Visa for Australia

Or, how I imported my wife - a tale starting in 2006 and still going

Bugger, you think getting your wife-to-be a visa for Australia will be a straight-forward and smooth process. After all, you're an upstanding Australian citizen who found the girl of your dreams overseas, right? And the government (the guys you pay lots of taxes to) has whole departments sorting through all the riff-raf also after a visa for Australia. Sadly, the process to get her a visa for Australia is about to take away a good chunk of your life.

Our first quest to find the elusive prospective spouse visa (subclass 300 - of course) ...

You're good person. A decent, everyday Australian citizen, born of generations of great Australians before you. For many years you've payed your dues with a burden of tax to make a mule proud, doing your part to stoically support the institution and fund their political junkets and the necessary bureaucracy without complaint. Now, all you want is to do is thank God for your luck break in finding a wonderful sweet woman, and bring her over to and commit to each other in a haze of white and confetti.

ALAS! Rude shock sets in. We DON'T believe your intentions are genuine, Sir, and THOU ART A LIER. That's the official starting position of the Department of Immigration that changes your life and launches on an eternal quest - the quest to a Visa for Australia. You will now dedicate your life to this quest, gathering every shred of evidence. Each insignificant minutiae of your life now might transform into that critical piece of supporting evidence - another piece of armour. You will encircle about yourself your band of merry men - every able bodied person who can write a stat dec will be called to arms. The quest has begun. You will prove your integrity. You will defend your choice of wife and win her honour.

Insignificant minutiae you say? Why on earth would the Commonwealth of Australia have any interest in the half Chinese movie ticket to Shrek 2 Trust me, it all counts. You're going to start getting very good at keeping every scrap of anything that might prove your lady and yourself have a 'real and genuine' relationship. Do you see movies? Did you take a 4 hour plane trip cramped together in dodgy Chinese economy class together to see some mountain she said was romantic? What about ticket stubs from those acrobatic Mongolian midget and that event, generously termed a concert, of indigenous screeching music? You want anything that can prove you go out and do things that madly in love couples do. I need concrete examples, not these words of fluff you say. Well, generously I will provide the incomplete list my failing memory allows:

• Her passport
• Her birth certificate
• Her family book
• Your birth certificate
• Receipt from when you paid for for her application - you were going to pay right? If you were really in love, you'd pay
• 4 Passport sized photographs of the lovely lady
• 2 photos of yourself (passport sized of course)
• An engaging, oozing and lightly romantic read on how she thinks you met and fell deeply in love; and...
• A corresponding, manly, statement from yourself that matches hers fact for fact but less oozing - you're a man
• A copy of your Australian passport
• Stat decs from everyone's parents about how wonderful it is you finally found a lovely girl and how she sounds lovely on the phone
• Photos...

Photos you say? What sort of photos? Get used to that camera lump in your pocket that feels like some sort of malformed, gross bodily growth. You're about to capture the next part of your life on film or digital bits (don't forget to back them up). We go to a movie - *flash* (not inside the movie of course). Walking down the street... *FLASH!*. Good - got some strange people in the background - proves we've been seen in public. Few mates around for a beer? FLASH FLASH FLASH. Good, now you've got evidence that your friends know you as a couple in public - just in case you were hiding her in the back of a dark cave. More evidence...

• Photocopies of long-distance phone cards, emails, phone bills - all forms of communication no matter how personal
• A letter from your priest, pastor or celebrant which goes a long wayAs many statutory declarations as can be produced by anyone you so much showed a picture of your lady to, even better those who've met you as a couple (when you let her out of the cave)
• Forms...

Oh yeah, all copies should be certified. And don't send originals as they 'go missing'.

Your quest nears the end and you take a ragged breath through gritted teeth. You think collecting all this stuff and shoving it in an envelope is enough? Of course not. Though the end of the application is near, you must now conquer the final challenge - the cover letter. Yes, the intricate web of evidence supporting your visa to Australia must now be individually numbered and presented in reference format for the cover letter.

Why must we do this? Can't they see the evidence of our labour in the 1/2 kilo of paper and photographs that lie at our feet? Yes they can, but the cover letter gives it more meaning. it gives you an extra place to describe why you've included each piece. "Certified copies of movie tickets from our visit see Kung-Fu Hustle, our first martial arts flick". It's romantic things like this that you can only really illustrate colourfully in your cover letter. And it also shows your Immigration Case Manager how much evidence you've got to prove your case - and how serious you are about this woman.

Yes, don't forget your Forms. What's bureaucracy without mound upon mound of paper? How many forms you may ask? Well there are 2 important ones (40SP and 47SP rant about these follows in the next paragraph). And there are a couple of smaller ones like 956 - if you've brought on a Migration Agent to take you by the hand in your earnest quest to a Visa for Australia. There's another one to if they think you're bringing her to mooch off the government (God forbid you'd like the welfare system you pay for to support the woman you love) to say that of course you're going to pay for her to live here. Like you were going to bring her over, shake her hand and point her at the job classifieds.

Anyway, I digress. The paperwork for the 40 and 47 forms is coloured by minor, almost insignificant differences in wording. 47SP is the "Application For Migration To Australia By A Partner" of course, not to be confused by 40SP not to be confused with form 40SP "Sponsorship For A Partner To Migrate To Australia". Note the subtle differences in wording? It took me a few re-reads to gather the differences I'm sure you were immediately apparent to you.

Come up with all this nonsense myself you think? Of course not. I had help. You may not, but didn't have a bloody clue where to get started on all this. It doesn't exactly list 'copy of the Chinese menu from your first date' in any of the forms. All those unstated, but highly useful facts and weird ways only a Migration Agent can recommend. "Yes, I see here your application for her Visa to Australia. Wonderful, you have all your evidence. You know what would be nice - a letter from your Nana and Pop saying how lovely it will be to finally meet your wonderful girl".

Like I said, not on the form but you can sort of see how that sort of thing can bolster your case. Btw, don't forget to include a Form 956 if you're using a Migration Agent. 'Cause you're not sending enough paper yet. A small amazonian forest must be sacrificed that you might achieve your goal.

One of the happiest days of my life. I was vindicated. My lady had her honour restored. She could enter the country without resorting to dodgy fishing boats or seeking refugee status. On the 15th of February 2007, after a 5 month restless wait, I clutched my mobile phone in shock, with whitened knuckles. I almost wept as she told me the wonderful news.

Wept from the pure, untainted joy of our now forthcoming reunion? Nup, but that was good too. YES! I didn't have to cancel my un-cancellable garden wedding booking, the 9 meter red carpet, garden arch (with synthetic small white flowers) and my classy, though budget conscious, Chinese restaurant reception! The wedding was on and I didn't have to write to 140 guests explaining that there was a small hiccup in our wedding plans and the bride wasn't going to be able to attend.

We had the visa to Australia. She could come. We would marry. Little did we realise that our happiness would be short-lived: to keep her in the country would require a second visa to Australia. We would need to produce other proof than a measly (obviously forge-able) wedding certificate...