PINKERPINKER

Sorry Sawan Chan 7 but this is not my experience. My daughter has both Thai and Aussie passports and when I was over in October to bring her back to Australia for a holiday the officer at the immigration counter asked where the permission was from the mother. I had nothing in writing so he called over the supervisor who brought me around the back for a chat. I presented my child's Aussie passport, her birth certificate and her Aussie citizenship papers. She said all this was irrelevant and that I would not be able to leave the country with her without the mothers permission. I called her mother who then gave permission verbally to the supervisor. She then proceeded to take our photos along with a few notes and allowed us to be on our way. I believe there is a "Letter of Consent" form available from a local Amphur (to be signed by both parents approving the child to leave the country) that would negate the need for any phone calls. I will follow this up on my next visit to Thailand. Hope this helps.

PS. I presented my child's Thai passport at immigration. I had wondered if it would have made any difference had I presented her Aussie passport? She has the same surname as me; would their system have picked up that she also held a Thai passport?

Jess: i sent the money Thursday afternoon and they had it the next day.

Brian, thanks for the info i will check it out. Yes Apara the Aussie dollar isnt great at the moment against the baht but i got a better rate with BahtSmart than with CBA.

Recently been using BahtSmart to send money from Australia to Thailand and so far so good. I used to always send via the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) but here is an example of the savings I made on my last transfer. 10,400 baht with CBA at $434.86. 10,406 baht with BahtSmart at $400. A saving of $34.86. For those of you sending on a regular or semi-regular basis they are work checking out.

IpOC

I read with interest Wazza’s recent thread regarding getting the father to agree to the child migrating to Australia. I am in the process of sponsoring my wife’s two sons to Australia and after reading this thread I am a little unsure whether or not I need to get the fathers permission. I have the consent form 1229 in front of me now and it states;

“Where children under 18 years of age intend to travel to Australia, their non-accompanying parent(s) or person(s) with parental responsibility (anyone who can lawfully determine where the child/children is/are to live) may be required to sign a consent form to give permission for the child/children to be granted an Australian visa for the purpose of travel to stay temporarily or permanently in Australia. If one parent, or person(s) with parental responsibility, has lawfully been made solely responsible for making decisions as to where the child/children is/are to live, then only that parent or person needs to sign the consent form”.

At my wife’s divorce proceedings she was granted sole custody of the children. My interpretation of the last part of the above paragraph is that only my wife needs to sign the 1229 consent form. I would also add that the children recently holidayed in Australia and on that occasion my wife completed the 1229 form; we did not seek permission from the father nor did the Australian Embassy request permission from him. Any feedback from people who have had experience in this area would be greatly appreciated.

Jamie, check out Bangsaen (Bang Saen) as it seems to fit your criteria. It is relatively inexpensive, very Thai and has a beach. There are some nice eateries in the main road leading to the beach and they do have some nightlife (Thai). Another positive is that it is not far from either Bangkok or Pattaya if you are after a bit of a western fix. I lived there quite happily a few years back and it is on my list as a possible retirement destination.

Cheers Taotoo I might just try that. I had a bit of a laugh with the missus asking why booze is banned during elections. She said " honey, everyone's mind must be clear when they go to vote". I replied " we'll it hasn't done them much good so far, reckon they'd be much better going in half cut and just eenie meanie minnie moe it", she wasn't impressed!

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Currently in Thailand sorting some visa stuff out in Chiang Mai and Bangkok. We decided to head over to Chiang Rai for the weekend before heading south again. After traipsing around the Saturday night market for 3 hours went looking for a bar to grab a beer or two - none to be found as restrictions due to local election. Ok I thought, will wait until Sunday night (tonite), and have a couple then. Can't believe it, bars still dry. Going to be severely dehydrated by the time I get to Bangkok!

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Cheers Nightwatch, that is handy to know.

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Thanks for the feedback Kris. I haven't looked so far ahead re citizenship but what you are saying seems to make sense.

I can recommend the Diamond Grand, directly opposite the bus station where I usually stay if catching an early bus. 1st floor 700 baht, 2nd 600 & top floor 500 (no elevator). Reasonably new and rooms have AC, tv (mainly Thai), fridge etc. No website to book, I have always just walked in. Directly underneath is a small coffee shop and 7/11.

Just had this emailed to me from immigration in perth:

Thanks for your enquiry.

You will need to lodge the 445 applications before the permanent partner visa is granted (by completing form 918 and attaching relevant evidence).

Once you have lodged the 445 applications, a decision bar will be placed on the permanent partner visa application until a decision is made on the children’s visas. This decision bar will prevent the permanent partner visa being finalised until the children’s visas are decided, regardless of whether the two year time period has elapsed. If the 445 visas are granted, you will then need to add them to the permanent partner application by completing form 1002.

If the children are currently offshore, they will need to apply at the embassy in Bangkok (you as the sponsor do not need to be physically present in Thailand). If you do not intend to apply until shortly before the two years is up, you may wish to contact the embassy to inform them that you do wish to apply for the 445’s, and they can record this as a note on your partner visa application so that the case officer knows you wish to lodge the applications.

Please contact the embassy if you have further queries.

Yours Sincerely

Admin

Child and Other Family Migration

Department of Immigration and Border Protection

Telephone: 131 881 (Mon-Fri 0900 – 1600 AEST)

Email: [email protected]

Looks like my best bet is to call them tomorrow to put a hold on things until the kids visas are sorted. Hope this is of use to others in similar boat.

No worries Kris. Yes I have the paperwork for the AFP clearance which I will send off this week.

From what I understand Kris it is only a matter of waiting out the two years, or thereabouts for the PR visa to be granted. We have not been asked for any further paperwork nor money. Just hoping we don't get any unexpected or unwanted surprises!

Kris, since getting the temporary visa back in August 2012 we have not heard a thing and not had to pay any more money. I did pop in to the immi office in Melbourne last week and they told me her permanent via application was still in the queue.

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Thanks Kris, does seem a bit odd. I may do as you suggest and call them tomorrow, cheers.

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I have found some great advice on this forum over the years, especially organising my wife’s visa a couple of years back.

I am wondering now whether forum members can assist in the following matter. I married a Thai national in mid 2012 and on 6^th August 2012 she was granted a Provisional Resident visa, sub class 820. My understanding is that it takes around two years to be granted the Permanent Resident visa, which is some three months away.

We would like now to apply for 2 Dependent Child visas, sub class 445, for her two children aged 10 and 17 (they are living with their grandparents near Chiang Mai). My plan was to go to Thailand with my wife some time in July of this year to lodge their applications, with me being their sponsor (I am an Australian citizen). My dilemma is this. My wife may possibly be granted Permanent residency any time over the next through months and I have just come across the following information on the http://www.immi.gov.au website.

“After a child is granted a Dependent Child (subclass 445) visa, the child should then apply for the same permanent partner visa as their parent. The child must be granted the Dependent Child (subclass 445) visa, and subsequently apply to be added to their parent's visa application before the permanent Partner (subclass 801 or 100) visa application is finalised. If this is not done, the child's Dependent Child (subclass 445) visa will cease when their parent's permanent visa application is finalised and the child may not have any other visa options open to them.”

What happens if my wife’s visa is granted before the children’s application is granted? Will their application be invalid, limit other visa options and also will we loose our application fee (circa AUD$6000)? That is the way I am interpreting this paragraph.

Any advice on this matter from forum members would be greatly appreciated.

Just thought I would give you guys an update. My girlfriend has just had her fiance visa granted, which she collected in Bangkok last Friday 20th April, just over four months after lodgement and pretty much around the time the case officer said a decision would be made after arranging medicals. We are both obviously over the moon and she flys out to Australia late next week. I would just like to thank everybody who has contributed not only information, but also encouragement to this site, it has been tremendously useful and greatly appreciated.

Thought I would give you guys an update on our (my fiances) fiance visa application. I mentioned a few months back that I would be travelling to Bangkok in December to accompany my fiance when she lodged her application in Bangkok. We lodged the application on the 15th December, some 180 pages! The very next day we received e-mail confirmation that the paperwork was with the embassy and that they had appointed a case officer who we were free to call or e-mail had we any issues we wished to discuss. On behalf of my fiancee I e-mailed the case officer around mid January to ask what time frame we could expect for any decision. An e-mail response from the case officer came back within a couple of hours informing me that we could expect a wait of up to 13 months, wow, didn't expect that! Well there was not much we could do except let things take there natural course. Anyway yesterday, the 15th February, my fiance receives a phone call from the case officer asking for a particular document, (English translation required) which she will take in next Monday. The case officer stated that if she gets it on Monday then she will be able to send out the letter to attend the medical before the end of this month. Following this my fiance could expect a decision in around six weeks which would be around mid April, almost four months from the day of lodgement. We are now obviously very happy and are both feeling quite optimistic. Hope this gives some comfort to those in a similar boat or about to embark.

Cheers

Thanks Berek, your feedback is appreciated.

Firstly, thankyou to those who have taken the time to respond to my two previous posts, it is appreciated. I will be heading to Bangkok over Christmas to accompany my girlfriend when she lodges her fiance visa for Australia. We have collected almost all of the required documentation and I just wanted to check on a couple of things. In regards the police check, can she get it done and then attach it to the visa application or are you only able to submit it afterwards, as with the medical check? If you can submit it with the application how long does it normally take the Thai police to process? Secondly, a couple of our friends had statutory declarations witnessed attesting to our relationship which is great. However, I had also asked them to get copies of their passport pages certified which they didn't. They told the stat dec had their passport numbers recorded on, witnessed by the JP, so was not necessary. Are they right or is it a requirement that I get them to certify the photo page of their passport? It seems a little over the top to me but if it is mandatory I will have to ask them for another favour which is a bit of a pain. Thanking you in advance.

Great, thanks again Madivad.

I have just checked them out Madivad. I have the checklist for the Prospective Marriage Visa (subclass 300) dated Sept 2010. The link you added above shows a checklist for Partner Visa - Offshore, Temporary & Permanent (subclass 309 & 100) dated Nov 2011. I am a little confused now. Is the one you gave me a link to an update of the one I had originally? Thankyou.

Thanks for the feedback. I downloaded the documents perhaps three or four months back so will download again and compare. I know when we turned up at the VSF office in Bangkok last December with the tourist visa application we had to hurriedly redo it as it had just been superceded.