Tourist Visa

[lambada]

I know lots has been said on Oz already but here goes. Am arriving in LOS at Easter and was going to visit Oz and French Embasy to get tourist visa for Thai G/F for July holidays. We have lived together for about 1 1/2 years. We mainly live in Hong Kong but do have a house in Isaan. It seems to be a real drama to get a tourist visa for Oz. (Statutory Declarations and supporting letters from people that know us. Income in HK etc.) Is France just as hard? Personnally I'm happy just to holiday in Thailand as per usual, but she wants to see Europe or Australia. I can hardly blame her given that she will probably end up in Oz. I have both EEC and Australian citizenship. As regards her kids and marriage, would we be better off getting married in HK than in Thailand? We were planning a Buddhist marriage this summer and I was going to do the civil one in HK though I have more free time in Thailand as I seem to spend every holiday there now Thanks for any advice and apologies if this has all been covered already.

Edited March 30, 2006 by lambada

[Mighty Mouse]

You state that you have Australian citizenship but do you have property in Oz that you would use for the purposes of a tourist visa, or do you just want to travel around the country with your g/f?

If you intend to just travel, what period of time tourist visa would you be applying for, and would her kids be travelling with you?

I'll let others advise you on your marriage questions.

[gburns57au]

I know lots has been said on Oz already but here goes. Am arriving in LOS at Easter and was going to visit Oz and French Embasy to get tourist visa for Thai G/F for July holidays. We have lived together for about 1 1/2 years. We mainly live in Hong Kong but do have a house in Isaan. It seems to be a real drama to get a tourist visa for Oz. (Statutory Declarations and supporting letters from people that know us. Income in HK etc.) Is France just as hard? Personnally I'm happy just to holiday in Thailand as per usual, but she wants to see Europe or Australia. I can hardly blame her given that she will probably end up in Oz. I have both EEC and Australian citizenship. As regards her kids and marriage, would we be better off getting married in HK than in Thailand? We were planning a Buddhist marriage this summer and I was going to do the civil one in HK though I have more free time in Thailand as I seem to spend every holiday there now Thanks for any advice and apologies if this has all been covered already.

For the tourist you wont need supporting letters and the Stat Decs are what I personally advise...it can be granted without these items...You just need to show that you have known her for more than 6 months and that if she comes here, she wont be a burden on the Oz Government and that she will comply with her visa conditions. So you will need photos, letters, etc... to prove the length of time you have known her... You will need to show evidence of your income, and possibly her financial position to show that she wont become a burden on the Oz government....As she has travelled to and from Thailand with you this should go for her as long as she has no breaches against her.

For French visas....wouldnt have a clue

I dont see any problems with where you marry as long as it is a legally registered marriage. The only drawback to marrying outside of Thailand could be some loss of her rights...However I havent had any confirmation on this nor as to exactly what rights maybe lost. will try and check out more for you on that later.

[vinny]

See also Schengen Visa and FAQ for travel to 15 Schengen countries, mostly in the EU. Once you are married, her Schengen visa application should be easier because the application form states:

The questions marked with * do not have to be answered by family members of EU or EEA citizens (spouse, child or dependent ascendant). Family members of EU or EEA citizens have to present documents to prove this relationship.

Edited March 30, 2006 by vinny

[john_perth]

Greeetings all........just as a by the by....this question is aimed at gburns.

I read a number of your posts where you state quite firmly that one needs to have known their TGF for 6 months prior to lodging for a TV.

Have you seen this set in stone some where ? Or is it your assumption from the average of posts here ?

The question arises because next week myself and TGF are lodging the TV application......I believe we have a very strong case with over 3.5 kg of correspondence recorded......2 trips to see each other in LOS and much more ...all from input I have observed here.

Whats your take.......do we have a chance with tourist visa ??

Many thanks for all you best efforts here ....its appreciated by all !!

Regards John.

[gburns57au]

Greeetings all........just as a by the by....this question is aimed at gburns.

I read a number of your posts where you state quite firmly that one needs to have known their TGF for 6 months prior to lodging for a TV.

Have you seen this set in stone some where ? Or is it your assumption from the average of posts here ?

The question arises because next week myself and TGF are lodging the TV application......I believe we have a very strong case with over 3.5 kg of correspondence recorded......2 trips to see each other in LOS and much more ...all from input I have observed here.

Whats your take.......do we have a chance with tourist visa ??

Many thanks for all you best efforts here ....its appreciated by all !!

Regards John.

John,

You didnt mention how long you have known your lady,

While I believe it is not set in stone, it seems that most applications that declare under 6 months invariably fail. Therefore I would suggest that you would need a very strong application for it to be accepted with under 6 months of acquaintance. Not impossible but possibly very difficult.

Do you have a chance...I cant answer that as the decision is upto the embassy, I havent seen your supporting documentation and each application is judged on its own merits....If you feel you have a strong application then it is upto you if you apply or not.

Sorry I cant give a more definative answer.

Graham

[Mighty Mouse]

No reply to my questions from Lambada as yet.

The reason that I asked them was to establish exactly where their main home is. If it is not in Australia, and if they have no ties in Australia (no pun intended), they would both be regarded by the embassy as tourists.

There would be very little fear of them remaining in Australia, particularly if it was pointed out in the application that they had a job outside Australia, their children needed to return to school and they wished to return to their main home after their travel to Australia.

Lambada, although an Australian citizen, is not sponsoring her as such, he is travelling as a tourist with her.

Therefore, there is no real need to prove length of relationship, but it should be mentioned in their respective covering letters. If he marries before applying for the visa, that will lessen the need to prove that the relationship is genuine.

They would both need to show that they have the funds to finance the trip and a travel itinerary attached to the application would assist.

I can't see any problem with this scenario, but if Lambada's main home is in Australia and his intentions are to settle there, then disregard this post. More stringent proofs may be required.

[john_perth]

Greetings all again..Thanks Graham for your input again....by the time stamp it looks like your reply was during the Eagles game ........wow much appreciated.

I have known my GF for 4 months and as I said I have ( I believe ) a very strong submission so we will make the application during my trip next week.

It may be interesting for all to observe here that while contemplating marriage with a Philo lady that I got hooked up with some time ago I was a regular reader of a similar Philo / Oz board . It was widely accepted by posters that Tourist Vises for Philo GF were all most impossible to get.

Luckily I got cold feet after my Philo darling dropped her guard and revealed her real self.

But.....Fiance Visa Applications ( from Embassy in Manila ) were feasible and being granted after proving a relationship of 4 months...thats 4 months from first contact ...not from proposal.

I researched this with a number of posts so I know this time frame was looked on favourably.

Just my thinking in terms of a TV from Embassy in Thailand ....why should it be different ?

Anyway I will submit and post to forum the details and results in a few weeks...

We will both be heart broken if we are refused..................such is life !!!!!!!!

Best regards again..... Eagles 4 points St Kilda zip

[Mighty Mouse]

John,

The embassy needs to know that the relationship is genuine. There is a page on their web site that gives examples of how you can prove this.

You can appreciate that many male tourists come to Thailand, meet a girl on the first night and fall madly in love. The feeling of 'love' is not usually instantly reciprocated by the girl.

Some girls could therefore take advantage of such a situation and use the poor guy's feelings to get herself into Australia, where she would promptly leave him and go out selling pussy.

She breaks all the conditions of her visa, goes into hiding and becomes another wanted illegal on the immigration list.

The embassy staff do their best to weed out these insincere girls.

Length of time that you have known your partner is one such measure employed by the embassy. The longer the better. If you have documents to prove the dates, such as emails, photographs etc., you should include them in your application.

Graham mentions six months as being a minimum and he would be close to the mark.

Keep in mind that knowing a person for a period of time, and having a meaningful relationship with a person for a period of time, are two different things.

If you are about to claim a meaningful relationship and you have only known each other for three months, you would need to be fairly strong in some of the other examples given on the immigration web site, and/or you may need to provide a detailed covering letter to prove your point.

As you are thinking only of a tourist visa at this stage, your application won't need to be too involved.

If, however, you have in your possession certain proofs that strengthen your claim of a genuine and on-going relationship, use them.

[john_perth]

Greetings ...thanks Mighty Mouse for your insights...you certainly have a depth of knowledge and I take everything you say onboard as I find in life one can learn from most nearly everyone encounted.

To correct you on some assumptions though, I am a 50 yr old well travelled and past 5 year resident in LOS ( certainly no love sick tourist ) and my darling intended is 40. Having been married previously to a Thai lady for 8 yrs I am well versed in uncovering a lady with a pussy selling franchise. My intended was introduced to me by an aquaintance just by chance as she had just recently lost her previous high ranking husband to illness.

I was most fortunate to meet my lady in this fashion ..and she is not a typical GF as usually met by farangs. As a sample of our proof of a meaningful relationship I have documented and can prove with accounts etc 160 phone calls, 145 SMS messages, 44 emails, 19 postcards, 30 three page chat sessions saved and printed and much in the way of financial and other photo documentations of our relationship...its over 3.5kg..........I think this should all proove our relationship is genuine.

Just as another by the by.......having known a number of Thai ladies through my previous marriage I am able to make a call that 99% of "pussy sellers" who advertise their services in the papers between Melboune, Sydney and Perth are those whose marriage to their Oz partner went south.

( next to none or very few are Thais who are illegals on immigration lists )

These girls all most only know one thing to revert to once their marriage has failed....they inverably turn back to their previous professions. ( I dont mean going into rice farming )

Its a fact .... and its a warning to all who get involved and meet with a lady from this sector in Thailand ....choose your intended wisely ! and make the marriage work ....or you will be reading your ex wifes advert in the weekend papers....

Regards John

[gburns57au]

Greetings all again..Thanks Graham for your input again....by the time stamp it looks like your reply was during the Eagles game ........wow much appreciated.

Half time of the televised delayed telecast.....didnt miss too much of the third quarter.....

Good luck with the application....you certainly have a lot of correspondence for a 4 month relationship. And Yes please keep us posted on the outcome....your situation could be useful as a guide to others.

[gburns57au]

No reply to my questions from Lambada as yet.

The reason that I asked them was to establish exactly where their main home is. If it is not in Australia, and if they have no ties in Australia (no pun intended), they would both be regarded by the embassy as tourists.

There would be very little fear of them remaining in Australia, particularly if it was pointed out in the application that they had a job outside Australia, their children needed to return to school and they wished to return to their main home after their travel to Australia.

Lambada, although an Australian citizen, is not sponsoring her as such, he is travelling as a tourist with her.

Therefore, there is no real need to prove length of relationship, but it should be mentioned in their respective covering letters. If he marries before applying for the visa, that will lessen the need to prove that the relationship is genuine.

They would both need to show that they have the funds to finance the trip and a travel itinerary attached to the application would assist.

I can't see any problem with this scenario, but if Lambada's main home is in Australia and his intentions are to settle there, then disregard this post. More stringent proofs may be required.

My take on it is a little different to yours MM...

From his post I assume that HK is the principle residence. But no matter where their principle residence is, she is a Thai Citizen and he is an Aussie citizen...Therefore she will require a tourist visa and he will not require one. If she has substantial savings then he will not need to sponsor her, and for the tourist visa if he sponsors her then he needs only to fill in the appropriate sections of the 48R form and show prove of income, and also to show that he has known her for more than 6 months not necessarily as a relationship.

Just as an example, My friend who has worked o/s for the last 2.5 years is English born and an Oz citizen....he can leave and enter Oz as he wishes, He got his TGF a visa to come here last year, she has her own money and as she works (her own business) within the grounds of a temple, she got the head Monk to write a letter of support for her application. No problem at all.

Cheers mate

Graham

[Mighty Mouse]

Graham,

I agree with you. You may have misunderstood what I meant from my words: "they would both be regarded by the embassy as tourists."

He is an Aussie citizen but not an Aussie resident. As such he does not need a tourist visa to visit Down Under.

The embassy would realise that he is not travelling to Aust. to take up residency, rather he would be travelling with his wife for the purposes of a holiday only. (as a tourist)

I also stated this in my previous post: "Lambada, although an Australian citizen, is not sponsoring her as such, he is travelling as a tourist with her."

As you correctly state, if she has her own regular income and savings, she could obtain a TV without his assistance.

Couples don't need to be in a relationship in order to travel to Australia on a tourist visa.