a private message if you'd like too.


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

Second visa refused 
They didn't give a shit about our partner visa application, they didn't even mention it. They got our international travel history incorrect and my husband's age wrong. Everything seemed out of place as though they didn't even look at it properly. Spent and hour on the phone to DIBP crying because my grandparents are extremely sick and dying and all they want is to see me and meet my husband.
Just about ready to give up. We have no money left, and we are exhausted for nothing. We are expecting a partner visa refusal because my husband can't even meet my friends and family back home and prove that he has close contact with them
No idea what to do anymore.


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

Kahliimah said:


> Second visa refused
> They didn't give a shit about our partner visa application, they didn't even mention it. They got our international travel history incorrect and my husband's age wrong. Everything seemed out of place as though they didn't even look at it properly. Spent and hour on the phone to DIBP crying because my grandparents are extremely sick and dying and all they want is to see me and meet my husband.
> Just about ready to give up. We have no money left, and we are exhausted for nothing. We are expecting a partner visa refusal because my husband can't even meet my friends and family back home and prove that he has close contact with them
> No idea what to do anymore.


Hey Kahliimah, sorry to hear about your refusal.

What was the reason they gave? Was it no incentive to return? Did you mention anything about your grandparents in your application? Don't give up hope yet, you can always try again for a tourist visa. And since your relationship is genuine you shouldn't have anything to fear with the spouse visa, just keep collecting and submitting evidence.

Feel free to PM me if you like.


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

Yerevanits said:


> Hey Kahliimah, sorry to hear about your refusal.
> 
> What was the reason they gave? Was it no incentive to return? Did you mention anything about your grandparents in your application? Don't give up hope yet, you can always try again for a tourist visa. And since your relationship is genuine you shouldn't have anything to fear with the spouse visa, just keep collecting and submitting evidence.
> 
> Feel free to PM me if you like.


His employment wasn't good enough according to them, not something worth returning to. His education enrolment was also not good enough as he can possibly defer (which doesn't make sense because deferring and recommencing means leaving the country, plus if she read the enrolment she would have seen it say no deferring allowed)
Or attend an australian institution which makes less sense bc you need a valid proper visa for that.
International travel history wasn't good enough because there were no members of family or incentives to stay in those countries like there is in Australia. 
I mentioned my grandparents in my application but nothing about them in the decision record.
We aren't planning on reapplying any time soon, it just isn't worth it and we don't have much money left.
I've learnt not to expect anything positive from DIBP. We might know our relationship is genuine but we lack evidence in official finance areas, and we have no friends here. All friends statements and official financing evidence was going to come from the visit to Australia.


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

Where was the visa processed, NSW or QLD? I was advised in previous threads that for the sponsored family visitor visa that they aren't assessing the applicant but are instead assessing the sponsor. The reason why you have this visa stream is for cases where the client can't prove a good enough incentive to return. So it seems strange that they focussed on him and didn't even considering asking you for a bond.


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

SweetCple said:


> Hi Kahliimah, Yerevanits & All
> 
> Just throwing my 5 cents in to say we now know there is a Case Officer Assigned to our PMV but from what date we don't exactly know..we're assuming it was back early February 2016, not heard anything since lodged in March 2015 until a week ago when my fiance' received an email direct to her inbox (not via our agent).."invitation for interview" in her country (Kyrgyzstan)..we're excited that finally we see progress & now this Friday 20th May is the big day for her in a local hotel (kyrgyzstan), here's hoping its not long after the interview that they will grant her visa & we can start our life together in Australia,...we have so much evidence i don't think the embassy would want to view the amount, for example: our Skype history which created from the database an Excel file...our agent (Accidently) started printing it & wondered why from behind closed doors his printer was going for ages....when he looked & saw 50 or 60 pages on the floor & looked back at the printer to see there was queued up another 600 pages he pulled the plug on the printer as it would not stop, it jammed the printer.....funny, but not funny! Lol!
> Anyways...good luck to all & if i do say so myself good luck to my fiance' this coming Friday, just like others we are truly in love & only want to be together permanently


Good like to your fiance for her interview today! Fingers crossed it all goes well. Let us know how it went!


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

Yeah they completely focused on him and didn't even mention me as a sponsor. It was all the same as tourist stream... nothing proved incentive to return. It was processed in NSW


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## Soviet_Koala (Jun 21, 2015)

Our Visa was Granted today! 11 months. We're so happy. 

It's amazing to think how many hours we all spend on these applications. So many days preparing documents, evidence, statements... so many months checking the Immi website. I can assure you it's a very rewarding feeling once it's been granted. 

I wish you all good luck and success !!!


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

Soviet_Koala said:


> Our Visa was Granted today! 11 months. We're so happy.
> 
> It's amazing to think how many hours we all spend on these applications. So many days preparing documents, evidence, statements... so many months checking the Immi website. I can assure you it's a very rewarding feeling once it's been granted.
> 
> I wish you all good luck and success !!!


Great news!! Congratulations and good luck!


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

For those who went through an interview what was it like? Did they interview both the sponsor and applicant together, separate or only one? Over the phone or in person? What kind of questions were asked (I know there's a general thread for this but trying to find out if Moscow embassy asks anything specific). Could you speak in either English or Russian or could it only be in Russian?
We haven't gotten a request or anything but we're trying to prepare.


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## SweetCple (Apr 9, 2016)

*Visa Grant*

Hi All

I received a call from our agent tonight....We received my fiance's Prospective Marriage Visa, my fiance' started tearing up when i called her in Kyrgyzstan..she asked if i was joking Lol!...Wow!, its a "FANTASTIC" feeling..it feels as if 100kg's have been lifted off my shoulder...i'm amazed...i'm lost for words!!

Embassy never called me at all, at 13 months & 3 weeks my fiance received a direct email to her inbox (not via the agent) saying they will be in her country to interview her in a designated hotel on 20th May 2016..the interview went well & she was able to answer all questions, there was many!...the best policy is to answer with 100% honesty as we've found out! as she did!, funny though in the email my fiance was asked if she needed an interpreter & what language, she replied to say she speak comfortably in English to me but for purposes of important interview a translator is best option...when the lady arrived she only spoke English so it seemed ironic to us that the Moscow embassy officer needed the Interpreter for herself to translate as she could only speak English & working in the Oz embassy Moscow

We are planning her entry into Australia as early as next week sometime..finally we can be together....its been a LONG hard wait to be together, if your still waiting we wish you well & hope you get your visa asap

I'll be back intouch shortly....gotta let alot of people know the good news!

Many thanks to the officer whom made the decision,they have the power to create what will be our beautiful future together

DOL 19th March 2015
Visa Grant 26th May 2016

Kind Regards


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

SweetCple said:


> Hi All
> 
> I received a call from our agent tonight....We received my fiance's Prospective Marriage Visa, my fiance' started tearing up when i called her in Kyrgyzstan..she asked if i was joking Lol!...Wow!, its a "FANTASTIC" feeling..it feels as if 100kg's have been lifted off my shoulder...i'm amazed...i'm lost for words!!
> 
> ...


Fantastic news!! So happy for you and your fiance! Now you can plan the wedding and your life together


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

Looking at the spreadsheet it is a totally different story from last month. So many grants last month but nothing this month. Wonder if that was intentional because they're busy this month or if the grants are just going to those who don't log it in the spreadsheet


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## Michael81 (Aug 20, 2015)

Kahliimah said:


> Looking at the spreadsheet it is a totally different story from last month. So many grants last month but nothing this month. Wonder if that was intentional because they're busy this month or if the grants are just going to those who don't log it in the spreadsheet


It is consistent with previous years if you look back I was totally expecting to see this, I think its got to do with being the end of financial year and they have hit the limit of visa's that they can give out so you wont see any more grants till next month


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

They have planning levels for the migration program each year. These are announced each year in the budget papers and statistics from the following annual reports always show they hit there target! So even though there is no "cap" on family visas the planning levels act like one.

When applications in any given year exceed the planning levels then wait times increase and cases are held over to the next financial year, hence the lack of grants in June. For the previous financial year applications exceeded planning levels by about 7,000.

Perhaps the increase in prices for the previous year will have led to a decrease in applications. It will be interesting to read the annual report when it comes out.


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

Just a tip to anyone thinking of browsing the Russian forun gday.ru, it is full of trolls and bullies who completely bullied me into having the worst anxiety about this entire immigration process. They teased my Russian, then claimed it was written by a native (my husband was helping me with it so, yeah... kinda), then accused me of not being a native english speaker, and trying to troll them even though all I was trying to do was talk about moscow embassy

I then got private messages from people who agreed with me and said that the forum is full of trolls who just want to insult every new person so that treatment is typical.

I guess I'll be sticking to this forum them with my apparently non native english :/


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

Some good news - my husband got a 6 month multi entry visa to the UK, which will be valid until february! We're heading there for at least a month as planned, and the multi entry gives us another option for a country to go to if need be while the Aus partner visa processes. Definitely feels good to get away for a while, and possibly meet some Australians (or at least people who speak English!)


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## garagiste (Jul 15, 2016)

Hi all,

Just signed up to the forum and I'm pretty encouraged that this Moscow thread is quite active. It has been good to read about and relate to other people's experiences. 

My fiancee has applied for a PMV with the help of an agent and we uploaded all of our evidence in March and payment for the PMV was also deducted then. 

We are not aware of being assigned a CO, however in March a DIBP officer did email the agent requesting details of my fiance's Russian residency (she is Ukrainian living in Moscow). Maybe that officer is our case officer? 

Anyway I hope to update our application soon


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

garagiste said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Just signed up to the forum and I'm pretty encouraged that this Moscow thread is quite active. It has been good to read about and relate to other people's experiences.
> 
> ...


We had information requested during the first couple of weeks of lodgement with a CO name attached but heard that it could just be a general look over, see what's missing and then request it rather than having a CO assigned who is looking at your application. So the person could change.
This month someone received a PMV after 6 months with a standard application so could be good news for future PMV applications. However someone else in this thread got one after 14 months(old financial year), so who knows! I did hear from someone recently interviewed that they are trying to get everyone processed under 12 months now that the financial year has just started, starting with all the older applications from late 2015 and they're up to around nov-jan 2015/2016. But if you look at the spreadsheet in the OP there are still people waiting longer. That could be a result of delayed security checks. 
Someone in the spreadsheet was refused a PMV because they didn't submit enough evidence (bc DIBP customer service told them what they submitted was enough....), and the case officer mistakenly cited rules that only apply to partner visas, so still try to submit as much as you can. 
If you haven't already, record your PMV application process in the spreadsheet in the OP, it'll help us calculate current averages.

Another note, because of the lack of applications lodged after the fee increase, we are all hoping the applications are processed faster. Here's hoping!


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## garagiste (Jul 15, 2016)

Kahliimah said:


> If you haven't already, record your PMV application process in the spreadsheet in the OP, it'll help us calculate current averages.
> 
> Another note, because of the lack of applications lodged after the fee increase, we are all hoping the applications are processed faster. Here's hoping!


Thanks Kahliimah,

I will add details to the spreadsheet.

On another note, my fiancee did apply for a tourist Visa in August 2015 but was rejected - but her PMV application was lodged by an agent. Will the PMV application also be visible if she logs in to her original immi account?

Is there any benefit to logging into the immi account - can we chack progress etc? We just left it all up to the Migration agent to handle.

Cheers


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## Good Rabbit (Jul 18, 2016)

SweetCple said:


> Hi All
> 
> I received a call from our agent tonight....We received my fiance's Prospective Marriage Visa, my fiance' started tearing up when i called her in Kyrgyzstan..she asked if i was joking Lol!...Wow!, its a "FANTASTIC" feeling..it feels as if 100kg's have been lifted off my shoulder...i'm amazed...i'm lost for words!!
> 
> ...


Hi,SweetCple
Congratultions with your visa!
I am new on this forum and cant write private messages. I am from Kyrgyzstan,same as your wife and i have one question for her.Can you pls write on my email xxxxxxxxxxx
Thank you so much)


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

Good Rabbit said:


> Hi,SweetCple
> Congratultions with your visa!
> I am new on this forum and cant write private messages. I am from Kyrgyzstan,same as your wife and i have one question for her.Can you pls write on my email xxxxxxxxxxx
> Thank you so much)


Go on sweetcple's profile and send them a private message and give them your email there. However I am unsure if they're still active here after receiving their visa.


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

Update from the russian forum and google docs. A user posted that the case officer told them that they are processing all of the applications from 12 or more months ago by the end of this month, only a few of those left and they've granted two already in the last couple of days. I am guessing they'll get all of them done in the next 2 weeks and it'll be onto the applications lodged around nov-jan


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## Michael81 (Aug 20, 2015)

Hi Guy,
Just a quick question,
On the timeline spread sheet there are names written in Red and Black,
does the different colour mean something?

Cheers
Mike


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

Grey - inactive/didn't update
Black - lodged but not granted/refused
Red - granted
Blue - refused
The number in the grant part is how long it took


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

*309 VISA GRANTED*
My husband got his visa today, we were sitting in bed and saw the email come through!!
So, so relieved. Possibly we were lucky or the Moscow embassy is getting its stuff together with fewer applications during this financial year.
No interview, requested form 80 two weeks after applying and requested hard copy police check two weeks ago which arrived yesterday, and got the grant today!

For those wondering, people who are requested to send in their police check original are usually about to get a grant, very quickly (for us - next day!)
They wouldn't request such a document if they were preparing to refuse, either. Also, those asked to send in their police check aren't asked in for an interview.
Those asked in for an interview, are usually requested to bring the police check with them.
Good luck to everyone else!


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## tyusydney0608 (Sep 4, 2016)

My Wife (married in August this year) have our visa application pending, we lodged in December 2015.

After submitting our marriage certificate in August, my wife was asked to do her medical at the beginning of this week and 2 days later was asked to courier the original police check to Moscow.

Does anyone else think our application might be approaching a decision? Judging by a lot of the comments and the timeline document, soon after lodging the police check and medical, people's had their visas granted?


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## Yerevanits (Jun 30, 2015)

tyusydney0608 said:


> My Wife (married in August this year) have our visa application pending, we lodged in December 2015.
> 
> After submitting our marriage certificate in August, my wife was asked to do her medical at the beginning of this week and 2 days later was asked to courier the original police check to Moscow.
> 
> Does anyone else think our application might be approaching a decision? Judging by a lot of the comments and the timeline document, soon after lodging the police check and medical, people's had their visas granted?


This is how it has gone previously, so fingers crossed it goes that way for you too.

My wife sent her police ticket and they got it on Friday, on Tuesday morning the visa was granted 

Good luck!!


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

tyusydney0608 said:


> My Wife (married in August this year) have our visa application pending, we lodged in December 2015.
> 
> After submitting our marriage certificate in August, my wife was asked to do her medical at the beginning of this week and 2 days later was asked to courier the original police check to Moscow.
> 
> Does anyone else think our application might be approaching a decision? Judging by a lot of the comments and the timeline document, soon after lodging the police check and medical, people's had their visas granted?


The request of doing medicals usually doesn't say much other than the fact that they wouldn't waste time requesting it if they were thinking of refusing, as I've seen plenty of people on gday . ru who were requested medicals and then waited for months longer, however the original police check request is an almost certain sign imo that you'll get the grant after it has arrived to them.
For us, we sent it off via local Moscow courier as we live in Moscow and the courier called us to say he gave it to them at around 5pm. The next day early in the morning, visa granted.
This is how it seems to be happening on gday . ru also. If you haven't sent it already, make sure you get some kind of feedback from a courier either via a phone call (generally done if through a cheap local courier) or tracking via DHL or similar. Don't post through regular post as pochta rossii is terrible.
Hope you get it as soon as possible!


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## tyusydney0608 (Sep 4, 2016)

Kahliimah said:


> The request of doing medicals usually doesn't say much other than the fact that they wouldn't waste time requesting it if they were thinking of refusing, as I've seen plenty of people on gday . ru who were requested medicals and then waited for months longer, however the original police check request is an almost certain sign imo that you'll get the grant after it has arrived to them.
> For us, we sent it off via local Moscow courier as we live in Moscow and the courier called us to say he gave it to them at around 5pm. The next day early in the morning, visa granted.
> This is how it seems to be happening on gday . ru also. If you haven't sent it already, make sure you get some kind of feedback from a courier either via a phone call (generally done if through a cheap local courier) or tracking via DHL or similar. Don't post through regular post as pochta rossii is terrible.
> Hope you get it as soon as possible!


Thanks for the info, the original police report was sent via courier.

Unfortunately we are still without the visa. Can confirm the consulate has been in receipt of all our documents since last Tuesday but we haven't received any further correspondence 

My wife and I were hopeful we would hear something positive soon given other peoples stories but at this point we're still waiting.

Will keep everyone updated


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

tyusydney0608 said:


> Thanks for the info, the original police report was sent via courier.
> 
> Unfortunately we are still without the visa. Can confirm the consulate has been in receipt of all our documents since last Tuesday but we haven't received any further correspondence
> 
> ...


Visa grants have been nonexistent this month, perhaps the people giving the majority of grants (One is named Ilona) have gone away for some time. Don't give up yet, some people like us only waited a day - others waited a couple of weeks. Although I'll be upset to hear if you don't receive anything as it is quite unlucky for you but also throws our only waiting period estimation out to the garbage.

I wish you good luck! We know how it feels...

On another note, we're just about to leave for the airport to go to Australia


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## flash (Nov 24, 2015)

Hi All, thought i'd chime in here. Applied in Feb 2016, Interview done, Meds done, original police cert received by Moscow 2 weeks ago with a confirmation email. At the end of the email the officer said 'we aim to contact you shortly' sounds promising but we are being cautious. I think ours is being delayed because its slightly more complicated when a child is involved (additional applicant) Such a stressful process really, hang in there people! I feel your pain.


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## ampk (Sep 21, 2013)

flash, what did you supply for child's permission to travel and migrate?


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## flash (Nov 24, 2015)

ampk said:


> flash, what did you supply for child's permission to travel and migrate?


Signed statement from child's biological father that they are free to travel to Australia, witnessed and signed before a Notary whilst not under the influence of drugs or alcohol.


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## ampk (Sep 21, 2013)

We had a few issues with Moscow with Statement of Consent to travel re signature, it was also witnessed Ministry of Justice.

The passport signature is a electronic generation and very hard to match - they did not like it and requested form 1229 again (guess the did not see it). We resent both again and had ex sign every page.


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## flash (Nov 24, 2015)

Looks like this thread is pretty dead, the people waiting for their visas have got them and buggered off. We are still waiting for ours. It a bit stupid really when you have submitted all of the paperwork, everything is done, they have told you they need nothing else from you yet they are still twiddling their thumbs playing with peoples lives and find it hard to press the 'send' button on a generic email with a visa attachment. Very hard work.


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## 218417 (Nov 6, 2015)

flash said:


> Looks like this thread is pretty dead, the people waiting for their visas have got them and buggered off. We are still waiting for ours. It a bit stupid really when you have submitted all of the paperwork, everything is done, they have told you they need nothing else from you yet they are still twiddling their thumbs playing with peoples lives and find it hard to press the 'send' button on a generic email with a visa attachment. Very hard work.


No need to imply we've 'buggered off', a lot of us still browse frequently to assist others, but other than that there's no reason for us to post. In fact, lack of popularity regarding partner visas and Moscow the better it is for you as it means quicker wait times and less posts just talking about frustrations. When the thread was most popular (and the Russian forum too) wait times were increasing to over a year, now people are only waiting around 6 months and applications are few and far between.
Waiting was the worst, it made me angry, frustrated and impatient. As long as your relationship is legitimate, you have the evidence to prove it, and you listen to their instructions (do the medical and police check a few months into your application unless they request it prior to that, upload them straight away, and KEEP your police check original to physically give it to them once they request, they will also request form 80 so do that and upload if you haven't already, make sure you are on it ASAP if they request interview/police check original... that's when you're getting close to the grant) you'll get your grant. To make you feel better, we only had a small amount of 'official' evidence (you know, wills, super, stat decs) and we got a quick grant. A lot was self-generated. If you'd like, I'd be happy to read over all the evidence you've submitted in detail and let you know what I think (I study legislation and foreign affairs in uni so I know more of the specifics). If you are or ever will be in Melbourne, we can meet and write some stat decs regarding your relationship for you.
Alternatively, if you or your partner speaks Russian, the Russian forum gday.ru is more active, but I find their trolling like attitude abhorrent, they won't like complaining about wait times, especially from non-Russians.


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## garagiste (Jul 15, 2016)

flash said:


> Looks like this thread is pretty dead, the people waiting for their visas have got them and buggered off. We are still waiting for ours...


Hey, we are in the same situation. Applied a month after you and recently sent originals of police certificates as requested and completed the medical.

Disappointed you are waiting still and I share your frustration, I thought it would be a quick approval once everything has been checked off.

Hope you hear some news soon!


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## ampk (Sep 21, 2013)

It is still a numbers game, a set amount of Partner Visa issues each year/month. Russia will have had that number reduced I expect due they do less countries now and less work as in phone contact for visas.

I also expect if they have lowered the wait time - several visa allocations will be taken away and given to other embassies with high wait times (to keep to "service standard" times). 

FYI - your Case Officer has a allocated time to process your visa, and it is less than 6 hours (5.4 hrs from memory).


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## flash (Nov 24, 2015)

Kahliimah said:


> No need to imply we've 'buggered off',


It's a light hearted term, not a personal attack 



Kahliimah said:


> now people are only waiting around 6 months and applications are few and far between.
> Waiting was the worst, it made me angry, frustrated and impatient.


6 Months.... i wish, we'll be getting to 10 months shortly and still waiting.
Take your anger, frustration and impatience and add 4 months or more to it, it's like an overflowing volcano now  You were very lucky. Looking at the spreadsheet someone got it in 2.5 months ...



Kahliimah said:


> If you'd like, I'd be happy to read over all the evidence


Thanks for the offer but it's not necessary, we have an agent and we are very thorough ourselves  We have everything done, it's awaiting a decision email only.



garagiste said:


> Hey, we are in the same situation. Applied a month after you and recently sent originals of police certificates as requested and completed the medical.
> 
> Disappointed you are waiting still and I share your frustration, I thought it would be a quick approval once everything has been checked off.
> 
> Hope you hear some news soon!


Good luck to you also, here's hoping they will hurry up, it's people's lives after all and futures, not an Ebay item.



ampk said:


> It is still a numbers game, a set amount of Partner Visa issues each year/month. Russia will have had that number reduced I expect due they do less countries now and less work as in phone contact for visas.
> 
> I also expect if they have lowered the wait time - several visa allocations will be taken away and given to other embassies with high wait times (to keep to "service standard" times).
> 
> FYI - your Case Officer has a allocated time to process your visa, and it is less than 6 hours (5.4 hrs from memory).


Hopefully our numbers are up soon


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## NOMI-OLYA (Nov 20, 2017)

Hello everyone,

My first ever post here. Just need a quick question answered. Are we required to upload digitally scanned photos of the applicant to the online application for 300 PMV? Or given that my fiancee has completed her medicals and got her photograph taken as part of the medical process in Minsk, we don't really need to upload passport photographs? Please kindly advice! Thank you in advance.

Regards, Nauman.


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