It seems the Government found themselves a way to make up for budget shortfalls, and decided to milk a captive audience by cranking up the Visa Application Charges – Partner Visas (ie. prospective marriage visas aka fiancée visas, partner visas aka spouse visas) only, both onshore and offshore.

And they’ve done it right now so most of you won’t have time to get in beforehand. Be sure to thank them for this next election!

New visa charges 1 January 2015

Offshore partner visas (ie Subclass 300 and 309) will be $4,627.50

Onshore partner visas (ie. Subclass 820) will be $6,865.50

Now, we close for holidays as you would all know at the end of Friday 19^th of December.

We will remain open for the purpose of lodging last-minute partner visas until Monday 22 December. No point in remaining open any later, as anything later won’t get there until after everything opens again in January which will be too late to avoid the new fees.

Please note we’ve already contacted everyone who has an application that is ready-enough that we can feasibly finish it off it time.

Realise that we need to:

• Have all your visa requirements here, checked and ready
• Get application forms completed
• Get application forms checked, signed and returned by you
• Get final invoices paid to us
• Pay the Department their fees, and have receipts returned to us (which is not an instant process, and may take longer because everyone else will have the same idea!)
• Lodge the completed applications

We are doing all that we can under the circumstances.

There is a reason why the Government have targeted partner visas. You are a captive audience, and they know it! If it was work visas, student visas, tourist visas, etc, the applicants would choose another country. But they know fully well that you will find a way, because not a single one of you would toss away your wife or fiancée because they jacked up the price!

It’s the visa version of the price of coffee at Brisbane Airport! You pay your $10.00 for your coffee, or you get nothing! You don’t like it, but you will pay. No choice! What else will you do? Spend the rest of your lives alone and staring at the walls? Messrs Hockey and Morrison know this all too well.

The fact is that whilst the fee increases are high, they are less than the extra trip or two most of you will undoubtedly make to the Philippines during the waiting time. If it takes you an extra month or two to make up the difference, perfectly OK with us. We understand that this is a slug that none of you needed or deserved, and we will be patient. WE won’t be putting OUR fees up. But we all know that where there’s a will, there’s a way. And where there’s a very strong couple of wills, then a way is an absolute certainty.