Australian Spouse Visa For The Polish

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Aug 18, 11, 12:04 #1

Hello guys,

Okay, maybe a slightly complicated scenario. I am British but also have Australian Permanent Residency, however for the last 2.5 years I have been living in Poland. My fiancee is Polish. After we are married we would like to return to Australia so we would have to apply for an Australian Spouse Visa for Weronika. I thought I knew the Australian visa process well having been through it before myself but I am a bit confused here.

Has anybody else tried to do this before? Do you know how long the application process should take? I noticed that the embassy in London is processing visas quickly - but can we apply via London? Or do we have to apply via Warsaw? I can't figure this out...

Any help would be much appreciated....

Ian

dr_rabbitThreads: 3 Posts: 77 Joined: Aug 8, 09 ♂	Edited by: dr_rabbit Aug 18, 11, 12:19 #2
It says lodge in London here: http://www.australia.pl/wsaw/Visas_and_Migration.html I've looked into visas to Australia for my Polish wife (as a NZ citizen its similar to being an aus resident). Its reasonably expensive but straightforward as far as I remember, though obviously I didn't do it.

ianausThreads: 8 Posts: 22 Joined: Oct 16, 08 ♂	Aug 18, 11, 12:29 #3
Thanks for the quick response... The link you sent says to lodge in Berlin, not London - is this correct?

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Aug 18, 11, 13:14 #4

From the website

Phone enquiries:

For all telephone enquiries about visa and immigration in English and Polish, please contact the Europe Service Centre in London. The Centre provides information, advice and application forms for Australian visas and citizenship. You can contact the Centre on +48 22 30 03 924, repeat 48 22 30 03 924, between 9am and 4pm London time Monday - Friday.

Telephone number: +48 22 30 03 924 (local call costs apply)

If you have specific enquiries about the Australian visas, please refer to: http://www.immi.gov.au/contacts/forms/europe/

--- ---

Call the London line and ask them mate. It may be that you lodge it with Berlin but they will be able to tell you.

King SobieskiThreads: 7 Posts: 1,106 Joined: Jan 22, 07 ♂	Aug 18, 11, 14:28 #5
i thought you could be in australia and apply as well? i think it is straight forward but a lot of paperwork involved.

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Aug 19, 11, 02:53 #6

HI ianaus,

all partner visas for AU are processed in Berlin now if you apply in EU. It takes about 6 months. It can take longer if they require more documents - they are very strict (Germans... ;). Make sure you send all required documents together.
All necessary info you can find on the immigration web site: http://www.immi.gov.au/migrants/family/visa-options.htm - it is the best source. Calling embassy in London and in Warsaw will only confuse you as each embassy gives different information... I'm speaking from experience ;)

Good luck!

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Aug 19, 11, 12:55 #7

Thanks Moniccca! It looks like we need to get ourselves organised. My fiancee is so relaxed about the whole thing always saying things like "I'm sure they do not need that much information" or "why would they need that? I'm sure that is not important". But I remember when I applied for my residency ten years ago and how complicated it was. So I am not expecting this to be a particular easy walk in the park.

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Aug 19, 11, 13:37 #8

Hello again,

I am just reading through the Partner Migration booklet 1127, and I am wondering if I can even sponsor my fiancee. I am an Australian Permanent Resident and have been since 2003 however when I read the sponsorship eligibility stuff it said:

"If you are an Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, you are required to be usually resident in Australia."

The problem is that I have been living and working as a teacher in Poland for the last 2.5 years. The reason we have been here and not in Australia is because Weronika is Polish and we have been getting her through university. University in Poland is free for Polish citizens so it made sense that we completed her studies here. She studies English and French and teaches English in her part time job. She is due to finish her masters degree soon and after this we would be married before coming back to Australia.

Hmmm..... I'm not sure what to do? Should I look for a different sponsor? Obviously I would prefer that the sponsor can be myself.

Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

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Aug 26, 11, 12:59 #9

Hi
My Polish husband was recently granted permant residency in Australia - we applied while living in the uk, but through the immigration office in Berlin. I don't know about your eligibility to sponsor Weronika ( I am an Australian citizen) but the defacto partner visa is reasonably straight forward. The most important aspect is proving you have had a "genuine and continuing" relationship - basically that you have lived in a marriage like situation for at least a year. The more evidence you can provide the better- we had things like leases, electricity bills, invitations to weddings etc addressed to us both, holiday reservations.... Things like that.

I remember the embassy in Berlin had a different application procedure to the one in London, or even the immigration website, so read through the information and print the forms from their website. And it takes six months.

Alright, best of luck...

Dorota.

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Sep 13, 11, 15:23 #10

Hi Ian,

Im an Australian Citizen and am applying for a prospective marriage visa for Australia with my Polish fiance.

In regards to where you submit your visa depends on where you both / or they are living. My fiance and I are currently on holiday in Poland now finishing all our
paperwork off. He lives in London (me in Sydney) so he will have to send all paperwork to the Oz embassy there. If you reside in europe then it goes through Berlin from
what I have heard.

I think the Berlin office is pretty strict on what they require where as in London you do not even have to certify your relationship evidence even
though having spoken on the phone numerous times to immi in Oz and gone into the office in Syd they say its best to. They very much leave it up to your own
interpertation. So depending on which Australian embassy you apply to will have what information they require as well as the dept of immigration website which isent
very user friendly.

I think the process usually takes about 5 to 8 months at the most.

If the same applies for you as oz citizens then you can apply for a partner visa in oz or off shore from what I know. My friend married an Italian in Italy, collated all their relationship evidence from there (they had been together over a year or so), translations etc and then they applied once in Sydney. He flew in on a tourist visa. After applying in Sydney they
were granted his temporary visa a week or so later.

If you have all the required documents you wont have any troubles.

Also note that depending on when you apply there are form changes. April, July and November they update the forms.

Website - australiaforum.com.au is a good site to check out as there are lots of discussions and timelines on visas etc but it can get very overwhelming reading it all.

Hope some of this helps.
Cheers Diz

ianausThreads: 8 Posts: 22 Joined: Oct 16, 08 ♂	Oct 4, 11, 19:22 #11
Wow!!! Thank you Diz! Yes I have just been reading about coming to Australia on a tourist visa and then applying for the visa onshore. I think the tourist visa is 3 months. Do you know if Weronika would get a bridging visa to fill the gap while her spouse visa is being processed?

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Oct 23, 11, 11:02 #12

Your welcome, yes I think the tourist visa is for 3 months and from what I know I think if you apply onshore for your spouse / de facto visa you will be issued with a tempory visa within a week or so of submitting your paperwork. Your Tempory Visa is valid for 2 years then pending on your relationship and everything be the same, you get issued with your Permanent Resident visa. Dont quote me but Im pretty sure thats how it works from what my friend has said and another girl I know.

Diz

maria83

Mar 6, 12, 05:13 #13

HI I am a Polish girl in Australia now. We applied for a prospective marriage visa first and then when I got to Sydney (got the visa after 3 months of waiting and did it through the embassy in Germany) we got married and then I applied for Partner visa. At the moment I am on bridging visa for almost 9 months now and still no decision from the immigration, I guess they are very busy here. If I were you I would apply for the Partner visa in Germany, I bet you won't have to wait as long as I do here in Sydney. Don't give up, it is doable ;) Good Luck!

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