Past to present and a little on the 309 Partner Visa.

I’m a regular Aussie bloke that’s had the travelling bug ever since I can remember. I always wanted to get away and see the places that my folks and Grandparents always banged on about. I think growing up as a first generation Aussie does that to you, well it definitely did in my family. One occasion sitting with my Grandfather whilst he flipped through his note book has particularly stuck with me over the years. He was a Royal Engineer in the UK forces and got to see things that most people of that day and age would only dream about, he was so enthusiastic and I was hooked! I wanted and needed to travel, nothing was going to hold me back. So after finishing my VCE (Australia’s final school year) I packed my bags on an adventure to the Motherland – the UK. I was not disappointed and I loved every minute of the year I spent both in the UK and in Western Europe.

The year went too fast and it wasn’t long till I was off travelling again, back home again and then travelling again. It is on my last travels with one of my best mates that I ended up back in the UK.  I Stayed when I thought I wouldn’t, met a girl, we bought a house, we’re getting married and we’ve decided to pack it all in and go back to my homeland, Australia, later in the year.

Tina's a UK national which is one of the reasons I decided to do this blog. Finding out what visa's we needed was a nightmare. As we weren't married when we started the process we found out that we needed to start applying for a 'Partner temporary visa (subclass 309).' This visa is basically for anyone of Australian citizenship who is going to bring a partner back with them. It turns out it's quite a process! I will expand further on this in my next post. But for now, one point which I would suggest to anyone even contemplating the move is keep hold of every document that has both your full names on over the past two or so years. i.e. like travel itineraries, bank statements, council tax etc... Sort them into the months and keep them in a file. Believe me this is a life saver!