We at Down Under Visa manage partner visas for Australian Filipina couples. Australian men fall madly in love with ladies in the Philippines. Who can blame them? Sweetest and most caring ladies in the entire world, even if I’m a bit biased. But yes, when they fall in love with their Filipina girl, they track us down and say “Jeff, I can’t stand being without her. Can you help?” And we do. Fiancée visa applications, also known as prospective marriage visas. And spouse visas (spousal visas, as some call them), which are officially known as partner visas…..both onshore and offshore. We guide, prepare and manage applications for these couples from the time they first contact us right through to when the visa is granted.

It’s a journey….but you’re not alone

Being Registered Migration Agents in the Philippines

And we chose this as a career and vocation many years ago, because we care about what we’re doing. I’m an Australian man married to a Filipina lady, and it was the best thing I ever did. It gives me and my wife Mila the greatest pleasure to be able to help my fellow Australians….Australian fellows?…..to be as happy, fulfilled and contented as I am.

And this is why I’ve always wanted Down Under Visa to be more than just a business that churns out visas one after another. I love it when I hear from clients years down the track and see the man looking well-fed and spoilt, and the lady looking loved and secure in her new life in Australia. And I wonder sometimes how many kids have come into the world as fruits of these wonderful marriages? Quite a few hundred, I’m sure!

This is why we have an advice-for-couples website filipinawives.downundervisa.com which is there to help couples make their existing relationships even better, by helping them to understand some of the cultural differences between them. More knowledge means less misunderstandings that can cause a rift between couples, and I hope the regular BLOG articles and YouTube videos are helping. If you haven’t been there, please bookmark the site now.

And we also have our Philippines to Australia and our Philippines Ladies in Australia Facebook pages to encourage Down Under Visa clients……Australian Filipina couples just like yourselves…..to build your own support networks and to make some hopefully lifelong friends from other couples who’ve been through the same that you have. Please join now. Note that “Philippines Ladies” is ladies-only.

This is our way of giving back. This is my way of giving back to those wonderful Filipina ladies who are out there making my Aussie brothers so happy, and a way of thanking all of you for giving our working lives such purpose. There are people out there with jobs where they have to give out bad news all day. At Down Under Visa? Hundreds of times every year we get to make our clients very happy, especially our hundreds of partner visa clients. Not such a bad job, don’t you agree?

Partner Visa – The Journey from the Philippines to Australia

We have a page on our website entitled “The Journey”, and it’s all about what truly IS a journey. You start off being a couple of nervous single folk in different countries. You meet. You fall in love. Your relationship develops. And you end up with a lovely lady from the Philippines arriving at an Australian airport ready to start a new life in a new land with a new husband (or fiancée or partner). Brave steps, but in most cases highly rewarding for all. I said it quickly, but I think we all know this is not a speedy process.

• Relationship developing? 6 months? Maybe more?
• Preparing a visa application? A few months….maybe more, depending on how busy you are?
• Visa application? 9 months on average?

So we’re already up to a year and a half…..maybe more. Then you need to accept that the first year or more together is going to require some adjusting. Adjusting to being a couple of people from different cultural backgrounds, and adjusting to making a shared-life together with all the give-and-take compromising that requires!

So yes, definitely a journey. One that most of us would call a great journey!

What about The Journey?

At the moment we have a couple of videos from Chris. He and his lady Vanessa are in the very early days of organizing a partner visa from Philippines to Australia. They already have Australian Citizenship for their two kids, thanks to Down Under Visa’s efforts. They will be a while before they have anything new to tell us, so in the meantime I’ll be expanding on this page.

What will be there soon is some interviews….video interviews….between Jeff Harvie (me, the Registered Migration Agent at Down Under Visa) and a selection of Down Under Visa clients, both recent, not-so-recent and former. I want to get some interviews with clients at various stages of “the journey” from Philippines to Australia, and ask them to tell us of their experiences.

Why? So we can help others along the way, both to understand what they have in store for them and also to see that they are not alone. And that there is most definitely a strong light at the end of the tunnel. And that this is a tunnel that Down Under Visa have guided many thousands of clients, and will no doubt guide thousands more over the coming years.

Please visit The Journey page. And please sign up for our Down Under Visa BLOG. Not only will you get informative and entertaining articles and video links emailed to you, you will also know straight away when a new “Journey” video comes out. You won’t miss a thing. Please enjoy!

Recommended Reading

Down Under Visa – Helping Filipina lady visa applicants

Philippines to Australia – Facebook Group for Australian Filipina couples

Jeff and Mila Harvie – Some background