DGT Posted June 13, 2019 Report Share Posted June 13, 2019 @bernadette24 I am under the impression that SA was taken off the "Visa Free "list for NZ a year or two ago. So just make sure if you should elect to go there to wait for your Aus Visa to come through. All the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernadette24 Posted June 13, 2019 Report Share Posted June 13, 2019 Thank you for that but i am French, my husband British but we lived in South Africa for the past 15 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernadette24 Posted June 13, 2019 Report Share Posted June 13, 2019 4 minutes ago, DGT said: @bernadette24 I am under the impression that SA was taken off the "Visa Free "list for NZ a year or two ago. So just make sure if you should elect to go there to wait for your Aus Visa to come through. All the best. Once you made the final payment were you granted the visa the day after? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DGT Posted June 13, 2019 Report Share Posted June 13, 2019 4 minutes ago, bernadette24 said: Thank you for that but i am French, my husband British but we lived in South Africa for the past 15 years. Lucky you!! Three Passports ! Hope all goes well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernadette24 Posted June 13, 2019 Report Share Posted June 13, 2019 Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DGT Posted June 13, 2019 Report Share Posted June 13, 2019 5 minutes ago, bernadette24 said: Once you made the final payment were you granted the visa the day after? Actually I was very Lucky. By coincidence We had tickets booked for departure 3 July to Aus on our 600 Visa .So you can imagine our stress,not knowing whether the email with the Actual Visa conformation would come through before we landed.I simply handed the official my passport and kept silent.He did not stamp our entry in our passport though,but let us through.. so I was a bit unsure, I quickly turned back and asked him whether he saw that I had a PR visa? 😉 Nerves nerves nerves all over the place.He just nodded and waived us along. On our second trip I checked and found that they no longer stamp our passports on entry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkz Posted June 13, 2019 Report Share Posted June 13, 2019 53 minutes ago, bernadette24 said: When entering the country to activate visa 143, does my husband have to be with me or can he arrive a couple of weeks later? Hi Bernadette, you will get two Visa Confirmation Letters, one for each of you in the same email when issued. But you don't need to present it to passport control when arriving. The 143 visa will be on their system when you get to passport control. So it makes no difference whether you and your husband go through passport control together or not, as long as the 143 visa has been issued before any of you enter back into Australian. If you travel to N/Zealand with a French or British passport, you should just check if you need a visa. (I doubt it). You do need one with a South African passport, unless you are already a permanent resident of Australia. Then you can travel to N/Z with your SA passport without a visa. They will pick it up in their system when they scan your SA passport if you are an Aus resident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernadette24 Posted June 13, 2019 Report Share Posted June 13, 2019 Thank you so much for that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkz Posted June 13, 2019 Report Share Posted June 13, 2019 @bernadette24 Also just note in your 143 Visa Grant Notice there will be an initial arrival date that you must get to Australia to activate your 143 visa, but that is normally one year after your Police Clearance Certificate has been issued. Then you can travel out of Aus with multiple entries until the Last Date to arrive when you must be settled. I also heard this week that if you leave Australia as a permanent resident and stay in your original country for a long time, it might affect your application for Australian Citizenship - delay it. But I have to still verify that and how long you should be uninterrupted in Aus to qualify for Citizenship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernadette24 Posted June 13, 2019 Report Share Posted June 13, 2019 Thank you for all your advice. Our dilemma is that we are here in Sydney on a 600 visa and look after our grandsons while the parents work. Now we are aware that we must leave the country but would like to know when they will grant our visa. we made the final payment tonight. Who can we contact? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elna57 Posted June 13, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2019 @bernadette24 You and your husband will each get your own visa grant letter. He does not have to return with you. As long as he keeps in mind the date for entry which will be stated in the visa grant letter. You can contact the officer whose name appears on the request for final payment. We sent an email and notified them when we would be out of the country and after we left, our visa was granted two to three days later. You have to inform them Asap that you are in aus at the moment and they will then ask you to provide them with dates when you would be out of the country and your itinerary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elna57 Posted June 13, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2019 @bernadette24 Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elna57 Posted June 13, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2019 Sorry, I did not see that Dirk has already answered your question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernadette24 Posted June 13, 2019 Report Share Posted June 13, 2019 7 hours ago, Elna57 said: @bernadette24 You and your husband will each get your own visa grant letter. He does not have to return with you. As long as he keeps in mind the date for entry which will be stated in the visa grant letter. You can contact the officer whose name appears on the request for final payment. We sent an email and notified them when we would be out of the country and after we left, our visa was granted two to three days later. You have to inform them Asap that you are in aus at the moment and they will then ask you to provide them with dates when you would be out of the country and your itinerary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donovan83 Posted June 13, 2019 Report Share Posted June 13, 2019 Queue has finallly moved! August 2015 now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernadette24 Posted June 17, 2019 Report Share Posted June 17, 2019 On 6/14/2019 at 9:49 AM, Donovan83 said: Queue has finallly moved! August 2015 now. My visa 143 has just been granted. Lodged in August 2015 and granted June 2019 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkz Posted June 17, 2019 Report Share Posted June 17, 2019 1 hour ago, bernadette24 said: My visa 143 has just been granted. Lodged in August 2015 and granted June 2019 Congrats! Did you have to go off-shore to get it issued? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernadette24 Posted June 17, 2019 Report Share Posted June 17, 2019 3 minutes ago, Dirkz said: Congrats! Did you have to go off-shore to get it issued? Yes i left for New Zealand on Sunday morning. So i am going back to Sydney tomorrow. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernadette24 Posted June 18, 2019 Report Share Posted June 18, 2019 On 6/13/2019 at 8:33 PM, DGT said: Lucky you!! Three Passports ! Hope all goes well. i understand that once the visa 143 is granted, i can travel freely in and out of Australia. However, what happens after 5 years? What is the maximum time i can be out of Australia without to having to apply for another visa to come back in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernadette24 Posted June 18, 2019 Report Share Posted June 18, 2019 On 6/13/2019 at 11:50 PM, Elna57 said: @bernadette24 You and your husband will each get your own visa grant letter. He does not have to return with you. As long as he keeps in mind the date for entry which will be stated in the visa grant letter. You can contact the officer whose name appears on the request for final payment. We sent an email and notified them when we would be out of the country and after we left, our visa was granted two to three days later. You have to inform them Asap that you are in aus at the moment and they will then ask you to provide them with dates when you would be out of the country and your itinerary. Now that we have been granted our visas 143, what should we do first, exchange driver's licence or medicare card? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odendaal Posted June 18, 2019 Report Share Posted June 18, 2019 @spark80got our acknowledgement letter on Saturday 15 June! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spark80 Posted June 18, 2019 Report Share Posted June 18, 2019 32 minutes ago, Odendaal said: @spark80got our acknowledgement letter on Saturday 15 June! Congrats and good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkz Posted June 18, 2019 Report Share Posted June 18, 2019 4 hours ago, bernadette24 said: Now that we have been granted our visas 143, what should we do first, exchange driver's licence or medicare card? Bernadette, you can do either first. What we did in no particular order, but all in the first day or two, was to go to Centrelink to register and get our Medicare Card. Your SA passport will suffice. But maybe also take your Visa Grant Letter along for safety. Can't remember if we did but I think so. We also went to the Dept of Transport and Main Roads in our area to apply for an Aus Drivers License. In QLD we were fortunate to just swap it for a Drivers License but in NSW you might have to go through an assessment before you can get your Drivers license. Check online. But do it ASAP because it also serves as your ID wherever you go in Australia. We needed for this our SA passport, SA drivers license, as well as proof of Aus address. If you stay with your child, just get a letter form her/him that states that you stay with them and a utility bill that shows the address. (it might not be necessary for you but saves time if they ask for it). Then of course you need to open a bank account (if you don't already have) which we did online before we got here. We just went in to the bank to activate the account so we can start using it with the bank card we were issued as well as with the banking app on our phones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernadette24 Posted June 18, 2019 Report Share Posted June 18, 2019 10 minutes ago, Dirkz said: Bernadette, you can do either first. What we did in no particular order, but all in the first day or two, was to go to Centrelink to register and get our Medicare Card. Your SA passport will suffice. But maybe also take your Visa Grant Letter along for safety. Can't remember if we did but I think so. We also went to the Dept of Transport and Main Roads in our area to apply for an Aus Drivers License. In QLD we were fortunate to just swap it for a Drivers License but in NSW you might have to go through an assessment before you can get your Drivers license. Check online. But do it ASAP because it also serves as your ID wherever you go in Australia. We needed for this our SA passport, SA drivers license, as well as proof of Aus address. If you stay with your child, just get a letter form her/him that states that you stay with them and a utility bill that shows the address. (it might not be necessary for you but saves time if they ask for it). Then of course you need to open a bank account (if you don't already have) which we did online before we got here. We just went in to the bank to activate the account so we can start using it with the bank card we were issued as well as with the banking app on our phones. Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ike Posted June 18, 2019 Report Share Posted June 18, 2019 On 6/17/2019 at 7:55 AM, bernadette24 said: My visa 143 has just been granted. Lodged in August 2015 and granted June 2019 Hi Bernadette, when did you receive you letter requesting additional information. The beginning of June “ parents” changed the standard reply to processing August and a +/- 20 days later your 143 was granted. Congratulations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.