Australian Tourist Visa Application

[BEVUP]

Going through this at the moment 

Just completed all the info on the forms for Wife & Son 

Now have to collect all the docs required 

doing it all from the Falang side 

 

that 14 day advice for Biois handy

[BEVUP]

On ‎1‎/‎31‎/‎2020 at 3:22 AM, wondra said:

Hi Guys

 

Thanks for previous advice

 

Just thought I would do a quick update to let you know how my process went....

 

Now the IMHO there are 2 problems to overcome in the Visa application process....government bureaucracy and the biggie my Thai's wife ability to put off what she can do today until maybe next week or the week after 55555

 

After a couple of false starts...like "ohhh I not know my passport expire next month", "I do everything after holiday (new year)" etc etc I was finally able to sit down and sort through what we had to show Immigration.

 

I had to set up a new Immi account...just couldnt get into the ones I used last time (2 separate Immi accounts, one for wife, one for daughter)...(Note to self .. record details of password and security questions in safe place that you are likely to remember some time in future)

 

I commenced Monday 20th Jan vowing I wasnt going to get angry, swear etc when I became frustrated with the process (or asking the missus to clarify points)... fat chance...

 

Just after lunch time I pressed the submit button on both applications.

 

Now I was silly enough to think we would bet an approval subject to Biometrics (well why would I want to waste more money if it isnt getting approved...wrong! the govt doesn't give a #### how much money I waste) 555

 

So straight after pressing send, the missus gets 2 emails one to say submitted, the other saying Biometrics must be done within 14 days. Ok, better get onto this. 

 

For anyone who hasnt done the Biometrics in the past, you are given a reference letter from immigration (in thier email) to be taken with you for Biometrics collection. You go to VFS Global website and making a booking online. 

 

To my great surprise we were able to book for the Wednesday at 0900...considering this was Monday afternoon, the appointment date certainly exceeded my exceptions. 

 

The biggest problem I see with the Biometrics is simply that is only done in BKK or Chaing mai. Inconvenient but it is what it is.

the girls traveled by bus on Tuesday afternoon to BKK and I booked them into the Grand Swiss Hotel. It was only a few hundred metres from the building they need to be the next morning. By all reports the room was great but bed was too soft (trust me she prefers to sleep on the floor, so anything short of a concrete block in too soft) including breakfast I paid about 2500B...by BKK standards not too bad. i know there are cheaper places but i was looking for proximity to VFS Global.  I checked with her at 1000, an hour after the appointment and she was finished and back at bus terminal waiting to go home to Chaiyaphum. So I imagine the process is pretty quick and easy.

 

The surprises didnt end there, got home, checked the Immi account to make sure there was nothing else I needed to do. Well to say I was shocked was an understatement. the Visa application has been approved Wed afternoon the 22nd (if you remember I only lodged it Monday lunchtime) and the cherry on the top...we got 3 year multiple entry visitor visas (max 3 months at a time)

 

I did all the work online myself (no agent). I followed the same process as last time (about 4 years ago) where I followed the helpful advices on this forum. I set Immi accounts up myself for both wife and daughter and loaded everything myself...i could access it because I had the password (I saw someone asking about this earlier)

 

So as a small repayment for the wonderful free advice I have received here, I offer my experiences in the hope someone may find them helpful

 

cheers

wondra

What about medical 

[wondra]

On 2/1/2020 at 5:45 PM, BEVUP said:

What about medical 

In my letter of Invitation, I made statement to the effect that upon Visa approval I will arrange Travel Insurance.

Made the same statement last time. You cannot be expected to buy the Insurance prior to approval.

 

Just a heads up on that, make sure you are using a Thai based (fine if it international) company...you caanot use an aussie company for domestic travel. Those prices are for aussie citizens and are based on us (citizens) being covered for public hospitals via Medicare

[Silvermane]

Hi guys,

 

I'm pretty bummed out at the minute since I've just had a 600 Tourist Visa refused ????

To give a bit more background:

- Me and the GF applied for a single entry visa at the end of 2017 and received a multiple entry valid for a year only 4 days later.

- Fast forward to the present day and I applied in the exact same way. Only difference was that I now requested a multiple entry visa and it got refused within 2 days.

 

I thought it was supposed to be easier the second time around??

GF didn't overstay the first time (she came to Oz 3 times: 6 weeks, 2 weeks and again 6 weeks spread out over the year) and respected all the conditions of the visa the first time around. I referred to the first Visa when submitting for the second one.

 

What makes it worse is that the GF received a call from the embassy but didn't take it because she was in the bathroom. She tried calling back but ended up in a generic call centre menu and couldn't get connected to the person who called her. 5 mins later we received the refusal notification ????????

Why would they bother calling her if they're not going to give her the option to respond back?? They didn't send a mail to ask for additional info and they also didn't give us review rights on the visa decision so we can't appeal it at all. I really feel like they didn't give us a fair shot this time around so I'd want to know what I can do to overturn this.

 

As for the reason of the refusal, they've mainly pointed to the lack of evidence of personal funds. The first time I didn't supply her bank book as it was pretty dire but my income and savings were more than enough to satisfy the requirement (as they should have been today as well). This time I didn't supply the bank book either but it was 'supposedly' refused on these grounds: 

In this case, I am not satisfied that clause 600.211 in Schedule 2 of the Migration
Regulations is satisfied. This clause provides that:
600.211
The applicant genuinely intends to stay temporarily in Australia for the purpose for which the visa is
granted, having regard to:
(a) whether the applicant has complied substantially with the conditions to which the last
substantive visa, or any subsequent bridging visa, held by the applicant was subject; and
(b) whether the applicant intends to comply with the conditions to which the Subclass 600
visa would be subject; and
(c) any other relevant matter.
After carefully considering the information you have provided as evidence of your purpose in
visiting Australia, I am not satisfied that you genuinely intend to visit Australia temporarily for
the purpose for which the visa would be granted.
In assessing whether or not you intend a genuine visit, I have taken into account the
information provided in the application relating to your employment, personal circumstances,
previous international travel, incentive to return home, and financial situation.
You have provided no evidence of your own personal funds. While I note the support of
your contact in Australia to cover the costs of your trip, your lack of evidence of personal
financial standing leads me to question whether your personal circumstances in your home
country are such, that they may induce you to remain in Australia beyond your intended stay.
Accordingly I am not satisfied that you intend only a genuine visit to Australia.
On balance, I find that you have failed to adequately demonstrate strong employment,
financial and other personal commitments that may support the likelihood of your compliance
with the conditions attached to the visa and your return home at the end of your proposed
stay in Australia.
I therefore find that you do not satisfy the requirements of clause 600.211 in Schedule 2 of
the Regulations. As you do not satisfy clause 600.211, I have not assessed your application
against the remaining criteria for this subclass of visa

 

I did provide a letter from her employer (she had changed work and now had a substantially higher salary than the first time!), a holiday permission slip, 6 month worth of payslips, the works! But clearly that wasn't enough... The first time we applied she had been with her company for almost 2 years. This time it had only been 1 year... would that have made any difference?? I still find it a stretch for them to claim we had not adequately demonstrated "strong employment" or "other personal commitments". I believe we more than covered the former and the latter was unchanged from the first time we submitted.

 

Or was it the fact that we asked for a multiple entry visa straight away? Does that mean you get handed off to a different department that scrutinizes more heavily??

 

And so the biggest question now becomes: what can we do to still get a visa?

I'm happy to reapply but not if I'm basically fighting windmills. I'll gladly submit just for the single entry if that helps matters and I'll just do single entry ones every time. But I would need to know where things went wrong and how I could address it.

 

Any insights would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[OOTAI]

Silvermane

I don't know if things have changed a lot since I first got a tourist visa for my then girlfriend to visit with me in Australia but here's what I did. It was almost 20 years ago though so might not be true for today.

 

My GF made an application in person at the Embassy in Bangkok, I was home is Aussie.

It was rejected because we didn't have enough documentary evidence at that time, so we gathered it all up and she applied again, rejected again. So this time I phoned the Embassy from Australia. I think there must have been the name of a person on the rejection letter but not sure now. Anyway I talked to this lady at the Embassy and she was very helpful in explaining everything. She told me some amazing stories about what some people do, for example 1 guy wanted visa's for his GF and her kids to visit him so 4 people all up and how was he going to support them, easy he was on the dole.  So I then understood why they initially reject applications and seek more info.

 

In the end armed with everything I needed (as told by my lady friend at the Embassy) I flew to Bangkok and when to the Embassy with my GF (now wife) and we were in and out in less than 10 minutes with the Visa for her approved.

She reckoned it was because I was there that they approved it, but it was the ground work done beforehand that sealed the deal.

 

So my advice to you is to not give up and to seek out further information i.e. more details behind the <deleted> they write in the rejection letter as that is a standard response. Once you have got all the personal detailed requirements apply again.

 

As an aside My GF came to Australia 2 times on Tourist Visas and then on a Fiancée Visa and then got temporary residency after we were married in Australia, then after 2 years permanent residency.

And every time we had to provide heaps of documentary evidence and they questioned it all every time.

[Silvermane]

Hi Ootai,

 

appreciate the comment.

 

Unfortunately, the embassy telephone number nowadays is a menu-based system that is obviously put in place to reduce the amount of people that try to ring up and talk to the case officer. At least, that's what the GF said when she tried it a couple of times.

There is still an ID and name of the visa officer on the refusal form, but good luck trying to get a hold of that person to find out why the visa request was denied other than the generic BS they send you in the letter as you rightfully point out.

 

I would be happy to talk to them (as would the GF) and explain the whole situation at length, but if they don't even give you the courtesy of actually connecting with them, that's kind of hard to do. Maybe they were calling her to set up an interview with her but you would expect them to leave a message with their direct contact. Guess it was just easier to click on the 'refused' button and have us pay up again for a new submission. They likely don't care that this also sets you up for failure for subsequent submissions as I assume I will have to refer to this failed submission the next time we try?? 

 

I substantiated the document in every which way I felt was possible (including pictures of us together in trips to Bali, Thailand, Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne) and this is not one of the crazy "let's bring the whole family over" kind of situations btw. Just a straightforward "bring the girlfriend that you've known for the past 3 years over".

I'm an exec who makes a good living so money shouldn't be the issue either and I confirmed at various points in the submission that I would gladly carry all costs including health/travel insurance (which I have effectively done in the past when she was here). The only thing I don't have enough is time! Which is the whole point of bringing the GF over rather than me going down there to visit. I can do that 2 times per year at the most and since I went in November I can't afford to fly back now and handhold her to the embassy unfortunately.

 

The fact that their generic statement waffles on about not being convinced that she wouldn't return to Thailand is laughable in light of the fact that she's been here 3 times 2 years ago and always went back. She never even stayed the full 3 months at any given time that she came over as she didn't want to be away from the kids...

 

Sorry if the frustration is oozing of the page here btw. Just so utterly annoyed with this situation.

 

What I have refrained from doing up until now is to also include evidence of the money I send her now and again as I was scared that this might be considered as her being paid for spending time with me in which case it could be considered 'working'. But in hindsight I might have been better off including that anyway.

 

My current thoughts are to try an immediate resubmit with the added financial trail (of me sending money over the past couple of years) and to only request a single entry visa like we did the first time. Wdyt??

 

[Will27]

1 hour ago, Silvermane said:

Hi Ootai,

 

appreciate the comment.

 

Unfortunately, the embassy telephone number nowadays is a menu-based system that is obviously put in place to reduce the amount of people that try to ring up and talk to the case officer. At least, that's what the GF said when she tried it a couple of times.

There is still an ID and name of the visa officer on the refusal form, but good luck trying to get a hold of that person to find out why the visa request was denied other than the generic BS they send you in the letter as you rightfully point out.

 

I would be happy to talk to them (as would the GF) and explain the whole situation at length, but if they don't even give you the courtesy of actually connecting with them, that's kind of hard to do. Maybe they were calling her to set up an interview with her but you would expect them to leave a message with their direct contact. Guess it was just easier to click on the 'refused' button and have us pay up again for a new submission. They likely don't care that this also sets you up for failure for subsequent submissions as I assume I will have to refer to this failed submission the next time we try?? 

 

I substantiated the document in every which way I felt was possible (including pictures of us together in trips to Bali, Thailand, Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne) and this is not one of the crazy "let's bring the whole family over" kind of situations btw. Just a straightforward "bring the girlfriend that you've known for the past 3 years over".

I'm an exec who makes a good living so money shouldn't be the issue either and I confirmed at various points in the submission that I would gladly carry all costs including health/travel insurance (which I have effectively done in the past when she was here). The only thing I don't have enough is time! Which is the whole point of bringing the GF over rather than me going down there to visit. I can do that 2 times per year at the most and since I went in November I can't afford to fly back now and handhold her to the embassy unfortunately.

 

The fact that their generic statement waffles on about not being convinced that she wouldn't return to Thailand is laughable in light of the fact that she's been here 3 times 2 years ago and always went back. She never even stayed the full 3 months at any given time that she came over as she didn't want to be away from the kids...

 

Sorry if the frustration is oozing of the page here btw. Just so utterly annoyed with this situation.

 

What I have refrained from doing up until now is to also include evidence of the money I send her now and again as I was scared that this might be considered as her being paid for spending time with me in which case it could be considered 'working'. But in hindsight I might have been better off including that anyway.

 

My current thoughts are to try an immediate resubmit with the added financial trail (of me sending money over the past couple of years) and to only request a single entry visa like we did the first time. Wdyt??

 

Mate

 

Reading your posts, I can only assume your partner received a dud decision.

They do happen.

Sometimes, that's all you can put it down to.

You're right, the 2nd application should be easier.

 

How long did you put down that you wanted her to visit for?

That is pretty important.

How long was the permission slip from her employer?

 

If I was trying to make a case for the case officer, the only thing I could think of

was that your partner previously stayed in Australia for 14 weeks. That's a long time and

most people would not be able to get that much time from work.

I take it you didn't have that much time off work to spend with her either?

The CO might think she's working.

 

Reading the refusal letter, I'm pretty sure it was refused, rightly or wrongly because

the CO didn't think she would return to Thailand.

The finance part of it was just putting some mayo on the refusal.

 

I'll try and answer some of your questions.

 

There is no appeal process.

You cannot have it overturned, you have to reapply.

 

Single or multiple entry is the same process.

 

I don't think they were phoning to set up an interview.

More than likely, it was for further clarification for something.

The case officers are generally too busy to contact applicants.

 

IMO, you including information about sending her money will have no impact at all.

 

Your best bet would be to reapply but you will have to try and address the reasons given.

Maybe for a shorter period.

 

 

 

 

[AussieBob18]

May I suggest a single entry Visa next time - shouldn't but it does matter.

Have you completed sponsorship documents to commit to supporting her on her visit.

Have you been living together long - did you detail that?

Are you engaged or have you stated to the Embassy that she is a GF only - if you have not stated GF only, then from now on state that you are engaged - no need for proof.

 

But as someone said, I suggest you and her go to the Embassy and talk to someone.

Make an appointment though - things have changed since they relocated - less helpful.

Take every possible record and document with you - do it together.

 

[OOTAI]

Silvermane

I really think the rejection is based on nothing at all and is them testing your resolve, unfortunately it costs every time you apply but if you keep coming back they eventually realise you are genuine.

I would reapply but make a very concerted effort to address the statement I have pasted below.

The main point I take from that is the bit I have highlighted in red. 

Really push the point that while she may not have a great monetary reward (financial) to return to she does have her children (personal commitments) and she has returned 3 times already. Explain that she has changed jobs since the last time she was granted a Visa and maybe say why she changed (strong employment).

 

And as Aussiebob18 say she is now your Fiancée and explain that you would love to spend more time together but with her commitments at home and yours in Australia it only leaves a small window of opportunity for you to visit Thailand and for her to visit Australia.

 

Just keep going and they eventually run out of excuses if you specifically address their <deleted> every time, don't give up or they win the pricks.

 

Accordingly I am not satisfied that you intend only a genuine visit to Australia.
On balance, I find that you have failed to adequately demonstrate strong employment,
financial and other personal commitments that may support the likelihood of your compliance
with the conditions attached to the visa and your return home at the end of your proposed
stay in Australia.
I therefore find that you do not satisfy the requirements of clause 600.211 in Schedule 2 of
the Regulations. As you do not satisfy clause 600.211, I have not assessed your application
against the remaining criteria for this subclass of visa

 

You don't say how serious your relationship is or whether you intend to maybe take it further but if you were going to go down that road then you could apply for a fiancée Visa, I think they could it proposed spouse visa or something like that now. Anyway that's the way we went and that visa took nearly 12 months to be approved. However while that was pending they did grant my wife (GF then) a tourist visa in the interim waiting period. Unfortunately for you I think they are making it harder and harder nowadays.

 

Anyway good luck and let us know what happens.

[Silvermane]

 

Hi guys, thx so much for the responses. I'll try to respond on some of the points raised as best as I can:

- I mentioned several times in the submission that I was going to sponsor and would be responsible for any and all costs, but have not done so in an 'official' capacity. My understanding was that only family or government officials were allowed to officially sponsor someone. On the 600 tourist visa, I did select the sponsored option but when it came down to selecting which relative I was, I selected something like an uncle and explained the reasoning behind it as I really wanted to drive the point home that I would be financially responsible. I did so on the first (successful) submission as well and repeated this in the exact same way.

- yes she did stay for 14 weeks the first time which does exceed the amount of time that an employer would grant her leave. This is simply because she lost her job sometime during that year and was able to travel more freely. But even without work, she still returned home and didn't work here either (she's lazy as hell :D) so it should actually be more reinforcement to the fact that she will always return and not the opposite. She has now found a job which does pay better and has held that since the start of 2019. We received approval from her current employer to get leave for a month and while that is atypical, some of it is obviously unpaid. We had also stated that she would want to return at the end of the year (hence the request for multiple entry) so that we could travel to WA at that time for 3 weeks. We stated that we were not sure if she would be able to get additional leave but that we wanted to get the multiple entry just in case she would get this approved by her employer. We did already indicate that she now has improved income during this submission but guess we should emphasize it more.

- When she was here the first time I was able to work from home more than usual so that gave me the time to spend with her. We then weekend tripped to the Gold Coast and Sydney and things like that. While I would have much preferred to spend all my time with her, this was as close as I could get and was very happy for it. She was more than happy to lounge around and watch youtube all day or 'play facebook' when I was at work so it all worked out rather well ????

- We don't intend to evolve our relationship beyond what we currently have as we are both happy with the arrangement so it'll be hard to state anything else or to go for the fiancee Visa. Obviously, if immigration is intent on throwing these kinds of spanners in the works there will be one of the following consequences:

1. Relationship will fizz out

2. I'm forced to take the relationship to the next level just for the sake of humoring a government instance....

- Wrt her bankbook, I'm still unsure what I should do here. I didn't submit it the first time as she is very much a cash-only person and things haven't changed in that regard since the first visa. She has sent me her last 3 months worth of statements and there was only 15k THB worth of transactions on there with an unsurprising 0 balance at the end. She gets the money she makes at work paid out cash and she hands most of it over to the mom who takes care of the kids when she's at work. Given that the main reason for refusal is the lack of proof of her personal funds (i.e. no bankbook provided), I feel I have no other choice but to add it. But in providing it, they might see their point reinforced that she does not have good financial standing and will therefore be inclined to not respect the conditions of her visa...

 

[OOTAI]

Silvermane

I suppose you had no better choice than "Uncle" but it would take some explaining to try and change it to fiancée now.

As it has so long since I dealt with the Embassy I have no more suggestions except to say your only choice would to be there in person and ask for more detail then.

 

Good luck

[Will27]

14 hours ago, pdtokyo said:

Well that's a sad story Silvermane and just when i was starting to feel optimistic about applying for 600 tourist visa for Thai girlfriend ... i wish you luck next time ...

 

I'm currently in Thailand on 30 day visa and will be helping my gf start her IMMI process before i return to Oz ... i'm looking at the 600 application form now and have a couple of questions that i can't see answered elsewhere in this thread ...

 

(1) Part C – Family NOT travelling to Australia with you

Is it possible that birth certificates be asked for? Girlfriend has lost hers but i guess we can get a replacement easily enough. Her kids and grand-kid's certificates are available. Her mother has apparently never had one, which may be tricky.

 

(2) Part D – Details of your visit to Australia

I plan to put myself in there as 'fiance' (or is it fiancée) in question 28. Do you have any friends or contacts in Australia?

We do in fact plan to marry in Thailand and settle in Thailand before end of year, but i'm equally happy to put 'friend' here if that will make fewer waves. Opinions welcome.

 

(3) Part G – Employment status

This is tricky. She had a not very successful salon business with ex-husband that folded a few years ago and since been doing bits of undocumented casual work with a non-Thai friend. Most of her recent time spent looking after 6 and 18 month-old grandchildren in Bangkok and helping aging mother maintain family property in home village. 

I plan to tick 'Other' in question 39. What is your employment status? and only mention the baby-sitting and working on property. Any better ideas? 

 

(4) Part H – Funding for stay

Question 40. Give details of how you will maintain yourself financially while you are in Australia

I'm happy to finance the whole trip and can show about $70k AUD cash assets and age pension and plan to add a letter to that effect to this section.

Her bank book very sad ... currently shows B21,000 (mostly from me). She's getting B150,000 next week as rent for leased rice paddy she owns ... but virtually everything is going out on 28th February to re-pay bank loan on the failed business. In theory there's about a 10-day window where she can show a decent balance. 

Is it worth submitting application during that brief period? I'd feel more comfortable not including the bank book at all.

 

(5) Part H – Funding for stay

Question 41. Is your sponsor or someone else providing support for your visit to Australia?

I'm not a sponsor? Right? I leave this blank?

 

(6) Part I – Previous applications

She had an uneventful one week (yes 1 week!) visit to Oz with her ex-husband about 4 years ago. He did all the visa stuff but she travelled under her current name. The Oz visa arrival stamp is still in her current passport but weirdly there is no departure stamp. Hope they don't think she's still there.

I can see that Part I is used to advise IMMI of failed previous applications ... and we will of course leave this blank ... but how do we tell them about her previous 'successful' visit to Oz? Or will they magically know this?

 

(7) Part J – Assistance with this form

Even though i am assisting, i plan to leave this blank ... it's for agents and family members only. Right?

 

 

That's it, sorry to appear a worrywart but as i said, before reading Silvermane's posts was feeling OK about this. He seems to have failed with a much stronger case.  

 

 

 

 

Hope you find this useful.

 

1. Unless it's changed, they're talking about a partner or children of the applicant.

Birth certificates usually aren't asked for.

 

2. Just put partner down.

 

3. Just stick with that.

 

4. There's no point in submitting the bank book with one large deposit in it.

It will raise more questions than answers.

The low balance won't be surprising to Immigration seeing as she's unemployed.

They like to see a bank book but it's not compulsory.

 

5. Does it say your sponsor or someone else?

You need to fill this out.

 

6. They're not asking about successful applications.

Don't make extra work for yourself.

Her details will be on file.

 

7. They will assume she had help.

Put down your details.

 

** Edit - In a previous post, I think you mentioned she had a visa

in her passport. What subclass (number) is the visa?

Unusual her passport is not showing a departure stamp.

 

Edited February 12, 2020 by Will27

[Silvermane]

1. I did provide the birth certificates but don't think it does much. The reasoning behind it for me was to substantiate one of the reasons she has to return home.

That then led me to having to get a copy of her marriage certificate to demonstrate a name change so that it was clear that both kids were hers as one of them was under her original name and one wasn't

 

2. online doesn't give you the option for fiancee, so if you can choose what you want on the paper based, it's been recommended to me to put yourself as fiancee

 

3. This criteria was supposed to be a very important reason to determine willingness to return home as well as supports her financial ability to support herself on the trip. Unfortunately for me, 6 months worth of payslips at 23,000THB/month meant didley squat for some reason... I would advise you to really think hard about this one as my refusal note said that they basically don't take into account anything I have to offer.

 

4. As per the previous point, your income and offer to financially support her is completely disregarded when not all of the other criteria are met. I have substantially more capacity to support compared to what you have mentioned and it wasn't even considered. While I agree with Will27 that a bank book is not mandatory (I didn't do it the first time either and successfully obtained the visa) for some reason on this second run it was considered important. Given that my girl could demonstrate a good income, I don't know how else to interpret their refusal note which said the following:

You have provided no evidence of your own personal funds. While I note the support of your contact in Australia to cover the costs of your trip, your lack of evidence of personal financial standing leads me to question whether your personal circumstances in your home country are such, that they may induce you to remain in Australia beyond your intended stay.

Despite the good salary, my girl doesn't have any savings as all the money goes to mom. She also has no assets that she can demonstrate (car or house) so basically I'm snookered on this one myself now ????

Would her ability to get a line of credit (credit card) help??

Would it be possible for me to put a bank guarantee in place for a loan that her bank would issue to her to undertake the trip?? In the case of the loan, I would think more weight would be given by the embassy to a loan approval by a bank compared to me saying that I'm happy to support her trip or just transferring a bunch of money to her account. As Will27 has pointed out, the latter is usually frowned on and rapidly discounted.

 

5. Definitely complete it, it will never hurt

 

6. not having an exit stamp is perfectly normal for Australia. My girl freaked out about not having that stamp either as she was scared she wouldn't be let in again on her multiple entry. Was perfectly fine and she was able to return 2 more times. She was still upset not to have the nice exit stamp though ????

Question from my end on this one though: do I really have to call out the previous failed attempt? Of course they have it on file, especially since it's all been done online in my case, but I don't want to increase the chances of a lazy officer making life easy on themselves by just refusing again when I point out the very recent refusal. By not pointing it out I might get lucky in the sense that that same lazy officer might not look at previous results?? But if they do pick up on it I assume I will have shot myself in the foot by not answering truthfully to the question.

 

7. I didn't put myself down on either occasion. I thought the same as pdtokyo and wanted to avoid the extra complexities or complications of having to provide info given that I'm not officially sanctioned to assist... Not sure what I'll do on the next submission now.

 

As for my new attempt: I've redrafted all my documents in a way that they are forced to actually at least take note of what we've written rather than just attaching pictures of the crucial documents and then providing supporting documentation separately. For example: on the previous attempt I submitted the payslips as individual pictures and then had a separate letter from the girlfriend explaining that she really loves this job, was really lucky to get it in the first place and has every intent to go back to it. I imagine that they didn't even bother going into that letter. Now I've combined all of that into a PDF so that they are forced to at least notice it.

 

[Will27]

1 hour ago, Silvermane said:

Question from my end on this one though: do I really have to call out the previous failed attempt? Of course they have it on file, especially since it's all been done online in my case, but I don't want to increase the chances of a lazy officer making life easy on themselves by just refusing again when I point out the very recent refusal. By not pointing it out I might get lucky in the sense that that same lazy officer might not look at previous results?? But if they do pick up on it I assume I will have shot myself in the foot by not answering truthfully to the question.

 

Silvermane, having a previous visa refusal doesn't preclude someone from getting a visa.

Lying about it can though.

 

The chances of it not getting picked up would be miniscule.

A case officer could view this as fraudulent and pretty much

refuse the application without even bothering to read it.

 

Just declare it mate.

[Will27]

12 minutes ago, pdtokyo said:

Thank you Will27 and Silvermane for those helpful replies ... i will follow the advice. How easy for even a native-speaker to misinterpret some of this stuff ...

 

The lone arrival stamp? here it is ... my photo is Ok, it's a genuinely fuzzy stamp and i don't think it adds much to our knowledge. Any details of the visa application reside with the ex-husband and neither of us want to go near him. On reflection maybe the lack of a departure stamp is no big deal. Oz government has moved away from stamps and relies on computer system. My own passport hasn't collected an Oz stamp in years ... maybe her arrival stamp 4 years ago was one of the last. A collector's item.

 

Silvermane ... failed prior application ... obviously i know next to zero about the particular 600 process, but i do know a bit about computers and the Oz government's complete addiction to them. They LOVE data-matching and are constantly spending big money digitising old data to add to their pile. So ... to reinforce what Will27 had to say ... yes, declare everything ... i am very confident that paper-based applications already end up on exactly same system as IMMI-created applications ... or if not, they will be very soon.

 

Your chances won't alter if immigration officer is lazy or not ... when they hit the button the system will trawl through everything it knows and tell them what to decide! Bored and powerless data entry staff love those 'gotcha' moments. Human nature.

 

Another grey area for me ... question 19 asks about '... purpose of your stay in your current location' (Thailand) ... I'd have thought that declaring herself a Thai citizen would be enough ... and of course she has no 'visa status' in Thailand. Am i being thick? What are they looking for here?

 

 

As usual, your help is appreciated.

 

P

I thought you said there was a copy of her visa in her passport, not arrival stamp.

Just checking to make sure it was a tourist visa.

 

Yep, just put down Thai citizen see above, Q18.

That is for someone who basically doesn't have Thai citizenship or residency.

[ThaiBunny]

These days all Australian tourist visas are electronic; I'm not even sure they do arrival/departure stamps any more since departure for all passport holders is via an e-gate

[BEVUP]

 

I just submitted 600 class (family sponsor ) - no need for invitation letter, for son & wife of 13 yrs

Am applying for 12 mth straight visa as Multiples require exiting 

 

I'm sitting in Auss & have access to the immi & email account (actually ive done it all )

Have to do Bio's in 14 days

& I also need some guidance as to the best or closest place to the VFS for the Medical ( 28 days )

Thanks in advance

[Silvermane]

sorry Bevup, can't help with that one.

 

Does anybody have any experience with the following in an online 600 Visa submission?

Once you submit online, you get the request to go in for the biometrics and your status is set to "initial assessment"

In the past, after the biometrics have been done, I've hit the button

"I confirm I have provided information as requested" at the bottom of the attachments page (see screenshot). It then gives you a dialog box that states that you accept that they can make a final decision and progresses the application stage from "initial assessment" to "Further Assessment".

 

My question(s):

Does the "initial assessment" progress to "further assessment" without clicking on the "I confirm I have provided information as requested" button?

If so, I would assume that that gives you the opportunity to add further documentation if it is requested. My fear is that I clicked the button too soon on the last submission and that's why they did not bother asking for further clarifications.

 

OR

 

Did I do it right the first 2 times and you effectively need to click the "I confirm I have provided..." button to progress to the "Further Assessment" stage or else the submission will sit indefinitely on the "Initial Assessment" stage. The question then becomes, do you still get the chance to supply additional information if so requested or will they simply not bother asking for supplemental info anymore as you've basically given them the right to make the call based on the provided info as is.                                      

 

Edited February 17, 2020 by Silvermane

[Silvermane]

Well nevermind that last question... Just got the response back even though I didn't click that "I confirm..." button!

Lightning quick again so I was expecting that not to mean anything good.

But low and behold, Visa granted!! 

Not just that, but 3 years multiple entry!!! ????????

 

No consistency whatsoever, but I'm not complaining this time and am absolutely stoked!

 

I included a bankbook this time that was not anywhere near sufficient as it only had 15k THB worth of transactions across 3 months but I did showcase the relationship better by including some chat records and the financial sponsorship going back to 2017 (although not that much).

I also bundled things together in PDF's rather than just chucking evidence (such as pictures) into the submission as separate attachments and made sure there was a narrative in those PDF's.

For example I bundled the pictures and travel history (including tickets paid by me) together in one document and explained what pictures were taken when so that it became 1 storyline rather than just separate files in attachment to the submission.

I didn't need to do that for the first successful submission, but I reckon it sure helped our case this time. So take that fwiw, hope it helps someone along the way.

 

Well I'm off to start looking for plane tickets and start the countdown to when she arrives ????

 

 

Edited February 18, 2020 by Silvermane

[OOTAI]

silvermane

All I can say is "bloody bewty", well done hope everything goes well for you both.

 

Because I have never been someone who says little I also want to say that I think you hit the solution on the head in that you put you supporting evidence in a coherent timeline that could be read easily.

I am reminded of the time I applied for my wife's permanent residency in Australia and they wrote back to me and said that I had failed to provide this and this and this. I called the case officer and asked have you really read this bit or this bit or this bit as the answers to all your questions are there you just need to read a bit more closely.

The residency was granted the very next day with no further information provided by me.

 

So the lessons to be learned by anyone else going down this path is persistence as they will quite often test your resolve by refusals but if you persist they start to understand you are serious and grant your request.

[BEVUP]

Hello to all above

Have just submitted Family sponsor 600

Only had to supply proof of marriage / me being sponsor & normal docs (passport ect )

Now have to arrange Bios & medical - up to $500 each

medical is only required if staying longer then 3 mths ( go figure, I guess you can't bring bugs in if you only stay 3 mths )

Ootai did you do your PR inside Auss

I plan to do this as well but the 600 visa has a Mandatory " MUST LEAVE" on it.

Not sure if able to get Bridging visa (for wife )

Son will be straight forward by Descent 

Glad all went well Silvermane 

& what if they only give a Multi, waste of medical since only 3 mths at a time 

Edited February 18, 2020 by BEVUP

[OOTAI]

Bevup

Yes we did the PR while in Australia but it was nearly 17 years ago so I am sure things are different now.

However it was simple as we were not married when my future wife came to Australia on a fiancée visa. So once we married (in Australia) it was just the next step in the process.

Fiancée Visa to Temporary Residency to Permanent Residency.

• Fiancée Visa was applied for in Bangkok and took nearly a year to be approved. We had 9 months to get married once she arrived in Australia.
• Temporary Residency followed on after marriage took place
• Permanent Residency followed after 2 years of Temporary Residency

I am not sure how it works if you are already married.

[Will27]

4 hours ago, BEVUP said:

Hello to all above

Have just submitted Family sponsor 600

Only had to supply proof of marriage / me being sponsor & normal docs (passport ect )

Now have to arrange Bios & medical - up to $500 each

medical is only required if staying longer then 3 mths ( go figure, I guess you can't bring bugs in if you only stay 3 mths )

Ootai did you do your PR inside Auss

I plan to do this as well but the 600 visa has a Mandatory " MUST LEAVE" on it.

Not sure if able to get Bridging visa (for wife )

Son will be straight forward by Descent 

Glad all went well Silvermane 

& what if they only give a Multi, waste of medical since only 3 mths at a time 

Sorry to say, with 8503 (No Further Stay) condition, you're pretty much screwed.

 

You can apply to have it lifted but it's really hard.

You have to provide compelling and compassionate circumstances since the visa was granted.  

 

If your intent was to apply onshore for a partner visa, you would've been better of trying for tourist

stream rather than family sponsor stream I think. Condition 8503 is not mandatory on that visa.

 

It would've also been easier and cheaper to get your son Aussie citizenship by descent first.

[PhanomR]

On 2/18/2020 at 7:44 PM, BEVUP said:

I plan to do this as well but the 600 visa has a Mandatory " MUST LEAVE" on it.

Not sure if able to get Bridging visa (for wife )

Poor choice in visa's to apply for given your intentions.

 

You can't get a bridging visa on a Family sponsor 600 as it has a mandatory 8503 which means 'No Further Stay' ie you can't apply for a further visa ie a bridging visa.

 

Who gave you the stupid advice of applying for that visa??? as in your circumstances you should never, never apply for it. 

 

Its a not in any way intended for your circumstance, even though you can apply doesn't mean you should.  

 

 

 

 

Edited February 21, 2020 by PhanomR

[BEVUP]

Thanks all

I didn't really have much choice at the moment 

[Will27]

2 hours ago, BEVUP said:

Thanks all

I didn't really have much choice at the moment 

Why didn't you apply for a 600 visa tourist stream?

[BEVUP]

16 minutes ago, Will27 said:

Why didn't you apply for a 600 visa tourist stream?

Ability to transfer funds pretty tight here at the moment, just thought we could be together & see if they like it long term (may not work out ) thinking of Lads schooling ect ect 

[BEVUP]

Hello again

Need some insight concerning VFS

So yu know my story & am at the moment of trying to make an appointment with VFS for Biometrics

So its been 4 to 5 hrs & have only managed to create account for wife & son

There's nothing wrong on my side as this site can pop up in 15 secs 

 

Have they always been this bad - Not sure if I am going to be able to do this as appointment making only lasts 2 days from  time of registration 

 

[Will27]

55 minutes ago, BEVUP said:

Hello again

Need some insight concerning VFS

So yu know my story & am at the moment of trying to make an appointment with VFS for Biometrics

So its been 4 to 5 hrs & have only managed to create account for wife & son

There's nothing wrong on my side as this site can pop up in 15 secs 

 

Have they always been this bad - Not sure if I am going to be able to do this as appointment making only lasts 2 days from  time of registration 

 

Can I ask why are you messing around with medicals, biometrics and visa's for you son when you can get him

Aussie citizenship?

 

You seem to be making things are lot harder for yourself TBH.

[Will27]

5 minutes ago, pdtokyo said:

Hello again

 

Plodding through online 600 Tourist Visa application and a few more questions ...

 

Documents showing evidence of her two name changes, one divorce paper, three property titles and one Thai ID card dropped off at Trendy yesterday for translation and collection tomorrow ...

 

(1) Translation cost for that lot B4,000 ... reasonable?

 

(2) I missed the requirement to provide a certified copy of passport ID page ... since the passport ID page is already Thai/English i imagine a translation is not required ... just a certified copy will be OK?

 

(3) As per Silvermane's recent application i plan to merge the following into a single PDF ...

(a) My letter of invitation including a commitment to fully fund her travel and accommodation and planned travel itinerary

(b) My current Australian bank balances showing > $50,000 AUD cash or at-call assets

(c) Couple of current Australian bank statements showing regular pension income

(d) Thai and translated property title documents (as evidence of reason to return)

(e) Re-statement of girlfriend's need to return to support daughter caring for two grand-children in Bangkok and elderly mother looking after family farm in Uttaradit (this already briefly stated in application "Employment - Other" section)

(f) Description of our history ... met last year, two visits by me to Thailand, plan to relocate to Thailand this year, marry and build house on her property

 

Question is ... how thickly do i lay on the information in (f) ? For example, is there any benefit in including massive LINE chat history or photos of me and her family ?

 

Naturally, any other suggestions to improve our chances are welcome.

 

Thanks

 

Peter

 

 

If it was me, I wouldn't mention marriage and relocating to Thailand.

 

You can just say you met online last year and since then you have travelled twice to

Thailand to see her.

You keep in regular contact via Skype, WhatsApp, etc.

 

Also, don't include large amounts of information like line chat or photo's

which will pretty much <deleted> off the case officer.

 

Keep it simple.