You’re engaged to be married to your Thai fiancé and you want to know what visa do you need to bring her to live in Australia permanently? For starters, let’s talk about the difference between fiancé and fiancée. A fiancé (with one “e”) is a man who is engaged to be married, whereas a fiancée (with two “e’s”) is a woman who is engaged to be married.
What is a fiancé visa?
Whether you are a man or a woman, if you have a genuine intention to marry in the future, that is, you’re engaged to be married to your partner, you may be able to bring your partner to Australia on a fiancé visa. However, the correct name for this visa is the prospective marriage visa (subclass 300), sometimes referred to as a fiancé visa or just a PMV. If you are married or in a de-facto relationship with your partner, then the appropriate visa would be a partner visa.
Requirements for an Australian fiancé visa?
The general requirements for a fiancé visa are that the applicant and sponsor have met in person as adults, are known to each other personally, and have a genuine intention to marry in the future.
I’m in an online relationship with my Thai girlfriend. Is she eligible for a fiancé visa?
One of the requirements for a fiancé visa is that the applicant and sponsor have met in person as adults. If you are in an online relationship with your Thai girlfriend and have never physically met her in person, then this condition will not be satisfied
Applying for a fiancé visa
Unlike a partner visa, a fiancé visa can only be applied for outside of Australia, and the applicant must be outside of Australia at both time of application and time of decision. Australian visa processing times are very lengthy. If your fiancé, or fiancée for that matter, wishes to visit you in Australia during the processing of their fiancé visa, they will need to apply for a visa that permits them to do so. In most cases, this will be a visitor visa, but remember their fiancé visa cannot be granted whilst they remain in Australia.
After the prospective marriage visa has been granted
Once the Australian fiancé visa is granted, it will permit the visa holder to enter and remain in Australia for a period of nine months. During this time you both must marry. After your marriage has taken place, your husband or wife will then be able to apply for a partner visa in Australia without leaving.
What conditions are attached to a fiancé visa?
All Australian visas have certain conditions attached to them. It is the responsibility of all visa holders to be aware and fully comply with all of the conditions attached to their visa. You can find this information on your visa grant notice or online through the Department’s Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO). If you have been granted a fiancé visa you must not marry prior to entering Australia (Condition 8515), and you must marry within the nine-month visa validity period (Condition 8519). After the marriage has taken place, the partner visa can then be applied for.
Can we marry before the fiancé visa is granted?
If you marry before the fiancé visa is granted, upon notifying the Department in writing of your marriage has taken place, upon receipt of that notification, the applicant will then be deemed to have applied for a partner visa from the date that the Department receives this notification.
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