# Advice on how to get girlfriend into aus please!?



## gatfield (Jul 31, 2011)

Hi there
I'm wanting to make an inquiry into what visa options are available and some recommendations on how to bring my colombian girlfriend to aust to live. Iam Australian living in aus. She is colombian and has been living in uk for 2 years under student visa. She is 29. Has a bachelor degree in computer engineering she did in colombia. Has work experience in IT, doing technical support and project management but has not been working in that field for 2 years while she has been studying in uk doing a diploma in business management which she has just finished. 

We met in july 2010 while i was on holiday in uk. soon after we started a long distance relationship and have been communicating almost everynight through skype, email etc. I went over and visited her just recently for a month. We genuinely love each other and want to be together but situations so far have not made it possible for us to live together longer term. 

We have been looking at various options. 1. Skilled independent migrant - she should have just enough points (65) with her age, degree, and good english. 2. apply for a partner visa - issue is I don't know if we can prove a defacto relationship - could I please have some advice on this? What are the average processing times for these sorts of partner visas? 3. she apply for a study visa or something then later on apply for partner visa - is this possible?Is there other visa's that are easier to get which then if we keep developing our relationship , live together etc be able to apply for a partner visa later? 4. I go live with her in uk or colombia for a time so we have more proof of a relationship. 5. she apply for a work visa - could you please advise whether she is likely to get a sponsor company or how we go about looking for one?? 
Sorry this has been long winded but any advice is appreciated. 
Thank you!


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## voebe (Apr 15, 2011)

You can try and get a working holiday visa for her, and you two can use that time to live together and gather more evidence as a couple and then apply for a spouse visa.

The option of you going over to the UK or colombia while you try and fulfil the living together requirement sounds feasible too because an offshore spouse visa costs alot less.

Alternatively any other substantive visa will do eg student visa, skilled independent migrant etc and then apply for a partner visa. Processing time for a partner visa is curently 9-12 months.

All your options sound good, really you just have to pick one that suits you.

It all depends on how much money you are willing to spend (to me student visa option sounds the most expensive), how easy it would be for either one of you to pack up and go live with the other for 12 months in whichever country.

Maybe a bit more information about what you would prefer to do then maybe people on here can help you with how you can do that because all the options you presented can all be done, you just need to pick one.


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## theskyisblue (Sep 28, 2010)

I don't think colombians can get working holiday visas for Australia... 

It would be very easy however for you to get a working holiday visa for UK (only takes a few days from what I understand), so you could go over straight away & start living together while you organise an australian visa for her. It would look great for your spouse visa application if you can show that you went to live in another country in order to be with your partner. And at least in UK, you would be able to work too!


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## dan (May 16, 2011)

#1 best option if she satisfies the criteria
#2 would be hard
#3 is definitely an option, but will be expensive. does she want to do further study??
#4 is an option. colombia is a great country and it'd be good for you to understand where she comes from. on another note, if she has been living in the UK for so long does this mean that she has dual citizenship?? if she has a UK passport that means she can get a working holiday visa for australia. if you can do this then that would make it very easy for her to come here and for you to eventually meet the requirements for a defacto visa.
#5 she has to find a job and apply for it... so start looking on seek.com.au. i would say this is not an easy option unless she has "in demand" skills.


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## gatfield (Jul 31, 2011)

Thanks very much for your msgs they have given me some things to think about. I'll post what options I would like to take. Cheers Drew


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## gatfield (Jul 31, 2011)

Thanks Dan for your advice.
She doesn't really want to do any further study because she has been studying for so long and yep would be expensive. So think no. 3 and 2 are out at this stage. Option 1 skilled migrant looks very expensive too just looking on the immigration website- like $3,000 for 1st installment then about $4,000 for 2nd installment. And average time it says 18 months. Any idea on when this 2nd installment needs to be paid? Option 4 - going to Colombia does sound very exciting but i'm worried about the safety over there and plus I don't speak spanish, only a couple of words. Hey,I could go study spanish over there maybe. Has anyone done that before?? So that could be a good option like you said. No she doesn't have dual citizenship unfortunately, she has just had a student visa over there and extended it a few times. See her visa runs out in the UK in November and so she has to go back to Colombia. She is asking whether she can extend her visa there so it could give us time for me to go over to uk and be together for a time. If she can't extend it, it's not really worth going over there if she has to leave very soon after I could get there.


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## gatfield (Jul 31, 2011)

apparently it will be very difficult for her to extend her visa in uk. Are there any other visas / options for a colombian to get to aust?? I was just thinking with all the indians like driving taxis and such, how do they get here?? There has got to be ways of that she can come here?????


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## dan (May 16, 2011)

most of the indians are students...

#4 - go and live with her in colombia. i've spent a few months travelling through colombia and it's nowhere near as dangerous as you might think. the major cities like medellin, bogota and cali are pretty safe. some of the areas near the border are a bit hairy tho. you could do a bit of travelling through peru/argentina/brazil/etc as well which would be great. spanish is pretty easy to learn and would be a fun experience.

of course, there is always...
#6 propose and get a fiance visa


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## SarahM (Feb 8, 2011)

I second Dan, you should consider the prospective marriage visa. Once granted, you get 9 months from the date of the grant to get married in whichever country you want, and also within the 9 months you must enter Australia and apply for the partner visa.
Prospective Marriage Visa (Subclass 300)


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## angelica (Sep 16, 2011)

Hi I think prospective marriage visa is the best way to go
I am a colombia girl also and met my fiance last year when I went o visit him in aussie, also spent 3 months together till last 311st of august
and now we applied for a prospective marriage visa in Chile's embassy
hoping everything will go well and we'll be soon together
best luck
angie


gatfield said:


> Hi there
> I'm wanting to make an inquiry into what visa options are available and some recommendations on how to bring my colombian girlfriend to aust to live. Iam Australian living in aus. She is colombian and has been living in uk for 2 years under student visa. She is 29. Has a bachelor degree in computer engineering she did in colombia. Has work experience in IT, doing technical support and project management but has not been working in that field for 2 years while she has been studying in uk doing a diploma in business management which she has just finished.
> 
> We met in july 2010 while i was on holiday in uk. soon after we started a long distance relationship and have been communicating almost everynight through skype, email etc. I went over and visited her just recently for a month. We genuinely love each other and want to be together but situations so far have not made it possible for us to live together longer term.
> ...


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## darrylbulger (Nov 26, 2011)

*prosective marrigae visa questions*

Hello ANGELICA ,my fiance and I are applying for a PMV ,we have just about got all our documents together and are going threw a immigration lawyer to do our visa as expensive as it is we want everything right . My fiance is from Pereira in Colombia ,did you have to go threw any major dramas because your from Colombia ,also in one question they ask how much money will you be bringing with you ? my fiance want be bringing any money other than what I send her for her travelling to here ,Iam obviously doing a sponsorship Doc , is it a drama she has no money to talk about ? . if you could give me some ideas of any problems you may have occured ,that we might considering where she is coming from . my employment is good my income also . any advise also how long did it take you to get your visa as we want to plan a wedding . thanks Darryl


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## angelica (Sep 16, 2011)

*hey darryl!!!*

how are you!!! would love to share with you what be have been going through! By the way i live in pereira too!
angelica



darrylbulger said:


> Hello ANGELICA ,my fiance and I are applying for a PMV ,we have just about got all our documents together and are going threw a immigration lawyer to do our visa as expensive as it is we want everything right . My fiance is from Pereira in Colombia ,did you have to go threw any major dramas because your from Colombia ,also in one question they ask how much money will you be bringing with you ? my fiance want be bringing any money other than what I send her for her travelling to here ,Iam obviously doing a sponsorship Doc , is it a drama she has no money to talk about ? . if you could give me some ideas of any problems you may have occured ,that we might considering where she is coming from . my employment is good my income also . any advise also how long did it take you to get your visa as we want to plan a wedding . thanks Darryl


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## darrylbulger (Nov 26, 2011)

*pmv advise*

Hi Angelica ,Id love to chat to you about this visa and maybe some of the things your going through ,do you speak english when I was in Pereira recently I found it hard to talk to anyone my fiance only speaks about 50% ,hope to hear from you ,by the way I enjoyed Pereira we also went to Cartegena for some days it was great . MY EMAIL address is [email protected] if you would prefer to contact me on that . bye Darryl


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## gatfield (Jul 31, 2011)

darrylbulger said:


> Hi Angelica ,Id love to chat to you about this visa and maybe some of the things your going through ,do you speak english when I was in Pereira recently I found it hard to talk to anyone my fiance only speaks about 50% ,hope to hear from you ,by the way I enjoyed Pereira we also went to Cartegena for some days it was great . MY EMAIL address is [email protected] if you would prefer to contact me on that . bye Darryl


Hi all 
Its been over 12 months since my last post and I'm still in a long distance relationship with my Colombian girlfriend. I'm going over to visit her next month for 3 months to meet her family and decide if we want to get engaged. If all goes well then we intend on applying for a PMV. We were also thought that maybe if things go really well then maybe we could get married while over there. Is the partner visa easier, cheaper and quicker to apply for than a PMV? Is the processing times generally less for a partner visa than a PMV? And also I've read that some countries require a No impediment to marry certificate. Has anyone had any experience in getting married in Colombia? What requirements/ documents / timeframes from engagement to marriage would be asked for when seeking to get married in Colombia? We have known each other now for over 2 years but have only spend a month total actually living together. Because our relationship has been mostly long distance we don't have a lot of evidence. Our main evidence is skype chat and calls and photos of when I visited her last time just over 12 months ago and photos of when we first met over 2 years ago. Is the evidence requirement for partner visa (even if your married) greater than a PMV? I've been searching the forums to try and find what to do but it seems that majority of couples have been able to live together for a good period of time , which we haven't been able to. It says on the immi website average prcessing times are 5-9 months for the PMV, that is a long time apart again so we thought that maybe getting married would quicken the waiting time. Or is it best to stick with the PMV route?

ps sorry for all the questions, for all the Colombian's or Colombian partners out there I would love to hear from you.

Cheers Drew


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## darrylbulger (Nov 26, 2011)

Hello , dont get married overseas this is what immigration hear dont want you to do , Apply for a PMV , its not as hard as you might think but you must do it right . My fiance just got her visa approved , 5 months after the application was lodge ,she will be here in 7 days ,we are very happy . Dont try any short cuts , just follow the system , its hard being apart for several months but if you talk everyday on Skype its not to bad ,there is obviously a lot of trust involved in the relationship ,but thats what its all about ,if you cant trust each dont go any further with it . I would definately do the Pmv , yes your evidence is very important in proving your relationship with the Embassy ,good luck ,Darryl


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## Guest (Sep 18, 2012)

Hi gatfield, here's my story I think you'll be interested! 

I'm British and my now husband is Australian! We met 3 yrs ago whilst he was living in the uk! After a very long, long distance relationship I arrived here on June 28th on a 3 month tourist visa! We got married last Friday (14th) for under $1000 on the beach it was perfect! We're now lodging our spouse visa on Thursday (20.09.12) as we have more than enough evidence to prove out love and commitment! As others have commented that the visa costs $1000 less by applying offshore, this is true but flights to either country are much more! 

Stay on this Australia forum as we could have never come this far without it! 

I'll subscribe to this post and update it to let you know if its a success which I have no doubt it will! 

So just another idea for you!

Hope it helps!

Laura.


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## hondalee12 (Jun 16, 2012)

Enter on a tourist visa then apply for a partner visa 820.


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## gatfield (Jul 31, 2011)

*pmv or partner visa*



hondalee12 said:


> Enter on a tourist visa then apply for a partner visa 820.


Hi all thanks a lot for your reply's. And congratulations Darryl that is wonderful news! and thanks for your comment. the 820 partner visa is onshore. The problem is because she is from a 'high risk' country she probably will only get a 3 month tourist visa with probably a no further stay applied to the visa. Plus financially it is difficult because she would have to quit her job and she supports her mum 100% financially. So the onshore partner visa is not good for us.

Agreed Darryl, the PMV is the safest route, just hope it doesn't take so long, plus it means another flight back later for the wedding. But better that we get more time to be together before tying the knot.

we have started preparing evidence like skype chat calls etc, plus she has begun getting police certificates etc. It appears the documents i need is copy of birth certificate passport and letter from my work. 
What are some of the types of evidence that you put in your application??

Hi Laura thanks for sharing your story and congratulations to you too. Its good to know someone else has been in a long long distance relationship for a long time. please keep us posted how yours go.
Cheers Drew


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## bma (Sep 28, 2011)

Just follow darrylbulger's advice and apply for a PMV. Try to get as much evidence as possible, check the Partner migration booklet: Partner Migration Booklet
All the best!


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## darrylbulger (Nov 26, 2011)

Hi Drew , as far as evidence goes ,we had every email we ever sent each other ,we used Windows live ,We had lots and lots of photos ,I went to Colombia a couple of times and was able to get photos of myself and family members together , airtickets showing both names , hotel accomadation with both names , evidence of places we visited together in Colombia . We had no record of talking on Skype or windows live as we always talked live ,so there was no recording of conversations . It is far better for the relationship to talk face to face live . I sent my fiance some money every friday via Western Union so we had all the reciepts from that right up until the visa was approved, I still sent those reciepts to the case officer , just to show my financial support . I even gave the an unofficial relationship update ,which they recieved , then two days later the visa got approved ! I figure give them as much evidence about your relationship as you can without becoming a pest to the case officer . I feel we did everything possible and it just went threw well with out a problem . the interview was done exactly two months prior to approval , Good luck Darryl


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## Celine (Sep 17, 2012)

voebe said:


> . Processing time for a partner visa is curently 9-12 months.


Can it take less that 9 months? If you apply for a partner visa, it is to apply for a temporary residency at the same time, am I right?


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## Celine (Sep 17, 2012)

voebe said:


> Processing time for a partner visa is curently 9-12 months.


Can it take less that 9 months? If you apply for a partner visa, it is to apply for a temporary residency at the same time, am I right?


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## crasht (May 18, 2012)

Darryl, YOU GUYS GOT APPROVED??? Congrats! Excellent news and that really gives us hope as well. Was it 5 months total that it took for you?

Regards

Nathan and Carolina


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## gatfield (Jul 31, 2011)

Hi all I was speaking to an migration agent yesterday about our situation and he recommended get my Colombian girlfriend to come on a tourist visa to Aust and get married here. He said that its much quicker than applying for pmv offshore. What do you guys think? Also if you apply for a partner visa in Aust does she have to be in Aust when the visa is granted?


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## crasht (May 18, 2012)

Hi Gatfield,

Could you elaborate your situation a little more so applicants in similiar situations might consider this an option? I believe the reason why most people do not do this is because it clearly states that people found to be coming to Australia with intentions other than their visa can actually have their visa cancelled and jeapordise further applications... ie, to come here on a Tourist visa to get married is not coming here to be a tourist is it??? This is exactly why we did not see this as an option for our situation and I am surprised if this is acceptable. 

Thanks for bringing this up though, but I would check that out if I was you in case you do find out the hard way.

Best Regards
Nathan


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## bma (Sep 28, 2011)

gatfield said:


> Hi all I was speaking to an migration agent yesterday about our situation and he recommended get my Colombian girlfriend to come on a tourist visa to Aust and get married here. He said that its much quicker than applying for pmv offshore. What do you guys think? Also if you apply for a partner visa in Aust does she have to be in Aust when the visa is granted?


I see two problems with your agent's suggestion:
your girlfriend might not get a tourist visa so easily and if she does get one, the visa could have a No Further Stay condition and she wouldn't be able to lodge an onshore 820 visa application.

About processing times:
you can check the forum and you'll see that people with good applications, married, good evidence, years of relationship, from Western Europe and so on, have been waiting for their 820 visas for a year, year and a half even (Brisbane). Yes, some do get their visas granted really fast, but that's only a few applicants, the rest are in a queue, a lot of them without working rights.
My partner's application is a good one, with a lot of evidence (financial and all), pretty straightforward, medicals and police checks included, many Stat Decs, and we've been waiting for the visa since April (Sydney). We were sure our application would be granted in a week, and here we are, still waiting after five months.

I'm just a forum user and not an agent, but I think PMV is a better option, your fiance will also have work rights from the start...



crasht said:


> Hi Gatfield,
> 
> Could you elaborate your situation a little more so applicants in similiar situations might consider this an option? I believe the reason why most people do not do this is because it clearly states that people found to be coming to Australia with intentions other than their visa can actually have their visa cancelled and jeapordise further applications... ie, to come here on a Tourist visa to get married is not coming here to be a tourist is it??? This is exactly why we did not see this as an option for our situation and I am surprised if this is acceptable.
> 
> ...


Well, a lot of foreign people (who don't migrate) come to Australia as tourists to get married, so I don't see such a problem about entering a country to be married. But an intent to entry a country as a tourist/visitor, get married and stay (lodge an 820 visa application) is something much more difficult to explain to the authorities (cause so many things have to be mentioned in Statutory Declarations).
Also there's a problem of getting a tourist visa without NFS, and the matter of evidence. Would the applicant have enough evidence for a partner visa application to be granted? PMV needs a lot less evidence.
In my opinion you did the right thing, applying for a PMV with your fiance...

All the best!


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## gatfield (Jul 31, 2011)

Hi all thanks everyone for your advice especially Daryl. To give you an update my girlfriend and I recently got engaged after i spent 3 months in Colombia living with her and meeting her family and everything. We are really excited and are very busy pulling all our evidence together to apply for a pmv. Thanks for your advice , I think we've chosen the best visa. 

I think we have more than enough evidence to prove our relationship, but there is one area we need further information on as the immi site and booklet aren't clear. It's regards to my girlfriends mum. She is 100% financially dependent on my girlfriend and therefore she needs to be included in the application as a dependent even though she is not migrating with my girlfriend. (Well at least not initially). The thing is later on we might want to bring the mum out to Aust as well depending on what the situations like. So we are unsure if we tick no she is not migrating with us on this pmv,can we still include her later on somehow?? Has anyone had an experience with a dependent in their visa?? Or if we tick yes her mum is migrating with us, how does that effect things? Also if anyone has any advice on what sort of evidence they need to show she is dependent would be greatly appreciated. Hopefully we'll have the visa ready to be submitted in a coupe weeks. 

Also we are thinking of getting a migrant agent in Colombia to give us some feedback and advice with our visa. Has anyone used any in Colombia?? There are 3 registered MARA agents that have offices in Bogota - mivisaaustrala and vivaaustralia anyone used them before? 

Thanks
Drew


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## kttykat (Oct 30, 2012)

bma said:


> .....the rest are in a queue, a lot of them without working rights.


I agree with everything you said BMA except as I understand it now, from November 24th 2012, they now issue a BVA with full working rights automatically. Also if you are on another bridging visa without work rights that you can easily apply for working rights without having to prove hardship.

I still think the PMV would be the best way to go as the 8503 no further stay would be more than likely with the tourist visa option.

I am not a migration agent either so this is just IMHO.

Kttykat


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## darrylbulger (Nov 26, 2011)

Hello Drew ,my fiance has been here now from Colombia for 4 1/2 months and things are good . As far as using an immigration agent over there ,you must remember your appling for an Australian visa ,not a Colombian visa ! . We found the Embassy in Chile are pretty on to everything being right , I had a immigration lawyer here do our visa application ,.we got it approved in 5 months ,my fiance had an interview in Bogota with no problems . Get the health check done prior to sending your application in ,but only just before . If you can lodge the application then straight away have the health check arrive well its real good we found . the actual doctor forwards the health check to the Embassy . they will ask you for a free to marry document that the your fiance will have to get from the Notory office ,also remember they want except anything but originals with the documents ,we first sent photo copies of the originals and they would not except them . Mate Iwould not tick that the mother is immigrating in your PMV , This visa is really just between you and your fiance at this stage ,it may not go over well with immigration think your possibly trying to bring the family in here . Mate if you need anymore advise Iam happy to give it from our experiances . Good Luck Darryl


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## gatfield (Jul 31, 2011)

Thanks David again, it's wonderful to hear that you got yours in 5 months, quite exciting hopefully ours will be similar. I rang immigration the other day and they told me you'd only fill in the 47a form details of dependents if her mum was migrating with my girlfriend. But I'm still not 100% sure if we have to include her as a dependent even though she is not migrating with us. because the form says this form must be completed for each dependent aged 18 years or over whether migrating or not. And in the partner booklet 1 it says health and character checks are required for all your dependents whether they are migrating with you or not. I wonder if its easier to not mention she is financially dependent? I just want to do the right thing. And later we may want to bring her out.. We pretty much have everything else sorted, except we'll look at doing health check before lodging. Cheers


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## gatfield (Jul 31, 2011)

Basically are we better off, safer, to leave her mum off this pmv and get a tourist visa for her to come out for the wedding, and then down the track if decide to bring her to Aust then apply for like a parent visa?? The only thing with a parent visa it's about 15 years wait in a queue.


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## Ausstart National (Aug 22, 2012)

You won't be able to add the mother to any of the applications, unless for the your partners mother lives with your partner full time, and will continue to live full time with you both.

the PMV is a good option, but then you will have to commit to the marriage, and it is a big step for you both. If you feel you are both ready for that, then that is an option.

If your partner has 2 years closely related experience in her Engineering major, go for the 189. Get the skill assessment, and put the EOI in.


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