Starting Spouse Visa Application While Overseas

[Andrew Mac]

Hi everyone, I hope you're all happy and healthy, and don't mind helping me out with the answer to a quick question I have ...

My wife and I married when I was living and working in Thailand, and she came with me on a visit to Australia in May on a tourist visa. There were a few reasons why we didn't apply for a spouse visa, none of which are at all nefarious and probably not worth going into here. Since coming here, however, we have changed our minds about returning to Thailand and decided to apply for a spouse visa in order to stay and look after my parents (who are both in their eighties and suffering failing health).

My wife's visa has an 8503 "No Further Stay" condition attached, so we will need to have the application processed in Thailand. The problem with that, however, is that waiting in Thailand will mean that my parents may well be left for quite some time without our support. A consultant from the Immigration Advice and Rights Centre in Sydney advised us that it is possible to post the visa application to the Embassy in Bangkok and return to Thailand when required to collect the visa, but an operator from the Immigration Department was of the opinion that we had to be in Thailand when the form was lodged.

I am currently writing to the Australian Embassy in Bangkok, to get their advice on how we might best manage the process in the circumstances, but I thought that I would also ask here just in case someone had been in a similar position and knew what was involved.

So, any takers? Does anyone know if it is indeed possible to lodge the application while overseas?

Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to give.

Cheers, Andrew

[gburns57au]

The rule is that you have to be in the country of lodgement for the visa to be granted. She can travel back to Oz during the process but it may delay the process.

As she is on the 8503 visa, she cant apply from here. the application I believe can be posted in but she will have to attend the interview and get the police clearance in person. The medicals are also cheaper there.

One option is that she can go and lodge the application, get the checks done and do the interview which is usually 2-3 weeks after lodgement, you dont have to be there with her. She can then come back and wait for about two months and go back. Or she can stay for the whole process and you go through a few months of separation.

[Andrew Mac]

The rule is that you have to be in the country of lodgement for the visa to be granted. She can travel back to Oz during the process but it may delay the process.

As she is on the 8503 visa, she cant apply from here. the application I believe can be posted in but she will have to attend the interview and get the police clearance in person. The medicals are also cheaper there.

One option is that she can go and lodge the application, get the checks done and do the interview which is usually 2-3 weeks after lodgement, you dont have to be there with her. She can then come back and wait for about two months and go back. Or she can stay for the whole process and you go through a few months of separation.

Hi Graham. Thanks for the advice. I think we'll wait to see if we can arrange for an interim Visitor Visa. It probably sounds a bit soppy, but in over two years we've only once spent any more than a few days apart ... and that was only for a week, and only because we didn't have enough time to arrange her visa when I had to come back for my sister's funeral. Neither of us are at all keen on the idea of a few months' separation, and we'll do whatever we must in order to avoid it :-}

It's strange, though, and slightly annoying, that things can get so complicated for an established, committed and legitimately married couple, when others ... well, actually, no, I won't go into that at this stage ...