Oz Spouse Visa Entry Date?

[aussiestyle1983]

My wife and I will apply for her spouse visa to Oz soon. We know when the visa is issued that there is a certain time frame you have to be in australia by. How long after the visa is issued are the minnimum and maximum time frames which you can enter australia?

The reason I ask is because We would like to visit my family in the USA before moving to Oz, which we would do in June/ July 07. We would then return to Bangkok, pack up and leave for Australia in around August 2007. I know this entire plan is up to the embassies ( first if her spouse visa to Oz is not granted, we would not go to the USA for holiday because we would not quit work. But if the Oz spouse visa is granted, we then need to apply for a tourist visa to the usa, which may or may not be granted. ) So much headache...................

So we would like to be able to enter Oz between June and September 2007. Do you think this will be a problem or does the case officer ask you when you intend to go to Oz and try to makle it convienent? We are ready to apply now, but we dont want to apply to early in case the visa gets issued and we have to go to Oz soon. When do you think we should apply and will the case officer ask us when we would like to go to Oz? Or are they completely inconsiderate of our plans?

[gburns57au]

My wife and I will apply for her spouse visa to Oz soon. We know when the visa is issued that there is a certain time frame you have to be in australia by. How long after the visa is issued are the minnimum and maximum time frames which you can enter australia?

The reason I ask is because We would like to visit my family in the USA before moving to Oz, which we would do in June/ July 07. We would then return to Bangkok, pack up and leave for Australia in around August 2007. I know this entire plan is up to the embassies ( first if her spouse visa to Oz is not granted, we would not go to the USA for holiday because we would not quit work. But if the Oz spouse visa is granted, we then need to apply for a tourist visa to the usa, which may or may not be granted. ) So much headache...................

So we would like to be able to enter Oz between June and September 2007. Do you think this will be a problem or does the case officer ask you when you intend to go to Oz and try to makle it convienent? We are ready to apply now, but we dont want to apply to early in case the visa gets issued and we have to go to Oz soon. When do you think we should apply and will the case officer ask us when we would like to go to Oz? Or are they completely inconsiderate of our plans?

I cant seem to find info on this...the booklet only states that you must continue to live as a couple after the visa is granted...perhaps some other members could assist ??

I used to think it was a 12 month period within which to activate the visa after the date of grant...but not sure now.

[trina]

I recall reading in one of the documents that once you have been informed that your application was successful they generally state that you can pick it up shortley after, however it then stated that if you were not ready at that time to migrate to oz, you can then inform the embassy on your intentions and a date that is suitable.

This will also be the case for my husband and I.

Best to ask the embassy when you are at yor interviews...

[F2H]

in my wifes case, her spouse visa was dated the day after her interview, but she waited for a new passport in her married name. she then went to bkk to pick up her visa (done there on the day), and her required entry date into australia was dated 10 months later.

[Mighty Mouse]

The application form asks what date you intend to arrive in Australia.

If a visa is granted, the Embassy will ensure that the life of the visa covers the dates stipulated in the application and from memory, the visa had to be used within three months from date of issue.

Once the visa has been stamped into the passport, it is not an easy task to have the dates of the visa altered. I can assure you of that from personal experience.

I don't know whether the Embassy would grant a visa 12 months in advance. I doubt that they would because of the requirement to have recent police and medical clearances.

[aussiestyle1983]

well it seems like there might be some hope.....................we might go to the visa app center in bkk and ask the embassy visa staff who go there to meet with applicants on tuesday and thursday arvos. i did not see anything on the form about the date we want to arrive in oz, i just recall alot of questions about where we will be living. well, we want to get there between june 10 and sept 10 ( approx ) which is only a 3 month window, and that is less than 12 months away also, so im hoping the staff will try to fit in with out plans.

[Jockstar]

If my memory is correct. My wife only had about 6 months to get to Oz and not 12.

[gburns57au]

If a visa is granted, the Embassy will ensure that the life of the visa covers the dates stipulated in the application and from memory, the visa had to be used within three months from date of issue.

I don't know whether the Embassy would grant a visa 12 months in advance. I doubt that they would because of the requirement to have recent police and medical clearances.

The tourist visa has a 3 month activation limit, thought it was longer for a spouse visa....

This is the reason why I thought it was about 12 months as the medical and police clearances are valid for 12 months only.

[F2H]

on my wifes application, i put in the intended date of travel box "to be undertaken at a future time upon granting of visa"

we did not put an exact date, as of course we did not have one, due to the unknown status of her application.

so they gave my wife 10 months to arrive in australia, all fair considering, her inexperience in travelling and airports etc.

[F2H]

on my wifes application, i put in the intended date of travel box "to be undertaken at a future time upon granting of visa"

we did not put an exact date, as of course we did not have one, due to the unknown status of her application.

so they gave my wife 10 months to arrive in australia, all fair considering, her inexperience in travelling and airports etc.

oops, i just realised the last sentance sounds a bit crazy, i hope it wont take her 10 months to get out of bkk and into tullamarine, i heard of flight delays and baggage delays and delays with customs, but 10 months for a 9 hour trip is a bit much.

[Mighty Mouse]

Take this information for what it is worth.

I just telephoned the Immigration Dept. here in Sydney and asked the question of time frames.

The answer given to me was that each case is different. Some applicants may be given a Spouse Visa that has an activation life of 3 months, some may be 6 months, some may get 12 months etc.

It all depends on the circumstances of the applicant.

All successful applicants receive a letter from the department stating the life of the visa.

I related the situation of the OP and the answer was for the OP to clearly set out their plans to visit the USA and the dates of their travel. This would include the proposed dates of arrival in Australia.

A visa, if approved, would take into account these dates and a letter to this effect would be sent to the applicant.

[gburns57au]

Take this information for what it is worth.

I just telephoned the Immigration Dept. here in Sydney and asked the question of time frames.

The answer given to me was that each case is different. Some applicants may be given a Spouse Visa that has an activation life of 3 months, some may be 6 months, some may get 12 months etc.

It all depends on the circumstances of the applicant.

All successful applicants receive a letter from the department stating the life of the visa.

I related the situation of the OP and the answer was for the OP to clearly set out their plans to visit the USA and the dates of their travel. This would include the proposed dates of arrival in Australia.

A visa, if approved, would take into account these dates and a letter to this effect would be sent to the applicant.

Thanks MM

[aussiestyle1983]

Good reply, thanks for the info. I guess we will go ahead and apply in afew weeks then after we get the final doccuments translated. Either way, The latest time we would like to arrive in Oz from now is 9 months, so from that info, it seems like our plans wont be a problem ( unless the visa isnt granted or it takes longer ) This visa and entire process ia a very expensive proicess, so its good to hear that they take into consideration the circumstances of the applicant.

Now all we have to do is worry about getting the tourist visa for her to go to the USA.

Anyone with this experience?

I am also a US perminant Resident and we will be staying in my mums house which she owns, also if the US embassy takes into account that my wife should also have a spouse visa to migrate to Oz, i would hope that they would give her the tourist visa and not have any issues or concerns about her not leaving the US...........................

[Jamnjam]

The application form asks what date you intend to arrive in Australia.

MM, are you sure about this? I know it's true for the TV but we've just done the SV application forms and there was no question about a planed date of arrival.

For my wife's TV's she's always only had a month window to arrive in Oz. Last time they gave us 2 days to spare even though I told them our date of arrival on the TV form. I don't know if they did this on purpose or not.

For the SV, we definitely need longer than 1 month and I can't leave until my contract's finished here in Thailand, that being March 31 2007. We'd like to leave a month after this date. So I suppose communicating this at the interview is the best option. We're submitting our application this Friday.

MM, thanks for straining some more info from those IMMI officers in Oz. I still haven't got a satisfactory answer about the conditions for getting a permanent SV immediately. What they say contradicts the Partner booklet but who says that's 100% right just like the fact that their SV forms have conditional mistakes (that's another story). It'd be great if my wife could obtain Ozstudy immediately.

Anyway if you're interested here is the list of evidence I'm submitting:

Application for Spouse Visa

Applicant: Mrs Jamaree *******

Sponsor: Mr James *******

Included Dependants: Master Jedsada *******

Master Wirakorn *******

This application contains the following supporting documents.

> Application form 47SP and sponsorship form 40SP.

> A statutory declaration regarding previous sponsorship attempt (we tried 4 years ago with little planning).

> Statutory declarations regarding sponsorship obligations.

> A statutory declaration by Jamaree ******* outlining important details of the relationship.

> A statutory declaration by James ******* outlining important details of the relationship.

> Passport, identity card and household registration of Jamaree *******.

> Passport, birth certificate and household registration of Jedsada *******.

> Passport, birth certificate and household registration of Wirakorn *******.

> Marriage certificate of Jamaree *******.

> Legal evidence declaring that Jamaree ******* and Dusit ******* are the natural parents of Jedsada and Wirakorn.

> An official Thai declaration signed by Dusit ******* consenting for Jedsada and Wirakorn to obtain passports for the purpose of leaving Thailand with Jamaree *******.

> A declaration signed by Dusit ******* consenting for Jedsada and Wirakorn to migrate to Australia with Jamaree *******.

> Record of health examinations for Jamaree, Wirakorn and Jedsada.

> A police clearance certificate for Jamaree *******.

> Passport, birth certificate and degree of James *******.

> Official statements regarding current and previous job of sponsor.

> Sponsor’s last Australian Income Tax Assessment.

> 6 financial statements pertaining to James *******.

> 5 statutory declarations on form 888 written by Australian Citizens.

> 2 statutory declarations on form 888 written by British Citizens.

> 4 statutory declarations written by Thai Citizens.

> A joint bank account book of applicant and sponsor.

> Evidence of money transfers between sponsor’s bank account and applicant’s bank account.

> Ownership papers of two vehicles.

> A photographic timeline of important events in the relationship.

> 3 DVDs containing further photographic and video evidence of the relationship.

> Email evidence and a separate folder containing mailed letters and postcards.

> Evidence in applicant’s and sponsor’s passports of mutual travel.

> Evidence of air flight tickets to Australia.

> Evidence of life insurance between applicant and sponsor.

> Medical evidence of recent attempt to plan a baby.

> Evidence of Jedsada’s and Wirakorn’s enrolment at Maripitak School.

The following document will be provided as soon as obtained.

> Evidence that Jamaree ******* has recently completed her law degree.

By the way, Dusit is the natural father. My wife was in a de-facto with him for 6 years. They had twin boys.

I hope it's enough.

[gburns57au]

Jamnjam

I believe that you also need a 1229 form....consent to issue an Oz visa to a child under 18yo.

[Mighty Mouse]

The application form asks what date you intend to arrive in Australia.

MM, are you sure about this? I know it's true for the TV but we've just done the SV application forms and there was no question about a planed date of arrival.

My apologies. I have mis-led you. I was thinking T/V and not S/V.

The dates of your intended arrival in Australia would need to be stipulated in your covering letters, including any plans to visit another country prior to the Embassy making a final decision on your application, and any time following the decision but before entering Australia.

During the interview, your partner should also ensure that these dates are related to your case officer so that she can record your intentions into her file.

[Jamnjam]

Jamnjam

I believe that you also need a 1229 form....consent to issue an Oz visa to a child under 18yo.

There seems to be an endless supply of surprises . It's hard to believe after months of study and reading and I never saw this form mentioned once. I checked out the immi website and sure enough there is this form 1229. We submitted our application today and the case officer said we had everything we needed.

We'll ring her up on Monday to ask her about this form. I really hope it won't be another 1,500km round train trip back to Bangkok again to get the natural father to sign more papers yet again. There seems to be one government gatekeeper after another along this long road to a migration visa.

Thanks for warning us gburn .

[Jamnjam]

The application form asks what date you intend to arrive in Australia.

MM, are you sure about this? I know it's true for the TV but we've just done the SV application forms and there was no question about a planed date of arrival.

My apologies. I have mis-led you. I was thinking T/V and not S/V.

The dates of your intended arrival in Australia would need to be stipulated in your covering letters, including any plans to visit another country prior to the Embassy making a final decision on your application, and any time following the decision but before entering Australia.

During the interview, your partner should also ensure that these dates are related to your case officer so that she can record your intentions into her file.

MM, I asked our case officer today how visa entry dates are worked out. She said it is worked out from the 12 month expiry dates of the medical tests and police clearance certificate. So if you got the medical test done first, say on the 1/1/2007, and you submitted the application on 1/2/2007, and it took 4 months for the visa to be approved then you'd be given 7 months to enter Australia.

Also the internet form for an SV is very different from the printed out form. So maybe you are asked for an intended date of arrival on 40SP (internet). Not sure.

[Pink Mist]

The application form asks what date you intend to arrive in Australia.

MM, are you sure about this? I know it's true for the TV but we've just done the SV application forms and there was no question about a planed date of arrival.

My apologies. I have mis-led you. I was thinking T/V and not S/V.

The dates of your intended arrival in Australia would need to be stipulated in your covering letters, including any plans to visit another country prior to the Embassy making a final decision on your application, and any time following the decision but before entering Australia.

During the interview, your partner should also ensure that these dates are related to your case officer so that she can record your intentions into her file.

MM, I asked our case officer today how visa entry dates are worked out. She said it is worked out from the 12 month expiry dates of the medical tests and police clearance certificate. So if you got the medical test done first, say on the 1/1/2007, and you submitted the application on 1/2/2007, and it took 4 months for the visa to be approved then you'd be given 7 months to enter Australia.

Also the internet form for an SV is very different from the printed out form. So maybe you are asked for an intended date of arrival on 40SP (internet). Not sure.

Thats not the way it worked for us, our application was lodged in November, we were given an interview in March, the Visa was approved in one week and Wife was given untill November to enter Oz in the letter from embassy.

[Mighty Mouse]

It's all rather conflicting.

These explanations are different to the information I received when I phoned Sydney Immigration.

Obviously it would be wise to accept the explanation given by the Embassy, Bangkok, and make your travel plans with that information in mind.

In my case, my g/f submitted her S/V application (de-facto) and was granted a six month T/V at the same time. Whilst in Oz, the decision on her S/V was made. (this conflicts with many reports of applications being put on hold whilst the applicant is outside of Thailand.)

When she returned to Thailand and visited the Embassy to pick up her visa, the date of expiry didn't suite either of us, as we had planned to stay longer in Thailand before taking up residency in Oz.

It took many emails to and from the Embassy to have the date changed. They then used the date of the medical examination as a guide, thus were able to extend the life of the visa.

The explanation of the system as given to Jamnjam, was applied to our visa and that's what made it possible to extend the date. Had we had the medical check done earlier, we would have been cactus. We would have had to change all of our travel plans, and that meant changing the flight dates on tickets already issued.

It therefore pays to make inquiries with the Embassy before making travel plans.

[aussiestyle1983]

Thanks for the input. We are gonna apply for the visa before we do the medical and the police report. The VFS staff said we could do this. So we paln to do the translations and once complete, we will contact the embassy and try to apply at the embassy, so we dont have to deal with the VFS place at the Thai CC building.

Im not sure how to do the translations...............I hope the translation agency is.

The ID card is very small so I guess we will translate the front and back of the ID card on the same page.

Do we only need to translate her page in the household registration book?

And do we need to translate front and back of the marriage doccuments, as they are both 2 sided doccuments?

Thank god all her name change doccuments are only one sided.......................

The English of the thai staff at the VFS who always answer my questions isnt good enough for me to understand.

[Mighty Mouse]

It's better to be sure than sorry....

...get the whole of each document translated.

At best, you will only save a few baht by doing a partial translation, at worst, you could be running around later doing what you should have done the first time.....wasting more time and money.

[Jamnjam]

aussiestyle

We got our translations done at the bottom of the sky train steps in front of the Thai CC building. Nice guys and good rates. Forgot the name right now.

For the family book they need the front page which has the house description and the page for the applicant and any other dependants of the applicant. Photocopy these two pages onto one sheet. The translators will do all the rest (they included the info at the front of the book too). We ended up getting two pages translated per person for the house book.

Anyway, they have set prices per item. House books, ID cards, birth certificates are 300 baht per person. Take MM's advice and get it all done and more. Better before than later. We had a few documents that we had translated that were not needed by the embassy. But better to have more than less.

Going to the embassy directly is easy and quiet. Just book a meeting 3 weeks in advance.

Godluck

[Jamnjam]

aussiestyle

Photocopy these two pages onto one sheet.

I meant: Photocopy these two pages onto one sheet per person.

[aussiestyle1983]

Thanks for that mate!

We just found out from VFS staff on the phone that the police check from the Thai HQ is done in English? Is this true? We were gonna wait for that before doing translations but hearing this we will just go ahead and start with the translations...........................

[Pink Mist]

Thanks for that mate!

We just found out from VFS staff on the phone that the police check from the Thai HQ is done in English? Is this true? We were gonna wait for that before doing translations but hearing this we will just go ahead and start with the translations...........................

yes it's in english

[Jamnjam]

Thanks for that mate!

We just found out from VFS staff on the phone that the police check from the Thai HQ is done in English? Is this true? We were gonna wait for that before doing translations but hearing this we will just go ahead and start with the translations...........................

The police clearance certificate, which is done in English, takes up to 3 weeks. They told us a date to pick it up which was 3 weeks from the day my wife did the checks. The certificate was finished in just over a week. So if you're staying in Bangkok and want the Police certificate quickly then check in on them from time-to-time.

So, go ahead and get the bulk of your translations started. Any future documents can be translated quickly.

Jamnjam

[aussiestyle1983]

Thanks Jamnjam and others.

Does it make a difference if you lodge you visa at the VFS center or at the Embassy?

I guess it wouldn't, but are there any advantages of lodging at either place?

Also, are the case officers who handel the cases Aussies or Thai's?

[F2H]

my wifes case officer was thai, and interview in thai.

we lodged the application at the VFS, due to the faster than i thought completion of things we had to do in bkk, i was planning to make an appointment for my wife to lodge it at the embassy.

i had read only of horror stories about the VFS.

also we used the translator service near the sky train, expensive i thought for the translations, compared to the ones we had done up country (but we were doing this very quickly).

we completed all the remaining translations, marriage registrations, and lodgement in 2 and a bit days, that included my "freedom to marry certificate" stamped at the embassy and for that to be ratified at the ministry of foreign affairs.

on reflection we could have lodged the application in under 2 days, if i had known bkk better.

the girl at the VFS checked our application closely, and made sure we had not missed anything, also she asked for the details of the hospital and the reference number used for my wifes medical and xray.

my wife booked her ticket recently, the ticket is one way only, and the travel agent told my wife they had to check with the embassy, about her visa.

the embassy phoned my wife asked her about what visa she had and its number, no problem with the ticket.

about 30 minutes my wife had to wait before the business was finished.

i just wondered if this is standard thing between the oz embassy and travel agents.

[aussiestyle1983]

Ok, the only issue we have now that my wife has not changed her surname to mine yet, but we would like to apply for the visa ASAP. Speaking to the VFS staff on the phone today and they said that we could apply and then she could change her surname any time later, but she would just need to translated the new doccuments containing her new name. Is this true, can we apply and then change her surname?

All of the doccuments we will get translated and her passport all have the same thai surname, and we dont have time to go to her home amphue to get new ID and so on, so we would perfer to change her name after we apply because it would be a lot less headache for us.

Also, the small pre-nup written in Thai on the back of the amphurs marriage proof doccument says that " the fe-male will change her last name to her husbands last name " so the embassy will see this when we give them the translations. Do you think they will care that she hasnt changed her last name yet, even though it say on the pre nup that she intends to?

The only reason for not doing so is because we have not had time to visit her home town since marrying and we paln to do it after new year, which is when we will be in her home and have time? We plan to apply some time before christmas and it will be impossible for us to change her name before we apply, but im under the impression that she can change it later........................