Firstly ,

thanks to those who have kindly given me advice thus far

.In particular , Bridge , cheers .

My g/f has enjoyed 2 great tourist visa hols to oz so far . We are moving up a notch as the relationship grows and its now time to contemplate the next move .

A bit about us -

Known each other for nearly 2 years now.

g/f has spent total of 6 mths in oz with me, meeting my family, friends and making some of her own

g/f has started building a history of travel, albeit neighbouring asia ( Malaysia, Mynamar & Cambodia )

me spending 5 -6 mths in LOS with her ( within the above 2 yr period )

Now the question.......... I would love to hear from any members either in a similar situation or not on which visa option above , may be veiwed more favouranbly by immigration authorities .

Im no Rhodes scholar , but Im guessing the defacto option is out for us .

Any comments ,greatly appreciated .

C.D

Partner Visa - Spouse

Must be legally married or have been in a defacto relationship for at least 12 months at time of application. Defacto requires that you have been living together for at least 12 months at time of application.

Whether on the basis of legal marriage or defacto you must be able to establish that you are both in a genuine and continuing spousal relationship.

Prospective Marriage Visa

Must have an intention to marry in the future. Once visa is granted applicant has 9 months to travel to Australia after which the marriage must take place. Note, marriage does not have to take place in Australia, but applicant must enter Australia prior to marriage taking place. After the marriage has taken place, applicant then applies for a spouse on the basis of marriage.

Regards

Bridge

Partner Visa - Spouse

Must be legally married or have been in a defacto relationship for at least 12 months at time of application. Defacto requires that you have been living together for at least 12 months at time of application.

Whether on the basis of legal marriage or defacto you must be able to establish that you are both in a genuine and continuing spousal relationship.

Prospective Marriage Visa

Must have an intention to marry in the future. Once visa is granted applicant has 9 months to travel to Australia after which the marriage must take place. Note, marriage does not have to take place in Australia, but applicant must enter Australia prior to marriage taking place. After the marriage has taken place, applicant then applies for a spouse on the basis of marriage.

Regards

Bridge

The visa validity is for 9 months...the applicant must travel to Oz and marry BEFORE the 9 month time period expires.

I believe that the applicant must apply for the spouse visa or apply for a bridging visa before the 9 months has expired. Bridge maybe can confirm that?

Hi, If you would rather her be with you in Australia and apply there.Get another tourist visa and hope for that f---d condition "NO FURTHER STAY" is not there which is usually the case after prior tourist visa's.Then you can apply here in Australia and just keep extending the tourist visa untill you have the spouse visa.It costs a bit more but so do the airfares.

Partner Visa - Spouse

Must be legally married or have been in a defacto relationship for at least 12 months at time of application. Defacto requires that you have been living together for at least 12 months at time of application.

Whether on the basis of legal marriage or defacto you must be able to establish that you are both in a genuine and continuing spousal relationship.

Prospective Marriage Visa

Must have an intention to marry in the future. Once visa is granted applicant has 9 months to travel to Australia after which the marriage must take place. Note, marriage does not have to take place in Australia, but applicant must enter Australia prior to marriage taking place. After the marriage has taken place, applicant then applies for a spouse on the basis of marriage.

Regards

Bridge

The visa validity is for 9 months...the applicant must travel to Oz and marry BEFORE the 9 month time period expires.

I believe that the applicant must apply for the spouse visa or apply for a bridging visa before the 9 months has expired. Bridge maybe can confirm that?

Prospective Marriage Visa

Applicant must not marry before entering Australia (Condition 8515) and must marry within the visa period (Condition 8519) - 9 months from date of visa grant. After they marriage has taken place, Applicant must apply for a spouse visa prior to their fiance visa expiring (subclass 300) or they will become an unlawful non-citizen.

At time of spouse visa application, Applicant will be granted a Bridging Visa A (subclass 010) which will prevent them from becoming an unlawful non-citizen whilst a determination is made on the spouse visa application. If Applicant needs to travel outside of Australia during the processing time of the spouse vis application, they will also need to apply for a Bridging Visa B (subclass 020)

Bridge

we were in the exact same situation; known each other 2 years, two 3 month tourist visas to Australia; I visited LOS 3 times in 2 year period.

Were were advised on the 2nd application that a 3rd tourist application would be refused since she was not a visitor/tourist but in a relationship with me, and any further applications would have to be a partner or prospective marriage visa. We opted for the for the latter, got the 9 month pros marriage visa , are now married and have submitted our partner visa for her to stay here.

Good luck

Thanks guys .

I have downloaded the full partner migration booklet whilst at work , and printed off , to the amusement of the admin girls at Council where I work . I think they have a hard time understanding why aussie guys find the Thai ladies so appealing .

Im sure we have some borderline racists here at work . Ahh well , each to their own .

Quite a in depth booklet they put out .

It sure makes good bedtime reading but if followed I am hopeful of at least a fair hearing with regard my g/f application . For some reason right from the start of my travels to Thailand , I have been a bit anal attentative in keeping records etc , so we will endeavour to put a thorough app together and hope for the best .

I have 2 mates that got married over there without actually putting in that much time as a couple together beforehand . They both have the wives out in Oz now , fairly hassle free except for 1 who had sponsor ship problems . Another mate is presently waiting . They just submitted their app this week and they too married in BKK before applying although they have children included in the app .

At this stage , I think the prospective might suit us more although I would love to cash in some of my long service and head over ,putting some time together with my g/f in the lead up to a Thai wedding then apply .

Other than my young kids , I wouldnt be missing much . Cant cop Sydneys' bleary winter weather . Not sure how the g/f will take to it .... lol

Thanks guys .

I have downloaded the full partner migration booklet whilst at work , and printed off , to the amusement of the admin girls at Council where I work . I think they have a hard time understanding why aussie guys find the Thai ladies so appealing .

Im sure we have some borderline racists here at work . Ahh well , each to their own .

Quite a in depth booklet they put out .

It sure makes good bedtime reading but if followed I am hopeful of at least a fair hearing with regard my g/f application . For some reason right from the start of my travels to Thailand , I have been a bit anal attentative in keeping records etc , so we will endeavour to put a thorough app together and hope for the best .

I have 2 mates that got married over there without actually putting in that much time as a couple together beforehand . They both have the wives out in Oz now , fairly hassle free except for 1 who had sponsor ship problems . Another mate is presently waiting . They just submitted their app this week and they too married in BKK before applying although they have children included in the app .

At this stage , I think the prospective might suit us more although I would love to cash in some of my long service and head over ,putting some time together with my g/f in the lead up to a Thai wedding then apply .

Other than my young kids , I wouldnt be missing much . Cant cop Sydneys' bleary winter weather . Not sure how the g/f will take to it .... lol

All the best Surfer, keep us updated on your progress.

You might also be interested in a great free publication put out by DIAC too (even better bed time reading than the partner migration booklet). The Beginning Life in Australia PDF booklets relative to each Australian State/Territory. Published in both English and Thai.

Beginning Life in Australia - THAI

Beginning Life in Australia - ENGLISH

Regards

Bridge