Chance of a dependent over 18 years old being granted an Aussie visa

[djjamie]

Hi,

I am a young guy married to a Thai wife much older than me. We met in Thailand as I was there for work. NOT as a teacher, but in the mining industry as a maintenance worker. I met my wife who worked for the same mining company as me.

I have recently gone to Siam Legal in Bangkok to forward a permanent residency visa application. This will take some time as I currently work in Africa and I say it will take time as Siam Legal did not understand that a form 47A was required for a dependent over 18 years of age…That is another story!

My wife and I have been together for over 6 years and have been married for 4 years and having a joint bank accounts showing over $100 000 aus being deposited and removed from our Kasikorn Bank over a 5 year period so we can prove a mutual relationship. We also have Singapore bank accounts and are friend with staff at the Australian embassy who are in photos we have supplied for our visa processing application. Having proven we share a committed life together I feel there is no need to extrapolate. I have absolute confidence that my wife will get her Australian PR visa for Australia.

It is my step daughter (my wife's daughter) that I worry about. It is this reason that I write this post.

One needs to prove a dependance. We have shown that we support the daughter through a monthly payment of 10 000 baht. We have shown she is fully supported by me for over 5 years. She is 20 years old and goes to college near Khon Kaen. I pay for her schooling, food, rent , clothes and transport. I also have proof of this through bank account transactions.

Has anyone else ever sponsored a dependent over 18 years of age to Australia? And if so, what was your experience?

The main worry for me is that my daughter is only 6 years younger than me…I hope it does not negatively affect my daughters visa.

EDIT - If you want to question why I am married to an older women, demonize me, belittle me, question my ethics, try to correct me spelling or simply denigrate me then don't reply. I ask one thing. Respect me by addressing my query to my step daughters success towards an Australian visa.

Edited February 20, 2015 by djjamie

[Will27]

I'll give this one a crack, even though you're a Bombers supporter

As you say, you should have no problem with the partner visa (309) application.

It also seems that you've ticked the boxes as far as she being fully dependent on

you for a substantial period of time. DIAC use 12 months as a guide.

Poor form by your migration agent but they still should be providing you with what

information is required like bank account statements, school enrollments etc.

As far as your concern regarding the small age difference between you and your

step-daughter, that won't be a problem. Differences in age is not a criteria used.

I doubt that many on here have sponsored a dependent over 18 years of age but it

would be good to hear of others experiences.

Anyway, best of luck, I think you will both be fine.

[djjamie]

Thanks for the info Will...

Having looked at our options I might hold off on the dependent child visa and just apply for the wife's permanent visa first. Then apply for a "remaining relatives" visa in 3 years for the daughter.

I say this for 2 reasons. 1/ It will allow my wife to settle into Australia first and secure employment. 2/ It will allow my daughter to finish her schooling in Thailand and make her more employable when she does come to Australia. 3/ I think she has a better chance with a "remaining relatives" visa as opposed to the dependent visa.

I say 3 years as she has recently finished a 3 year technical college course in hotel management giving her a diploma and can complement that with another 3 year course allowing her to exit with a degree in hotel management.

Since her mother will be in Australia, her real father is long out of the picture, she has no grandparents, sisters, brothers or children in Thailand I think this visa is applicable to her circumstances. I think with the qualifications she gains it will also give her a much better chance of receiving the "remaining relative" visa as well as securing employment in Australia when she does come.

The last thing I want to do is apply for the dependent visa only for it to be rejected thus loosing the visa fee.

Thanks again Will.

I will update with the decision I make.

[samran]

Bwhahahahah. Ridicule is well deserved......Bombers supporter. Suffer in your jocks!

Otherwise I have nothing to add but all the very best for your application. I'm sure you'll get some good advice here.

[krisb]

The only advice I can guarantee is 100% correct is Essendon won't win this year or the next for that matter.

Anyhow you're step daughter shouldn't have any problems.

Gee your legal advice missed some key paperwork didn't they! Not real great imo.

[Will27]

Thanks for the info Will...

Having looked at our options I might hold off on the dependent child visa and just apply for the wife's permanent visa first. Then apply for a "remaining relatives" visa in 3 years for the daughter.

I say this for 2 reasons. 1/ It will allow my wife to settle into Australia first and secure employment. 2/ It will allow my daughter to finish her schooling in Thailand and make her more employable when she does come to Australia. 3/ I think she has a better chance with a "remaining relatives" visa as opposed to the dependent visa.

I say 3 years as she has recently finished a 3 year technical college course in hotel management giving her a diploma and can complement that with another 3 year course allowing her to exit with a degree in hotel management.

Since her mother will be in Australia, her real father is long out of the picture, she has no grandparents, sisters, brothers or children in Thailand I think this visa is applicable to her circumstances. I think with the qualifications she gains it will also give her a much better chance of receiving the "remaining relative" visa as well as securing employment in Australia when she does come.

The last thing I want to do is apply for the dependent visa only for it to be rejected thus loosing the visa fee.

Thanks again Will.

I will update with the decision I make.

I can understand your reasoning on this, but I really think you should rethink it.

I think your step daughter would be a monty for a dependent visa.

I can see two major issues with the dependent visa. First you indicated the

father is still alive but "out of the picture". I'm pretty sure the father will still be

counted so mum won't be the last remaining relative.

Secondly, unless things have changed recently, the waiting period for the

S/C 115 visa is decades. The government has recently given priority to carer

visas I think.

To be honest, the last remaining relative visa was usually used for an elderly parent

and it was not uncommon for a lot of the applicants to die whilst waitinging the queue.

Have you asked your agent about this?

I would go the dependent route if it were me.

Apart from being a better chance, the waiting times

for the 815 visa are horrendous.

If you don't have any luckwith your agent, I think you

should ask DIAC.

Best of luck either way.

[djjamie]

Thanks for the info Will...

Having looked at our options I might hold off on the dependent child visa and just apply for the wife's permanent visa first. Then apply for a "remaining relatives" visa in 3 years for the daughter.

I say this for 2 reasons. 1/ It will allow my wife to settle into Australia first and secure employment. 2/ It will allow my daughter to finish her schooling in Thailand and make her more employable when she does come to Australia. 3/ I think she has a better chance with a "remaining relatives" visa as opposed to the dependent visa.

I say 3 years as she has recently finished a 3 year technical college course in hotel management giving her a diploma and can complement that with another 3 year course allowing her to exit with a degree in hotel management.

Since her mother will be in Australia, her real father is long out of the picture, she has no grandparents, sisters, brothers or children in Thailand I think this visa is applicable to her circumstances. I think with the qualifications she gains it will also give her a much better chance of receiving the "remaining relative" visa as well as securing employment in Australia when she does come.

The last thing I want to do is apply for the dependent visa only for it to be rejected thus loosing the visa fee.

Thanks again Will.

I will update with the decision I make.

I can understand your reasoning on this, but I really think you should rethink it.

I think your step daughter would be a monty for a dependent visa.

I can see two major issues with the dependent visa. First you indicated the

father is still alive but "out of the picture". I'm pretty sure the father will still be

counted so mum won't be the last remaining relative.

Secondly, unless things have changed recently, the waiting period for the

S/C 115 visa is decades. The government has recently given priority to carer

visas I think.

To be honest, the last remaining relative visa was usually used for an elderly parent

and it was not uncommon for a lot of the applicants to die whilst waitinging the queue.

Have you asked your agent about this?

I would go the dependent route if it were me.

Apart from being a better chance, the waiting times

for the 815 visa are horrendous.

If you don't have any luckwith your agent, I think you

should ask DIAC.

Best of luck either way.

More sound advice yet again Will. Cheers.

I had not spoken to the agent.

I did some further study myself though and yes, even if the father is out of the picture if he is still alive there is no hope of the remaining relative visa. With the waiting period up to 50 years it is not a plausible option anyway.

We will apply for the daughter in early April as a dependent.

Thanks again Will. You feedback is gold!

[djjamie]

The only advice I can guarantee is 100% correct is Essendon won't win this year or the next for that matter.

Anyhow you're step daughter shouldn't have any problems.

Gee your legal advice missed some key paperwork didn't they! Not real great imo.

I sadly agree.

Hopefully though my wife and daughter will be in Australia to witness the Bombers not making the grand final...

[djjamie]

Visas goes in on Wednesday.

Cost me a small fortune, but hopefully wife and daughter will be admitted.

[dbrenn]

Thanks for the info Will...

Having looked at our options I might hold off on the dependent child visa and just apply for the wife's permanent visa first. Then apply for a "remaining relatives" visa in 3 years for the daughter.

I say this for 2 reasons. 1/ It will allow my wife to settle into Australia first and secure employment. 2/ It will allow my daughter to finish her schooling in Thailand and make her more employable when she does come to Australia. 3/ I think she has a better chance with a "remaining relatives" visa as opposed to the dependent visa.

I say 3 years as she has recently finished a 3 year technical college course in hotel management giving her a diploma and can complement that with another 3 year course allowing her to exit with a degree in hotel management.

Since her mother will be in Australia, her real father is long out of the picture, she has no grandparents, sisters, brothers or children in Thailand I think this visa is applicable to her circumstances. I think with the qualifications she gains it will also give her a much better chance of receiving the "remaining relative" visa as well as securing employment in Australia when she does come.

The last thing I want to do is apply for the dependent visa only for it to be rejected thus loosing the visa fee.

Thanks again Will.

I will update with the decision I make.

I can understand your reasoning on this, but I really think you should rethink it.

I think your step daughter would be a monty for a dependent visa.

I can see two major issues with the dependent visa. First you indicated the

father is still alive but "out of the picture". I'm pretty sure the father will still be

counted so mum won't be the last remaining relative.

Secondly, unless things have changed recently, the waiting period for the

S/C 115 visa is decades. The government has recently given priority to carer

visas I think.

To be honest, the last remaining relative visa was usually used for an elderly parent

and it was not uncommon for a lot of the applicants to die whilst waitinging the queue.

Have you asked your agent about this?

I would go the dependent route if it were me.

Apart from being a better chance, the waiting times

for the 815 visa are horrendous.

If you don't have any luckwith your agent, I think you

should ask DIAC.

Best of luck either way.

More sound advice yet again Will. Cheers.

I had not spoken to the agent.

I did some further study myself though and yes, even if the father is out of the picture if he is still alive there is no hope of the remaining relative visa. With the waiting period up to 50 years it is not a plausible option anyway.

We will apply for the daughter in early April as a dependent.

Thanks again Will. You feedback is gold!

You mention that your Thai based migration agent has made mistakes. Have you considered changing to an agent based in Oz? Only MARA registered agents are allowed to operate onshore in Oz, ensuring a minimum standard of knowledge, whereas no such restriction exist for agents based here. Anyone can set up an office and call himself a migration agent in Thailand.

I used an Oz based agent for a skilled migrant visa. The service seemed professional in that the process was as they had described it, with no missed forms or nasty surprises, ending up in the grant of my visa.

Given that your case has some complexities, you might want to consider this.

Edited April 6, 2015 by dbrenn

[djjamie]

An update. We applied for wife and daughter in April, 2015. Wife under marriage visa and daughter under dependent visa.

It dragged out until mid April this year with no reply. My step daughters situation changed. She got engaged and left uni. I told the embassy about the change in circumstances and 2 days later my wife was granted a subclass 100 permanent residency visa. It took over 1 year and surprisingly she does not need a new medial or police certificate.

We are currently living in PNG. Wife has just gone back to Thailand to settle our business over there and will meet me in Australia in June to buy an investment property.

She will then move back to PNG with me. At least now she can travel in and out of Australia for the first 5 years at which time she will apply for a reentry visa.

We are currently in comms with our accountants in Australia who are doing a private tax ruling so the govt are not only aware my wife will live in PNG with me, but she will not pay tax on our Thai investment properties in Khon Kaen.

[rhodie]

Glad it all worked out for you mate.

[kiwiaussie]

An update. We applied for wife and daughter in April, 2015. Wife under marriage visa and daughter under dependent visa.

It dragged out until mid April this year with no reply. My step daughters situation changed. She got engaged and left uni. I told the embassy about the change in circumstances and 2 days later my wife was granted a subclass 100 permanent residency visa. It took over 1 year and surprisingly she does not need a new medial or police certificate.

We are currently living in PNG. Wife has just gone back to Thailand to settle our business over there and will meet me in Australia in June to buy an investment property.

She will then move back to PNG with me. At least now she can travel in and out of Australia for the first 5 years at which time she will apply for a reentry visa.

We are currently in comms with our accountants in Australia who are doing a private tax ruling so the govt are not only aware my wife will live in PNG with me, but she will not pay tax on our Thai investment properties in Khon Kaen.

Small word of warning about the RRV from he australian end, they can get tricky to renew if there hasn't been a significant amount of time lived in Australia as a PR.

Depending on your circumstances they are only likely to give either 3 or 12 month RRVs. In your wifes case, given she is married to an aussie and work has taken her overseas because of you, and because she has links to oz (investment property etc) the best is likely to be a one year RRV. Same situation as my wife. Good thing is you won't have to worry about this for another 5 years.

[dbrenn]

An update. We applied for wife and daughter in April, 2015. Wife under marriage visa and daughter under dependent visa.

It dragged out until mid April this year with no reply. My step daughters situation changed. She got engaged and left uni. I told the embassy about the change in circumstances and 2 days later my wife was granted a subclass 100 permanent residency visa. It took over 1 year and surprisingly she does not need a new medial or police certificate.

We are currently living in PNG. Wife has just gone back to Thailand to settle our business over there and will meet me in Australia in June to buy an investment property.

She will then move back to PNG with me. At least now she can travel in and out of Australia for the first 5 years at which time she will apply for a reentry visa.

We are currently in comms with our accountants in Australia who are doing a private tax ruling so the govt are not only aware my wife will live in PNG with me, but she will not pay tax on our Thai investment properties in Khon Kaen.

Small word of warning about the RRV from he australian end, they can get tricky to renew if there hasn't been a significant amount of time lived in Australia as a PR.

Depending on your circumstances they are only likely to give either 3 or 12 month RRVs. In your wifes case, given she is married to an aussie and work has taken her overseas because of you, and because she has links to oz (investment property etc) the best is likely to be a one year RRV. Same situation as my wife. Good thing is you won't have to worry about this for another 5 years.

+1

Automatic entitlement to a further 5 years (subclass 155) re-entry (resident return visa or RRV) depends on spending two our of the preceding five years in Oz. If your wife hasn't, she'll likely be eligible for a one year (subclass 157) RRV - she has an Aussie husband - but grant of this visa is discretionary and you have to show DIBP that you have 'substantial ties' to Australia.

https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/155-#

Be careful - people have lost their PR by not spending enough time in Oz.

Australian Taxation Office ruling IT2650 describes how they decide whether your of your wife will be resident for tax purposes. What defines residency for tax purposes is unrelated to residency as described by immigration.

http://law.ato.gov.au/atolaw/view.htm?Docid=ITR/IT2650/NAT/ATO/00001

There are pros and cons to residency vs non-residency for tax purposes,:

1) If you are deemed a resident for tax purposes, then you are entitled to the personal income tax free allowance and lower marginal rates on income derived in Oz BUT the ATO will also tax you at the Oz marginal rate on all differences in income tax that you pay on all your foreign income and what said income would have been taxed in Oz. I short, you may live in a place where the tax rate is low, but you'll be taxed at the full Aussie rate by the ATO. Ties to Oz (described in IT2650) or intention to return there after a period abroad, increase the chances of the ATO ruling that you are a resident, and that they'll try to tax your foreign income at the Aussie marginal rates (I'm going through this myself at the moment).

2) If you are deemed a resident for tax purposes, then you are not entitled to the personal income tax free allowance and lower marginal rates on income derived in Oz, BUT all your foreign income is exempt from being taxed in Australia. As a non-resident, all your Australia derived income is taxed from the first dollar. 2016 rates are as follows:

Taxable Income: 0 - $80,000 is taxed 32.5c for each $1

Taxable Income: $80,001 - $180,000 is taxed $26,000 plus 37c for each $1 over $80,000

Taxable Income: $180,001 and over is taxed $63,000 plus 45c for each $1 over $180,000

And beware - the ATO gets informed by AUSTRAC of ALL overseas transfers into your Australian bank account, even just a few dollars. If they question your residency status, they will send you a list of all these transactions, and they will ask you for evidence (in the form of foreign tax returns or payslips) of where the money came from.

Edited April 23, 2016 by dbrenn