Highlights Of The Oz Embassy

[stu_$]

ok, heres the deal ,

went in to oz embassy to apply for "prospective spouse visa"

now, as soon as we (my gf and i ) were called into the room

the officer immediately asked me who had made the errors on the first page !

the way she spoke , well i have never seen a woman speak like that before

sort of like a police woman but not so friendly

thats before she even said hello, this chick gave me goosebumps

and not good goosebumps either the bad one's

anyhoo...the first 30 minutes we answered questions together then she asked me to wait...ok no probs

after about an hour my gf comes out looking very disturbed and tells me the lady wants to see me now...

now, the lady only spoke to me for about 5 minutes then and probably only asked me 3 questions

it has been almost a month and the officer has only rang my gf and told her that the 60 odd pages in my application were not enough and i should send more

i managed to round up another 65 pages of various documents to support that our relationship exists.

also, when i spoke with the lady , the confusing part is,

right at the end , she asked me why i wanted to marry in december in oz

i said so we can have a family dinner at xmas

and my gf could easily have work in summer in oz

now, the officer smiled and said this is going to take some time

but when she said that she actually smiled for the first time so that really got me confused

a friend of mine told me that usually the first thing they would do is to issue a letter about a month after interview to tell you that they have all the paperwork and have begun the process

so i am expecting this to happen, but i am wondering what other people may think of this ?

i dont know whether to be confident or stressed or both ?

PS the officer did ask me if i could i provide an assurance of support

i said yes no problem at all

and the officer did ask my gf what would she do if the visa was refused to which she replied , wait for me to return !

i do know that average wait time is 4 or 5 months but whats the quickest someones ever managed one of these visa's ?

comments gents please

chok dee kup

stu_$

[brubo1]

Haven't got to the same stage as you as yet. But when we applied for a tourist visa last time 'round we got this b**** that sounds very much like your interviewer. I have got 6 friends that have gone through the process (prospective spouse or fiancee visa application) and they all had one thing in common: it is NEVER plain sailing. They will always throw some spanners in the works. your GF being interviewed for 1 hour - nothing unusal! She probably even got asked how big your **** is! There is one very nice lafy in the embassy, short, chubby and wearing glasses - she is good. So some have it easier than others!

[minbari73]

My fiance is about to do the same on her own, prospective marriage visa, we have everything thats been asked for and more, nevertheless I have a few questions

Can I ask what were the errors in the application ?

The 60 pages, what did that include ? Was it what they asked for, or was it something extra? Did you have everything required? Translations etc?

With the assurance of support, is it likely they will ask for this? Did they mention threshold of earnings ? I'm getting very mixed answers concerning this, WA centrelink tell you that its 32000 before they ask for it, eastern centrelink say its 17000...where approximately do you sit?

Did your GF tell you what questions were asked ?

How detailed were you in the History of Relationship statement ? Did your GF do one ?

My lady has been told she will see a farang - personally I can't see this happening upon interview time.

TIA

[stu_$]

well, my first mistake was just a typo

i put a 0 instead of a 1

the 60 pages included telephone bills ,itemised

email logs,bank statements,20 odd photos over 6 month period

joint lease agreement, 2 oz citizens gave referrals, i had everything required they just wanted more of it and they actually wanted to see the emails in full not just the logs so had to print out a lot

she did not go into specifics of the assurance of support

but only asked if i was capable to make it happen

gf said they asked about how long was it between when we met til when we slept together , so that shocked me a bit !

we wrote the history letter together, was only one page but a full page and signed it together and wrote how we met , and our plans for the future

hope this gives you an idea but its not pretty

by the way , i was once questioned by police because of my room mates activities and that was a lot more pleasant than the embassy

[minbari73]

well, my first mistake was just a typo

i put a 0 instead of a 1

the 60 pages included telephone bills ,itemised

email logs,bank statements,20 odd photos over 6 month period

>> i've been told that the more photo's you have the less of other 'proof' you will need, dont know if this is true tho, maybe thats why she gave a hard time - it all seems a bit fake to me, forcing couples to take millions of photos just to 'prove' a relationship when people can provide all this other stuff

joint lease agreement, 2 oz citizens gave referrals, i had everything required they just wanted more of it and they actually wanted to see the emails in full not just the logs so had to print out a lot

>> yep, apart from the joint lease agreement as she'll be living with my parents and I for time being, we've done all that. Referrals from two friends, also referrals from my parents, her mother and sister and other friends and her old boss as well. Printed out every email we had, and samples of MSN chats and well as SMS records. Bank statements etc and also about 900 photos - no phone records as we used the net mostly at the start and both our phones are pre paid - we both did history statements about 5 pages each, hers in thai that was translated.

she did not go into specifics of the assurance of support

but only asked if i was capable to make it happen

gf said they asked about how long was it between when we met til when we slept together , so that shocked me a bit !

>> I wrote about this in my history statement, saying when our 'physical relationship' started. I wondered at the time of writing just how detailed this thing needed to be ! No answers anywhere of course

we wrote the history letter together, was only one page but a full page and signed it together and wrote how we met , and our plans for the future

hope this gives you an idea but its not pretty

by the way , i was once questioned by police because of my room mates activities and that was a lot more pleasant than the embassy

[rabbitoh]

i did my wifes spouse visa on the 24th september 2002..on the 3rd september 2003 it was granted...my wife came to australia on a tourist visa..we both returned to thailand to marry..and still had to wait 11 and a half months for it..when we put the paperwork in we were told everything was perfect..we both went in for an interview..the only thing they tried to get me on was..whenever i called my wife..i always used an international calling card..she told me that how could she believe that these cards were used to call my wife..i told her that i wasn't going to pay 80 cents a minute and have a huge phone bill every month..when with the cards it cost me 40 cents a minute and no phone bill every month..a month after we submitted the papers..my wife had to go for her 2nd interview..and from what she told me..this was a really strict interview...that went for an hour..after the interview she walked out of the embassy crying..i can still remember my case officers name..khun(t) kaewta..this person was an ######..who was on a power trip..in 11 months i recieved one e-mail from them..asking me to contact my wife ..to tell her they had to change the interview date..after 11 months..i called the minister of immigrations office..and blasted them..i got an e-mail that night..telling me that my wife had to go for another interview..after the interview..my wife called me and told me i had to submit more papers..phone bills,pr0of of support,pay cheques and last but not least..i had to get a statuary declaration signed by my mother..that when my wife was in australia on a tourist visa..when i was at work..she use to go around and visit and help my mother around the house..after i got told this..i immediately called the embassy..and found out if there was anything else they needed..i told them i will do everything tommorrow...and the documents should be there in 2 days..khun(t) kaewta told not to worry about sending it by courier and to post it..well did everything the next day..sent it by dhl in the afternoon and it was recieved by the embassy the next day..after i found out it was delivered ..i called khun(t)kaewta ..and she confirmed that she had recieved it and told me she will contact me when the visa is finalised..got an e-mail 2 weeks later to say that the visa had been granted..now just to add salt into the wound..when my wife went for her first interview..she submitted the papers to say that she had changed her name from her maiden name to her married name..when she went to pick up the visa ..the name on the visa was her maiden name..she told the girl at the desk who immediately notified the aussie supervisor..who came out immediately with khun(t) kaewta..the aussie supervisor was very apologetic and told my wife she had to come back tommorrow to recieve the visa with her married name..needless to say as soon as the aussie supervisor left..khun(t) kaewta abused the shit out of her and told her why she didn't tell her before..this was the straw that broke the camels back with me..i waited until my wife got her visa the next day and telephoned khun(t) kaewta and told her what i thought of her and not to abuse my wife for her incompetance..after my wife arrived in australia i sent an e-mail to the embassy complaining about the way we were treated..but to no surprise we never recieved a reply

ps..sorry about such a long and angry post..but whenever i hear about the australian embassy staff..it really gets me on my soapbox