|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
manlyboy
Joined: 01 Aug 2004
Location: Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
|
 Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 6:28 pm Post subject: Australian spouse visa |
 |
|
| Would anyone happen to have any tips or info about obtaining an Aussie spouse visa? The wife and I are considering moving there later this year but the application process looks dauntingly complicated and time-consuming. The amount of documentation and paperwork required looks overwhelming and the application fee is over a million won, and NON-REFUNDABLE. The thought of having the application rejected over some obscure error in the paperwork and losing all that money makes the poop curdle in my lower intestine. I understand there are agents who can be hired to make sure everything is in order before you apply. Has anyone used one of these before? Any useful tips or info would be much appreciated. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
james the cat
Joined: 11 Sep 2006
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 4:24 am Post subject: About the visa |
|
|
My korean wife now has an Australian Residency Visa
Please read all of this as EVERYTHING I write is important.
Here are some facts about the process we went through...
Yes, it was very long and detailed etc...everything you mentioned.
We had a stack of paper work, Korean and Australian, but we had a case manager...She communicated with us really well about everything...even after I swore infront of her regarding the visa price.
Korean papers were family, citizenship, employment records that we had to get translated to English...$$$$$
Aussie papers were all the Immigration paperwork,family references, photos, emails, letters, anything that proved that we were genuine. Police records and health check ups have to be done...time, time, time!
The Aussie Immigration are not too worried about your financial situation, more about how REAL your relationship is.
After all the paper work was submitted, you have an interview, which was booked in the day you paid for the visa...it was about 1-3 months later.
This is where you really have to know each other well...WE DID!
I'm not going to tell you the nature of the interview, or what they do there...but if you are genuine...it is easy...OH! I will say they do test you by saying that only your wife needs to be at the interview...you work that one out.
All in all...if you are genuine and have real proof to show for...you won't be rejected.
After being granted the visa your wife has 1 year to enter Australia in order to activate the temporary residence visa. My wife went to Aussie for 3 days to do this. After that she can come and go as she pleases. All this time you will be known as her sponsor.
Now, two years after the day you handed over the cash for the visa she will be able to get a full residence visa. They send you a letter and all. Now this is where you are going to be annoyed...you got to do the whole thing again...all the English paper work(not the Korea), family references, e-mails, pictures...x-rays, medical, police etc...but not the interview and no money needed....So don't discard anything.
We were told that this can take up to 6 months!...We were lucky and got the department head in Brisbane as our case officer...I begged the police check people to do the paperwork quickly...they did and we had her full visa in under 6 weeks...NOBODY that we knew had ever heard of this being done so fast...
Now we are back in Korea...Crazy, right?!? Now you need to know the next part incase you decide to return to Korea.
As soon as your wife recieves any kind of Residence Visa from Australia, Korean Immigration will be notified, she will then be 'DOWN-GRADED' in her Korean Citizen status. She will need to get a new Korean passport. When we did this, my wife's Credit Card was cancelled(without notification) and she is now unable to loan money from the bank...IT IS REALLY F****KED UP. But that's what she will get for deserting her homeland. 
If you return to Korea your wife will have to return to Australia within 5 years and live there for 2 years to maintain the visa.
With all this in mind, I say to you think about your long term plans first. About six month out from the big move to Aussie, start the visa process.
Good luck
Call me A/H if you need anymore info...but that's about it for now.
Go Titans! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
babtangee
Joined: 18 Dec 2004
Location: OMG! Charlie has me surrounded!
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 5:59 am Post subject: Re: About the visa |
|
|
| james the cat wrote: |
As soon as your wife recieves any kind of Residence Visa from Australia, Korean Immigration will be notified, she will then be 'DOWN-GRADED' in her Korean Citizen status. She will need to get a new Korean passport. When we did this, my wife's Credit Card was cancelled(without notification) and she is now unable to loan money from the bank...IT IS REALLY F****KED UP. But that's what she will get for deserting her homeland.
If you return to Korea your wife will have to return to Australia within 5 years and live there for 2 years to maintain the visa.
With all this in mind, I say to you think about your long term plans first. About six month out from the big move to Aussie, start the visa process.
Good luck
Call me A/H if you need anymore info...but that's about it for now.
Go Titans! |
Everything james wrote rings true, except the part about his wife being "downgraded" in her citizenship status. No one mentioned anything of the sort to my wife. She did not have to get a new passport. Her credit cards have not been cancelled. We came to Korea two years ago. However, I did hear something about some banks considering Koreans with foreign spouses a debt flight risk, we are yet to encounter such a problem.
You really oughta visit the immigration website. Here is a downloadable booklet that will provide you with specific information and a checklist of all the documents you will need. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
manlyboy
Joined: 01 Aug 2004
Location: Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 5:40 pm Post subject: |
|
|
james the cat, thanks for that awesome response. I think I got more out of that than I have the last few days reading the embassy and immigration web sites. Check your messages. I'd love to pick your brain a bit more.
babtangee, thanks for the info on your experience as well, although I wouldn't call that booklet "specific". It's more like a very comprehensive outline. There's still a great deal of information one should know before lodging their application that isn't in there.
How long did your application process take? I'm curious to know if 6 months is the norm.
Oh yeah, and go the Sea Eagles! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
babtangee
Joined: 18 Dec 2004
Location: OMG! Charlie has me surrounded!
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 6:41 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| manlyboy wrote: |
babtangee, thanks for the info on your experience as well, although I wouldn't call that booklet "specific". It's more like a very comprehensive outline. There's still a great deal of information one should know before lodging their application that isn't in there.
How long did your application process take? I'm curious to know if 6 months is the norm.
|
Everything I needed I got from that booklet. While the process was a major pain in the arse, I wouldn't call it complicated. Just a matter of getting a lot of things done.
How long did what part of the process take? It took about 3 months after we submitted everything before they called us in for an interview and gave us the temporary (2 year) visa.
After the 2 years, I submitted the 2nd round of "evidence" and waited about another 3 months. I then however called them and asked them to fasttrack my interview, as I was planning to move to Korea within the month. They interviewed me (not my wife) over the phone and called me back the next day telling me to come and pick up the permanent visa. At that point we really didn't care about the visa anymore (as we intended to come to Korea for more than a year anyway), and I think the interviewer picked up on this and decided we must be genuine.
The things you should make sure you have:
1)stacks of photos of the two of you at various social gathering, blah blah;
2)as many stat decs as you can produce (I'm pretty sure they have to be signed by Australian citizens), attesting to the legitimacy of your relationship;
3)proof that you can support your wife financially for the first two years she resides in Australia (if you haven't got a stable job, you have to find someone who has whom will guarantee sponsorship);
4)email correspondence will do well if you have spent significant time apart;
5)proof of overseas travel together (boarding passes; flight reciepts) is convincing.
The rest is pretty obvious: proof of ID; criminal check (Aus. and Korean); medical check; bank statements (active, shared accounts would be a bonus); proof of cohabitation will help (eg. bills for the same address in each other's names, official bank/credit company/government department/insurance etc. letters to the same address).
Of course, you will have to pay to get all documents in Korean translated by a registered translator approved by Aus. immigration - hopefully you can get the Aus. embassy to point you in the right direction (they were a pain to find in Melbourne).
Note: We went through this process in Australia. I have no idea what it's like to do it from Korea, but I can only imagine it being harder.
Are you doing this in Korea or Aus.? If in Aus., I wouldn't deem it necessary for an English-speaking individual to hire an agent to help them. A waste of money, I'd say. In Korea, however, I do not know.
Also, I wouldn't worry about "errors in paperwork" costing you your application fee. Even if you forget something, they will tell you to go get it and come back. I doubt they intend to rip anyone off. I'd still prepare as much as possible as early as you can... it is pretty stressful. Get the criminal checks done first thing. The Korean one took ages to come back, and then I had to get it translated! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
manlyboy
Joined: 01 Aug 2004
Location: Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 5:29 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Thanks a billion for that reply, babtangee. The poop in my lower intestine is curdling less vigorously.
We're applying from Korea. The agent's fee is a million won, but they actually give free consultation so you can phone them up at any time and get info gratis. They've told us they can't see any reason for our application to be rejected, although I suspect they may say that to anybody if it means getting their business.
Here's a few queries:
Where to start? Besides the police check, what takes the longest?
My wife was in the US from 97-98, so apparently that means she needs a police record check from there as well. Any experience with that?
I got my degree under the HECS system, meaning I don't have to repay the government unless my income exceeds a certain threshold. I'm wondering if this could be construed as owing a debt to the government and thus disqualify me as a sponsor.
Can the photos be on disc or do they want hardcopies?
What documents does the guarantor have to provide? Bank statements, pay slips, letter from employer?
They ask for declarations explaining how you met, how your relationship developed, etc. What's best here? 500 words? 1000? 5000?
Are stat decs easy to obtain? I've never gotten one before.
That's all I can think of for now. Once again, thanks for taking the time to help me out. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
babtangee
Joined: 18 Dec 2004
Location: OMG! Charlie has me surrounded!
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 6:41 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| manlyboy wrote: |
| They've told us they can't see any reason for our application to be rejected, although I suspect they may say that to anybody if it means getting their business. |
Yeah, I suspect they would too. I'd advise you to read everything (all the required forms) before engaging their services. Know yourself that there's no reason for your application to be denied. Then, if you're lazy (like me), and one million ain't too much to you, I'd hire them.
RE: your queries:
| Quote: |
| Where to start? Besides the police check, what takes the longest? |
Organize your stat decs. (Form 888) You need at least 2, but the more the merrier (I submitted about a dozen).
It's a royal pain for the person signing, because they have to go, show their ID and get it stamped by a Justice of the Peace (you will owe many people a fine dinner). Chemists come in real handy for stamping stat decs. That, or the head officer at a post office.
The specific stat dec can be downloaded at http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/888.pdf
| Quote: |
| My wife was in the US from 97-98, so apparently that means she needs a police record check from there as well. Any experience with that? |
Yeah, she needs to get checked for that. (And remember, you will have to get these police checks again for each country your wife has lived in for 12 months+ when you apply for the permanent visa 2 years later.)
I don't know about getting one from the US, but form 47P explains how to get the police check from each country: http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/47p.pdf
The US requires finger prints! (What a pain in the arse.) You will have to call the provided number to find out how much you need to pay. Don't forget to include a paid, self addressed, return post envelope.
Korea police check was a pain from Aus., but is simple from Korea.
Australian police check was painless (just send a money order), but they did take about a month to send it back.
| Quote: |
| I got my degree under the HECS system, meaning I don't have to repay the government unless my income exceeds a certain threshold. I'm wondering if this could be construed as owing a debt to the government and thus disqualify me as a sponsor. |
It shouldn't, because it's an agreed debt that is not supposed to adversly affect your income. However, you will probably have to show that you are not skipping out on repayment.
This one I'm not sure about, as I got my well-to-do brother to sign the Assurance of Support for me. I don't think you can get the form online. Judging by their website they have changed the system and now Centrelink (the dole office) is handling the AoS applications: http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/34aos.htm This wasn't the case when we applied.
| Quote: |
| Can the photos be on disc or do they want hardcopies? |
Hardcopies. They will not appreciate having to check them on the computer. The fatter your folder of application documents the better, I imagine.
| Quote: |
| What documents does the guarantor have to provide? Bank statements, pay slips, letter from employer? |
If memory serves, my brother had to provide all of the above and to fill out a income/costs form to show that he made enough money after expenses to support my wife if need be.
| Quote: |
| They ask for declarations explaining how you met, how your relationship developed, etc. What's best here? 500 words? 1000? 5000? |
Don't go crazy. If it's really long you might piss someone off. I imagine I wrote about 1,000. My wife, maybe 500. Just try to provide information that demonstrates your relationship is borne out of mutual love and nothing else. Don't be too gay though, you don't what them giggling about you after work.
| Quote: |
| Are stat decs easy to obtain? I've never gotten one before. |
The stat decs your friends/family need to fill out are above Form 888. You and your wife can fill out your declarations on a plain stat dec which you can download no problem (do a search: Australian statutory declaration form).
Good Luck. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
