Tourist Visas To Australia

[kkerry]

Just wondering if anyone can offer some insight into what is going on with tourist visa applications for Thais visiting Australia.

Two months ago my wife who I've been properly married to and living in Thailand with for years applied for a tourist visa to accompany me for two weeks to Australia to visit my family and friends. My wife has no interest in living in Australia, she only wants to visit as a tourist. At the Visa Centre we were told that applications usually take 6 days to be processed. After 10 days she started ringing daily to see what was happening as we needed to confirm our bookings. First she was told they were very busy processing student holiday visas, then she kept getting told the application was at the Embassy. Eventually she managed to make contact with someone at the Embassy who said her case was being looked at because of a problem with a visa years ago. No surprise there as I was aware of this and rejection was always a possibility however she now has property assets in her name, we have been married for years and I stated I would be covering all expenses, bank statement with a healthy balance supplied.

Another 5 weeks on and no further contact whatsoever from anyone at the Embassy, her online status is as ever "Your visa application has been forwarded to the Australian Embassy, Bangkok."

Just how long do they take to decide yes or no? It's no longer really relevant I suppose as I'm returning to Thailand from Australia soon but today a relative of mine told me about his good friend, an American who has lived in Phuket for years, is very well off, with a Thai wife who has no issues travelling to the USA. They are been having the same problem, getting no where and now looking at having to cancel their proposed trip to Australia for Christmas.

Just how long does it take to decide on an application? A month past the proposed departure (which in my case could not be changed and they were advised of this) i.e 2 months in total now now and not even a rejection, nothing. Is this normal?

[gburns57au]

Probably not the normal, but not unexpected from what you have said. If she has had a visa problem in the past, depending on what the problem was, then the application may well be severely delayed.

This time of the year is extremely busy for the visa staff at the Embassy and previous years have seen some delays above the quoted 6 day process time.

[AussieTintin]

Visa applications usually take 3-5 business days - longer during peak periods and this is the mother of all peak periods - but it should not take months, no way. You said she had a previous rejection. As long as you addressed the reason for the previous rejection - and that is a key issue. However the refusal notices are not specific so how can you be sure what the reason was for the previous refusal? You said your wife rang the embassy. Maybe you should ring with her in your presence and ask for an answer to the delay. I deal with previous refusals all the time and we look a the previous application carefully. It may be another issue entirely.

[kkerry]

My wife finally got her documents back, no visa after two months.

Several reasons given in the letter she was sent, one especially that don't make sense to me.

One reason given for the refusal was not enough in her bank account and not being employed. She is deemed to not have a strong banking and financial history (yet for example has a house in Bangkok in her name fully paid for 3 years ago, etc. etc...). I am financially well off and pay for everything so why would we tie up more than a minimal ammount of money at the low interest rates banks pay in Thailand when I get a better return off shore (my own Thai bank account doesn't have a large balance either). There's no need for her to work just for an extra 10-15,000 baht a month as we don't need the money. The low account balance it is said means she can't support herself in Australia and not having a job indicates she will not return to Thailand. This despite her having property and all her family in Thailand.

I stated I was to be travelling with her, funding everything, over $15,000 in an account to fund a two week trip. We've been married for nearly ten years, her surname on her ID card and passport are the same as mine and living together in Thailand for almost all of that time yet in the refusal I am I referred to as "the Australian" never as her husband...

"Although I am satisfied that the Australian supporter's letter of invitation is genuine, I am not satisfied that you have demonstarted adequate funds to support your stay in Australia..."

On the one hand my letter stating I will cover all expenses is genuine, yet on the other she doesn't have enough funds. I still wonder why in two months nobody even bothered to contact us to clarify any matters as there were other matters raised in the letter which could have been clarified.

In the appeals part of the letter they say we can try applying for a Sponsored Family Visitor Visa to stay up to 12 months but my wife only wanted a short trip to see my elderly mother one last time before she dies as she was good to her when they met before, no interest in staying longer (she would miss her Thai movies As it now turns out it may have been my last visit of any length to Australia myself. My wife inherits everything when I die so when she is wealthy in her own right maybe she can try again but I think she is fed up with Australia for now.

[gburns57au]

Was question 33 of the 48R form completed. This is the part where they ask for additional funds provider and did you supply evidence of your funds/Bank account.

[kkerry]

Was question 33 of the 48R form completed. This is the part where they ask for additional funds provider and did you supply evidence of your funds/Bank account.

Yes to both your questions.

[Will27]

My wife finally got her documents back, no visa after two months.

Several reasons given in the letter she was sent, one especially that don't make sense to me.

One reason given for the refusal was not enough in her bank account and not being employed. She is deemed to not have a strong banking and financial history (yet for example has a house in Bangkok in her name fully paid for 3 years ago, etc. etc...). I am financially well off and pay for everything so why would we tie up more than a minimal ammount of money at the low interest rates banks pay in Thailand when I get a better return off shore (my own Thai bank account doesn't have a large balance either). There's no need for her to work just for an extra 10-15,000 baht a month as we don't need the money. The low account balance it is said means she can't support herself in Australia and not having a job indicates she will not return to Thailand. This despite her having property and all her family in Thailand.

I stated I was to be travelling with her, funding everything, over $15,000 in an account to fund a two week trip. We've been married for nearly ten years, her surname on her ID card and passport are the same as mine and living together in Thailand for almost all of that time yet in the refusal I am I referred to as "the Australian" never as her husband...

"Although I am satisfied that the Australian supporter's letter of invitation is genuine, I am not satisfied that you have demonstarted adequate funds to support your stay in Australia..."

On the one hand my letter stating I will cover all expenses is genuine, yet on the other she doesn't have enough funds. I still wonder why in two months nobody even bothered to contact us to clarify any matters as there were other matters raised in the letter which could have been clarified.

In the appeals part of the letter they say we can try applying for a Sponsored Family Visitor Visa to stay up to 12 months but my wife only wanted a short trip to see my elderly mother one last time before she dies as she was good to her when they met before, no interest in staying longer (she would miss her Thai movies As it now turns out it may have been my last visit of any length to Australia myself. My wife inherits everything when I die so when she is wealthy in her own right maybe she can try again but I think she is fed up with Australia for now.

Sometimes you just get a bad decision and there's no point trying to look for something deeper...just reapply.

Having said that, it seems as if the Embasst might have been looking at an excuse to refuse it.

The "adequate funds" reason is normally just a cut and paste job.

You said "several reasons were given", what were they?

Also, the previous refusal may still be a worry to the Embassy.

It's hard to give really good indepth information because you haven't really posted

all of the relevant information.

To be able to answer more comprehensively, need to know all of the refusal

grounds plus the reason for the previous refusal.

This may also help you to decide whether it's worth reapplying.

Regards

Will

[gburns57au]

I have to agree with Will, it may not be so much the financial side of things as much as what the other reasons were or a combination.

I didnt see anything about a previous refusal, but she met your Mum before, was that in Thailand or Oz and if she has been to Oz before, was there any problems from that trip

[jinn007]

Don't feel bad about your decline,its normal my self and a friend made an application at the Australia embassy in south Africa, gave me the same bull shit as you not enough funds my intention of my stay period was in question,they made a balls up of the date i sent in my application all so stuffed up the type of visa application i requested . But heres the strange thing i own 2 houses my own company have a decent bank account, my friends application was accepted oh by the way he works for me doesn't own any fixed property his bank account is not to great .SO ALL I CAN SAY IS UP THE AUSSIES . It might be nice if some one other than the tea girl actual looked at the applications sent in. Thus being said don't leave your wifes money in A BANK IN AUSTRALIA as she might never get what you intended .

[kkerry]

I ended up coming to the conclusion as suggested earlier, that the funds issues was probably just a cut and paste job, to make it so there was more than one reason to refuse the application.

There were other things in the rejection letter which I won't go into (some also ridiculous... imo) but the funds issue stood out as being the most absurd because there is no funds issues. Fifteen thousand dollars is ample surely for a two week trip. I could have shown property titles, shares and other investments but those documents are all held by my lawyer in Australia but I doubt they would have made any difference when I've already stated I would be paying all her expenses, for just a two week trip, not immigrating.

gburns57au, my wife met my mother in Australia before we were married.

There's no point in appealing as the rejection came about six weeks after the time we wanted to travel together.

One point of interest was we paid for the courier service. Two weeks after having our documents returned there was a registered letter with another copy of the rejection letter so it could have taken 3 months to notify us of their decision, not good service. I hate to think how long it would have taken if we wanted to apply live in Australia together...

It's unlikely we will be applying again so will leave it at that.

Thank you all for your replies.

[gburns57au]

No Probs,

Without knowing the other details it is too hard to comment any further and I respect your choice not to divulge.

Good luck for your future endeavours.

I ended up coming to the conclusion as suggested earlier, that the funds issues was probably just a cut and paste job, to make it so there was more than one reason to refuse the application.

There were other things in the rejection letter which I won't go into (some also ridiculous... imo) but the funds issue stood out as being the most absurd because there is no funds issues. Fifteen thousand dollars is ample surely for a two week trip. I could have shown property titles, shares and other investments but those documents are all held by my lawyer in Australia but I doubt they would have made any difference when I've already stated I would be paying all her expenses, for just a two week trip, not immigrating.

gburns57au, my wife met my mother in Australia before we were married.

There's no point in appealing as the rejection came about six weeks after the time we wanted to travel together.

One point of interest was we paid for the courier service. Two weeks after having our documents returned there was a registered letter with another copy of the rejection letter so it could have taken 3 months to notify us of their decision, not good service. I hate to think how long it would have taken if we wanted to apply live in Australia together...

It's unlikely we will be applying again so will leave it at that.

Thank you all for your replies.