Wife To Australia

[Sporting Dog]

I am about to return to Australia with my thai wife.

She will be getting a temporary settlement visa (which leads into permanent residency??) but hasn't yet started the paperwork.

I recall someone mentioned in a thread a while ago that you can apply for a tourist and a settlement visa at the same time.

I would like to do this so she can return at the same time as me.

1. Is this possible?

2. Can she apply for the settlement visa in Australia if she is there on a tourist visa?

3. Is it better to do the paperwork/ doctors vists etc in Thailand or Australia?

She has already had two tourist visas to Australia so I hope getting the tourist visa will be relatively straight-forward. We were married in Australia - but we haven't registered the marriage in Thailand but I don't think that will matter?.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[vinny]

See Applying in Australia for a Permanent Visa as a Spouse, Partner or Fiancé(e).

[gburns57au]

I am about to return to Australia with my thai wife.

She will be getting a temporary settlement visa (which leads into permanent residency??) but hasn't yet started the paperwork.

I recall someone mentioned in a thread a while ago that you can apply for a tourist and a settlement visa at the same time.

I would like to do this so she can return at the same time as me.

1. Is this possible?

2. Can she apply for the settlement visa in Australia if she is there on a tourist visa?

3. Is it better to do the paperwork/ doctors vists etc in Thailand or Australia?

She has already had two tourist visas to Australia so I hope getting the tourist visa will be relatively straight-forward. We were married in Australia - but we haven't registered the marriage in Thailand but I don't think that will matter?.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

As far as I understand it she cant apply for two visas at the same time...

She cant apply for a spouse visa while here on a tourist visa especially if the 8503 condition is on her tourist visa.

As she cant apply for a spouse visa here then it has to be done in Thailand.

Whether you registered the marriage in Thailand or not doesnt matter, it will be known that you have married. The Thai consulate would have been informed of your marriage as would the Aussie embassy. As you have married and she has been here twice then the Embassy may reject the tourist application and ask her to submit a Spouse visa application.

Edited March 11, 2006 by gburns57au

[Mighty Mouse]

You can apply for a temporary visa and a spouse visa at the same time.

I have done this but it was done under the old system when all tourist visas were handled directly by the Aust. Embassy, Bangkok.

My partner and I were advised by our Thai case officer to submit both applications together. We did and were granted a six month tourist visa whilst the spouse visa was being considered.

Under the new Bangkok visa application system, it may be more complicated but I can't see why it would be impossible.

I advise you to check with the Embassy first.

Click on the link below and read question 4.

http://www.immi.gov.au/faq/migrate/migrate...ly/family02.htm

You will not be granted a tourist visa if you intend to apply for a permanent visa whilst in Australia.

This directly conflicts with the requirements of the tourist visa.

[Sporting Dog]

Thanks for the quick replies.

Mighty Mouse's suggestion would be the best solution so I'll ring the embassy tomorrow (always a bit of a challenge) and find out if it is still possible.

However I expect that we'll have to go down the spouse visa path. The missus is getting a bit antsy about how long it will take - I tell her it will probably take at least 3 months - and that doesn't go down too well.

Once again thanks for the replies

[gburns57au]

You can apply for a temporary visa and a spouse visa at the same time.

I have done this but it was done under the old system when all tourist visas were handled directly by the Aust. Embassy, Bangkok.

My partner and I were advised by our Thai case officer to submit both applications together. We did and were granted a six month tourist visa whilst the spouse visa was being considered.

Under the new Bangkok visa application system, it may be more complicated but I can't see why it would be impossible.

I advise you to check with the Embassy first.

Click on the link below and read question 4.

http://www.immi.gov.au/faq/migrate/migrate...ly/family02.htm

You will not be granted a tourist visa if you intend to apply for a permanent visa whilst in Australia.

This directly conflicts with the requirements of the tourist visa.

MM we are talking about a tourist visa and a spouse visa...

When you apply for a spouse visa and it is granted, a temp resident visa is issued, the process for the permanant visa begins automatically so there is no need to make a further application for a permanant visa.

the fiance visa works a little different...I believe that after the initial visa is granted that a further application is needed to gain the temp resident visa.

[Pink Mist]

download the partner migration booklet pinned to the top of the visa section

[Mighty Mouse]

This link will take you to the Partner Migration page:

http://www.immi.gov.au/migration/family/partners/

Read the 'Detailed Information Guide.'

People wishing to live permanently in Australia must apply for, and be granted, a permanent visa. If you apply outside Australia, you are applying to migrate. If you apply in Australia, you are applying for permanent residence.

"Partner migration is generally a 2-stage process. First, when requirements are met, a temporary Spouse or Interdependency visa will be granted. Subject to some exceptions, two years later, the relationship and other requirements will again be assessed and the applicant considered for a Spouse or Interdependency permanent visa."

(Aust. Immigration.)

This is one way of getting your wife into Australia, and this is what I thought the OP was applying for.

The partner migration visa has three categories: Prospective Marriage Visa; Spouse Visa and Interdependency Visa.

Should one of these visas be granted, you are then granted a Class BC Resident visa which permits the holder to remain, and work in Australia indefinitely. You are issued with a Medicare Card.

These visas last up to five years from the date of grant. After the initial visa has expired, if you wish to continue to travel to and from Australia as a permanent resident, you must obtain a Resident Return Visa.

After two years (currently) as a permanent resident (with certain requirements) you can apply for Australian citizenship.

Now, from what I understand, the OP would like to bring his wife home with him, rather than come home alone and leave her in Thailand waiting for the Spouse visa to be granted. (on average three months)

They can, I believe, apply for a tourist visa (granted in six days) to achieve their objective.

It's very confusing, it changes so often and I hope that I have it right.

I'll be interested in what the OP is advised to do when he phones the Embassy.

[Sporting Dog]

Spot On Mighty Mouse.

Your answer covers just about everything I need to know.

And thanks for the bit about travelling to and from Aus in the future - there is a very good chance we'll return here to stay/live for various periods. (its gonna be real hard returning to Perth!!)

I really hope she can get the two visas - the decision to return home was made only recently so we haven't been able to start the paperwork yet - and we're a long way from Bangkok. I hope there aren't any (major) problems - we have lived together here in LOS for the last 17 months - married for nearly a year.

Thanks to all for the advice and info from everyone!!

[gburns57au]

Now, from what I understand, the OP would like to bring his wife home with him, rather than come home alone and leave her in Thailand waiting for the Spouse visa to be granted. (on average three months)

They can, I believe, apply for a tourist visa (granted in six days) to achieve their objective.

It's very confusing, it changes so often and I hope that I have it right.

I'll be interested in what the OP is advised to do when he phones the Embassy.

Just been checking it out on the website as I recall this topic of conversation from before.

When you apply for the spouse visa you will be required to lodge a certified copy of her passport, which should leave her free to apply for a tourist visa...However it may affect the time taken to process the Spouse visa application. This is because the applicant must be in Thailand when the visa is granted if the application is made in Thailand. In other words the visa process could be delayed for the time that she is in Australia, although this is not specifically stated in the booklet.

As you say MM...it would be interesting to see what the embassy's decision would be on this. hopefully SD will keep us informed.

[Jockstar]

I tell her it will probably take at least 3 months

Usually this is the case. But it can take up to 9 months.

[thai3]

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

There is a reply from an ozzie on stickman weekly this week re visa applicants, hoping this does not clog things up, but I thought it might be of interest

Handsome? No? Declined!

Just read the US Immigration report on your site and found it enlightening. I know in Australia that any potential lass on the hunt for a student / spouse visa or residency MUST submit a photo as part of the initial application. How can this be so in the politically correct age we supposedly live in? Really, what merit can a photo possibly have apart from influencing the recipient's response as to whether she is good or bad looking and worthy of processing? I recently worked with a fellow who processed such applications in Australia (though now in an entirely different profession) and he categorically stated that if the processing clerk didn't like the 'look' of the applicant then the whole application got tossed into a 'rejected' pile and was guaranteed not to get looked at again for another 12 - 18 months AND the application fee was non-refundable! Similar reports have emerged from the UK press recently detailing similar attitudes in situ there.

[gburns57au]

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

There is a reply from an ozzie on stickman weekly this week re visa applicants, hoping this does not clog things up, but I thought it might be of interest

Handsome? No? Declined!

Just read the US Immigration report on your site and found it enlightening. I know in Australia that any potential lass on the hunt for a student / spouse visa or residency MUST submit a photo as part of the initial application. How can this be so in the politically correct age we supposedly live in? Really, what merit can a photo possibly have apart from influencing the recipient's response as to whether she is good or bad looking and worthy of processing? I recently worked with a fellow who processed such applications in Australia (though now in an entirely different profession) and he categorically stated that if the processing clerk didn't like the 'look' of the applicant then the whole application got tossed into a 'rejected' pile and was guaranteed not to get looked at again for another 12 - 18 months AND the application fee was non-refundable! Similar reports have emerged from the UK press recently detailing similar attitudes in situ there.

The reason for a current photos with all visa applications is so that the person can be identified as the actual person who is making the application compared to their passport and in case of a breach of visa conditions. There was a report of this happening in the UK, but as far as I know there have been no such allegations made against Immigration staff in Oz embassies. I take anything that is in Stickmans columns with a grain of salt.

there was a thread on the UK situation and that would have been a better place for your post or maybe in a new thread but it is not really relevant here.

Edited March 12, 2006 by gburns57au

[Mighty Mouse]

When you apply for the spouse visa you will be required to lodge a certified copy of her passport, which should leave her free to apply for a tourist visa...However it may affect the time taken to process the Spouse visa application. This is because the applicant must be in Thailand when the visa is granted if the application is made in Thailand. In other words the visa process could be delayed for the time that she is in Australia, although this is not specifically stated in the booklet.

In our case, we applied for both visas at the same time. I had most of the papers needed for a de-facto visa,(under the interdependency visa option) but not all. We had all the required papers/information for our third tourist visa. A six month tourist visa was granted on the spot.

(keep in mind that this was under the old system when you spoke with your case officer at the Embassy as your application was first handed in.)

She and I both returned to Australia where I continued to gather other papers to support our application for permanent residency. These were subsequently posted to our case officer.

During her six month stay in Oz under her tourist visa, and after her case officer was replaced by an Aussie case officer, - a telephone call to me in Oz from the new case officer and an exchange of emails later - her mother was telephoned by the Embassy advising that the permanent visa had been granted and that my g/f should attend the Embassy to pick it up.

The Embassy was well aware of the fact that my g/f was in Australia at the time.

She completed her six month stay as a tourist, returned to Thailand and had the permanent visa stamped into her Thai passport.

With this in mind I can't see any reason why the Embassy would delay making a decision on an application already lodged, provided of course that the applicants have submitted all the required papers and have been interviewed.

If the permanent visa application is rejected, there may be a reason not to inform them of the decision made until they returned to Thailand for fear that they may not return at all.

[Team Bukowski]

In my experience, my (at the time) girlfriend had a 12 month tourist visa. We've since married and applied for a spouse visa in January in Bkk, and my wife was told at her interview that if she travelled to oz while waiting on the outcome of the spouse visa, she would have to tell the case officer, and her application would be suspended while she was away (read put at the bottom of the queue)

so be careful about that...applying for a tourist visa might well be a waste of time.

Edited March 13, 2006 by Team Bukowski

[gburns57au]

In my experience, my (at the time) girlfriend had a 12 month tourist visa. We've since married and applied for a spouse visa in January in Bkk, and my wife was told at her interview that if she travelled to oz while waiting on the outcome of the spouse visa, she would have to tell the case officer, and her application would be suspended while she was away (read put at the bottom of the queue)

so be careful about that...applying for a tourist visa might well be a waste of time.

This was my understanding of the situation based on another report here...but I wsnt 100% sure about it.

[Sporting Dog]

I spoke to the Embassy today.

It is possble to put two different visa applications in at the same time. (after all they keep the money if a visa isn't granted)

However it was pointed out to me that the applicant must be available for interviews, follow-ups and the handing down of the decision. So if they are in Australia, no further processing takes place until he/she returns to (in this case) Thailand.

I mentioned that I thought it usually took about three months for a spouse visa to be granted and the officer said yes but if their are no complications they can be processed quicker.

I also asked the officer what he would recommend - his answer was that it would be better to just do the spouse visa because my wife would have to get back from Australia as required....and personally I think if a case officer arranged an appointment and then we had to say 'well we just have to arrange flights back to Thailand, and we'll get back to you when we've decided on a good time' they COULD view the applicant as less than fully committed (maybe).

All this pretty much accords with what the above posters say - and we don't want to do anything that may hinder the speed or outcome of the more important spouse visa.

So I think we'll just do the spouse visa - I can't see any real reasons for complications (touch wood) so we'll just have to be apart for a little bit.

So thanks again to all the posters.

[Mighty Mouse]

In my experience, my (at the time) girlfriend had a 12 month tourist visa. We've since married and applied for a spouse visa in January in Bkk, and my wife was told at her interview that if she travelled to oz while waiting on the outcome of the spouse visa, she would have to tell the case officer, and her application would be suspended while she was away (read put at the bottom of the queue)

so be careful about that...applying for a tourist visa might well be a waste of time.

Under what circumstances were you granted a 12 month tourist visa? Was it a subclass 686 or a subclass 676, or was it a 12 month multiple entry visa?

If your wife had a 12 month approved tourist visa, I can understand the Embassy telling her that any other visa application would not proceed due to the length of her absence from Thailand.

I can also understand a similar problem with a multiple entry visa.

[Mighty Mouse]

However it was pointed out to me that the applicant must be available for interviews, follow-ups and the handing down of the decision. So if they are in Australia, no further processing takes place until he/she returns to (in this case) Thailand.

This is the important bit.

I stated in my post #14 that for the double visa application to be advantages, the interview would have to be behind you and most/all of the papers would need to have been submitted.

In my case the decision was made whilst she was in Oz. Unfortunately it seems that this procedure has now changed.

[Sporting Dog]

Quick questions - looking at the Migration Pack, we need to get a Police Character Certificate.

Form 47P says for the Certificate from Thailand Police, the wife needs to take a few things (PP, ID Card etc) to the police station - including 'a letter of introduction obtainable from the Australian Embassy Bangkok.'

Can this letter just be picked up from the embassy or do we have to make special arrangements to get one?

As I understand it, the Police Certificate needs to be submitted with the initial visa application, so how do I go about getting the letter of introduction to get the certificate?

Again thanks for any advice.

[gburns57au]

Quick questions - looking at the Migration Pack, we need to get a Police Character Certificate.

Form 47P says for the Certificate from Thailand Police, the wife needs to take a few things (PP, ID Card etc) to the police station - including 'a letter of introduction obtainable from the Australian Embassy Bangkok.'

Can this letter just be picked up from the embassy or do we have to make special arrangements to get one?

As I understand it, the Police Certificate needs to be submitted with the initial visa application, so how do I go about getting the letter of introduction to get the certificate?

Again thanks for any advice.

Suggest you write to the Embassy and have them send one out if it is not a part of the migration package unless you know someone in BKK who can go in and get one for you.

It may pay you to make a trip to BKK and get the police clearance and medicals all done at the same time.

Edited March 13, 2006 by gburns57au

[Mighty Mouse]

From my hazy memory there is no need for a letter of introduction. You just rock up with your photographs and ID.....and the fee, of course.

Also from memory, they only need one passport photo, but take the three to be on the safe side.

I suggest that you give the Royal Police HQ a call just to make sure.

Check out the link for the telephone number.

The details on this page do not state that a letter of introduction from the Embassy is required.

http://203.121.182.239/sb/pcs/dataeng.htm

As your wife has also visited Oz, she will probably need a police clearance from the Federal Police as well.

[Team Bukowski]

In my experience, my (at the time) girlfriend had a 12 month tourist visa. We've since married and applied for a spouse visa in January in Bkk, and my wife was told at her interview that if she travelled to oz while waiting on the outcome of the spouse visa, she would have to tell the case officer, and her application would be suspended while she was away (read put at the bottom of the queue)

so be careful about that...applying for a tourist visa might well be a waste of time.

Under what circumstances were you granted a 12 month tourist visa? Was it a subclass 686 or a subclass 676, or was it a 12 month multiple entry visa?

If your wife had a 12 month approved tourist visa, I can understand the Embassy telling her that any other visa application would not proceed due to the length of her absence from Thailand.

I can also understand a similar problem with a multiple entry visa.

It was a 12 month multiple entry visa - even though she had only applied for a standard tourist visa for a 2 week holiday. She returned to oz exactly on the day she said she would, hasn't overstayed, nothing even close to it. I can't really understand why they told her she can't visit me, when we had all of the correct documents at the interview, haven't been asked for more evidence etc.

I think it sucks (especially seeing as previous posters' wives were allowed to travel while waiting on the outcome). If I'd known in advance of this I wouldn't haved moved back to oz quite so soon.

Sorry to all that I keep harping on about it...just missing my wife is all. Going back to Bkk at easter though, one month to go.

Edited March 14, 2006 by Team Bukowski

[Mighty Mouse]

Team B,

It sounds like a screw up, particularly if you applied for a short stay visitor, which is up to 3 months, but if she has a multiple entry visa there is nothing to stop her travelling to Oz again within the life of the visa.

....but, as you stated before, they advised you that any further travel outside of Thailand would delay the decision on your spouse visa. I guess you can't win either way.

I wonder if there is a fine line between the words "would delay" and "could delay."

[gburns57au]

MM...I think this is an area that has changed since you went through the system... if the migration pack says it is needed then it can be taken as gospel that it will be needed.

The wording in the booklet should be changed from ....You must be in the country where the application was lodged WHEN the application is decided....to WHILE the application is processed which is what they really mean...

I think the reason was given before....if the applicant is out of the country and the visa is refused, then it is likely that applicant may just disappear and stay as an illegal immigrant...Therefore if they delay the processing for the period that the applicant is overseas, then there is no risk of this happening.

If the 12 month ME visa is still active then the same rule would apply for the same reason

As your wife has also visited Oz, she will probably need a police clearance from the Federal Police as well.

I believe that police clearances are only required from countries where the applicant has previously lived.....I dont think that it is required from countries visited. I havent checked this right now but working off memory, that is what is stated in the booklet or on the website.

[Mighty Mouse]

I think the reason was given before....if the applicant is out of the country and the visa is refused, then it is likely that applicant may just disappear and stay as an illegal immigrant...Therefore if they delay the processing for the period that the applicant is overseas, then there is no risk of this happening.

It was I who suggested this.

The Partner Immigration Book states (in part): "You should inform DIMIA if you travel (either to or from Australia) during processing of your application. This is because your application may be refused if you are in the 'wrong place' when a decision is made."

I look at the word "may" and to me it doesn't mean that your application WILL be refused.

Then it says "it may be refused if you are in the 'wrong place' when a decision is made."

I get the message that they would be peeved only because you didn't inform them that you were travelling to Australia when they believed that you were still in Thailand and they were trying to contact you.

I think that this is where there is a fine line.

I can well understand them not informing the applicant of their application result until they returned to Thailand, but I can't understand them rejecting the application just because they utilised an approved tourist visa, nor can I understand them putting the application on the bottom of the pile until the applicant returned to Thailand.

In Team B's matter, they issued a multiple entry visa for him and took his money. They also accepted his fee for a Spouse Visa at the same time, took in all their papers and interviewed them and then tell them that the spouse visa will be risked if his wife visits Australia.

If there was no misunderstanding or communication break down of this message between their case officer and Team B himself, then I regard that as a rort, particularly in view of how my g/f's application was handled....and more particularly as Immigrations web site clearly states that an application for both a Spouse Visa and a Tourist Visa can be made at the same time.

I believe that police clearances are only required from countries where the applicant has previously lived.....I dont think that it is required from countries visited. I havent checked this right now but working off memory, that is what is stated in the booklet or on the website.

It uses the word "resided" not "lived" over a period of 12 months within the last 10 years.

"In order for the Australian Government to determine whether you are of good character, you may be asked to provide police certificates for each country you have resided in for 12 months or more over the last 10 years.......(snip).........."

In our case, my g/f had 'resided' with me in Oz for just on 12 months. (2 X 3 month tourist visas, 1 X 6 month tourist visa.)

It doesn't need to be continuous.

At our interview, we were handed Form 1101 for a police records check from Aust. Fed. Police.

[Mighty Mouse]

My g/f has just bashed me over the head. It seems that I have mis-informed everybody in one of my earlier posts.

In a previous post I wrote this: During her six month stay in Oz under her tourist visa, and after her case officer was replaced by an Aussie case officer, - a telephone call to me in Oz from the new case officer and an exchange of emails later - her mother was telephoned by the Embassy advising that the permanent visa had been granted and that my g/f should attend the Embassy to pick it up.

Her mother was telephoned by the Embassy, but she was not advised that our application had been approved. She was requested to arrange for her daugther (my g/f) to contact the Embassy.

Unfortunately, the mother only speaks a northern dialect of the Thai language and didn't understand the message, so did not pass it on.

At the time my g/f was iinto her third month of a six month tourist visa in Oz and it wasn't until she returned to Thailand and phoned the Embassy that she was given the result.

The case officer informed my g/f that the visa application had been approved three months earlier.

So having been corrected on that point, it makes me think that not a lot has changed from the procedure then to the procedure now.

If all papers have been handed in, the interview/s conducted, medical and police check completed and there are no follow up requirements from the case officer, I can't see any reason for the case officer to delay making a decision just because the applicant is in Oz on a tourist visa.

That's my opinion only and obviously others need to make their own decisions.

[Sporting Dog]

I have just received an email from the embassy telling me 'an applicant is not required to submit Australian police check if he or she does not live in Australia more than 12 months.'

I also asked about he letter of introduction for the Thai police and was told to visit the Thai Police Website or ring them. Which of course I had done before emailing them.

The Thai Police website says a 'Requesting letter from the embassy of the country that the applicant plans to travel (if available)'

So its all a bit ambiguous....I guess we'll just try to do it without the letter.

But it is a bit of a worry because my wife has to travel from Trang to do all this stuff - not just a quick drive into the city!!

[Mighty Mouse]

My g/f says that she did not have any letter of introduction from the Embassy when we attended for the Thai police clearance but she did have a paper with the Australian Embassy insignia at the top of the page that required her to list all of her previous addresses for the past ten years plus supply other details about family names, employment addresses etc.

This paper (about 4 pages) was given to her at the Embassy but was not included in the migration pack.

This paper was handed to the police on the day.

Sorry, but she can't remember whether the form had a number or not. She said it is similar to Form 80.

[Ozspike]

I have just received an email from the embassy telling me 'an applicant is not required to submit Australian police check if he or she does not live in Australia more than 12 months.'

I also asked about he letter of introduction for the Thai police and was told to visit the Thai Police Website or ring them. Which of course I had done before emailing them.

The Thai Police website says a 'Requesting letter from the embassy of the country that the applicant plans to travel (if available)'

So its all a bit ambiguous....I guess we'll just try to do it without the letter.

But it is a bit of a worry because my wife has to travel from Trang to do all this stuff - not just a quick drive into the city!!

We are in the same boat we get back to Thailand 5th April after gf 3 month visa runs out and are going to try and do the police check on that day as well as get the forms for the medical and x-ray from the visa center.

we then go back to Khon Kean for 12 days to get all her stuff copied(we have mine done already).

and hope to logde the compleated application on about the 17th.

Its as you say not so easy to just pop down to Bangkok.

If you find a way to get the form please let me know.

Thanks Spike (Perth)