Is your fiancée/wife/partner pregnant?

Is your fiancée (or wife or girlfriend) pregnant? Have you lodged a visa application yet?

We at Down Under Visa often get prospective clients contacting us via our free assessment form who:

(a) Tell us that their lady is pregnant, and;

(b) Clearly hope that we can either speed up an Australian partner visa application, or find another visa option that’s quicker.

Sadly we can’t speed things up. There is no possibility of expediting an application through the system because the applicant is pregnant. The fact is it’s NOT the most uncommon thing. It’s remarkably common. Being in love, and making babies? They seem to go together! I wouldn’t mind a dollar for every pregnant visa applicant we’ve had over the years.

So what can you do?

Other visa options?

You really only have one visa option if the applicant is already pregnant.

Partner Visas

That option obviously is one of the partner visa options, ie.

• Prospective Marriage Visa (aka fiancée visa) if you plan to bring her to Australia as your fiancée and marry her there
• Partner Visa (aka spouse visa) if you plan on marrying first

These are both offshore visas, and they are designed to bring fiancées, husbands and wives, and de facto partners together. We prepare the application and lodge offshore in Manila, and she waits for the visa to be granted.

Now, obviously this means giving birth NOT in Australia. Not ideal, but you need to face facts. They will NOT push your application to the head of the queue and push somebody else back in the line. It’s just the way it is.

So given this reality, start getting prepared for her giving birth in Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam or Southeast Asia. Not the end of the world. There are about 100 million Filipinos all born in the Philippines and a whole lot more Chinese in China, so it’s obviously not that bad. Be aware that medical care varies here from world-class right down to third-world. Don’t assume that it’s the same as Australia. Be prepared to spend enough to get the best possible treatment, and it will be a load off your mind. And you’ll find it not as expensive as you would expect.

Other visas?

Australian Visas are designed to fit certain scenarios, and are not known for their flexibility. Their criteria is set out in the Migration Regulations. Meet the Regulations, and you get a visa. Don’t meet them, and they are required to refuse the visa.

So trying to squeeze another visa into a shape that fits what you want to do? It will be doomed to failure. Try to pretend that the lady really wants to study hairdressing in Australia in order to get a student visa? They will see right through this. Trying to get a speedy tourist visa so she can stay, give birth and then get to remain in Australia? That won’t work either.

Best advice is that if you haven’t started preparation for an Australian Partner Visa yet, that you get on with it. Don’t put it off. The sooner we start, the sooner she (AND your new baby) will be there in Australia with you.

www.downundervisa.com