Oz Spouse Visa Application

[mekka]

Hey guys,

Well we are in the process of getting our Spouse Visa application ready to be lodged..heres my situation. Me and my Thai wife and our 7 month old baby are living in Thailand, ive been living here with her for about 3 years...we did visit Australia last year and my wife was granted a 3 month Tourist Visa for Aus with no dramas.

Problem im facing is for the Spouse Visa there needs to be a Sponsor...how can i Sponsor her when i have been living in Thailand for quite a long time, i do not have a job in aus as i dont live there, i dont have any proof of income etc....is it possible my Mum sponsors her as she did with the Tourist Visa? As initially we will be shacking up with my mother for a few months until we get settled...any help much appreciated as id love to get this app in as soon as possible.

[sammycic]

hi mekka, have just posted a reply in tourist visa for spouse to oz if any info can help. I too am in the same boat as you, but back in Oz no money and trying to get a job after 18 months in Thailand. Pretty hard when you have been away for a while and too old. Life was easy in Ubon but as they say no money no honey so off to the land of milk and honey we went and all I can say if you think Phuket is expensive to Ubon wait till you get home where everything costs an arm and a leg and all we want to do is work and go back to Ubon.

Good luck mate.

[gburns57au]

Yes you need to be her sponsor.....if they have any concerns about your ability to provide then they may ask for an Assurance of Support which is done through Centrelink and can be anybody...or even more than one person.

[sezzo]

hi mekka, have just posted a reply in tourist visa for spouse to oz if any info can help. I too am in the same boat as you, but back in Oz no money and trying to get a job after 18 months in Thailand. Pretty hard when you have been away for a while and too old. Life was easy in Ubon but as they say no money no honey so off to the land of milk and honey we went and all I can say if you think Phuket is expensive to Ubon wait till you get home where everything costs an arm and a leg and all we want to do is work and go back to Ubon.

Good luck mate.

Gday Sammycic

I also considered myself too old to work when I had to go back to Oz from Ubon for other reasons but at 49 I did a security course and within weeks got a job in the security field. I found that guys that age or even older are in high demand due to being more reliable than the younger guys. Not brilliant pay but at least its a wage. I also waited until I had been working about 6 or 7 months and then used my employer to write a letter guaranteeing that I had work. I used this letter for inclusion in the visa application.

I have a friend who is presently finishing off a security course at the age of 62 and he has guarantees of work already. You're not too old. I was also in the same boat and just wanted to move back to Ubon to be with my family but now 18 months down the track we are all out here and enjoying the few years that we have decided to stay here for.

Good luck and keep your chin up.

[sammycic]

hi mekka, have just posted a reply in tourist visa for spouse to oz if any info can help. I too am in the same boat as you, but back in Oz no money and trying to get a job after 18 months in Thailand. Pretty hard when you have been away for a while and too old. Life was easy in Ubon but as they say no money no honey so off to the land of milk and honey we went and all I can say if you think Phuket is expensive to Ubon wait till you get home where everything costs an arm and a leg and all we want to do is work and go back to Ubon.

Good luck mate.

Gday Sammycic

I also considered myself too old to work when I had to go back to Oz from Ubon for other reasons but at 49 I did a security course and within weeks got a job in the security field. I found that guys that age or even older are in high demand due to being more reliable than the younger guys. Not brilliant pay but at least its a wage. I also waited until I had been working about 6 or 7 months and then used my employer to write a letter guaranteeing that I had work. I used this letter for inclusion in the visa application.

I have a friend who is presently finishing off a security course at the age of 62 and he has guarantees of work already. You're not too old. I was also in the same boat and just wanted to move back to Ubon to be with my family but now 18 months down the track we are all out here and enjoying the few years that we have decided to stay here for.

Good luck and keep your chin up.

Thanks sezzo, looks like security is the way to go for this 58 year old man. Now all we have to do is sort out DIAC and we too can settle in for however long it takes to top up the bank account and go home to Ubon.

Thanks mate and take it easy.

[jackliveswhere]

Hey guys,

Well we are in the process of getting our Spouse Visa application ready to be lodged..heres my situation. Me and my Thai wife and our 7 month old baby are living in Thailand, ive been living here with her for about 3 years...we did visit Australia last year and my wife was granted a 3 month Tourist Visa for Aus with no dramas.

Problem im facing is for the Spouse Visa there needs to be a Sponsor...how can i Sponsor her when i have been living in Thailand for quite a long time, i do not have a job in aus as i dont live there, i dont have any proof of income etc....is it possible my Mum sponsors her as she did with the Tourist Visa? As initially we will be shacking up with my mother for a few months until we get settled...any help much appreciated as id love to get this app in as soon as possible.

Have you been earning a wage in Thailand? I was looking ar returning to Australia in June, i work in Indonesia and they were happy to include my wage earnt in Indonesia as support as well as my bank accounts. But probably a good idea to include our mother in on the application for further support.

When I was going through the application their biggest worry was to make sure that my wife was not going to end up on the dole system or do a runner after walking through immigration.

[Chris Lawrence]

The Assurance of Support has a dollar figure attached to it. If your savings are over that then this will cover the sponsorship. Honestly I don't think it is that much ($30-35K). If you take the Baht back today u get about 23 baht for every dollar. Two months ago we sent money over and got about 31 baht; sorry I am off track.

I agree with Sezzo never to old. I got a friend to say that I had a job in his business when I returned. The fact is I did not go back and work for him as I found other work a few months latter, what they want to see is this written evidence or proof for work? Figure that one out.

Just keep asking questions; get stuck just ask. Then cover all bases; no flaws in the application, by trying to pre-empt any question you may be asked and have the answer for them

Good luck

[mekka]

The Assurance of Support has a dollar figure attached to it. If your savings are over that then this will cover the sponsorship. Honestly I don't think it is that much ($30-35K). If you take the Baht back today u get about 23 baht for every dollar. Two months ago we sent money over and got about 31 baht; sorry I am off track.

I agree with Sezzo never to old. I got a friend to say that I had a job in his business when I returned. The fact is I did not go back and work for him as I found other work a few months latter, what they want to see is this written evidence or proof for work? Figure that one out.

Just keep asking questions; get stuck just ask. Then cover all bases; no flaws in the application, by trying to pre-empt any question you may be asked and have the answer for them

Good luck

Thanks for the replies so far guys as far as a wage in Thailand..me and my wife have 2 small business's here, but as i dont have a work permit i cannot provide proof of an income..i can provide my bank books and thats about it...i guess we just give it a go and see what they come back with, we got the TV very easily and i was prepared for the worst so i think ill take that approach again and have all info on hand

[masterbiker49]

I have just had my wife's permanent residency visa approved,i found if u are having probs or any questions call the OZ Embassy in Bangkok,they are extremely helpfull & may be also able to make some suggestions to help out,just don't b.s.to them.

[carpy]

Sounds alot like my story at the moment.I have just moved back from Thailand after 4 years.Moved into a good job with not bad $.We have an 18 month old boy,who is waiting for his citizenship papers then passport.We have been living in Udon and have been using the embassy in Laos.They have been ok and respond to my e-mails very fast.We are applying for a 12 month visitors visa 1st then will apply for the spouse visa.(Any opinion on this will be gratefull)Any of you guys who are over here and only just moved back please contact me 0411 517 977 I am in Townsville and moved here not knowing a sole.So looking for a few mates to chat with.

Regards,Steve

[tezzainoz]

My Thai girlfriend of 2 years fell pregnant in Thailand and had already been issued with a 12 mths visitors visa.

The Australian immigration act has many areas in which you can ask for special exemptions and even though she was on a no further stay visa, she was allowed to apply for a spouse visa while in Aus.

I am retired but her application was still accepted

The main thing was she is not allowed to go on social security payments for the 1st 2 years so you need to be able to tell them how you will keep her, yourself and the baby

[carpy]

Thanks for the info tezzainoz I hope that she gets the 12 month an is able to apply here for the spouse.As many Aussies coming back after being in Thailand ,we don't have a big bank account.I am lucky to have walked into a good job.So I think with supporting documents from my employer it should be ok.

[fire and ice]

Call the Australian Embassy Spouse Visa Enquires number on 02-344 6449 between 2:30pm-4:30pm any working day.

They have been very helpful with all my spouse visa queries.

In fact I was quite shocked when I got through instantly on 2 occasions in the past 3 weeks. I was not in a call queue or put on hold! The person who answered was the person to speak to.