Organising Australia Visitor Visa For Thai Fiance

[Sparky2205]

First of all, great website and forum, a lot of useful information. So a quick thankyou to all concerned.

I am currently investigating the possibilities of my Thai Girlfriend applying for a Tourist visa for 2 months to Australia.

We have known each other for over 14 months and in the past 8 months have been involved in a serious long distance relationship. We are now engaged to be married and I thought the best first step would be to have her come to Australia and live with me to further our relationship and future together.

I was wondering what information I and my girlfriend would need to be successful in a Australian Visitor Visa. She is currently not working, is living with her sister, and sees her mother and father from time to time. She is residing in Bangkok and her parents are from Udan Thani.

Our relationship is very strong. We met in December of 2008 as friends, have been talking non stop since then. We then met again on the 13th of September 2009 spending 2 weeks together in Bangkok and Hua Hin.

We then organised a holiday for us to meet each other again for 2 weeks in Bali - Indonesia in November 2009. And just recently we spent a week together in Bangkok and Hua Hin in January.

The significance of our last time together, was meeting her sister, and her mother, which was arranged to talk about the possibilities of marriage. We have discussed sin sod, and have arranged to be married in Thailand - Udan Thani December 2010.

Through the last 8 months we have phone regularly, have emailed, talked via MSN Messenger and SMS. I have helped her with money, sending via Western Union and have recorded all receipts. We have many photos together of our holidays, and have also sent each other Christmas cards.

I have a Permanent job, and would wish to be her support with her an Australia Visitor Visa.

She would also be accommodated by myself where I live in Western Australia and can provide rental agreements.

My concerns are, she is not employed, and I am slowly building her bank book to a decent amount of 50-60 thousand baht, she also does not own housing or a car, but has strong ties with her family. And the concern for me is although I have a good income, I am concerned my savings account of $20 000 australian dollars will not be enough. I do not own a house, my company provides housing.

Any advice would be great, and I have made regular snapshots of Online transactions, phone calls, etc etc. Sorry for the long message, just wanted to cover all bases.

Thankyou

Edited February 6, 2010 by Sparky2205

[gburns57au]

You seem to have most things covered....

The 48R form has a question regarding Additional Funds Provider....you need to be listed there....There is no need to bolster her account if you are listed as the AFP....in fact they may see that as suspicious. You will need to show proof of your income.....say 6 months of payslips or your income tax notice.....

There is no need to show them your bank account.....as long as you earn a reasonable enough wage to support her while she is in Oz.

You should also do a covering letter stating what support you will give her eg; Medical, transport, general living.

You will not need to show rent receipts or leases.

You dont have to prove relationship....just prove that you actually know each other. Therefore it isnt necessary to tell them about your future plans.

So to recap;

Evidence......letters, cards, photos, receipts of moneys sent, proof of your income, covering letter, phone bills or print out from phone provider.

That just about covers it I think

[Sparky2205]

Thanks a lot for your advice. Will definitely take that onboard. Was also thinking about going through an Agent but looks like it is simple enough to do ourselves.

Again thankyou for the information, great site this one and will definitely be recommending it to others.

[neverburi]

Was also thinking about going through an Agent but looks like it is simple enough to do ourselves.

It's very basic,just have everything prepared,minimum 20,000 baht with agent.

NB

[gburns57au]

Thanks a lot for your advice. Will definitely take that onboard. Was also thinking about going through an Agent but looks like it is simple enough to do ourselves.

Again thankyou for the information, great site this one and will definitely be recommending it to others.

It is easy enough......above all else...be honest....

You can get the forms at the VFS office near Surasat BTS.......or you can print them out from the website.

[Sparky2205]

Alright wish me and Amm all the best, sending her all the paperwork next week, and she should be visiting the office the week after.

Have added as much information as possible, so looking forward to the outcome, thanks again for all the advice.

[bridge]

Why are you slowly building up her bank account up? Not only totally uncessary, but I have known it to backfire on some applicants.

Please refer to my previous post some time ago on this very issue:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?s=...t&p=2521592

A tourist visa applicant must have adequate funds, or access to adequate funds, for the duration/purpose of their proposed stay in Australia. You can provide those funds (support), so no need to prop up her bank account at all.

The fact that you have known her for the duration stated in your OP, will be enough for DIAC to put significant weight on your 'letter of support/invitation' that you will include with you GF's application. Remember, a tourist visa application is not based on the genuiness of your relationship, but whether the applicant intends to visit Australia as a genuine visitor only.

Above all be totally honest in the application.

Good Luck

Bridge

[Chris Lawrence]

Yeah I wondered about the need to deposit funds? But good explanation on the process Bridge.

GB is also spot on as usual.

Holiday Visa's, can they use our medicare system or have to pay full freight for medical services?

[justcruisin]

A visitor on a tourist visa can not access the Medicare health system in Aus.

As per the Immi website.

[Sparky2205]

Cheers for the information bridge, have stopped building up her bank account, was following some advice from another person, she has around 38 thousand baht in her bank book now. So hoping that doesn't back fire as mentioned.

She is filling out the form as I am typing this message, I did make the mistake *not 100% sure if this was a mistake* . . when I filled out the letter of invitation to the embassy that Amm as my Fiance . . she was then asked the question in her application form of marital status and I told her to be honest and say that we are engaged.

Be interesting to see also if they need copies of my bank statements, but I sent them my 2009 tax group certificate as well as the past 6 months of pay slips.

All new to me and hope to learn a thing or two for the future, thanks to a couple of guys also on the forum for private messages, all the help is greatly appreciated and I will definitely be helping others in the future if all goes well.

Shaun

[gburns57au]

Cheers for the information bridge, have stopped building up her bank account, was following some advice from another person, she has around 38 thousand baht in her bank book now. So hoping that doesn't back fire as mentioned.

She is filling out the form as I am typing this message, I did make the mistake *not 100% sure if this was a mistake* . . when I filled out the letter of invitation to the embassy that Amm as my Fiance . . she was then asked the question in her application form of marital status and I told her to be honest and say that we are engaged.

Be interesting to see also if they need copies of my bank statements, but I sent them my 2009 tax group certificate as well as the past 6 months of pay slips.

All new to me and hope to learn a thing or two for the future, thanks to a couple of guys also on the forum for private messages, all the help is greatly appreciated and I will definitely be helping others in the future if all goes well.

Shaun

If you list her as your fiance, they may actually say that you should apply for a Prospective Spouse visa and refuse the visitor visa on the grounds that being a fiance may lead her to overstay.......Thats why I mentioned that you do not need to declare a relationship at this stage,

You can download a new 48R from the website and re do the letter.

[lioness]

The prospective spouse visa only comes into play when applying to go to Australia long term. For the purpose of a short term visa being a fiance is not an issue, in fact it add weight to the application.

Best of luck

[bridge]

Cheers for the information bridge, have stopped building up her bank account, was following some advice from another person, she has around 38 thousand baht in her bank book now. So hoping that doesn't back fire as mentioned.

She is filling out the form as I am typing this message, I did make the mistake *not 100% sure if this was a mistake* . . when I filled out the letter of invitation to the embassy that Amm as my Fiance . . she was then asked the question in her application form of marital status and I told her to be honest and say that we are engaged.

Be interesting to see also if they need copies of my bank statements, but I sent them my 2009 tax group certificate as well as the past 6 months of pay slips.

All new to me and hope to learn a thing or two for the future, thanks to a couple of guys also on the forum for private messages, all the help is greatly appreciated and I will definitely be helping others in the future if all goes well.

Shaun

If you list her as your fiance, they may actually say that you should apply for a Prospective Spouse visa and refuse the visitor visa on the grounds that being a fiance may lead her to overstay.......Thats why I mentioned that you do not need to declare a relationship at this stage,

You can download a new 48R from the website and re do the letter.

I have successfully submitted 676 applications which specifically stated (in my submission) that the applicant wants to travel to Australia to organise their future proposed wedding (obtain NOIM etc), prior to returning to Thailand to submit their Prospective Marriage Visa (subclass 300). Also important to add the following, "The Applicant is aware that a PSM (s/c 300) can only be applied for and granted offshore, and furthermore if the DIAC decision maker has any residual concerns as the genuineness of the applicant, they are entitled to imposed Condition 8503 on the applicants visa (if granted).

The prospective spouse visa only comes into play when applying to go to Australia long term. For the purpose of a short term visa being a fiance is not an issue, in fact it add weight to the application.

Best of luck

Sorry have to disagree with that one

[gburns57au]

I have successfully submitted 676 applications which specifically stated (in my submission) that the applicant wants to travel to Australia to organise their future proposed wedding (obtain NOIM etc), prior to returning to Thailand to submit their Prospective Marriage Visa (subclass 300). Also important to add the following, "The Applicant is aware that a PSM (s/c 300) can only be applied for and granted offshore, and furthermore if the DIAC decision maker has any residual concerns as the genuineness of the applicant, they are entitled to imposed Condition 8503 on the applicants visa (if granted).

If the applicant was to approach it in that manner then the Embassy may decree that further Visitor visas applications will not be approved and a Prospective Spouse visa must be applied for.......this is what happened to my friend when she applied for a 3rd Visitor visa last year and stated that she required the visa to get to know her partner better with the view to getting married later....She was told that next time she would only be able to apply for the spouse visa.

If the OP goes down that track he may limit his future options....but that is upto him and his partner of course

Edited March 24, 2010 by gburns57au

[Sparky2205]

Well got news yesterday, and wanted to definitely come back to this site to thank everyone that assisted in this process.

Learnt a lot along the way, and worked out that if you do a lot of homework, you do not have to pay substantial amounts of money to get things processed.

Amm never received a phone call after lodging the application, and received an SMS to tell her to pick up her passport, she arrived and received the news of her Granted Visa.

Was funny because she looked in her passport straight away, and saw nothing, she then found the letter to tell her the visa is done electronically and was granted from todays date, through to the 30th of June . .

Again thankyou to all that assisted, and it is Sites like this one that is greatly appreciated for people like myself, that had no idea what to do prior to starting the application process. The next step of booking flights is going to be the greatest step of all

Shaun.

[gburns57au]

Well got news yesterday, and wanted to definitely come back to this site to thank everyone that assisted in this process.

Learnt a lot along the way, and worked out that if you do a lot of homework, you do not have to pay substantial amounts of money to get things processed.

Amm never received a phone call after lodging the application, and received an SMS to tell her to pick up her passport, she arrived and received the news of her Granted Visa.

Was funny because she looked in her passport straight away, and saw nothing, she then found the letter to tell her the visa is done electronically and was granted from todays date, through to the 30th of June . .

Again thankyou to all that assisted, and it is Sites like this one that is greatly appreciated for people like myself, that had no idea what to do prior to starting the application process. The next step of booking flights is going to be the greatest step of all

Shaun.

Well done