Transaction Reference Number TRN

The transaction reference number is needed before you can apply for your visas. The OLRS team will send you some paperwork to complete and you’ll need to send copies of passports, birth certificates and marriage certificates for all those moving to Australia. This is needed for the OLRS team to sponsor your visa application.

Once you receive your TRN you can start the visa application for a sub class 186 visa. The wait to receive the TRN can take months. Here’s some info you can get ready beforehand to save time:

• You will need a UK Police ARCO certificate. It costs £55 each and ours took 4 weeks to arrive. I think anyone over the age of 18 needs to have one for the visa application. Police Certificates (acro.police.uk)
• You will need police certificates from any country outside of the UK that you have lived in for over 12 months. For example:Germany, America, Brunei, Kenya. This has been an issue for others in the past so get onto it asap.
• The visa application needs birth and marriage certificates along with any custody paperwork for any children under 18.
• It asks for travel history for the last 10 years for anyone over 18. I asked for a JPA printout which was mega useful to work out overseas trips and exercises.

Visa Application

Once the TRN has been received follow the instructions in the email and set up your Immi account to start the visa application. If you have visited Australia before its likely you already have an immi account from when you applied for a holiday visa. It took me a couple of hrs to add all the info, make sure you keep saving it as you go along. Immigration and citizenship (homeaffairs.gov.au)

Once all the questions have been answered and submitted each member of your family will have separate tabs where you then individually upload information pertinent to that family member, things like birth certificates, marriage certificates, police checks.

I uploaded my LOO and also a letter from my HR with the termination date on it. If it asks for a letter of discharge or military info for your spouse just create a word document saying they were never in the military and upload that.  All that’s left to do is to submit and pay for the visas. It will be charged in Australian dollars so use a card like revolute or wise to avoid charges. If successful you will claim the visa money back once in Oz. If there’s any info you are still waiting on you can add it later but its neater if you get it all then submit and pay. Visa fees and charges (homeaffairs.gov.au)

As you wait for the medicals the immigration team might ask you for further info once they have had an initial look at the application. This will be a message in your Immi account and will also come via an email from the OLRS team, you will have to nominate them to receive emails on your behalf (its explained in the emails).

it’s worth noting the application status will change as you go through the process, below is the changes you can expect to see.

Visa Medicals

Once you have paid for the visas you will receive the HAP ID number for each member of the family, those numbers are used to book the visa medicals. There are 6 places in the UK you can go and have the medicals. Find your nearest centre using the search bar in this link Contact us (homeaffairs.gov.au) phone them and they will ask for the HAP numbers to book you in. A medical questionnaire is on the Immi account, I never filled it in as the doc doing the medicals will do it. Visa medical info is here: Arrange your health examinations (homeaffairs.gov.au)

We went to the Northern Visa Medical centre in Manchester to get the medicals done. We arrived at the reception 5 min late due to mental traffic and I was absolutely busting for the toilet as they tell you to drink plenty of water before you arrive. The receptionist was in Karen mode as we were “5 Min Late” and wouldn’t let me go to the loo until my picture was taken and I had signed the bloody forms. Once I had emptied my space-hopper of a bladder we were taken into the examination room.

The doctor who was a top bloke individually asked us all the questions on the medical questionnaire from the Immi account. He then asked if there’s any ongoing medical issues, taking any medication etc. If you have any ongoing issues, try to take as much info from your GP as you can and they will upload it into the system and save the Immi doc asking for further info later down the line. Read about my medical issues here: Panic and frustration due to my medical issues – (newadventuresdownunder.com)

The doc took my blood pressure which was high due to Karen, a blood sample and conducts a short examination. All of my family had the examination but the blood test was for over 15’s only. Once completed we then went for a chest X-ray, this was for anyone over the age of 11.

We paid the money and left; again you claim this back. The next day I logged into the Immi account and the medicals had all been uploaded and approved. It will say Health clearance provided – no action required.

Now you wait for the visas to be approved, another test of patience from the OLRS gods. Mine was submitted and paid for on the 17th Feb, we had the medicals on the 8th March and the visa was approved on the…..

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