“I want to come over to the Philippines and marry her, then I want to bring her straight back with me.”

I imagine I’ve written something on this topic before, but it needs to be covered again. I would say that Down Under Visa would get a couple of these requests every week. And I wish I could just say “Sure! We can do that!”, but I can’t say it because it’s not possible. In a fairer world? Yes. But that’s not the way the system works.

As Aussies, we are accustomed to a fairly user-friendly world around us. We raise our voices and say “This isn’t fair!” and that world around us tends to listen. Complain to the manager, write to the local paper, call the local Member or complain to one of the consumer advocacy outlets that seem to be everywhere, and they all go into bat for you.

However, Immigration isn’t like that. An Australian Citizen has lots of rights in Australia, but the visa applicant is not an Aussie Citizen! They don’t have a right to be in Australia, and they need to wait their turn. The Legislation that makes up Australian Migration Law is about protecting Australia’s borders and letting in those whom Australia decides is good for the country. If there’s a toss-up between the needs of Australia and the needs of the applicant, Australia wins every time.

So please understand that you are not a “customer”. You are not purchasing a service, and there is no “right” for you to be able to bring your wife to Australia at all, let alone when you want her to be in Australia. Visas are “grants”, and not rights. So you need to be a bit cap-in-hand when applying. Expecting that the Australian Embassy will adjust their processes to match your travel plans? It ain’t gonna happen!

Australian Partner Visa Processing

The average processing time for a prospective marriage visa or partner is 9 months at the moment. I had one the other day that only took 4 ½ months. But the one before that took nearly 13 months.

And the application needs to be prepared. We don’t do rush-jobs. We submit the application when it’s properly-prepared and ready so that when they pick it up they will hopefully find all that the need to make a decision. We want them to see your situation so clearly that they have no doubts as to the genuineness of your relationship, and that you meet the Migration Regulations for a visa grant. A quick application takes a month to prepare. Most take longer than this.

Tourist Visas?

Tourist visas are simpler applications, and at the moment they’re taking on average 2 – 3 weeks to process.

By themselves, they are not much of an option for a married couple, because they are TEMPORARY. They are designed for visitors who visit, have a nice holiday, and then return. They are not designed so you can live together, or that you can put off getting a partner visa. Please read HERE

However, we can apply for tourist visas so that you can spend most of your partner visa processing time (or waiting time) together. But be aware of something important here:

• The applicant must be outside of Australia when the application is lodged!
• They may be inside Australia during the processing, as long as they return when the Embassy tells us the partner visa is ready for a decision, ie the applicant must also be outside Australia when the visa is granted. But must be still in the Philippines when we lodge the application!

Not necessarily what you would hope for, but it is how it is. We will never lie to you or make promises that can’t be fulfilled. Please complete our free visa assessment form on the website, and we will give you an assessment including a realistic timeframe to work within. There’s a lot of work in a sound Australian partner visa application, and there are Regulations that need to be followed. But the end result is worth the effort and also worth the wait.