Partner Visas from Philippines – A Visa Comparison

Are you wanting to bring your sweetheart from Philippines to Australia to live with you permanently? Need a Partner Visa to Australia? Fiancée visa? Spouse visa? Can’t decide which is which and which one suits your situation and matches what you and your Filipina lady want to do? Find the process complicated, and do you worry that if you don’t get it right then you’re in for a long and frustrating wait?

We understand your concerns and we know what you’re going through. Get it right, and you’re granted a visa. Get it wrong and you get a refusal. We have many years experience in this process, and have even been through it ourselves. And we spend all of our work time doing fiancée visas and spouse visas for Australian Filipina couples. So you’re in safe hands with us.

Partner Visa Prospective Marriage Visa De Facto Visa Why do you need
a Migration Agent?

Partner Visa or Prospective Marriage Visa?

Can’t decide on the best visa option for you and your Filipina lady?

First of all, understand that there is no “good way” or “bad way” when it comes to partner visas (aka spouse visas) versus prospective marriage visas (aka fiancee visas). Clients sometimes ask us to make this decision for them, which of course we won’t do. My response is always that they should tell me what they want to do, and we can then make it happen for them. If it’s impractical, we will certainly tell you. And you need to understand that visas are grants and not “rights”. The job of the Australian Embassy in Manila and the Department of Home Affairs (Immigration) in Australia is to protect Australia’s borders and not to provide easy access. We need to act within the rules and within reality. But your wedding decisions particularly are yours and yours alone, and this is where we start.

• Think about where and when you wish to marry (ie. Philippines or Australia, and soon or maybe next year?)
• Think about your own spare time to organise documents and dig through records. Do you have a lot of time, or not?
• Think about your own organisational skills. Are you efficient with paperwork and computers, or a bit slow and awkward?
• Then have a look at the visa comparison chart below:

Hopefully that will make things clearer for you now you’ve seen a visa comparison for the three visa types available to Australian Filipina couples wanting to be together in Australia. Please let us know your thoughts and your wishes.

Decision-Ready Applications for partner visas

What is a decision-ready visa application? It’s pretty much how it sounds. It means a visa application that is prepared in a way that it is ready for a Case Officer in the Australian Embassy or Department office to make a decision on immediately, without having to request anything extra.

Further information

Prospective marriage visa versus partner visa

The advantages of a prospective marriage visa to Australia

Can you get an onshore fiancée visa?

More about Australian Partner Visas from Down Under Visa

We have a remarkable success-rate, and we understand everything you’re going through. We can manage your application from you from the point of assessing your case, to gathering your personal information, to helping you gather and prepare all your personal documents and requirements, to preparing and lodging your application, to personally dealing with issues with the Department, right down to your visa being granted. We’re with you every step of the way, taking the stress and the uncertainty out of an otherwise scary and risky process.

We live in a much “smaller” world these days. Many Australians will meet and form long term relationships with ladies from Philippines, and when their girlfriend becomes more than just a girlfriend, they contact us. But never assume automatic entitlement to bring a partner here. Partners of an Australian Citizen or Australian Permanent Resident, including a spouse (partner), a fiance, a defacto and interdependent (same-sex, gay, lesbian) partners must to apply for a visa to be allowed to enter and to live in Australia. To qualify for partner migration to Australia for a Filipina girl requires evidence of a genuine and committed relationship, and this evidence must be shown in detail to establish the validity of your relationship and your application. We assist you in the gathering of this information by providing detailed partner visa checklists (ie. your visa requirements) and forms, and plenty of practical advice.

If your relationship is with somebody from the Philippines, we can provide service and insight that no one else can. Why? Because we’ve been through the process ourselves (Jeff & Mila are an Australian/Filipina couple), and we’re based in the Philippines. We can provide guidance through the administrative as well as the personal hurdles you need to get through. This means we understand not only Australian Migration Law, we also understand Filipino culture and the often complex system of documents and laws that exist in the Philippines. And we are here in Manila all the time. We don’t just fly-in and fly-out, leaving unqualified staff to take care of things. You and your lady will have nothing to worry about.

And please note that whilst most of our applicants are Australian men sponsoring Filipino fiancées and spouses, we get our fair share of Australian women sponsoring their Filipino men as fiancés and spouses too. Visa for a Filipina wife or for a Filipino husband? This is not an issue, and we are also highly experienced and successful with husband-visas.

Note that poorly prepared applications stand a high chance of refusal. And in Philippines, many visa applicants are victims of the many unregistered agents (both Filipino and Australian unregistered agents) and opportunist travel agents who exist in large numbers who lodge poorly-prepared applications, or encourage applicants to go down strange pathways of work visas and/or student visa applications. And many of these “agents” and their dodgy practices are well-known to the Australian Embassy too, which doesn’t help your chances. All the more reason why you shouldn’t risk doing this without GENUINE professional help!

We also provide as part of the package all the email and online support you could possibly need to help you through the daunting process. And we’re always available to answer questions promptly. Fill out our online assessment form and you’ll see how quickly we respond.

Visa Comparison Articles From our BLOG page…

Which one?

Is one easier than the other? Is one cheaper than the other? Does one of them have a higher refusal rate than the other? The answer is a big NO to all. They are very very similar visas, and they cost the same to apply for. Our fees are the same, and so are the Government Visa Application Charges.

So why one or the other? Fairly simple. Where do you want to marry? Or where is it practical for you to marry in? If our clients want to marry in the Philippines, then Partner Visa it is. If they don’t, and want to marry later? Then Prospective Marriage Visa it is. There’s really nothing more to it than that!

Your reasons for where you wish to marry are you own, and we make a point of not interfering. Marriages in the Philippines are a lot of fun, and obviously it’s a special moment for a Filipina bride to be walked down the aisle in her family Church by her dad. However they also involve a lot of paperwork and 3 – 4 weeks time to get everything done in. Not everyone can afford that. So give it some thought and discuss it between yourselves. Down Under Visa are happy to help you either way.

Full article

Prospective Marriage Visas were, and still are, known also as fiancée visas. They also get called fiance visas, PMV’s, prospective spouse visas and various other titles. Technically they are a Subclass 300 Prospective Marriage Visa, and they are the visa of choice if you wish to bring your Filipina fiancee to Australia and to marry later.

Partner Visas (spouse visas, spousal visas, etc) are technically a Subclass 309 Partner (provisional) Visa. These are the choice if you wish to marry before the visa is granted, especially if you marry your Filipina fiancee in the Philippines. If you are applying offshore, you may apply after the marriage or even before. You just have to realise that it won’t be granted until they see evidence of your marriage taking place. You can also apply for these if you are already in a committed and genuine de facto relationship, which is another topic in itself.

Most popular amongst Australian Filipina couples to bring spouses and fiancées from Philippines to Australia? Fiancée Visas (PMV’s) win hands down. About 3:1, we find.

Full article

Partner Visa Prospective Marriage Visa De Facto Visa Why do you need
a Migration Agent?