# PMV/SPOUSE Visa - Sri Lanka - Age Difference



## morehitz (Jun 28, 2011)

Hi there

I have been trawling Visa forums for the last month in search of some comfort that my fiancé and my Spouse (we will marry before lodging) Visa will be approved, as our circumstances are anything but the NORM.

Me= AU Citizen living in Melbourne. I own my own business, which brings in a decent living and have been happily single for nearly 20 years. I am 49 btw.

Him= Sri Lankan Citizen, never married, no kids, also self employed (in a way). He owns a cab truck and supports himself by picking up cash jobs transporting goods etc. When he needs larger amounts of cash he will take a job in a hotel or nightclub, as a barman. He has done the Government course to allow him to work in this industry. He is 27 and his English is excellent.

Now, I never planned on falling in love again, let alone with a MUCH younger man from another country, but that’s what has happened. As much as I would love to just pack up and move to Sri Lanka (which btw is our long term plan), I am not free to do so. My son still lives at home with me, as does my elderly father, so until that changes, I must remain in Oz.

Relationship – we first met in 9/2010 whilst I was on holiday in the Maldives. (He was the barman at the resort I stayed). We clicked immediately and spent 3 weeks getting to know each other a little better (as much as we could with him being staff and me being a guest). 

Since I have returned to Oz, we have been in constant contact with each other, nightly Skype calls that last for hours and multiple text messages a day. 

He left the Maldivian island in April 2011 to return to Sri Lanka. I traveled to Sri Lanka for a month in May and whilst there, we made sure we took lots of photos together and kept all relevant receipts. Whilst there, he asked me to marry him and I accepted. We plan to marry in Sri Lanka in September, when I am returning for another month visit. 

The dilemma – He is not a skilled worker, so a WHV is out. No tertiary education, so Student Visa out. He has already been denied (unlikely to return) a Tourist Visa, despite a letter of invitation from me and statement on the application that I would be supporting him fully during his visit. Along with this, a Visa consultant in Sri Lanka has advised that VERY few PMV’s are approved in Sri Lanka and she meant very few.

SO, our only option is to marry and take our chances with a Spouse Visa. Like everyone else on this forum, we just want to be together and because of my home situation, the only option is him coming here.

My questions would be:

Is there ANYONE out there from Sri Lanka, who has had a PMV or Spouse Visa approved under similar circumstances? OR anyone from another high risk country?

Is AGEism rife in the immigration dept? Seems older men don’t have any issues with younger women, is the opposite true when the woman is older?

Would it be best to apply for either Visa whilst I am in Sri Lanka in person?

Thanks in advance. Any advice would be greatly appreciated


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## smurfsaway (Jun 27, 2011)

we are just new to looking at this all ourselvs as we have not yet applied but we wayed up the option of fiance or marriage and getting married increases your chances dramtically and especially seeing as your relationship is out of the norm i think that the dep. might be a bit surprised to the circumstances and may be trying to find why you to are doing this, but if you were married thats a big bonus because that is something you dont do lightly.best advice is just to print off the forms and read alll the info on immi and read through forums like this one.


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## Furryball (Aug 23, 2010)

I'd be interested to hear any opinions on 'ageism' too - I am 7 years older than my boyfriend (he is Aussie I am from the UK) and so we're having a few problems proving his employment for the last 2 years (as he's only had 1 job ever and that was from Oct 2009 until now and ongoing) and I have to be over here with him as he is still doing his apprenticeship so him moving to the UK is out.


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## smurfsaway (Jun 27, 2011)

we are 19 and 20 so i have only ever had a part time job during school so its no good but we will be married, but i think if you cant prove that then you might just have to have an aos


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## morehitz (Jun 28, 2011)

Thank you for your comments.

BUT I don't think being married adds a lot of weight when talking about Visa's 

Some comment from any of the mods, experienced members would be great.


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## aussiegirl (Dec 15, 2009)

Hi there,

If you can show enough documentary evidence of a genuine, loving, committed relationship, then the age shouldn't be an issue in terms of immigration law. There may be a problem, however, with local staff working at the embassy being culturally bias and giving you a hard time. 

There have been a few female posters here whose husbands applied through Cairo and were initially refused because the husband's were older than them, and they didn't have a big tradtional wedding (even though thier families were cool with this), among the major reasons given by the CO (and it was the same CO who worked on their cases).

So, in my view you have a good shot, but maybe you should also seek a migration agent or lawyer for more solid advice. They may be able to see some problems or issues I can't that could affect your chances.


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## morehitz (Jun 28, 2011)

Thank you Aussiegirl

Unfortunately I have heard nothing but bad things about the staff in the Sri Lanka immigration office, from both my fiance and his Visa consultant, but we will keep our fingers crossed.

We have the BIG traditional Sri Lankan wedding covered. Although I am certainly not what my fiance's mother had in mind when she was thinking of his future wife, I do get along very well with her and she made us promise that we wouldn't skimp on the wedding, so BIG and traditional it is.

I have also spent the time to teach myself some Sinhalese. Still a long way to go, but I can at least carry on a basic conversation and this will improve with more study. Hopefully, this will bode well with the Sri Lankan officials.

One probably SILLY question. Our long terms plans are to return to Sri Lanka to live when I am free to do so. Should we mention that in the application?

I'm sure that would please the Sri Lankan side, as all they seem to be concerned about is LOSING another citizen, (which is I'm sure the reason why they deny so many visas) but how would the Aussie side feel about that? Would that go against us in the long run?

Thanks


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## theskyisblue (Sep 28, 2010)

hi morehitz

I believe you when you say Sri Lankan visas are hard! A colleague of my best friend organised tourist visas for her brother & his wife to come to Australia for a 2 week visit earlier this year, and she had to front up w/ $30,000 bond before DIAC Sri Lanka would approve the visa! (ie $15,000 bond per applicant, to be repaid only once they've left Australia & returned home). Shocking.

I think its a good move that you are learning the local language. When I put together my fiance's visa app, I included a certificate from a language school that showed I'd been attending portuguese classes. I also included some emails where my partner & I had corresponded in basic portuguese. I think it helps to demonstrate that you're making an effort/committed to understand the culture of the other person.

I think you should be honest in the statements -- I wrote in mine that we will be living in Australia, however in a few years time we intend to live in my fiance's country for a year or two, and went further & said that we'd even looked at real estate together while I was there on my last visit. I also said that I felt comfortable his home city & undertaking day-to-day tasks (like going to banks, supermarkets, etc), and mixing with his friends/family there... I don't think its a bad thing to include it -- shows that your committed regardless of what happens!

all the best


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## morehitz (Jun 28, 2011)

Thank you theskyisblue

Wonderful tips and congratulations on getting your visa so quickly. From what I have read, 4-5 months is excellent.

I would be over the moon if we were that lucky, as we have already been told that a visitor visa is out of the question while we wait for a result and I don't have a lazy 30k to drop down for it.

I think enrolling in a language school is excellent advice. That way my efforts to learn the language would be somewhat officially documented.

We will also be looking at purchasing a block of land whilst I am over there in September. Although we will not be building on it until we return to Sri Lanka in possibly 5 years time (hopefully from Australia), I guess that also shows commitment to a long future together.

Thank you again.


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## SarahM (Feb 8, 2011)

Hi morehitz,

I wish you good luck with your application and that you get your visa. It seems that when it comes to your relationship being assessed by immigration - everything becomes a worry, ie: "what if they think we're not serious, what if they think we don't love each other".....

We get so worked up about everything, and it can be quite stressful. I'll be putting in my parter visa application in 3 weeks. My partner and are both 19 and we were convinced that immigration was not gonna take us seriously. In the end we got married, because we did want to get married and we wanted to give our application the best chance.

We love each other so much and we've already made plans to move back to his country (France). In our declarations we definately talked about future plans, eg "we've been to the fench consulate and authorised our marriage, we're aranging my French visa ect....".

Tell them a story, tell them about your future ambitions with your partner - if your 'history of relationship statement' ends something like "and then we got married and put in this visa application" it doesn't sound great, but if you say "now that we're married, we've already looked into buying a plot of land, we're looking at where I can work in his country......." - go for it 



morehitz said:


> Thank you theskyisblue
> 
> Wonderful tips and congratulations on getting your visa so quickly. From what I have read, 4-5 months is excellent.
> 
> ...


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## morehitz (Jun 28, 2011)

Thank you Sarah

What you've said makes perfect sense. 

I guess, if possible, on top of all the stress, we have to try and put ourselves in the CO's position and look at our completed applications as if we don't know the applicants.

Congratulations on your marriage and the VERY best of luck with your Visa.


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## SarahM (Feb 8, 2011)

Thanks for sharing your story - just keep the stress to a minimum and you'll be ok. I really hope you succeed, just as I hope all of us here who are in genuine relationships succeed. All the best !! 



morehitz said:


> Thank you Sarah
> 
> What you've said makes perfect sense.
> 
> ...


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## holly (Dec 11, 2011)

SarahM how did your visa ap go? And could you give me any info on how your application for the French side is going? My boyfriend is younger and French and so we may need to return to France if he decides to study at uni as upfront international fees in oz are crazy expensive. I am a science teacher and from most of what I've heard it's almost impossible to work in France if you're not native but I may have a chance through the teacher part. The immi site on France's end is complicated even for my frenchie to navigate so any tips from you would be appreciated


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## SandyF (Aug 31, 2013)

hi everyone I just want to say people in here I have big age gap with my partner he is Australian 53yo and im Sri Lankan 22 yo but with all our documents we lodge in Sri Lanka we got our 309 visa within 1 and half months believe or not... so when its coming to age I don't think its a big problem as lobg as your relationship is genuine and have enough documents to prove it..


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## Madu1980 (Apr 27, 2015)

Hi All, 
I lodged my Prospective Marriage VISA from SL , bit scare when ple are telling from Sri Lanka PMV success rate is low , any advise , My fiancé is coming to see me on June so I can ask him to register the marriage


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