Australia Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

VISA for my Girlfriend from Russia

12K views 54 replies 8 participants last post by  CollegeGirl 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi there,
Here is a quick outline of my situation:

My name is Andy and I was born in Russia. I migrated with my family to New Zealand when I was 15 year of Age. I lived in Auckland New Zealand for 11 Years, before Moving to Sydney, by that time I was NZ Citizen, which made me an Australian Resident, so I'm pretty much Permanently here.

My girlfriend lives in Russia (St Petersburg) We never lived together, but she visited me once in Sydney, However we go way back... I met her when she was only 6 and I was 8 years old. We were friends for a very long time.
When I migrated to NZ we chatted a lot and there was a bit of Romance there, but in a few years it was gone and we went our separate ways.
Both got married, both got divorced, not even knowing about each other. Almost a year ago we exceedingly stumbled upon each other in a Russian for and started chatting, turns out our lives were pretty miserable with other spouses and we still cared about one another.
In May 2013 I made a visa for her to come and visit me. Unfortunately she could only come for 1 week, because of her work (She works in Four Season Hotel in St Petersburg)
She has a very good Visa history. She went to Finland, Egypt and Australia. All granted pretty quickly.
She speaks perfect english and her job involves talking to English speaking Guests.

I was hopping to go to Russia for a year to get a difecto or Marriage visa (Because you have to be together for a year OR wait for 6 - 8 moth for Marriage visa to come through)
Both of my Russian Passport has expired over 7 years ago and Unfortunately the process of brining that back has taking a turn for the worst. I've being trying to prove my Russian citizenship for 6 Months now and It could take another 6 , by the looks of it.
I can't go to Russia az NZ citizen, because apparently it's illegal for me being born in Russia and use other passport to cross back to Russia.

Ultimately I want to move her to Sydney.

SO, anyone can advise a visa or a path I can take?
I'm meeting her in Thailand in early December (because I haven't seen her for nearly 6 month) We both don't need a visa to go there, maybe we should just stay there. :)
I'm planning to move her somehow after New years...

Any suggestions?
 
See less See more
#48 ·
ndalian - Adventuress (as usual) brings up a really good point - you are, in fact, an Australian Permanent Resident, right? And you've been living in Australia for at least two years?
 
  • Like
Reactions: ndalian
#51 ·
I think a MARA-registered migration agent is a good idea. "Eligible New Zealand Citizens" can sponsor for partner visas, but from reading the definition of that term in the Partner Migration Booklet it doesn't look like you'd fall under that category. There are all sorts of special rules regarding New Zealand citizens though - I think it definitely is probably in your best interest to talk to an agent. Mark Northam on this forum is particularly good.
 
#52 ·
Also, visas for New Zealanders are far and away not my area of expertise, but from what I just looked up it looks like you just don't automatically get PR - but you have to qualify for it like any other person from any other country. In other words, you'd need to have a skill or something that could get you permanent residency. I hope I'm wrong! Like I said, you need an agent. If I'm right about that you may not qualify to sponsor at all if there's nothing that would qualify you for PR. :(
 
#53 ·
I guess the other thing you could look into is whether a NZ partner visa would get you what you're looking for? Totally not our area of expertise, but you could look at whether you need to be living in NZ, and whether she would get the same rights as New Zealanders to come to Australia.
 
#54 ·
If you look at subclass 461, that may be an option if she meets the definition of partner. I don't have any experience with that visa so there may be aspects that you or your girlfriend don't qualify for, but it may be your best option. It's only a temporary visa although it appears it can be renewed. But it would mean she doesn't have PR status which may cause other issues.
 
#55 ·
You know what, Maggie May, I think you found it! I think that's exactly the visa they need! :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top