Australian Holiday Visa Denial - 'Settled' family member sponsorship issue

[thenewgoo]

My wife has been refused a visitor visa to Australia to visit my aging mother for Christmas.

 

Her application was fine except, me, the sponsor has not been deemed to be a 'settled' Australian. In short, they deem anyone who has lived outside of Australia for more than 2 years as not a settled Australian and illegible to sponsor a family member.  Having been in Thailand for a number of years as a contracted international school teacher, this was a shock given that we have used this visa route before a number of times without issue.

 

Needless to say all this has caused emotional distress to my family, and the impending financial distress that is looming with flight refunds etc is turning all this into a nightmare. I am beginning to hate my country.

 

My question is has anybody seen such a refusal? There must be thousands of Australian expats out there that like to visit with their Thai wife, who have been outside of Thailand more than 2 years. 

[Will27]

I haven't seen "Settled" Australian as being a reason for refusal.

Is that the only reason they provided?

 

If not, maybe you can post the refusal letter minus the personal details.

 

You said you have applied for the Sponsored family stream before.

How long ago was her last visit?

 

Paying for airline tickets before a visa grant isn't recommended.

 

Can she apply for a tourist stream visa instead?

[thenewgoo]

33 minutes ago, Will27 said:

I haven't seen "Settled" Australian as being a reason for refusal.

Is that the only reason they provided?

 

If not, maybe you can post the refusal letter minus the personal details.

 

You said you have applied for the Sponsored family stream before.

How long ago was her last visit?

 

Paying for airline tickets before a visa grant isn't recommended.

 

Can she apply for a tourist stream visa instead?

Thanks for your reply and interest. I have snipped the ruling (nothing personal) for you. In answer to your questions: Yes, this was the only reason for refusal. Our last visit was Christmas 2022 same visa type. She probably wouldn't qualify for a tourist stream having been a non-employed homemaker for the last 15 years.

I wouldn't have booked the air tix if I knew they were going to randomly pull out the 'settled' clause. I didn't expect any issues.

Thank you again.

 

[thenewgoo]

13 hours ago, thenewgoo said:

who have been outside of Thailand more than 2 years. 

This was meant to read 'outside of Australia' BTW.

[Will27]

47 minutes ago, thenewgoo said:

Thanks for your reply and interest. I have snipped the ruling (nothing personal) for you. In answer to your questions: Yes, this was the only reason for refusal. Our last visit was Christmas 2022 same visa type. She probably wouldn't qualify for a tourist stream having been a non-employed homemaker for the last 15 years.

I wouldn't have booked the air tix if I knew they were going to randomly pull out the 'settled' clause. I didn't expect any issues.

Thank you again.

 

Seeing as the decision maker has used policy, not legislation, that is a terrible decision IMO.

It's only been 2 years since her last visa.

 

I don't think the decision is appealable, so your only option is to apply again for another type.

 

You will be her sponsor so your wife not being in fulltime employment should not be a deal breaker. Plenty of people are granted visas without full time employment. 

 

Just add as much as you can to the application.

You sponsoring the holiday, the length of your relationship, visit aging mother, reasons to retuen etc.

 

I feel your pain.

I'd be pissed off as well if that was me.

 

Edited November 1 by Will27

[thenewgoo]

23 minutes ago, Will27 said:

Seeing as the decision maker has used policy, not legislation, that is a terrible decision IMO.

It's only been 2 years since her last visa.

 

I don't think the decision is appealable, so your only option is to apply again for another type.

 

You will be her sponsor so your wife not being in fulltime employment should not be a deal breaker. Plenty of people are granted visas without full time employment. 

 

Just add as much as you can to the application.

You sponsoring the holiday, the length of your relationship, visit aging mother, reasons to retuen etc.

 

I feel your pain.

I'd be pissed off as well if that was me.

 

Yeah - thanks. It seems more likely I'll be taking the kids by myself. I am not even sure the timeframe before Christmas would allow but I'll look into it.  Gutted.

There is no appeal avenue that is feasible. Is it really just back luck or is this policy now consistently applied by the Australian Embassy in Bangkok?

It must be much more far-reaching than my case.

 

 

 

 

[Will27]

3 minutes ago, thenewgoo said:

Yeah - thanks. It seems more likely I'll be taking the kids by myself. I am not even sure the timeframe before Christmas would allow but I'll look into it.  Gutted.

There is no appeal avenue that is feasible. Is it really just back luck or is this policy now consistently applied by the Australian Embassy in Bangkok?

It must be much more far-reaching than my case.

 

 

 

 

Seeing as its policy, I just think you got a bad decision.

Despite what others say, it does happen.

 

I take it your kids are Australian Citizens.

If so, make sure you mention that in the new application.

That you intend to travel as a family.

 

90% of that visa subclass are processed within 28 days.

You'd be mad not to apply again.

 

Worst case scenario is you lose $200.00.

 

You could use an agent but it's a basic application so you really shouldn't need to.

[thenewgoo]

25 minutes ago, Will27 said:

Seeing as its policy, I just think you got a bad decision.

Despite what others say, it does happen.

 

I take it your kids are Australian Citizens.

If so, make sure you mention that in the new application.

That you intend to travel as a family.

 

90% of that visa subclass are processed within 28 days.

You'd be mad not to apply again.

 

Worst case scenario is you lose $200.00.

 

You could use an agent but it's a basic application so you really shouldn't need to.

You are right, promo flights are non-refundable so I really do only have another $200 to lose.

All the best sir.

[MalcolmB]

14 hours ago, thenewgoo said:

My wife has been refused a visitor visa to Australia to visit my aging mother for Christmas.

 

Her application was fine except, me, the sponsor has not been deemed to be a 'settled' Australian. In short, they deem anyone who has lived outside of Australia for more than 2 years as not a settled Australian and illegible to sponsor a family member.  Having been in Thailand for a number of years as a contracted international school teacher, this was a shock given that we have used this visa route before a number of times without issue.

 

Needless to say all this has caused emotional distress to my family, and the impending financial distress that is looming with flight refunds etc is turning all this into a nightmare. I am beginning to hate my country.

 

My question is has anybody seen such a refusal? There must be thousands of Australian expats out there that like to visit with their Thai wife, who have been outside of Thailand more than 2 years. 

If she was white she would have got a visa.

A lot of underlying racism in Australia. They just voted against their own aboriginals as well. 

[thenewgoo]

On 11/1/2024 at 11:51 AM, Will27 said:

Seeing as its policy, I just think you got a bad decision.

Despite what others say, it does happen.

 

I take it your kids are Australian Citizens.

If so, make sure you mention that in the new application.

That you intend to travel as a family.

 

90% of that visa subclass are processed within 28 days.

You'd be mad not to apply again.

 

Worst case scenario is you lose $200.00.

 

You could use an agent but it's a basic application so you really shouldn't need to.

So, just to add closure to this whole episode, my wife has now been granted a tourist visa. Hooray! 

She will join us as a tourist - not as my wife lol

[Will27]

2 minutes ago, thenewgoo said:

So, just to add closure to this whole episode, my wife has now been granted a tourist visa. Hooray! 

She will join us as a tourist - not as my wife lol

Well that's a great outcome for you.

 

I didn't think it would be a problem but that's easy for me to say.