Sub-class 100 visa: Partner permanent

We now have the letter requesting the documentation required for “considering”  the permanent partner visa application in our hot little hands.

Thankfully, none of it looks too onerous.  We will err on the side of caution and send additional information over and above what is asked for.

If my initial reading of the documentation is correct, we have to submit the following as a minimum:

• A statutory declaration by Mr O
• A statutory declaration by Mrs O – that’s me
• A National Police Clearance for Mr O
• A National Police Clearance for Miss O 1
• A completed checklist

The checklist asks for updated information, such as current address and contact details. It also asks for details of any overseas travel taken since my family arrived and details of education undertaken.  Any details of military service undertaken since the temporary visa was granted also have to be provided.

The statutory declaration forms are quite strange – they belong in the days of the typewriter.  I rang and asked was there an electronic version, as I have no access to a typewriter!  It seems not, so I will typing the whole thing from scratch for each of us.

One question is “Describe the nature of your household including any joint responsibility for the care and support of children, your living arrangements and sharing of the responsibility for housework.”

See guys – if you come to live in Australia it is a legal requirement that you SHARE the responsibility for housework!    I had a great time pointing that one out to Mr O Jnrs 1 & 2.

There is also a question which I think is worded rather strangely, although I have to admit I don’t know how else one could word it! “Describe the nature of your commitment to each other including the degree of emotional support you draw from each other and whether you see the relationship as a long-term one.”  I get that it is necessary to ask the question, it is just strange wording, “the nature”.

Two other questions relate to financial entanglement and social activities.  Our financial entanglement consists of paying off the debts incurred getting my family home!  Not sure that is the answer sought, but it is the truth.

We also have to provide the names and contact details of two people on each statutory declaration (so I am assuming that means four people in total) who are prepared to give a verbal or written statement about the nature of our relationship.

The questions are exactly the same on each.   I don’t know if we are expected to describe the same things in two different ways or if we can just say the same things.  How many different ways are there to say Mr O Jnr 1 and Mr O Jnr 2 do the dishes on alternate nights, Miss O 1 washes the laundry, Miss O 2 cleans the bathroom, Mr O vacuums and I cook?  Then again, that is not what happens all the time.  Swaps do happen – remember the selling of dishes duty for the price of an ice-cream?

That sums up the statutory declarations.

The police clearance application forms have changed and the cost has gone up.  I’m confused about the addresses to provide: there is a space for the current residential address and a previous address.  Do the AFP really want the Nigerian addresses?  I don’t think so, but need to check as it isn’t clear.  Then it is a little complicated by the fact Mr O lived here before and does have a previous Australian address.  Do I put that?  A call to the AFP on Monday should answer those questions.  I don’t need to provide a police clearance because I supplied one with the original application.   So did Mr O supply an Australian police clearance then, but it was for a different time period, so he has to provide one covering the period since the grant of the temporary visa.

The time frame given for processing is six to eight months, which is really inconvenient for us given Mr O’s apprenticeship and Miss O 1 starting university.  The temporary visa has certain restrictions in relation to student concession travel and education.

We can take the letter to Medicare to get new Medicare cards as the initial interim cards issued expire next month.  For American readers, this is not at all like your Medicare, it is totally different: here residents and citizens are entitled to Medicare and we pay a Medicare levy with our taxes.  Many of us have private health insurance on top of that for private hospital and extras cover, but Medicare covers public hospital care.  That’s as much of a summary as I am giving tonight!

There is a card we can include with the paperwork to be sent back to us to confirm our documents have been received.   A self-addressed envelope is provided, but it is not postage paid.   We will not hear from the department until a case officer is assigned.

The mystery of the requirements is over!  I am not sure if what we received is stock standard for everyone or if the documentation sought is different depending on the circumstances of different cases.  I am of the opinion it is stock standard, but I will see if I can confirm that.  I am going to do this part of our journey without legal assistance.  It can’t be that hard to get right after all the experience I have gained to date!  I hope!  We have 60 days from the date we are deemed to have received the letter to return the documents.  The Police Clearances take 15 days to process according to the AFP website. 

We know we may be subject to a surprise visit at any time as these have been re-introduced.  Let’s hope we’ve had time to do the pre-requisite housework before they arrive.  If not, I can always hand them a feather duster or a mop.

Wish us luck!

Related articles

• Sub-class 100 visa: the time has come. (teamoyeniyi.com)
• Sub-class 309 to sub-class 100 is a MYSTERY! (teamoyeniyi.com)
• The 309 visa: here but not here? (teamoyeniyi.com)
• Lodging a Partner visa application April 2012 (immigrationptyltd.wordpress.com)