I’ve said this many many times. Australian visas are grants. They are not rights! The Federal Government is Constitutionally allowed to make laws to decide who gets into Australia and who doesn’t, and that’s just what they do. You have the right to apply for a visa from Philippines, and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection has a right to make a decision and to enforce the laws surrounding those decisions.

Whilst most of our clients who want a visa from Philippines to Australia take the process seriously, there are those who seem to think they are almost in a shop were the customer is always right and they can simply order up their visa grant how they want. We spend a lot of time telling applicants that it’s not like that at all.

Focus on your visa application and visa grant….or lose it!

You need a visa so you can be together in Australia

It’s actually as simple as that. No visa means she stays in the Philippines. Make a valid visa application that follows all the rules and meets all the criteria written in the Migration Regulations for that particular visa, and you can reasonably expect them to grant it. Then follow the rules that apply to that visa after it’s granted, and you and your Filipina wife or fiancée will get what you wanted all along.

But if you break those rules, things can go wrong!

Breaking rules, lying, leaving important information out, submitting bogus documents? We’ve had quite a number of articles on those topics and I always hope I’ve made those points clear.

But the article today is about some of the lethargy and casual attitudes that exist in some visa clients. I don’t really know why, but in some cases I think it comes from those who are not fully committed. And it’s mostly from the lady applicants. Now, I don’t and can’t get involved in clients relationships of course. I’m mostly impressed with how devoted our couples are to each other and to the visa process that will bring them together. Other times? We could swear the girl isn’t that interested.

Sometimes too it’s probably to do with the girl being young and a bit unsophisticated. Life in the province can be a bit simple and casual at times, but a provincial approach to a visa application can definitely cause problems. And the influence of older relatives with their own priorities can mess an application up.

What can go wrong with a visa application or visa grant

Trying to help relatives: One of the most troublesome issues in a partner visa application is when a Filipina tries to get a sister, cousin, parent, etc to basically “tag along” on the partner visa application or wants to get them a work visa or similar at the same time. This comes from the Filipino practice of sharing perceived “good fortune” with relatives, often to pay back some utang (debt for past kindness) this way. It won’t work!

Home and barangay matters getting in the way: I can recall an Australian sponsor once saying he was annoyed because his fiancée had to organize some visa paperwork, but she was cooking for the Barangay Fiesta. I’ve heard of cases where housework or taking care of a relative’s kids has been an excuse for not doing important things.

Trying to get visa grants and first entry to Australia to match kids schooling: Very common one. Rules about school enrolment and starting times, as well as finishing at the correct date, this is very important here in Philippines. However the Department will never match a visa grant with school needs, and partner visas have specific rules about when you must enter Australia. The school needs must come second!

Missing family members: My wife had her first trip after marriage to me 3 years after she arrived in Australia, and she was OK with that. We’ve had applicants with prospective marriage visas who have wanted to spend more time back in the Philippines with their parents than with their fiancée in Australia. How do you imagine this would look on the next application for an onshore partner visa when your heart was with your parents more than with your husband?

Putting family members ahead of Australian husband: Difficult to deal with if the girl has relatives putting pressure on her especially in matters of money, but also in matters of helping relatives to get to Australia or in not wanting to give up grandchildren. If you don’t get this one right, your marriage is doomed to failure. The girl and her family will need to adjust to the reality of the new man and the new family, as well as to Australian ways.

You are migrating to Australia to build a new family. Don’t mess it up! You’re organizing to migrate to another country, and that means a process with complex, strict and inflexible rules. You need to be prepared to work within the rules, rather than expecting the rules to adjust to suit you.

And you are also making probably the biggest step of your entire life. You are leaving your country and culture and heading to a new land where everything is very different, and making a new life in a home you will share with your new husband. If your relationship is genuine and you truly love each other, you will build your life around him there in Australia and make your own family together. Your husband and your kids will be the focus of your life, and your parents and siblings will be far less so. And if you bring kids with you, they will soon be Aussie kids and this will be their dad. And what a great life you will all have.

Please don’t do anything to mess it up! It’s not worth it!