Visas, Forms and Documentation, Part 1

The Visa I'm going to be applying for is the snappily-named Spouse Visa: Offshore Temporary and Permanent (or Subclass 309 and 100 to its friends.) The blurb says:

This visa allows you to enter or remain in Australia on the basis of your married or de-facto relationship with your partner:

• on a temporary visa (usually for a waiting period of approximately two (2) years from the date you applied for the visa)
• on a permanent visa if, after the waiting period (if applicable), your partner relationship still exists and you are still eligible for this visa.

It costs AU$1340, or about £550. I have a big form to fill in, so does Zoe, and there's a whole load of other criteria which I'll probably talk about individually as I come to them. For now, I have a print-out of the forms which I keep reading and re-reading, waiting for Zoe to fill in her form and send it over by post. I'm impatient. Now that this is all starting to happen, I want to happen yesterday.

One of the things we know we definitely need are testimonies from two Australian citizens who aren't related to either of us, detailing the "social context" of our relationship. We didn't have to do that for Zoe's equivalent visa in the UK, but then we had to provide two years worth of paperwork compared to the one years worth we need this time. For these testmonies I will be eternally greatful to Vic and Anna.