Philippines to Australia: Australian Visas, Frayed Emotions and a Journey You Will Never Forget

By Jeff Harvie

So, you met the love of your life in the Philippines! Maybe you were actively looking for someone from overseas, or maybe you just stumbled into each other one day whilst searching around on the web? Or maybe you were traveling overseas and someone stole your heart away? Or maybe someone you knew pulled you aside one day and said “Hey, you might like my cousin...”

Either way, you’ve found yourself head-over-heals in love, but she’s more than driving-distance away from your Aussie home. And like most Aussies, you haven’t the faintest idea what happens next! How can you get her to visit you in Australia, or maybe you’re at the stage where you want to know how can you bring her to Australia permanently so you can live your lives together?

Maybe you’ve already discovered that this will not be a simple or even a sure-fire process with a certain outcome. She needs a visa to come to Australia, despite whether you’re just boyfriend and girlfriend, engaged or even if you’re already married. You will discover that visas are GRANTS and not RIGHTS, and that there is a very real possibility you may be miserably unsuccessful with a big fat refusal on your hands!

Fortunately there IS hope, and there exists experts like Jeff Harvie RMA (MARN 0959797) and the team from Down Under Visa who spend their workdays managing Australian visa applications for Australian Filipina couples just like yourselves. In fact they do nothing else! No student visas from India and no work visas from the UK. They stick to what they know and what they do well. Jeff and his Filipina wife Mila have lived and worked in Manila Philippines for many years, and they actually went through the Aussie partner visa process themselves years before.

Jeff has produced this book to lift the veil on some of the issues that Australian Filipina couples can and will come up against in their journey through the maze that is Australian migration law. There is a lot of nonsense out there in online “advice” groups and from well-meaning friends and relatives. May this book give you some clarity, and may it help you to make your dreams come true.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jeff Harvie
• Release date: May 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463957059

Jeff Harvie

Jeff Harvie is a Registered Migration Agent from Australia, but residing and practicing in Manila Philippines as the owner of his family business Down Under Visa. He's married to Mila and has a house full of children. His son Jeremy and daughter Remy are also active in the business, along with Mila. Mila migrated to Australia years ago on a partner visa, so Jeff and Mila have been through the whole migration process themselves. This positions them uniquely where they can understand and empathise with clients and what they are going through. They specialise in the management of Australian visa applications for Australian Filipina couples. Jeff has produced this book to make the migration process just that little bit less scary.

Book preview

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Tourist Visas

How to get a tourist visa to Australia from Philippines

Australian tourist visas and the risk of overstaying

Extending a tourist visa in Australia

Filipina wife or girlfriend – Why does she need a visa to Australia?

Australian Tourist Visa from Philippines for loving couples

Partner Visas

Australian visas for same-sex marriages are here

De Facto Partner Visas for Australia

No more bare-bones partner visa applications

Tourist Visa? Or Fiance (Prospective Marriage) Visa?

Australian Permanent Partner Visa

Australian Visa Basics – Offshore Partner Visa

Australian visa basics – Prospective Marriage Visa

Eligible New Zealand Citizens

Annulment or De Facto Relationship?

Onshore or offshore partner visa – Which is best?

Can you get an onshore fiancée visa?

Not married or can’t marry, but want a partner visa?

Relationship evidence for onshore partner visa applications

Serial sponsors? Do they exist?

Prospective Marriage Visa versus Partner Visa

Marrying in Philippines. Is it a good idea? Part One

Marrying in Philippines. Is it a good idea? Part Two

Marriage and children and Australian visa applications

Visa Application Nuts and Bolts

Relationship evidence – Take it seriously!

Australian visa applications for Filipinos – The visa interview

Australian Visas and Pregnancy

Fast visa applications versus GOOD visa applications

Is your Australian visa application a valid visa application?

Take your Australian visa application and visa grant seriously

Where can I be when the visa application is lodged?

Can you apply for a bridging visa?

Is your migration agent legitimate?

Visa applications in the modern age

Bridging Visas – The Facts

The Visa Medical – What the doctors or nurses tell you

Australian visa applications – Medicals and Xrays

Visa requirements for Australian visa applications

Have you met the Filipina visa applicant in person?

NSO document issues

Correcting NSO document errors for Australian Visa applications

Australian Visas from Philippines and problems at the NSO

Bogus documents and Australian visa applications

The Philippines legal system for visa applicants

Bogus documents – Poison for Australian visa applications

Is an affidavit enough to fix a bogus document? Advice for Australian Filipina couples

Relationship Matters

Preparing for your Filipina lady arriving in Australia

Age gaps and Australian Partner Visas. Does it matter?

www.filipinawives.com.au for Australian Filipina couples

Filipina ladies in Australia and Domestic Violence

Philippines culture shock on the first visit

Aussie control-freaks? Welcome to the Philippines

Visas and Children and other family

Travel requirements for Filipino children

No stepping-stone visas from Down Under Visa

Citizenship By Descent for Filipino Kids

Do you need parental permission for a child to go to Australia?

Can my family follow me from Philippines to Australia?

Australian Partner Visas – Migrating with kids included

Australian partner visa applications. What about the children?

Philippines to Australia

Australian visas, frayed emotions and

a journey you will never forget

Jeff Harvie RMA

Copyright © Jeff Harvie 2018

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the copyright holders, nor be otherwise circulated in any form or binding or cover other than in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent publisher.

The information provided on this website is intended for informational purposes only and should not substitute for a Migration Agent. This information does not constitute migration or any form of professional advice.

We ask that you consult with a Registered Migration Agent, as your facts are unique and because each situation requires analysis from many different perspectives. We cannot be responsible if you rely on information based on this book without the consultation of a Migration Agent.

Jeff Harvie and Down Under Visa assumes no liability for the use or interpretation of information contained herein. The information is provided as is without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement of third party rights.

Lastly, please be aware that neither the book nor the use of information from the website creates an agent-client relationship.

www.downundervisa.com.au

Introduction

So, you met the love of your life in the Philippines! Maybe you were actively looking for someone from overseas, or maybe you just stumbled into each other one day whilst searching around on the web? Or maybe you were traveling overseas and someone stole your heart away? Or maybe someone you knew pulled you aside one day and said Hey, you might like my cousin…

Either way, you’ve found yourself head-over-heals in love, but she’s more than driving-distance away from your Aussie home. And like most Aussies, you haven’t the faintest idea what happens next! How can you get her to visit you in Australia, or maybe you’re at the stage where you want to know how can you bring her to Australia permanently so you can live your lives together?

Maybe you’ve already discovered that this will not be a simple or even a sure-fire process with a certain outcome. She needs a visa to come to Australia, despite whether you’re just boyfriend and girlfriend, engaged or even if you’re already married. You will discover that visas are GRANTS and not RIGHTS, and that there is a very real possibility you may be miserably unsuccessful with a big fat refusal on your hands!

Fortunately there IS hope, and there exists experts like Jeff Harvie RMA (MARN 0959797) and the team from Down Under Visa who spend their workdays managing Australian visa applications for Australian Filipina couples just like yourselves. In fact they do nothing else! No student visas from India and no work visas from the UK. They stick to what they know and what they do well. Jeff and his Filipina wife Mila have lived and worked in Manila Philippines for many years, and they actually went through the Aussie partner visa process themselves years before.

Jeff has produced this book to lift the veil on some of the issues that Australian Filipina couples can and will come up against in their journey through the maze that is Australian migration law. There is a lot of nonsense out there in online advice groups and from well-meaning friends and relatives. May this book give you some clarity, and may it help you to make your dreams come true.

Jeff Harvie

Tourist Visas

How to get a tourist visa to Australia from Philippines

How to get a tourist visa to Australia from Philippines?

A popular desire, most definitely. Successfully getting an Australian visa in the Philippines and properly applying for your visa to Australia from the Philippines for the Filipina lady you love. We at Down Under Visa get requests for a tourist visa to Australia from Philippines all the time, with many a lovestruck Australian man wanting his Filipina girl to come to Australia to be with him. The thought of seeing her face in the arrivals section at the Aussie airport wheeling her suitcase through the sliding doors and lighting up when she sees him. The thought of waking up the first morning to see that smiling face again instead of just a cold pillow. Magic! You fellahs get me, don’t you?

So how do you make this dream happen?

Well, by asking help from Down Under Visa, you’re certainly on the right track. Yes, you can save some money by doing it yourself. You can put it together the way you think it should be, and say something about Surely that’s all they want? It’s just a holiday visa after all!, and hope for the best.

And you can hope you’re not one of the approx. 1:5 or so who get their applications refused.

Or you can do what you appear to be doing and that is seeking the help of a professional, and increasing your chances considerably as well as reducing your stress levels and large amounts of confusion.

What are my requirements for a visa?

We’ve explained many a time why we can’t give you a list of paperwork requirements at this stage. Once you become our client, you will get a customized To-Do List which will suit your own situation, and that will happen after we start on your visa application.

Your own personal requirements to get an Australian tourist visa grant? Start with having a genuine relationship with your Filipina girlfriend and to be able to show this to people who really don’t know you. You are a stranger to them, so saying Surely they can see…….? won’t cut it at all, because from a lightweight application no they cannot see anything. They certainly can’t see what you can see. It’s like pointing at something when talking on the phone, and wondering why the other person doesn’t follow. They know nothing about you, and it’s up to you to show them you’re a genuine couple and have a good reason for your Filipina lady to visit you in Australia.

Do you have to visit her in the Philippines first?

Remember the days of dating? And this is assuming you are older, and your first dates weren’t via a text message saying Can you touch my hand? I want to tell my friends I’ve been touched by an angel. Did you ask the young lady to meet you at your place? Or did you go and pick her up from her place? Did you make that effort?

Now I will ask you: How do you think it looks to the Case Officers if you haven’t come here and met the girl in person, but you want her to come to you?

Yes, I know that many of you are busy with business/work, and there are good and practical reasons for her to meet your family and to see how you live in Australia. Plus, three months together is better than 10 days or so in the Philippines. However we’re talking about your first meeting. You can do the meet-the-family bit later. Right now, you should be doing the jetsetting version of ringing the doorbell with a bunch of flowers.

It’s a sign of how seriously you are taking the whole thing! It’s showing that you are NOT one of those sleazy characters who spend a couple of months chatting away with some Filipino woman and then getting a bed-partner for 3 months before sending her back and getting another. Yes, they exist. Or rather I should say they DID exist before the Embassy tightened up and started refusing (from our experience) all applicants who haven’t met in person before.

So, what are your practical visa requirements?

If you haven’t met the girl in person, go and meet her. Meet her friends and family, and go see where she lives and grew up.

Make sure your relationship has some substance. Don’t expect they will grant a visa to a girl you’ve known for 16 days, even if you HAVE met her in person.

And fill out a visa assessment form on the Down Under Visa website, and get some expert help and guidance!

Australian tourist visas and the risk of overstaying

Tourist visa applications to Australia from Philippines are not easy to get. Simpler that partner visas, but under a different type of scrutiny because these are the visas-of-choice for those who want to overstay and break visa conditions in Australia. These are the visas-of-choice for those who plan to work illegally in Australia.

So given that this is the gateway they use, DIBP staff are on the lookout for those whom they consider likely to try to overstay in Australia. If they feel that the visa applicant is high-risk, they will refuse the application.

So who is a high-risk visa applicant to Australia?

Tourist visas are for people visiting Australia for genuine reasons. They intend to visit to:

Visit friends or relatives

Spent time with a fiancée or partner

Do tourist things

If they believe confidently that the applicant intends to do these things, they have no problem. But if they are not certain, they will refuse the visa application. No choice, because that’s their job and it’s what Australia as a whole expects of them.

Tourist visa to visit family

Tourist visas from Philippines to Australia to visit family. Visa to bring younger sister out, or favourite cousin. Sounds easy, right? And surely you have the right to invite relatives to come over?

Unfortunately this is one of the risk groups because it’s one of the areas where families break the rules in order to help each other out.

Understand that there IS no right to invite a relative to Australia. You can invite whoever you want into your own house. Someone knocks at your door, it’s your decision what you want to do. But you don’t have the right to swing open the doors of Australia and beckon somebody in. The Immigration people in Canberra are the only ones who have that legal right. It’s written in the Constitution.

Yet Filipino families have a long-established tradition of sharing the good fortune and helping out the relatives, and this includes access to the Good Life in Australia. And many will bend the rules to do just that. So getting cousin Jenny or sister Cristina out on a tourist visa as a stepping stone, or for as long as she gets away with it, many will do this. Or bringing her out to take care of your new baby while your wife goes back to work, that all looks fairly harmless. The problem is it’s not what Australian tourist visas were designed for. Visiting and spending time together, and providing some moral support after birth of a baby? Sure. Providing a day-care service? No.

What it means is that they