How To Apply For A Visa To Australia?

My girlfriend is going back to Australia, how soon can she apply for a fiancee visa?

• I've been living with my Australian girlfriend since January, she was on a working holiday Visa. I'm a UK citizen by the way. Her school couldn't sponsor her, but we wanted to get married. Unfortunately the application was so close to the cut off time (exactly 3 months were left on her visa), so we don't think we will get it..time has basically run out, heard nothing..we are pretty gutted. Now we are facing the fact that she will have to go back. How soon can she apply for a fiancee visa upon returning to Australia? Also, when she finally arrives, if we get married more or less straight away, how soon can she work again? Do we have to wait for the 6 months or will marital status now enable her to work straight away? One final question is, how long would it roughly take? Thanks for your help.

• Answer:

  She can apply for a fiance visa immediately. There are no time restrictions on her return to the UK. She can't work until she has applied for and been granted her spouse visa. You can apply for this as soon as you are married, you do not have to wait until the six months validity on the fiance visa is expired. In other words she could return and get married as soon as the formalities of residence allow (7 days?) and apply for the spouse visa immediately. This could be as soon as you are able to arrange the marriage once you know she has her fiance visa. Marital status does not allow her to work, she must have that spouse visa first. The fiance visa would have to be applied for in Canberra. At the moment settlement visas (fiance, spouse etc) are taking up to 90 days with the majority processed within 60 days. What about getting married elsewhere in Europe and then your (then) wife can go back to Australia and apply immediately for a spouse visa, cutting out the fiance visa and being unable to work bit completely. The processing time for a spouse visa is unlikely to be any different from a fiance visa. Many European countries have fiddly legal requirements or lengthy residence rules prior to the wedding, but Cyprus looks one of the most straightforward if you go for the special licence. http://www.weddings-abroad-guide.com/cyprus-legal-requirements.html Although this will involve perhaps more cost than you had anticipated, it will be more than paid for by cutting out the fiance visa fee (£644) and your fiance's loss of earnings whilst waiting for the spouse visa.