Grace and Michael – Happy Down Under Visa clients

Michael and Grace

Hi Guys,

We just want to say thank you so much for helping us with our visa 309 to Australia. We were so excited to receive the email from Jeff on the 16th December 2014 informing us that our application was approved. We were hoping to be in Australia in time for Christmas 2014 however it was too close and we still needed to do things before leaving the Philippines and travelling to our new home in Australia. Apart from that it was peak tourist season and the airfares were so expensive. So we decided to spend another Christmas in Manila and to see in another New Year. We eventually booked our tickets in January 2015 and departed for Australia on the 7th of February 2015 arriving on the Gold Coast on the 17th February via Melbourne after spending a week with my parents.

Bringing her straight back after the wedding. Possible?

“I want to come over to the Philippines and marry her, then I want to bring her straight back with me.”

I imagine I’ve written something on this topic before, but it needs to be covered again. I would say that Down Under Visa would get a couple of these requests every week. And I wish I could just say “Sure! We can do that!”, but I can’t say it because it’s not possible. In a fairer world? Yes. But that’s not the way the system works.

 

Certain golden rules for Partner Visas

With Partner Visas and Prospective Marriage Visas, there are certain golden rules which we simply can’t get around. These are some of the issues Down Under Visa face every week.

 

 

The “must have met in person” rule.

This is set into law. Set in the regulations. You may say set in concrete, because there is no provision for waivers. If you don’t meet in person, you can’t successfully apply. It will fail.

Defining “Tourist” for Australian visa applications

 

Australia has a very large number of different visa types, and all are governed by legislated Regulations defining what must-be and what must-not-be for that visa to be granted. And they take these Regulations very seriously when making decisions.

This is very different to many countries, where a tourist visa is almost the “base visa” which is the one you get when you don’t qualify (or couldn’t be bothered applying) for another more specific visa. That’s how it works in the Philippines. There are people here who’ve been on a tourist visa for more than 10 years! They just keep on extending it, and they continue to live here.

Advantages of a Partner Visa to Australia

At Down Under Visa we have no problem with whether you wish to marry in Australia or in Philippines. No problems whatsoever. It’s not about us. It’s all about you, as it always is.

I just did a BLOG post about the advantages of a prospective marriage visa. And whilst yes, we do more prospective marriage visa applications than partner visa applications, we still do plenty of partner visa applications.

 

 

The Subclass 309 Partner Visa is for those who wish to marry (normally in the Philippines) at the beginning of the process. They either come to us when they are already married, or when they intend to marrying during the normal time that a partner visa application is processed. At the moment they are taking an average of 9 months. Which means if you intend marrying in about then next 6 months or so, yes this is ideal. Just understand that they won’t grant the visa until the marriage takes place.

Major issue in OUR view is the issue of free time! How much do you have? How much time off work can you take? Why do I ask? Because to marry in the Philippines without giving yourself some sort of stress-disorder will take you 3 – 4 weeks! Can you spare that much time? If not, then don’t do it!

 

Why 3 – 4 weeks?

You need to do umpteen different things to get a wedding done.

• A certificate of No Impediment to Marriage from the Australian Embassy first.
• 10 days to organise a marriage license at the local City Hall.
• A seminar on birth control (in Tagalog) to attend. Yes, I’m serious!

 

Then the marriage itself, which means:

• Organising the celebrant, which is either a judge or a priest at the Church. “Marriage Celebrants” like they have in Australia don’t exist.
• If it’s a Church wedding, you have at least one pre cana seminar to attend. Sometimes several.
• And you need outfits, ie. wedding dresses, barong tagalog (funny-looking shirt), outfits for the wedding party (which may be huge)
• Rings
• Reception

 

The wedding

If this is in the province somewhere, this might mean a few pigs get knocked on the head and mountains of rice is cooked. If in the city, it probably means a reception place and caterers. If in the city, it means a fairly set number of guests. If in the province, it means half the town will just turn up. And in most cases it means that various aunties, cousins, etc will pretty much take over organising everything. You probably won’t have much of an idea what is actually happening, and just need to do as you’re told.

It will be chaotic by western standards. It will be noisy and crowded, and you will be swept along in it all. The ceremony will have strange things like coins, chords, doves being released maybe. You may well arrive in a jeepney or even a tricycle.

Of course this will suit your bride-to-be, and it will make her family very happy. This is one of the huge plusses. It means a great deal to all of them. But you need to ask yourself whether it will suit you or not! Some people absolutely love it! Others? Even with enough time, they still find it less than desirable. It really depends on your personality.

So, consider TIME and your OWN PERSONALITY (patience, sense of humour, need to be in control), and make a decision and let us know. Happy to help you no matter what you decide.