Cost of Your Australian-Filipina Relationship

I think we all know about the Australian visa application charge increases for offshore partner visas on 1 July 2015, don’t we? For those who don't, they've raised the fees for offshore partner visas, ie. Subclass 300 Prospective Marriage Visas and Subclass 309 Partner Visas to match the cost of the ONSHORE Subclass 820 Partner Visa. They call it “harmonising”, as though it was an inequity that applicants paid less for visas lodged in Manila (or other countries) than those who lodge directly in Australia.

In a parallel universe, maybe this makes sense. But in this one, I don't see anyone saying “Hurray! Thank goodness it’s all fair now!” Anyway, it was a political decision to raise money obviously. And it was made by the politicians and not by the Manila Embassy and its staff. And rest assured, if there is a change of Government there will be no reduction in visa fees. There are no votes to be gathered from partner visa sponsors, and no effective lobbying.

I just did a survey of clients, as you would have seen in the last BLOG post. I was interested in how much money some of our Australian sponsors are spending on their offshore long-distance romances with their Filipina ladies. We've had I think 80 or so responses, to which I thank you all. And I particularly thank you all for the level of detail and for your candour. Again, it was and will remain confidential. I couldn't even guess who was who.

I didn't count every single figure. I did around half of them as I was starting to go cross-eyed. But I do believe I extracted enough data to back up a point I'm about to make.

Data first, and point after!

Facts and Figures

Meeting the lady of your dreams and building a relationship means you will need to travel, and you will need to spend money. In many cases sponsors choose to send money to support the lady in a more comfortable lifestyle, and in other cases they don't. But in all cases the sponsor will visit, and that means obviously an overseas trip. And most will visit 3 or more times before she gets her partner visa and comes to Australia. Overseas trips cost money. So do phone calls and internet connections.

The average amount spent over the length of a relationship, which is normally a couple of years, is AUD$29,086.47.

Surprised? I was. But then I'm personally out of touch, as my courting days are long behind me, and all my hotel bills were less than P1,000.00 a night at the time. Costs go up.

And there as a broad range too. Lowest anyone spent was $4,500.00, and I don't even want to say what the top cost was. There were plenty between $10,000.00 and $20,000. And I'm sure no one had a gun to their heads!

Visa Application Charge increases – Will they stop anyone?

They raised the fees by just over $2,000.00. And this is just 6 months after the last increase. Fair? Definitely not. Taking advantage of couples in love, and men who don’t want to spend the rest of their lives talking to the parrot they bought “for company”? Most definitely!

However, to a bunch of determined men who've met the sweetest ladies on the face of this earth and want to be happy for the rest of their lives? To a bunch of men who've already spent $29K on getting things this far? Will an extra $2K stop you and make you consider the Norwegian Blue parrot instead? Not bloody likely!

So again, hang in there. Down Under Visa professional fees are remaining the same, and we know they are reasonable because we hear what’s going on out there in the marketplace. And they are the best way of being as certain as you can that you don't waste the Government fees which you definitely will if you face a refusal! If you need a bit longer to raise the last bit, we understand completely. And like everything else that truly matters in this world, after a few years you will only ever remember how great your life has become due to your great decision, and you won't even remember the costs let alone care. A client just emailed me today and said "…would spend that 3 times over for her without batting an eyelid!" Well said!