Toursistvisa Application For Oz

[watchoutfarang]

Hi Guys,

Well, after along hard slog to get all the paperwork together my Thai Girl I think has gone and blown it. She went to the vfs office today The result will come on Friday, but stupidly she gave them her bank book with no money in it. I told her to wait until I sent money and as some of you know I have been supporting her while she is working. Now she does not get paid until 20th May and I think she had nothing to show, apart from contributions from me. Surely with not a penny in her bank they will not grant the visa although I have said that I will support her with everything when she is here in a stat dec. Initial feelings arewhatawaste of effort and money! All she needed to do was wait a day or two!

What are the chances now - needless to say I am very angry with the stupid woman.

watchoutfarang

[peter991]

I am sorry you will have a nerve-wracking week, WOF. Please don't lose hope. My Thai BF hadn't worked for over 2 years as I have been supporting him since we began our relationship. His bankbook was the same as your GFs - empty. All it showed was the money he made before we started our relationship and the money I had been sending him ... on the day we went to VFS, he had 19 baht in his bankbook.

What is important is for you to show you have an on-going relationship: photos of the 2 of you, bank statements (from you), emails or letters (if you have any - we had none), mobile phone bills (with calls from you to her highlighted), an itinerary of how she will spend her vacation in Oz, a Stat. Dec. letter of invitation from you to her inviting her to Oz and stating you will cover all her medical, legal, meal and accommodation expenses (not valid in a Court of law - but looks good), a letter from local Member of Parliament etc.

You can never have too much paperwork ... all I can say is it can be done and best wishes. Please don't be too hard on her.

Peter

[watchoutfarang]

I am sorry you will have a nerve-wracking week, WOF. Please don't lose hope. My Thai BF hadn't worked for over 2 years as I have been supporting him since we began our relationship. His bankbook was the same as your GFs - empty. All it showed was the money he made before we started our relationship and the money I had been sending him ... on the day we went to VFS, he had 19 baht in his bankbook.

What is important is for you to show you have an on-going relationship: photos of the 2 of you, bank statements (from you), emails or letters (if you have any - we had none), mobile phone bills (with calls from you to her highlighted), an itinerary of how she will spend her vacation in Oz, a Stat. Dec. letter of invitation from you to her inviting her to Oz and stating you will cover all her medical, legal, meal and accommodation expenses (not valid in a Court of law - but looks good), a letter from local Member of Parliament etc.

You can never have too much paperwork ... all I can say is it can be done and best wishes. Please don't be too hard on her.

Peter

Thanks for your kind words Peter and PM - I have a lot of paperwork for her but expected her to atleast save a small amount of money to show in her bank. I have proven savings of $30K her in Oz and a job, but a 457 visa which is not ideal, a lease agreement which is paid in full until August, letter from a Oz citizen saying his wife will look after mewhen I am at work and a letter from the apartment I stayed in with her in LOS saying we were a couple, emails and phone calls. It just would havehelped if she had a bit ofcash. It is in the lapof the Gods now and I have just gone through her on the telephone. If she does not get it i will have to call an end to the relationship since i am not supporting her without being with her. I am just upset she did not use the one brain cell that she was blessed with.

Glad all is well for you though and may you enjoy your time in Oz with your partner.

watchoutfarang

[Mighty Mouse]

If your g/f is being sponsored by you for the tourist visa, it doesn't matter how much money she has in her bank account. The important part is how much money you have in your account.

You need to be able to convince the Embassy that your funds are sufficient to cover all of her costs whilst she tours Oz. You would do this by providing a certified copy of your bank statement, a certificate of earnings from your pay master, copies of your pay slips etc. etc.

The cash injections from you into her bank account mean nothing to the Embassy other than to show a pattern of savings. They certainly won't be regarded as regular income for your g/f. A letter from her employer stating her monthly income is required for this.

The other important part of her application is to provide a compelling reason to return to Thailand at the completion of the visa. This is just as important, if not more important, than you being able to show that you are able to finance her trip.

If she is employed, she will need a letter from her employer stating that her job will be held open until her return.

Now, get on the phone, ring your g/f and beg her forgiveness for you calling her 'stupid'. It's not her fault.

[aussiestyle1983]

Don't worry, my wife (GF back then) got a tourist visa after only knowing me for 3 months. All I did, as requested by her (I didn't even know what a visa was back then, I thought a visa was the same as a credit card) was send her an e-mail addressed to the Oz embassy, saying she would need absolutley zero money with her, she would be staying with me and I will take care of everything. She submitted her bank book which only had like 4,000 THB in it and still got the visa, no questions asked...................

So you do have hope.

[watchoutfarang]

Thanks Guys,

Well lets hope we get a positive result!! Pretty much all the other paperwork was in place so we shall see. Even sent an original contract of employment from my boss. I could not have sent anything else my end and she could have done nothing else than have a little more cash in her bank. Will update you on Friday - Decision day!!

watchoutfarang

[gburns57au]

Number one.....stop panicking....the application is in, there is nought you can do now.

Number two.....as MM said and I have said before....you are sponsoring her...it is your funds they would be concerned about.

I was a bit surprised you have said the things you have in your post....My girl has left my CC in the ATM....got the PIN wrong three times in one go and lost the card...used it wrongly and got a hold put on the card...is she stupid ?? Far from it..she just doesnt understand the systems. Seems to me your girl was just being a bit over eager to get things done...

You will need a bit of patience and tolerance when she gets here and lives in a society she doesnt understand, she will drive you to utter frustration with her ways and methods. It is a long slow road you have ahead of you trying to help her assimilate here. Most of it will be a good laugh afterwards.

Should have said my wife...not my girl....been married a whole 11 days now...takes a bit of getting used to

Edited May 16, 2007 by gburns57au

[watchoutfarang]

Thanks for the optimism Graham,

Yeah I flew off the handle a bit and I know it is along road ahead but we'll see how we travel if she gets here - keep you all posted and thanks for all the input

watchoutfarang

[Mighty Mouse]

Should have said my wife...not my girl....been married a whole 11 days now...takes a bit of getting used to

Congratulations Mr and Mrs Burns.

Only married 11 days and yet you are wasting your time (and your energy) on-line. Pack up your computer and get on with the honeymoon.

[peter991]

Yes - congratulations Mr and Mrs Burns. There has been quite a few positive posts recently - GF and BF getting Tourist Visas to vacation in Australia.

It's easy to post when you are angry and frustrated (especially after a few drinks) - so lets hope Buddha is listening to your thoughts, WOF. Looking forward to hearing the result of this one.

Peter

[gburns57au]

Thanks guys...

MM there was no honeymoon per se...had the young bloke here as well for the wedding...and the good wife is now back in Thailand working on then next step which is the Spouse visa. Looking to have them both here around Xmas time so the young bloke starts the school year here.

[CbrLad]

You know although a lot of people say the more info you give the better, at the end of the day for a tourist visa more info just makes processing that much harder (more stuff to wade through) and if anything probably pricks up the ears of those who make the decisions.

For a tourist visa, the important things are a compelling reason to go home and proof of money to fund the trip or a sponser to fund the trip. You don't really need to prove any form of relationship (as the guy above has shown after 3 months he got a tourist visa for his GF), so pictures, phone records etc are a little over the top.

Now if the app was for a settlement visa then I could understand the more the merrier view.

[peter991]

You know although a lot of people say the more info you give the better, at the end of the day for a tourist visa more info just makes processing that much harder (more stuff to wade through) and if anything probably pricks up the ears of those who make the decisions.

Interesting point - but I still disagree. Presenting a lot of paperwork shows you have spent some time together - be it either in Thailand (photos) or on the phone (phone records) or helping your GF/BF (bank statements).

The above shows a relationship exists and you have the funds to sponsor your partner.

The hard part is convincing the Embassy your partner has a 'compelling reason to return to Thailand.' That's where you have to be creative. In my case it was BF's sick mother. In most cases it would be BF or GF has a job in Thailand and they have holidays and the job will be there when they return.

Peter

[Mighty Mouse]

CbrLad, What you state is perfectly correct. There is no need to prove 'relationship' for a tourist visa however, by proving (or suggesting) a genuine and continuing relationship at the early stage, it makes the subsequent spouse visa application that much easier.

It also assists in ensuring that the applicant will return to Thailand at the completion of the visa, because it could be reasonably assumed that there is less likelihood of the applicant doing a runner from a genuine relationship whilst in Oz.

If the relationship is purely friendship (platonic) and your friend is applying for a tourist visa, (with you as sponsor) it doesn't hurt to give this explanation to the Embassy in your covering letter. That way the officer making the decision on the visa application is made aware of the nature of the relationship.

There are no strict rules governing the above so it really amounts to personal choice.

The need to provide a compelling reason for the applicant to return to LOS will always be very important as will the need to prove that sufficient funds exist to cover all costs.

With regard to your suggestion that too much paperwork will slow up the decision making process, I disagree to a certain extent. The case officers know what they are looking for in each and every application and they will find what they need amongst the papers in order to make a timely decision.

For tourist visa application, paperwork can be kept to a minimum.

[khunandy]

Hi all,

When I first applied for a tourist visa for my wife (then GF) I treated it rather casually, I supplied the appropriate paperwork and statements but did not spend much time on the "padding". I just thought it would be a case of "How you goin' mate, I want to take me missus over to meet the family"

I thought as an Australian citizen I was treated fairly poorly, there was bugger all of an interview, hours of waiting in the visa application centre in Bangkok and then only to wait a week before getting the rejection notice. Thanks for the dosh but the answer is no.

There was not much of an explanation just somebodies opinion that read "We can not see any reason why you would return to Thailand" (even though you take care of your Grandparents and own a house)

and "Do not apply again unless your circumstances change".(we reckon you are a bargirl and will do a runner)

I thought this was very substandard treatment and an evaluation done by somebody perhaps having a bad day. My wife had money, property and was well dressed, has good manners, as do I.

In the end we applied through an agent for a spouse visa, really, really padded it out with photos, hotel receipts, family statements, etc etc etc..it went on for ever. Finally it was granted, we lived in Aussie for 6 months and got married and are still very happy. I still think though that the Government practically forced me to marry.

I dont regret it but it happened a bit sooner than I had planned. I would have much preferred to have paid a $10,000 bond refundable on my GF's departure or some such guarentee if they think she would not have returned to Thailand.

It doesnt stop when you have the visa either, we still had hassles in Perth. When we had married and then applied for the 2 year extension everything went smoothly until our case manager went on leave and was substituted by an Indian immigrant with attitude. She led us on a totally wrong trail which required , of all things, a statement from my ex-wife (divorced 10 years) that I owed her no money and no back pay child maintenance. My ex-wife had no intention of ever stating that fact or in any way assisting us in the visa, that was to be expected.

So , a lot of Statutory Declarations , Taxation and Child Maintence Statements and proof of this and that later, I submitted the paperwork only to be told by "Attitude Lady" that she had made a mistake and it was unneccesary.

her expalanation was "I thought the lady was sponsering you". Why the h*ll a Thai lady would be sponsering an Aussie guy for a visa beggers belief.

At this stage the original case manager saw me through a window and came in to say hi, I told her what had happened and she berated the "Attitude Lady", lots of paper shuffling and feeble apologies followed. My original case manager had been made up to Supervisor, she asked for my wifes passport and came back 15 minutes later with the 2 year extension.

I really had visions of throttling that substitute case manager.

Anyway, sorry to ramble on, best of luck and if you are in Perth Immigration Centre avoid the Indian lady wearing a lot of gold...she is big trouble.

Best of luck with your application mate and keep your cool.

Andy

Edited May 19, 2007 by khunandy