Silvermane

On 11/3/2017 at 3:57 PM, Ooladolla said:

Let us know how long the process takes if you wouldn't mind. I have to submit the same soon. I have booked accommodation in Bangkok so as to do the biometric requirement so I am trying to work out how long I have after I submit the application to do all that part . Thanks and good luck with your application 

No worries, I'll let you guys know how long everything took.

As for the biometrics I can already say that we got an invitation about 30 mins after having submitted online.

I then booked an appointment online via the VFS website (appointment mandatory since 1 November 2017!) and she was in the next day to have her fingerprints and picture taken.

Thx again so much Surin! Khob kun mak mak kap!!! Really appreciate your help and your insights!! I'm not too far off from pressing submit now as I'm trying to do this in between stuff at work, so fingers crossed I haven't missed anything :)

Hi Surin, thanks very much for your help. I will also add the police report as suggested and explain the situation.

As for the Bankbook, I'm still a bit scared to do it this way, but hopefully honesty is indeed the best policy and it won't be counted against her.

Just 2 quick additional questions though:

- for some documents like the police report, can I just submit a picture instead of an actual scan? It's just much easier to do it this way and it is actually more legible than the scan she provided :)

- I've read conflicting information on the actual need for certification of things such as passport and birth certificate. Will a simple scan/picture of these suffice, do I do certification Thai style (scan with a personal statement that this is a copy + signature) or do I need to go and have it officially certified after all?

Thanks again and fingers crossed. I will be submitting the online application today if possible and will let you guys know the outcom

1 hour ago, omegaman said:

So, you will need to put sufficient funds into her account to cover her stay, must be her account. She needs to provide a copy of a bank statement as proof.  DIBP dont care where the money came from as long as she has access to it when onshore.

As long as the letter of employment is verifiable, by a phone call from DIBP to the employer, that should be OK. Cash employment is common in Thailand and the DIBP understand that.  What they dont have time for is not being able to contact the employer by phone, or the companies name is not registered.

The kids are the best evidence for her return.  Include copies of their birth certificates as proof.

Include a letter stating the passport was lost and that the dates are not accurate. Hopefully you have the original passport number to quote, but regardless DIBP will have her travels on the system.

Get a new passport BEFORE you apply for the VV.

You completing the application is fine, everyone does it and you dont have to be a agent.  As long as she signs it of course.

Thx for the response Omegaman!!!

Yes of course we would be requesting a new passport first as without it I can't create her Immi-account anyway. We unfortunately have no idea of her previous passport number Will DIBP still be able to confirm her past travel for us or is that just for travel to Australia (which she has never done in the past anyway)?

As far as the funds in her bank account go: I actually read in this thread advice to the contrary on putting a lump sum in her bank account :s So still not sure what to do on that one.

Any thoughts on the question relating to processing times of paper versus online by any chance?

Thanks again for the help and the advice on birth certificates and the agent section. You've probably noticed that I'm very keen to get it right first time so I want to have all my bases covered :)

Hi everyone, I've done my best to read as much as possible on the Tourist Visa (600) request procedure but still have some questions remaining that I hope you'd be able to help with.

I would like to bring over my TG to visit for the first time in Australia for a couple of weeks and we plan to travel within Australia as well.

The problems I'm seeing are as follows:

- even though she can get a letter from her employer approving her holiday, she is not in a position to back this employment up by way of bank book as she gets paid cash and hands most of her money over to her mom. While I have more than sufficient funds in my accounts as well as can provide proof of my ample income, I'm concerned that not being able to provide bank book statements for her at all will work against her... I read that my support will be the main factor, but have also seen it go the other way so am happy to take any advice on this. As I read that it's not good to transfer money to her account, I'm failing to see my options right now and I don't know if it would be wise to show statements of the limited amount of funds she holds in her own account. So should I submit her bank book statements at all or not?

- My TG also still lives with her mom (hence why she gives most of her money to her mom) but as a result does not own any land or title. I don't suppose referencing the ownership of land of her mom would do her any good? Her mom also owns a shrimping business and associated land if that matters at all :) Aside from her job she also has 2 kids that provide a reason for her to return home.

- My TG has traveled before and has always complied with Visa requirements for the respective country she has traveled to but has lost her passport and will need to request a new one prior to applying for the visa. This means she can not provide proof of her previous travel and her compliance. The requested scans from the passport are for stamped pages only and with a new passport all we would be able to provide are scans of blank pages :) As the 1419 form also requests information on previous travel, will it be enough to mention the travel in there? As we are not 100% sure of the dates/duration anymore I'm also concerned that I provide conflicting information in case Immigration can look into her previous travel history in another way.

- If I submit online for my TG can I complete part J (43 - 46)  as myself having assisted her in the completion of this form without any repercussions? I'm of course not a registered agent but am not getting paid to assist and have read that that's the main point of differentiation and it should be fine. Just looking to double-check whether this is ok.

Additionally, I've read about the processing times for Tourist Visa applications currently estimated at 14 days for 75% of applications. This is across online as well as paper based submissions. If anyone has any clear understanding as to whether VFS paper submission will be quicker than online or not, I'd appreciate that input as well. As biometrics will need to be collected anyway, we could go paper based but the main draw point is to have the Visa as soon as possible so would prefer to go the quickest route. Ideally though I would like to do everything online (if that happens to be the quickest way as well) as I can then submit for her. Travel is scheduled for mid November so we would like to know the outcome asap so that we can start booking tickets without prices skyrocketing too much.

Appreciate any and all answers (and I promise to be profusely grateful :D)