Australian Tourist Visa For Thai Wife & Our Son

[ags83]

Hi,

Is it difficult to get just a 3 month visa for my wife and our baby (does not have his Aus passport yet) to come visit my family ? She has been once before 3 years ago before we were married. I was looking at the immigration websites and read that the average processing time was 6 weeks, is this about correct ? That seems ridiculous to me.... they also say on the site that as it's the holidays it could take even longer, but I believe I have read some posters saying they got it in a few days, so how long does it actually take to get ?

Also I have not had employment in several years now and I'm thinking this could be a big hurdle also. We plan on staying at my parents house and living relatively cheap. I could show them 10k AUD or so in my bank account (we just spent a bunch on a house & car over here). I am likely going to be looking for a job whilst in Aus and they would return to Thailand after their visit and I would stay and work in Aus for a while longer.

Thanks for any help ! ( I absolutely despise dealing with governments and bureaucracy)

[Mario2008]

Being married, the child is automatically Thai and Australian. For the Australian passport you would need to register the birth with the Australian embassy and apply for a passport. This mighty also make it easier for your wife to get a visa as his mother.

Both countries allow dual nationality.

[samran]

Being married, the child is automatically Thai and Australian. For the Australian passport you would need to register the birth with the Australian embassy and apply for a passport. This mighty also make it easier for your wife to get a visa as his mother.

Both countries allow dual nationality.

If I were you I wouldn't go the visa option for your son.

If you have all the paperwork lined up in a row then the citizenship by decent papers take 10 days to be issued and with that in hand you walk over to the next office at the embassy and apply for the passport which also takes 10 days.

You'll also need to get the Thai passport issued in the meantime ( not hard and takes 3 days)

Thai passport to depart and renter Thailand.

Australian passport to enter and leave Australia.

None of it is hard.

Edited December 7, 2011 by samran

[ags83]

Thanks for the replies, though I do know it is relatively easy to get my son his passport (thanks to these forums), and have the paperwork for the first step already printed. It's just that we were thinking about going in 2 weeks or so.

So what about the time these visas take to get ? Is it 6 weeks or longer like the gov website seems to suggest or are they done in a few days like I believe I have read before on the forums ?

[mark5335]

The tourist/visitor visa normally takes 5 days for processing/approval. See info from the VFS website for details: http://www.vfs-au.net/visitor_processingtime.html

[Theo007]

The process will be a lot easier if your wife applies for the visa as the mother of an Australian national.

[gburns57au]

The process will be a lot easier if your wife applies for the visa as the mother of an Australian national.

Misconception....each application is dealt with on its own merits.....As the child is travelling with the biological father then it wont make any difference to the mothers application.

Approx 5-6 working days to process a visitors visa and yes it may take longer at Xmas. Your wife will need to show that she has access to sufficient funds for the trip....

[chooka]

Being married, the child is automatically Thai and Australian. For the Australian passport you would need to register the birth with the Australian embassy and apply for a passport. This mighty also make it easier for your wife to get a visa as his mother.

Both countries allow dual nationality.

I agree and disagree, being married doe's not mean that the child is automatically an Australian citizen. You need to make an application with Australia for citizenship by decent. This can be granted or refused but generally it is granted. If your Australian citizen parent was himself/herself a "citizen by descent" orfull Hague adoption then that parent must have spent at least2 years in Australia. Basically what this means is that our children who are Australian citizens living in Thailand need to reside in Australia at some stage for at least 2 years for this right to be passed onto thier children, our grandchildren. Anyway I do not think this will have any effect on the OP as he appears to be an expat.

As for the visa applications I really can't see a problem there, as the wife has been to Australia before and I trust she behaved herself and did not overstay. If the child already had Australian citizenship this would streamline things a little more as she is the mother and carer. If you attend at the Australian Embassy in Bangkok the process should take no longer than 5 working days, so do it on a Monday. If you are up North and use a visa service or travel agent then it can take about 4 weeks. Have a friend who aquired one through Manit Travel in Chiangmai and it took 4 weeks. (Transit, processing and care factor times)

If the OP has time he should make the trip to the Embassy and make the applications for Visa and Citizenship of the child at the same time. (citizenship 90AUD) Citizenship document will take about 10 working days to come from Canberra and then you can apply for the Aussie passport.

Here is a TIP: If your child is travelling on just a Thai passport and you have his citizenship document, when you arrive in Australia take that original document and 2 certified true copies along with a certified transcript of the birth certificate which you will have to your local medicare office and have your child added to your medicare card. God forbid if you will need it but it is a safety net to register with medicare if you intend to stay for awhile. You will only need travel insurance for your wife then and save a few Aussie dollars. This is what I did.

Edited December 11, 2011 by chooka

[senor123]

In September this year I went with my Thai g/f to the Australian visa processing centre in Bangkok. We had a lot of documentation and a 12 month, multiple entry visa was granted in 3 days. The centre was well run and not crowded. We did not show any proof of her finances but did show proof of mine. Strangely enough, she got a call from the processing centre the other day requesting a copy of the return ticket plus proof of 40k baht in the bank. She is coming in January but I wonder what would have happened if she had come between September and the end of November.

[brianb1944]

Thanks for the replies, though I do know it is relatively easy to get my son his passport (thanks to these forums), and have the paperwork for the first step already printed. It's just that we were thinking about going in 2 weeks or so.

So what about the time these visas take to get ? Is it 6 weeks or longer like the gov website seems to suggest or are they done in a few days like I believe I have read before on the forums ?

My wifes first visa took about 8 weeks, I had to leave without her, and then buy her a ticket when the visa arrived., since then the processing time has been 1 to 2 weeks,including courier transport. she is also automatically given a one year, multiple entry visa. it seems that having done the right thing in the past makes the whole process easier.