Australian visa help for Chinese citizen

[mandarinocks]

Hi guys. Forgive me if this is in the wrong area.

I am an Australian. Born there.

My girlfriend is chinese.

We have been together for about 15 months.

She came to Australia on a visitor visa.

Then she applied for a student visa.

But she was supposed to study an accredited course in order to have this granted.

She paid for a course 3000$ in Sydney but we met in Perth. It wasn't feasible for me to move to Sydney so we stayed in Perth.

She wasn't granted the student visa.

Her agent and her decided to lodge an appeal

it cost us about 3500$ and this put her on a bridging visa a.

Anyway if anyone knows anything about this, the person then is allowed to remain in Australia until the tribunal makes their decision. The agent told us this will take up to a year. And he was right.

We wanted to travel to china together so we both went to immigration and asked permission for her to leave the country. They said yes. As long as she comes back before the 14th if April.

But while we were here (zhuhai) china the immigration decided not to grant her the visa obviously. But her agent failed to tell us.

So we book a flight to get back to Australia before the 14th.

We get to the airport on the 11th of April.

Go to check in and they tell us that the 10th was when the 28 days was up.

So we went back.

So now I don't know what to do or what my options are.

If anyone has read this and understands the situation can you please offer some suggestions.

And thank you so much for reading.

This whole immigration thing is a nightmare.

I'm going back to Australia to work for a bit and speak to immigration.

My girlfriend thinks I'm a lame boyfriend. She believes if we get married it will fix this.

Immigration has told me they consider defacto relationships the same as marriage.

Anyway. I really don't know what to do.

Anyone had similar situation?

Thanks guys.

[roddy]

While you might get some advice here, you need to be looking at Australian immigration forums or other sources - excellent though this particular site is, the focus is on Chinese visas for foreigners.

That said, we may well have some experts.

[Lu]

Does the fact that she did not get a student visa put her on any kind of blacklist, or can she just try again for a student or other visa? I don't know about the specific Australian regulations, but it appears to me that she could apply for a student visa for a course she's actually going to take, or you & she could apply for a partner visa for her, especially if a long-term, serious relationship is treated the same as a marriage, that would look like a good option in your situation.

Meanwhile she needs to understand that you're not the person who makes the rules. Immigration into Western countries can be a major pain in the ass even when both partners know exactly what they're doing and do everything exactly right.

You're probably not the first Australian with this kind of problem, is there perhaps another forum somewhere about this exact subject? I know there is one in Holland, seems there must be something like that for Australia.

Anyway, good luck, I hope you two can resolve this soon!

[fanglu]

Do you know why her student visa wasn't granted? Was it something easily fixable? If so, fix it and reapply.

The problem with applying for a partner visa (either de facto or married) is it will be an 'offshore' application (since she is outside Australia) and so she won't be able to stay in Australia while it's processed, which can take up to 12 months. Since I assume your whole purpose is to be together, doesn't particularly seem to meet your needs.

[mandarinocks]

Hello everyone thank you for your help much appreciated.

Lu : I'm hoping she's not on any black list. Though the thought has crossed my mind. It didn't occur to me to try the student visa option again and do the course this time.

Thanks

Fanglu: it was cancelled because the course was in Sydney and we met in Perth and I couldn't move their at the time.

I didn't realize how serious you had to be with immigration.

I think you might be right about the 12 months with the sponsor ship visa.

I'm flying back to Perth in two weeks so ill go speak with them personally. And see what my options are.

Thanks again guys. Your the best.

[Lu]

I didn't realize how serious you had to be with immigration.

Deadly serious. Again, I have no knowledge of the Australian process specifically, but immigration authorities I know of are not going to cut anyone any slack. They are not interested in how happy you are together or how it's really inconvenient to have to move city. Make sure you have every single thing 100% in order, don't cut any corners or you will fail. It's wise, for example, that when she had to be back in Australia by the 14th, you two planned to fly the 11th, because if there had been a typhoon or an airport strike or something and you would have been one day late because of that, there would probably not have been leniency.

Again, good luck!

[roddy]

I'm totally speculating here, but it seems to me that immigration will be well aware that your girlfriend wants to move to Australia to be with you. Given that, any attempt to get her into the country as a student, visitor or worker is likely to be looked at with quite some scepticism.

[mandarinocks]

Hey guys. Thanks again. Ive been posting on an Australian forum. Someone suggested a Prospective Marriage Visa.

Subclass 300. We're going to investigate this option.