grimus

2 Questions:

1. Is it possible to go to Australia first on a tourist visa, and while there apply for a spouse visa.

2. Is it possible to travel to Australia on a tourist visa while you are pregnant and the birth will occur during the stay.

Thanks

mozz48

Hi /
This is an interesting scenario. Firstly, do you have to advise any one to the fact that you are pregnant whilst applying for a tourist visa ??????? That may depend on as to if you are applying for an ETA Visa or not . If it were me in your situation I would be carefull about where you mention your condition .
Other factors may include if you are medically fit to fly ???
I do not know what the Customs Officer is going to say if he sees someone coming in to the country 8.5 months pregnant on a 3 month Holiday Visa !! This may not be your situation but I guess this can happen.
Yes it is possible to apply for a Spouse Visa once you are in Australia , provided you have applied for an ETA Visa. You run the risk if you apply for the Tourist Visa by any other mthod of having the words "No Further Travel " stamped on your passport , which means that you have to return home before the expiry date , in which case you have to apply for the Spouse Visa offshore
Good luck with your plans Hope they can work Maybe there is someone else out there that can shed a little more light on the subject. Regards Gerard

lynnj

Grimus

Main problem you will have if travelling on a tourist visa is that you are not entitled to medicare and you wont find travel insurance to cover you after around 30 weeks into your pregnancy.

lynn

bondipom

What would be the problem of applying now in China and adding the child to the application? Am I missing something regarding having the child in China

chris hogan

I know that the first time we talked about it 14 years ago I
could not apply for permanent residancy whilst I was there on holiday.I had a twelve month holiday visa but the time we had decided to fly Row was heavily pregnant with our son and found it quite difficult to get insurance.Oh how I wish I could turn the clock back.

grimus

Why don't have a baby in China??
Well a few reasons,
1. a very poor health system, have seen the hospital already it is disgustingly dirty, poorly equipped and crowded.
2. Maybe have to pay a large fine as we didn't declare the baby before we got married (chinese law).
3. I can't speak chinese, not the position i want to be in when my wife is giving birth and in hospital.
4. baby is chinese national i.e. no passport, and difficulty travelling.
5. The stigma (traditional chinese) of sex before marriage (she fell pregnant before a few months before we got married).
6. heavily polluted environment not suited for a new born baby.

So for thoose reasons we are desperate to get to Oz to have the baby.
Grimus

bondipom

You can apply in Beijing for a visitors visa but I do not know what your chances of success are and what the timescales might be. Your partner may be asked for evidence of a job to return to and a return airfare. Chinese nationals have a high overstay rate hence they cannot apply for an ETA.

There is a risk on arrival in Australia that immigration might think you are here for purposes other than a visit and they can send your partner back on the next flight. Once in Australia you can sponsor your partner and she will be given a bridging visa. Her pregnancy can be used as evidence (you would need a letter from a doctor).

If you have been together for a year she can apply for a de facto spouse visa. You will need evidence that you have been partners for a year (see booklet 1127 on www.immi.gov.au/allforms ). If you are married you only need to prove that you are in a relationship.

You could apply in Beijing and write a letter pleading for an expedited case but I have no idea on your chances of speeding up processing. A consideration is the length of time for a chinese police check and for an IELTS. Does the Australian embassy in Beijing have a publice counter where you could speak to an officer?

You can lodge the application and submit the police checks and medicals when completed. Put up another thread asking for timescales of a Chinese police check.

Going to London is another option but again if British immigration suspect your partner is going to Britain permanently then they can deport her immedietly. This happened to a Polish friend of mine. Have you enquired into a visa for your partner to go to the UK?

Best of luck and I hope all goes well for your family

grimus

Thanks for for your advice. Chinese police check will be completed next week then we will go for the medical. Trying to frontload the application. We are married but only very recently and the whole relationship is under 1 year.

Can applications be front loaded anywhere?? i.e. we are planning to lodge the forms at Guangzhou China visa office

Stupid question but if we apply in England, i guess we have to be actually in England at the time. (not possible to mail)

grimus

bondipom

The England idea is to get your wife out of china for the birth.

I do not know whether you can lodge your application at the consulate. Post a new thread or try and call ahead. I know that all Ireland applications are now processed in London. Whether DIMIA consolidation has hit China yet is something else you will have to find out. http://www.austcon-guangzhou.org/ might have the info you are after.

mozz48

If you try to get your wife out of China on a Tourist Visa ,I am 99% certain you will get those infamous words stamped on her Visa "No Further Travel " This means that when you get your visa you have to return to your country before the expiry date and then you can make a Spousal Visa application ( The expiry date is usually 3 months after it is issued if coming to Australia )
I do not know what the Waiting period is in China as to the outcome of either a Tourist Visa or a Spousal Visa I would imagine a Spousal Visa even if fully Front Loaded would take some time . This is the critical area . I dont think there are any entries on Timeline as per the outcome of that particular visa from China
You seem to be between a rock and a hard place at the moment . I did know a person that is an immigration specialist in Victoria I will endevour to find out You can send me a private message if you like Regards Gerard

Jaj

If you are British by birth and married to the mother, then you can
immediately get a British passport for the child, who will be British
by descent automatically from birth.

Child should also be eligible for registration as an Australian
citizen by descent.

Jeremy

    >On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 01:54:02 +0000, grimus <member@british_expats.com> wrote:
    >Why don't have a baby in China??
    >Well a few reasons,
    >3. I can't speak chinese, not the position i want to be in when my wife
    > is giving birth and in hospital.
    >4. baby is chinese national i.e. no passport, and difficulty travelling.

This is not intended to be legal advice in any jurisdiction

Jaj

    >On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 07:00:26 +0000, bondipom <member@british_expats.com> wrote:
    >Originally posted by grimus
    >> Thanks for for your advice. Chinese police check will be completed
    >> next week then we will go for the medical. Trying to frontload the
    >> application. We are married but only very recently and the whole
    >> relationship is under 1 year.

The 12 month cohabitation requirement does not apply if you are
legally married, although you do normally need to be living together.


    >> Can applications be front loaded anywhere?? i.e. we are planning to
    >> lodge the forms at Guangzhou China visa office

Details for DIMIA in China are as follows:
http://www.immi.gov.au/wwi/index_p.htm#beijing

The correct visa office for spouse applications depends on which
province of China is involved. For spouse visas from mainland China
it's either Guangzhou or Shanghai.

In the 6 months to June 2003, 50% of provisional spouse visas in
Guangzhou were granted within 21 weeks. I don't know the extent to
which they may give priority if there is a need to travel. You can
always write to your federal MP or Senator in Australia, but do bear
in mind that there are processes to be followed.

You may want to hire an agent to help you with the application.



    >> Stupid question but if we apply in England, i guess we have to be
    >> actually in England at the time. (not possible to mail)

There's no legal requirement to be in England to apply for an
Australian visa in England. However, the AHC London will have no
familiarity with Chinese conditions and I would consider it
inadvisable to apply there unless your wife (ie the applicant) was a
citizen or resident of either the UK, its territories or the Republic
of Ireland.


    >I do not know whether you can lodge your application at the consulate.
    >Post a new thread or try and call ahead. I know that all Ireland
    >applications are now processed in London. Whether DIMIA consolidation
    >has hit China yet is something else you will have to find out. ]http://www.austcon-
    >guangzhou.org/[/url] might have the info you are after.


The best place to find out which office to deal with is the DIMIA
website, linked above.



Jeremy
This is not intended to be legal advice in any jurisdiction