[takeavvay]

Hi all,

I'm a Australian permanent resident and my fiancee is a Indonesian lady. We met at the very start of last year in January. I was in Indonesia for about a month (which is when I met her) and came back to see her again in June the same year, we lived together for 6 months and I got back to Australia at the end of November.

We both have full time work, and I'm eager to get her into Australia as soon as possible, as the separation is unbearable. We would like to get married this year, we have researched countless hours and read many forum post about the best way to this, as we would like to be together as soon as we can.


So there's a couple options that my fiance and I have thought of doing:

Option 1

1. We get her 1 year tourist visa (she has friends and relatives here which will help the visa application)

2. Go to Indonesia (Bali) on while on her tourist visa and get married there

3. While in Indonesia, lodge a partner visa (which would of been prepare way before hand but can only be submitted when she offshore)

4. Return to Australia on the same tourist visa (since its a multiple entry visa) and stay in Australia while the visa is processing


5. Return again to Indonesia when partner visa is completed, collect it and return her back to Australia on that visa

Or

1. We apply for both offshore PMV and tourist visa at the same time

2. She comes to Australia while the PMV is being processed (I assume she will receive her tourist visa way before he PMV)

3. Once the PMV Visa is granted, we go to Indonesia and collect the visa (since we have to collect it offshore)

4. Return to Australia and get married

5. Apply for Partner Visa

- If I apply for the two visas at the same time (tourist and PMV) , will it effect the outcome one either of them?

- Which of the two is a safer option, and how soon will each visa take?

-Is there any alternatives we are able to do?

Thanks,

Alec

 

[MarkNortham]

Hi Alex -

Both of the plans are workable, and people do it both ways - the main difference of course is with Plan B (PMV, tourist, onshore partner) you get married in Australia and get to stay in Australia after you're married and waiting for the onshore partner visa to be processed.

The PMV will likely take 6-9 months to process. Partner visa offshore 6-12 months to process. Partner visa after PMV onshore, maybe 3-6 months, but impossible to predict these.

Re: applying for PMV and partner at the same time, no particular issue there, we advise letting DIAC know on the visitor visa that you have also applied for the PMV - they will typically grant a 3 or 6 month tourist visa to ensure that the applicant is back in their home country in time for the grant of the PMV.

The sequence of events that can be an issue is a visitor visa followed by onshore partner visa, as many people from Indonesia have the 8503 No Further Stay condition attached to their visitor visas, which means they cannot apply for a further visa while onshore on the visitor visa.

Hope this helps - let me know if I can provide any further info -

Best,

Mark Northam