Hello to all. I am just looking for a bit of feedback.

I am an Australian with an Indonesian boyfriend. We live in our respective countries. Australia has a visa system which allows for permanent residency for same sex partners providing strict criteria is met. One of the criteria which must be met is co-habitation (living together) for 12 months prior to the application for the interdependency (Partner) visa.

Visa restrictions only allow for a short stay in each other's countries, so I am considering Thailand as a place which both of us can perhaps live together for 12 months in order to satisfy the 12 month co-habitation criteria. I would be interested in your views and whether any of you have done or are doing this?

Also, are you aware of any difficulties faced by an Indonesian in Thailand?

I would also post this in the Thai Visa and Work Permits Board...

(I hope you don't get flamed though..! there are a few bigots on here.. as with any other board...)

Cheers!

Chris P.

Moderator.

Thanks Chris P. BenLondon recently posted a message in the "Thai visas, residency and Work permits" forum headed "Gay Partner Immigration? " He was denegrated badly in that forum. I'd be surprised if he returns. He was seeking some advice regarding immigration to Thailand but his homosexuality became the subject of ugly unwarranted name calling. I would prefer to remain with this forum thanks Chris P.

Hello to all. I am just looking for a bit of feedback.

I am an Australian with an Indonesian boyfriend. We live in our respective countries. Australia has a visa system which allows for permanent residency for same sex partners providing strict criteria is met. One of the criteria which must be met is co-habitation (living together) for 12 months prior to the application for the interdependency (Partner) visa.

Visa restrictions only allow for a short stay in each other's countries, so I am considering Thailand as a place which both of us can perhaps live together for 12 months in order to satisfy the 12 month co-habitation criteria. I would be interested in your views and whether any of you have done or are doing this?

Also, are you aware of any difficulties faced by an Indonesian in Thailand?

There is no such arrangement in Thailand. Even common law relationships are not recognized at all.

Dr PP.. so they would just have to try and get separate Tourist Visa's for 12 months each..? and just live together in Thailand that way.

At least that would seem to satisfy the other country's rules..

ChrisP

My aim is just to live in Thailand for 12 months to satisfy the 12 month criteria to obtain the Interdependency (partner) Visa for my b/f. I am unable to stay longer than 60 days in Indonesia and he is not able to obtain a tourist visa to Australia.

best contact the Australian Embassy in Bangkok on this one. I think its unlikely that you are going to get the right advice on this one on this board unfortunately.

Ask them exactly what they need to see if indeed you do come and live in BKK, and also ask them what timing the of each of the steps in the application process will be. A friend of mine in Melbourne and her UK boyfriend sucessfully went through the whole process, but from what they tell me, it is long and not necessarily staightforward even though they had already lived together for 3 years in the UK and Australia.

Dr PP.. so they would just have to try and get separate Tourist Visa's for 12 months each..? and just live together in Thailand that way.

At least that would seem to satisfy the other country's rules..

ChrisP

That's about all they can do.

Kew, I would suggest when you move to thailand that you try to get home bills such as a home telephone & cable tv in both of your names (or one name in each) as these really helped to prove my husband & I lived together before his visa application process to the UK, otherwise apart from a couple of photos we had no other proof of a 2 year realtionship. Hope this helps!

Boo

kew: There is one advantage to your having to wait another year before you make applicaton for your parnter immigration status in light of the current political situation in Australia regarding same sex marriage. Hopefully, they will be done with it when they ban gay marriage and leave the domestic partner immigration law alone.

Would you care to be more speicfic why your partner can't get a tourist visa to Australia? PM me if you want privacy.

If he can't qualify for a lowly tourist visa, I am not very hopeful for immigration which requires a much higher standard of review.

I have spoken to Thais who attend university in Australia and then are granted residencey and citizenship afterward. Is that a possibility?

kew: There is one advantage to your having to wait another year before you make applicaton for your parnter immigration status in light of the current political situation in Australia regarding same sex marriage. Hopefully, they will be done with it when they ban gay marriage and leave the domestic partner immigration law alone.

Would you care to be more speicfic why your partner can't get a tourist visa to Australia? PM me if you want privacy.

If he can't qualify for a lowly tourist visa, I am not very hopeful for immigration which requires a much higher standard of review.

I have spoken to Thais who attend university in Australia and then are granted residencey and citizenship afterward. Is that a possibility?

It is a possibility. Mostly available to better class post graduate foreigners with IT or Engineering type degrees. Things like Marketing won't get over the Immigration line.

Kew: The co-habitation requirement for your application for PR in Australia on the basis of an interdependent relationship will be satisfied if you live with with your partner for 12 months in Thailand. The place of co-habitation is irrelevant.

Cheers,

Bob

Not sure if it's any help, but I'm aware of a relationship between an American friend and a Thai who both immigrated to CANADA but qualified for their partnership/marriage visa laws at the time because they had demonstrably been living together for some time (photos, plane tickets in their names of domestic trips in Thailand, etc.) I don't think the short breaks you'll need to make for border runs will make any difference. Hope you have the same good luck!

"Steven"

The UK supports such relationships