# When should I apply for my spouse Visa??



## blackcountrylass (May 29, 2008)

I have been married to an australian citizen for 5 years and we have 2 children and our third on the way due end august. My husband has been offered a job to start early february '09 but I'm unsure as to when to apply for my visa considering the impending birth of our child. Just a bit concerned that if I apply to early that they will have made a decision before I have chance to get a passport for the new baby and inform them of his birth. Any suggestions about how long the process takes and when would be best to apply given the circumstances.


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## kaz101 (Nov 29, 2007)

Hi blackcountrylass, 

All I can suggest is talking to an agent since I don't know of any others on the forum that are in your situation. We have 2 agents on the forum - Alan Collett & Liana Allan and it may be worth getting in touch with them. 

Regards,
Karen


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## blackcountrylass (May 29, 2008)

many thanks, can I just email them directly?


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## SGKG102 (Feb 24, 2008)

Hi blackcountrylass,

I am currently in the process of applying for a Spouse Visa. My husband is also an Ozzie and we have been married for almost 14 years. We have one child and have obtained her citizenship by descent. The problem I see with your application is that you are required to include all depenants and their passport details regardless of whether or not they have Australian citizenship.

I may be wrong but I think that you will need to wait until after the birth to submit the application. However, there is nothing to stop you from starting the ball rolling by applying for your meds and police checks so that they are ready for August then you can make your application as soon as you have your baby.

I have e-mailed the Australian High Commission in London asking a few questions regarding my own application and they confirmed that you can sort out the meds and police checks before the application goes in. They also informed me that the current process time is 12 weeks but I have heard that they are turning them around in a lot less time.

Have your other children got Australian citizenship. If so they will not be required to have the meds and they will not need police checks neither will your husband. If they have not got Australian Citizenship you can apply for it and it costs £50.00 each. I was told that the application would take at least 10 working days and it came back to me in 4 days.

I will be sending my application off as soon as I receive my results back. I have sent off for my police check and am having my x rays tomorrow (Friday) and my med on Monday. As soon as I hear anything from Australia House I will let you know.

I hope that this information is helpful to you and if you have any more questions please do not hesitate to ask.

Good Luck 

Karen & Steve


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## blackcountrylass (May 29, 2008)

Thanks so much for your response. Its a little bewildering all the paperwork etc so its great to hear from someone going throught the same process. Unfortuneatly we can't register our children as australian by decent as my husband unlike his brothers was born in the UK and registered as australian by decent he's family returned to oz when he was little and he lived there till he was nearly 16 but hasn't lived there as an adult so our children aren't automatically eligible. Australia House told me that we can process our application and then add our new bub to the application once they are born as long as we do this before a decision is made. I guess its just a matter of timing. I think you are right that preparing our application over the next few months would be the best thing and then applying in late august just after our son is born. Hopefully the 5 months we would have until my husband is due to start work would be enough to get the visa processed. Sounds daft but do you know roughly how much your medicals cost? Would you recommend doing this before applying as it says to wait until they are requested on the forms though reading between the lines I think we would all defo need them not sure about x rays though. Also given that my children are 3 and 2 and unborn will they need police checks?? Sounds silly I know but paperwork is never atraight forward. Lol. 

Again Many thanks for your help, its much appreciated.
Amiee xx


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## kaz101 (Nov 29, 2007)

blackcountrylass said:


> many thanks, can I just email them directly?


Their email addresses are in the their signatures once you find a post by them, or you can contact them through the members list (top row, black background, third from the left).


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## SGKG102 (Feb 24, 2008)

Hi again blackcountrylass,

The medicals are £120.00 each for over 15 year olds and £80 each for under 15 years then £25 for each blood test required. Under 15 years do not require blood tests. The x rays are £75 each and only required for over 11 year olds. This is in Chichester. I am not sure if the price is the same everywhere.

With regard to the police checks, only people over the age of 17 need have them.

You can have your medicals before you submit your application. All you need to do is log on to the Australia House website and find Panel Doctors. This will produce a list of doctors and you can then find the one closest to where you live. You need form 26 for the Medical and form 160 for the x ray. These forms are also available on the website.

With regard to the citizenship issue the eligibility states that if the Australian citizen parent is an Australian citizen by descent that parent should have been present in Australia for periods totalling 2 years at some point in their life. This info was in response to an e-mail that I sent to Austalia House when maikng my enquiries. With this in mind I am sure that your children will be eligible. The form required is 118. 

I have certainly had my medicals processed prior to my application as I want to lodge the whole lot at the same time to save time in the processing. This was one of the questions that I asked Australia House and it was they that gave me the info about the panel doctors etc and confirmed that it was ok to go ahead and have them done.

I know what you mean about all the paperwork. I had already filled in mine and then luckily checked and they have recently changed it all so I had to do the whole lot again still never mind keeps me on my toes and prevents me from getting bored.

Hope this is helpful to you.

Kind regards

Karen and Steve


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