You’re in a relationship with a Thai girl, and you want to take her to Australia for a visit. Taking your Thai girlfriend to Australia is unfortunately not as easy and as straight forward as you would like it to be. This is because Thailand is considered to be a high-risk country as far as Australian immigration is concerned. Thai citizens are not eligible to apply for an ETA visa and must, therefore, apply for a subclass 600 visitor visa under the tourist stream. To be granted a visitor visa your girlfriend must genuinely intend to stay temporarily in Australia.
What is a genuine intention to stay temporarily in Australia?
We get approached by many potential clients who say things like, “my Thai girlfriend only wants to visit Australia for a holiday”, and “I will guarantee that she returns to Thailand after her visit to Australia”. Firstly, a person cannot guarantee that a visa holder will comply with the conditions of their visitor visa. Any statement to this effect will carry no weight. Secondly, reasons for wanting to visit visiting Australia do not in themselves mean that an applicant has a genuine intention to stay temporarily in Australia. If this was the case, everyone would be granted a visitor visa simply by saying that they just want to visit Australia for a short holiday.
Another common mistake is believing that simply having an amount of money in the applicant’s bank account will result in them being granted a visa. This is not the case. The Department wants to see a savings history consistent with an applicant’s income, and even if the applicant does have employment, it is still an objective assessment of all of the applicant’s circumstances that will determine whether they satisfy the genuine temporary entrant criterion.
When the Department assesses a visitor visa application, they will take into consideration many factors relating to the visa applicant. These include; country of passport; age; employment; evidence of a savings history; family ties in applicants’ country; any history of previous visa compliance; social and economic factors in the applicant’s country. These factors are certainly not exhaustive, and in fact, clause 600.211(c) of the Migration Regulations requires the Department to consider “any other relevant matters” in assessing whether an applicant meets the genuine temporary entrant criterion. At Thai Visa Express we focus heavily on “any other relevant matters.
Thai Visa Express is a Pattaya visa agent for Australian visa applications. Each year we prepare and submit hundreds of visitor visa applications for Thai’s wanting to visit Australia. We have a thorough understanding of Australia’s complex immigration rules, which can be found in the Migration Act and Regulations. We won’t submit an application unless we believe that it has every chance of success. All of our applications are submitted with a lengthy written submission addressing the criterion for the grant of the visa being applied for.
See also our related posts:
My Thai girlfriend was refused a visitor visa to visit me in Australia can she reapply
My Thai girlfriend is unemployed can she be granted a tourist visa to visit Australia
What is a genuine intention to visit Australia temporarily
How much money do I need for an Australian tourist visa