This is the time of year that many choose to take some time off work and to go and visit the Filipina lady whom they’ve been emailing and chatting to. We know this because every year in January Down Under Visa get plenty of enquiries from Australian men who say things like “I’ve just come back from spending _ weeks with _____ in Philippines, and now I miss her so much and I want to know how I can bring her to Australia”.
All very natural, and all very nice, and we look forward to hearing from you all and to helping you all with your visa applications for Australian Prospective Marriage Visas and with Australian Partner Visas for those who already married their Filipina girl while they were in the Philippines.
Just a few things to remember:
Firstly, make sure you keep all your records and take lots of photographs while you’re there. Do NOT delete your emails, or your Yahoo Messenger chat logs. Keep your call logs from Skype, Viber, or whatever other method you use. Proof of relationship is critical, and it starts with your records of communication. And keep all the receipts, hotel bookings, boarding passes and travel itineraries from the trip too. This will make the application and the collecting of visa requirements much easier.
And secondly, if you make the decision that you want to be together, do not ask for a Australian Tourist Visa! Tourist visas are for tourists taking holidays and then going back. If you’ve committed to each other, then you need to organise for her to be with you permanently. Talk to Down Under Visa about applying for a fiancée visa (prospective marriage visa), or a spouse visa (partner visa) if you marry in the Philippines, and let’s get on with bringing the two of you together!
Please read our BLOG post on the topic HERE.
Don’t get me wrong. We can and do process lots of tourist visas for Filipina ladies, and we have a great success rate. And sometimes yes it’s obvious that the applicants are simply not ready, due to waiting for divorces or annulments, or sometimes thought about it and have decided they really do need to spend more time together. And that’s OK with us.
However I would say most of the time it’s simply cold feet on the part of the Australian sponsor. And most of the time these sponsors end up wishing they had just got on with it, especially when they have to put their Filipina fiancée back on a plane to Manila. 90 – 95% of these same applicants come back to us when the tourist visa is finished (or often way before it’s finished) saying they want to start preparing their Prospective Marriage Visa.
Prospective Marriage Visas and Partner Visas take an average of 6 months to process. It’s a long wait, so the sooner you get started the sooner it’s granted. And in about 85% of cases our applicants apply for tourist visas at the same time so they can spend most of the waiting time together in Australia while the fiancée visa or spouse visa are being processed in the Australian Embassy in Manila. It’s a sensible choice.
So to the Christmas holiday time travellers, please enjoy your trip. Enjoy your time together, and we hope things turn out as good as you hope they will. And we look forward to helping you with your visas for your Filipina fiancées and wives on your return.
And we suggest that you use the Australian Philippines directory www.australia.com.ph to find hotels and places to visit while you’re there.
You can find all about Australian partner visas and prospective marriage visas on www.downundervisa.com
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Thank you for this advice as you know I will be with Gwen on 25th Dec and we will be taking photos straight away
Cheers Greg Windsor