OMG Visas Aps are such a PITA !!!

[americaninoz]

dh and I need US background checks for our Aussie Citizenship applciations - only PITA there is we have to find a local police station that will take our fingerprints to send with the application - but otherwise it's no big deal, you can pay by credit card - only $18, etc - but can take up to 17 weeks to come back....

but for the UK one it's 45 pounds!!! (I swear it was only 10 when I lived there & had to get one for a visa) AND they want a bankers draft for payment in UK pounds only!! My bank wants to charge me $25 to get that. What a frickin PITA!! At least they don't need fingerprints too though.

Argh - can't wait til this whole process is over - and I've just started on the paperwork lol!

[allibally]

I had to do a FBI background check for my Swiss Visa too. It was a pain we tried going a different route just getting police records at first. But in the end Zurich said I needed the FBI check. I was lucky that we got the news a few weeks before I was to go to the US on a visit. So I went to my local police station to get it done. Mine didn't take too longer. Less than a month so hopefully it won't be the 17 weeks for you.

Problem for me was that my mom forward it to me. And since we were having problems with our mailbox we had it sent to DH's hotel. Well it got lost in the shuffle there. So then my mom had to mail one of the copies she made! Thank god they took the copy which I couldn't believe because when you copy it has little watermarks that go on it.

[americaninoz]

yea I had to get an FBI check for my aussie visa a few years ago, they said to write on the envelope the date you needed it by, so I just wrote ASAP
then I got it back 17 weeks later!!!! I guess I had sent my request during their busy season - just prior to the school year starting, so they had a TON to process
I hope it doesn't take that long this time though - I want to get this application submitted!!!
annoying that I have to do this again though - but I guess if the check isn't done within 18 months of another application you have to do it again *BIG sigh*
now I just have to find somewhere that will take our prints!!
in the UK I had to go to this special fingerprinting place and it cost 74 pounds - ouch!
here though they just say go to a local police station.... hmmmm

[aMrsin09]

Interesting. I didn't need a new FBI check for my Permanent Resident Visa even though it had been well over 18 months since my Fiancee Visa check.

It really stinks for me because my finger prints don't like to "take".

[dorothyinAus]

I just got the Permanent Resident Visa package, and I do not need an FBI check, though I do need an AFP check.

When I got the FBI check for my Temporary Visa, I got it back in about 6 weeks. They indicated it could be as long as 22 weeks, but it was surprisingly quick. I was very worried about it because the fingerprint technician at my local police station noticed that there is a "void" on one of my fingers -- you can see the pattern of my fingerprint, but it will not transfer, wither with the optical scan or the ink, there is a perfectly oval shaped blank area no matter what method she used.

[americaninoz]

hmmm strange that you ladies didn't need one
they are saying that if I was in any country for >90 days since activating my permanent residency visa I have to get a 'penal clearance' from there
I will call back though and just double check whether the clearance I got for my perm residency back in 2007 will count.....

[americaninoz]

what's an AFP check dorothy?

[dorothyinAus]

Australian Federal Police

[americaninoz]

ahhh ok - for my citizenship ap it says I only need to get that if I'm applying from outside Australia
fun fun huh?

[aMrsin09]

May 13, 2012 20:13:22 GMT -5 americaninoz said:

hmmm strange that you ladies didn't need one
they are saying that if I was in any country for >90 days since activating my permanent residency visa I have to get a 'penal clearance' from there
I will call back though and just double check whether the clearance I got for my perm residency back in 2007 will count.....

I wonder if I'll need an FBI check since I won't be in any country other than OZ since I became permanent in November.

For my Permanent Visa they asked for a penal check for any country that I had been in for 12 months or more. I remember breathing a sigh of relief that I didn't need to try to get a police report from France!

[dorothyinAus]

I wonder why you'd only need the AFP check if you were applying from outside, but you need the FBI check if you are IN Australia.

It doesn't seem consistent.

[aMrsin09]

May 13, 2012 20:17:23 GMT -5 americaninoz said:

ahhh ok - for my citizenship ap it says I only need to get that if I'm applying from outside Australia
fun fun huh?

Well there ya go. Problem solved!

Wait, you only need the FBI check if you are outside OZ or you need the AFP check if outside OZ?

[americaninoz]

May 13, 2012 20:21:15 GMT -5 aMrsin09 said:

May 13, 2012 20:17:23 GMT -5 americaninoz said:

ahhh ok - for my citizenship ap it says I only need to get that if I'm applying from outside Australia
fun fun huh?

Well there ya go. Problem solved!

Wait, you only need the FBI check if you are outside OZ or you need the AFP check if outside OZ?

ah sorry - no I just meant for the AFP check I don't need that

just called (AGAIN) to clarify with them lol - they said I ONLY need to get police clearance checks if I have travelled for more than 12 months outside of Oz since I got my perm res visa (Activated), AND spent more than 90 days in any 1 country.
I think it's yes and yes for me on those, so I do need a US one
gawd - so complicated
I was just confused cause the website lists the 12 months and 90 days thing - but it's a list and doesn't say AND or OR you know?

[americaninoz]

May 13, 2012 20:19:20 GMT -5 dorothyinAus said:

I wonder why you'd only need the AFP check if you were applying from outside, but you need the FBI check if you are IN Australia.

It doesn't seem consistent.

yea it's because I travelled for > 12 months outside of Oz since I got my perm resiency visa, and spent >90 days in America at one point

so they want to know I didn't get any convictions while travelling I guess, but I still meet the minimum requirements to apply for citizenship - which is living in Oz for the past 4 years with <12 months outside of the country (which only kicked in as of March this year - because we travelled for a year and a half after I activated my visa before coming back to 'settle')

confusing much? sorry! this is just such a PITA I want to make sure I get it ALL right

[americaninoz]

I guess I can clarify simply by saying I activated my Australian permanent residency visa 5 years ago, but need 4 years in the country with <12 months of travel to get citizenship. I have that as of March this year, but I also need the FBI check because I was in the USA for >90 days since I activated this visa.

[aMrsin09]

yeah, I'm just planning on not traveling until November 2013. It will be easier.

Right now I meet the requirements with no added "hmmm, I wonder ..."

[aMrsin09]

May 13, 2012 20:59:08 GMT -5 americaninoz said:

I guess I can clarify simply by saying I activated my Australian permanent residency visa 5 years ago, but need 4 years in the country with <12 months of travel to get citizenship. I have that as of March this year, but I also need the FBI check because I was in the USA for >90 days since I activated this visa.

HA! I actually understood the first response.

Did you get Permanent Residency while outside of OZ?

[americaninoz]

May 13, 2012 21:07:49 GMT -5 aMrsin09 said:

yeah, I'm just planning on not traveling until November 2013. It will be easier.

Right now I meet the requirements with no added "hmmm, I wonder ..."

yea totally - I had to activate my visa before we went travelling, cause you had to do it within a certain amount of time (I applied from the UK) but it's becoming quite a PITA for me that I did that....

I just got my passport out and made a spreadseheet of every time I've been in & out of the country & counted up the total days, then worked backwards to figure out from what date I have been here with <12 months outside of Oz + 4 years

[americaninoz]

May 13, 2012 21:09:32 GMT -5 aMrsin09 said:

May 13, 2012 20:59:08 GMT -5 americaninoz said:

I guess I can clarify simply by saying I activated my Australian permanent residency visa 5 years ago, but need 4 years in the country with <12 months of travel to get citizenship. I have that as of March this year, but I also need the FBI check because I was in the USA for >90 days since I activated this visa.

HA! I actually understood the first response.

Did you get Permanent Residency while outside of OZ?

I figured you would, having had gone through this, but I was clarifying for others
Yes I applied while we were in London, as I knew it'd take a long time and I wanted to be legal to work as soon as we got to Oz to settle down

[aMrsin09]

May 13, 2012 21:13:13 GMT -5 americaninoz said:

I figured you would, having had gone through this, but I was clarifying for others
Yes I applied while we were in London, as I knew it'd take a long time and I wanted to be legal to work as soon as we got to Oz to settle down

Hrmmm, when I was given my Provisional Spousal in one hand while holding a ticket to leave OZ in 24 hrs in the other hand (yes, we got yelled at for that one ...) the immigration lady told me "you had better be back in OZ long before the Provisional expires in two years or your Permanent will be denied." Leading me to believe you had to actually be in OZ to get Permanent.

FWIW, I was legal to work here with any of my Visas from Fiancee on.

[americaninoz]

yea we were married when I applied and we were living in London - dh is a permanent resident too and I was able to apply through the Australian embassy in London. I had the option to apply once we got here to settle, but I would have had to have waited for it to go through before I could work.
It cost a lot of money but was actually not that terrible - just a PITA to get all those police checks (for that one I had to get US & UK) and the physical

[americaninoz]

oh very interesting - I guess I could have entered on that provisional spouse visa & just processed my perm residency while I was here
huh - didn't know that at the time!!!
oh well, I guess I just skipped that step by going straight to perm residency

[aMrsin09]

May 13, 2012 21:36:44 GMT -5 americaninoz said:

oh very interesting - I guess I could have entered on that provisional spouse visa & just processed my perm residency while I was here
huh - didn't know that at the time!!!
oh well, I guess I just skipped that step by going straight to perm residency

I came here to get married so I had no choice but to do the Provisional to prove we had a valid marriage. Yes, I've gotten the pay for many many visas. You already had a valid marriage so I don't think a Provisional would have applied.

As for the travel ...

For my Permanent they wanted to know all of the travel I had done outside of Australia in the past 10 years.

I was an offshore sailor and lived in Southern France, travel on the weekends was our middle name. I ended up needed the "additional page provided".

I have kept a copy of this document so I don't have to recreate it all again...

[americaninoz]

ahhh ok I see

yes that last 10 years thing was SUCH a PITA
I ended up just saying 'in London' for big periods time because we did a LOT of little trips to Europe (weekends) for which I had NO stamps!!
I marked down every trip to the US and Australia, etc, but those European trips were impossible to nail down.....

[dorothyinAus]

For my permanent, they are asking for info on any trips longer than 90 days out of Austalia since my temporary visa was granted, the AFP check, statutory declarations from both DH and me, as well as certified copies of our marriage license (I'm not sure if they mean the sealed ones from Arkansas or copies of those stamped here) and certified copies of our passports. I'm not sure if they'll need more information, but that's all the letter to processing requested.

[americaninoz]

I think the 10 years thing Dorothy was actually just in the visa applicaiton - one of the questions - granted it was 5 years ago for me, so may have changed since

I just gave them a copy of our marriage license that was certified by a notary where I was living, to prove it was real

[aMrsin09]

May 13, 2012 22:00:26 GMT -5 dorothyinAus said:

For my permanent, they are asking for info on any trips longer than 90 days out of Austalia since my temporary visa was granted, the AFP check, statutory declarations from both DH and me, as well as certified copies of our marriage license (I'm not sure if they mean the sealed ones from Arkansas or copies of those stamped here) and certified copies of our passports. I'm not sure if they'll need more information, but that's all the letter to processing requested.

You don't have to fill out a form 80 again? That's where they asked for the 10 years of travel.

Although I think yours is slightly different because you originally applied from outside OZ while I applied from inside.

[dorothyinAus]

No, just an updated travel information page from when my temporary visa was granted. I was really surprised there was not more to it. Which is not saying they may want more information later, but they are not asking for anything else right now.

You may be right on the differences though. We had gotten married in the US and I applied and waited for my visa while I was in the US. But I did have to fill out the detailed list of every country I had spent more than 24 hours in the last 10 years on the original application, as well as a separate section on trips to Australia in the 10 years. My international travel was mainly on cruises, and I had kept all the dated itineraries, so it was relatively easy to fill the form out -- though it looked interesting to be going Canada/US/Canada/France/Canada/US in 10 days on a couple of the trips.

[americaninoz]

ah yes sounds like you already had to do that then - makes sense that they only ask for that level of detail once I guess, no matter where you apply from

[aMrsin09]

May 13, 2012 22:56:35 GMT -5 americaninoz said:

ah yes sounds like you already had to do that then - makes sense that they only ask for that level of detail once I guess, no matter where you apply from

I had to fill it out twice. Once for the Fiancee Visa and once for the Permanent Visa.