Yes. If you wish to travel to Australia, regardless of country of passport, you will need to apply for a visa prior to travelling to Australia.

The type of visa you need to apply for will depend on a number of factors such as, your intention to travel to Australia, your personal circumstances and how long you are planning to stay in Australia.

Whether you are in Australia or overseas, Crux Migration can assist you by assessing your circumstances and eligibility to map out your Australian Migration Pathway.

This will depend on the type of visa you are applying for. Different visas have different requirements and have different sets of documents you need to provide.

All documents that are not in English will need to be translated. If you are in Australia, your documents will need to be translated by an accredited NAATI translator.

If you are outside of Australia (offshore) your translator does not need to be accredited but they must endorse the translation with their full name, phone number, address and details of their qualifications and experience in the language being translated.

Generally, this will depend on the type of documents you are providing for your visa application. For example, if you are applying for a Partner visa the form 888s will need to be witnessed and certified.

If you are in Australia and you are applying for the Australian citizenship or evidence of Australian citizenship, your documents must be certified by a person with a specific profession or occupation. See Designated List of Occupations and Professions for more information.

Applicants who are in Australia and wish to get a statutory declaration witnessed must get it witnessed by a prescribed person.

If you are outside Australia (offshore) you must get your documents certified by a person or agency recognised by the law of the country that you are living in. You can find out who is qualified to certify your document by visiting Australia’s Embassies and Consulates in your country.

Not all visa to Australia will require you to obtain specific scores on an English test. You will only need to sit an English test if there is an English requirement.

Please note that the scores that you need to obtain will depend on factors such as the visa you are applying for and your occupation. You may also be limited by the type of English test you can sit depending on your occupation.

Health (or medical) examinations are required for certain visa applications. The department may also request your medical examination where necessary for example, if you are from a high-risk country or if you have health issues.

You generally are not required to have health insurance if you are applying for a visitor or business visitor visa.

However, most Australian visas will require you to have adequate health insurance.

Not all Australian visa will allow you to attach your family member/s on your visa application, for example, a Visitor visa.

Generally, visas such as the general skilled visas, employer sponsored visas or the partner visa will allow you to attach a Member of Family Unit.

A person will be a Member of Family Unit (MoFU) of another person (the family head) if the person:

a)is a spouse or de facto partner of the family head
or

b)is a child or stepchild of the family head or of a spouse or de facto partner of the family head (other than a child or stepchild who is engaged to be married or has a spouse or de facto partner) and:

• has not turned 18
  or
• has turned 18, but has not turned 23, and is dependent on the family head or on the spouse or de facto partner of the family head
  or
• has turned 23 and is under paragraph 1.05A(1)(b) dependent on the family head or on the spouse or de facto partner of the family head

c)is a dependent child of a person who meets the conditions in paragraph b).

Most Australian visas can be lodged online through an IMMIACCOUNT. However, there are certain visas that must be lodged via paper application. See the most recent Australian Immigration Law Changes on 1 July 2018 to find out which visas will need to be lodged via post or courier.

Yes, you can seek assistance with your Australian visa application. You should always use a Registered Migration Agent who is qualified to assist you with your application. You can identify whether someone is a Migration Agent by checking their Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA) number.

All Migration Agents are required to display this, and it should be available on their website. For example, our Migration Agent Mary Shin’s MARA number is 1790629 and our Immigration Lawyer Kris Ahn is MARA 1171577.

In Australian Immigration Law, a couple is considered to be in a De Facto relationship if they have lived together for at least one year (hence, it is commonly referred to as the one year de facto relationship).

To demonstrate that you are in a De Facto relationship with your partner for migration purpose, you must show that you:

• are not married to each other
• have a mutual commitment to a shared life to the exclusion of all others
• are in a genuine and continuing relationship
• live together or do not live separately and apart on a permanent basis
• are not related by family.