Australian Partner Visa any agent recomendations and rough costs

[BillyBloggs]

Im going to take the lady to Oz as they will lower my pension on marriage and I might as well get some money back for that inconvience.

Im getting to old to burn brain cells and get too angry over dumb government forms and workers so I will go the agent route, Im not mega rich but not scrimping poor, so a reasonable fee would be Ok any real world information would be greatly appreciated and I will update on my progress here.

I will be applying here in Thailand.

[bluejets]

14 hours ago, BillyBloggs said:

Im going to take the lady to Oz as they will lower my pension on marriage

How did you arrive at this conclusion...????

Any partner visa to Aus will cost bucks (probably $8 to $10k these days plus maybe $2 to $3k for any agent you want to use.

It usually increases every July as well.

Then there are the costs associated with all the relevant translations of required documents, health checks, police checks, passport etc.

You have to show some form of relationship over a period of a couple of years or more and sworn documents from people in Aus who have known her for around the same amount of time.

It's not difficult to do oneself, but you must be methodical and cover EVERY aspect and instruction to the letter.

One mistake and you are out along with you application money.

 

Be prepared to spend $15 to $20K all up.

And lastly, be prepared to wait for at least 2 years with no word from the Aus Embassy in between.

 

If you are currently living in Thailand with access to full age pension, stay where you are, forget the marriage.

Full single payment can be paid where you are.

Edited July 18, 2023 by bluejets

[kennw]

1 hour ago, bluejets said:

How did you arrive at this conclusion...????

Any partner visa to Aus will cost bucks (probably $8 to $10k these days plus maybe $2 to $3k for any agent you want to use.

It usually increases every July as well.

Then there are the costs associated with all the relevant translations of required documents, health checks, police checks, passport etc.

You have to show some form of relationship over a period of a couple of years or more and sworn documents from people in Aus who have known her for around the same amount of time.

It's not difficult to do oneself, but you must be methodical and cover EVERY aspect and instruction to the letter.

One mistake and you are out along with you application money.

 

Be prepared to spend $15 to $20K all up.

And lastly, be prepared to wait for at least 2 years with no word from the Aus Embassy in between.

 

If you are currently living in Thailand with access to full age pension, stay where you are, forget the marriage.

Full single payment can be paid where you are.

My understanding is you cannot get an Australian age pension paid to you if you live here. You must live in Australia to be eligible.

[Olmate]

3 minutes ago, kennw said:

My understanding is you cannot get an Australian age pension paid to you if you live here. You must live in Australia to be eligible.

Not so, dare say Most ozzies here are on OAP, check AN site for dedicated forum, 

[Peterw42]

4 minutes ago, kennw said:

My understanding is you cannot get an Australian age pension paid to you if you live here. You must live in Australia to be eligible.

Your understanding is wrong. Hundreds of Australians live in Thailand and get the age pension. There are some criteria to meet like qualification periods, and you get a little less because no electricity supplements, but otherwise the pension can be paid to anywhere in the world.

[Peterw42]

16 hours ago, BillyBloggs said:

Im going to take the lady to Oz as they will lower my pension on marriage and I might as well get some money back for that inconvience.

Im getting to old to burn brain cells and get too angry over dumb government forms and workers so I will go the agent route, Im not mega rich but not scrimping poor, so a reasonable fee would be Ok any real world information would be greatly appreciated and I will update on my progress here.

I will be applying here in Thailand.

Most guys I know that have taken wife to Australia, dont apply in Thailand, they get tourist visa then apply in Australia, bridging visa etc.

[wombat]

51 minutes ago, kennw said:

My understanding is you cannot get an Australian age pension paid to you if you live here. You must live in Australia to be eligible.

That is wrong infomation

[Will27]

1 hour ago, Peterw42 said:

Most guys I know that have taken wife to Australia, dont apply in Thailand, they get tourist visa then apply in Australia, bridging visa etc.

That can be a decent option, but in some cases, the tourist visa is issued with an 8503 No Further Stay condition which precludes you from applying in Australia.

 

A lot will depend on the length of the relationship and if she has travelled to Australia before.

[bbbbooboo]

Yes, dont apply in Thailand as it will only make things more difficult. As previous person said bring her to Australia on a visitors permit and then apply

[Will27]

1 minute ago, bbbbooboo said:

Yes, dont apply in Thailand as it will only make things more difficult. As previous person said bring her to Australia on a visitors permit and then apply

You can't always apply in Australia.

That's the problem.

[damian]

1 hour ago, Will27 said:

That can be a decent option, but in some cases, the tourist visa is issued with an 8503 No Further Stay condition which precludes you from applying in Australia.

 

A lot will depend on the length of the relationship and if she has travelled to Australia before.

Correct. My wife has been travelling to Aus for holidays with me for over 20 odd years. The 8503 condition was applied to her 1 year tourist visas for the first 4 or 5 trips. Then all of a sudden she got a 3 year tourist visa (ME) with no 8503 the same for the last few subsequent visas. No idea why but we're not complaining.  Applying in Aus means that she must also be in Aus when the visa is granted so trips need to be coordinated wirth Aus Imm.

[Stevemercer]

You can currently apply in Australia. A regulation was brought in during Covid allowing visa applications to be made by people in Australia (when they normally had to be made overseas). This regulation is in force.

 

It is much easier to make the application in Australia. Once accepted/paid, your wife will get a bridging visa with the same conditions allowing her to work, get medicare etc., until a final decision is made.

 

Do you already have your Australian old age pension? If not, you can only apply in Australia and you need to stay in Australia for 2 years before it becomes portable.

 

So if you are going back to Australia to apply you might as well also apply for the partner visa. Then you can kill 2 birds with the one stone while waiting out the 2 years.

[Grumpy one]

5 hours ago, kennw said:

My understanding is you cannot get an Australian age pension paid to you if you live here. You must live in Australia to be eligible.

You need to be in Aus to apply for pension, they get a bit fussy if you have been out of the country for a while.

I had to stay there for 2 years when I applied.

After its granted you can live anywhere you like.

Have the money paid into your Aus bank account every 2 weeks or a Thai bank every 4 weeks

[Will27]

1 hour ago, Stevemercer said:

You can currently apply in Australia. A regulation was brought in during Covid allowing visa applications to be made by people in Australia (when they normally had to be made overseas). This regulation is in force.

 

It is much easier to make the application in Australia. Once accepted/paid, your wife will get a bridging visa with the same conditions allowing her to work, get medicare etc., until a final decision is made.

 

Do you already have your Australian old age pension? If not, you can only apply in Australia and you need to stay in Australia for 2 years before it becomes portable.

 

So if you are going back to Australia to apply you might as well also apply for the partner visa. Then you can kill 2 birds with the one stone while waiting out the 2 years.

You could always apply for a s/c 820 partnership visa in Australia, as long as visa condition 8503 hasn't been imposed.

 

Applying offshore is s/c 309 visa.

 

[bluejets]

7 hours ago, bbbbooboo said:

Yes, dont apply in Thailand as it will only make things more difficult.

Not so either.

We were married in Thailand, did all the necessary paperwork in Thailand (via online forms we downloaded).

Then applied and lodged all necessary documents through Australian Visa application mob ( they take all docs on behalf of the Aussie embassy)

Had to do a visit to Aus Embassy once to lodge my copies of previous divorce papers etc.

All a pices o' p**ss for me as I am fairly good at Aus gov forms and fulfilling their requirements........ not so for many others though I have to say....... 

Thing is, I knew my future wife a couple of years prior so it was fairly straight forward.

 

Other way is to take her to Aus once or twice on a tourist visa over a couple of years or so, and that takes care of your "familiarity" part as well as "your family and friends in Aus knowing her". 

 

Already quoted the best overall...forget marriage.....just live in Thailand.

You'll get your full pension paid every fortnight to a bank of your choice if you are already e;ligible for the age pension.

That way no "reporting" of her details whatsoever.

Cost an arm and a leg these days otherwise.

We did it 10 years ago when it was $2k......still going strong ....manage to get back "home to Thailand " every 2 years or so......... ????

Edited July 19, 2023 by bluejets

[BillyBloggs]

Yes I already have my age pension after having to sit out the 2 years in Oz during covid, as I had already been in Thailand for 4 years and hadnt been back to Oz for awhile, she had just gone back to thailand after spending a 3 month holiday with me when they closed the country, greatest scam ever that 2 year bit, I missed out by a bees dick of not having to do it but it was up to the discretion of the person I was talking to.

We are fairly flexible but I would like to get it started here so we can go to Oz when we are able and I think it is a bit cheaper over here.

[BillyBloggs]

16 hours ago, bluejets said:

How did you arrive at this conclusion...????

Any partner visa to Aus will cost bucks (probably $8 to $10k these days plus maybe $2 to $3k for any agent you want to use.

It usually increases every July as well.

Then there are the costs associated with all the relevant translations of required documents, health checks, police checks, passport etc.

You have to show some form of relationship over a period of a couple of years or more and sworn documents from people in Aus who have known her for around the same amount of time.

It's not difficult to do oneself, but you must be methodical and cover EVERY aspect and instruction to the letter.

One mistake and you are out along with you application money.

 

Be prepared to spend $15 to $20K all up.

And lastly, be prepared to wait for at least 2 years with no word from the Aus Embassy in between.

 

If you are currently living in Thailand with access to full age pension, stay where you are, forget the marriage.

Full single payment can be paid where you are.

I came to it because when you tell them they move you to a married pension, we are already married and its only part as I have a military pension so called and we have been together for over 6 years and my family knows her even my ex as we stay at her place when she goes on holidays.

[BillyBloggs]

15 hours ago, kennw said:

My understanding is you cannot get an Australian age pension paid to you if you live here. You must live in Australia to be eligible.

You can actually fudge the 2 year thing if you flit back and forth between Oz and Thailand to make it seem you are on holidays during the 3 years before you are eligible. When I went back to sit out he 2 years I received the pension straight away, I came back to thailand for 4 weeks during the first year, they stop the pension and re start it when you comeback, but you cant be gone for longer than 6 weeks or you have to restart. Covid hit during the second year so I had to stay put and when my 2 years was up the first flight allowing OA visas happened that week and I got on that flight.

[BillyBloggs]

13 hours ago, bbbbooboo said:

Yes, dont apply in Thailand as it will only make things more difficult. As previous person said bring her to Australia on a visitors permit and then apply

It can make it easier here as all the stuff I need is here plus thai ids for example I cant take them with us.

[BillyBloggs]

6 hours ago, bluejets said:

Not so either.

We were married in Thailand, did all the necessary paperwork in Thailand (via online forms we downloaded).

Then applied and lodged all necessary documents through Australian Visa application mob ( they take all docs on behalf of the Aussie embassy)

Had to do a visit to Aus Embassy once to lodge my copies of previous divorce papers etc.

All a pices o' p**ss for me as I am fairly good at Aus gov forms and fulfilling their requirements........ not so for many others though I have to say....... 

Thing is, I knew my future wife a couple of years prior so it was fairly straight forward.

 

Other way is to take her to Aus once or twice on a tourist visa over a couple of years or so, and that takes care of your "familiarity" part as well as "your family and friends in Aus knowing her". 

 

Already quoted the best overall...forget marriage.....just live in Thailand.

You'll get your full pension paid every fortnight to a bank of your choice if you are already e;ligible for the age pension.

That way no "reporting" of her details whatsoever.

Cost an arm and a leg these days otherwise.

We did it 10 years ago when it was $2k......still going strong ....manage to get back "home to Thailand " every 2 years or so......... ????

Wish I was so ok with forms but I generally stuff them up, I even have nightmares about doing my tax and my exs tax each year. I did notice someone somewhere saying you could open an immi account and do it online, I think we both have one as we did online for one of our trips back and I had a passport renewal here.