kenshin

Sorry to necro such an old thread. Just thought I'd give an update. We ended up getting this tourist visa and Jing came to Australia on 13th November 2007. We had a wonderful time together of course, and she spent her 30th birthday with me here on 17th November. Sadly, she had to go back to China on the 27th November. We began working on the Prospective Marriage Visa application in December, and spent about 4 months doing it. We took the kitchen sink approach, nearly 700 pages in total plus a dvd. Jing was asked send her passport in and go for a medical check, which she passed. Now today we have both been informed by the department that the visa has been granted and that they are now sending Jing's passport back. I nearly fell off my chair, we are so happy. All I can say is WOOOOT!!!! lol

I thought I'd misread, but it's probably the u.s. immigration which gave problems. I've contacted the Australian embassy a few times now, and they seem a lot less pedantic about the process. I'm still going to be making sure everything is presented properly anyway, just to be sure. On a more positive note, she got the registered letter. It took 10 days. I'll try another letter and see if that gets to her. If that works, I'll send the visa. She should have it by August 10th, adds her evidence, photo's and documents then presents it before the end of August. That gives them a little over two months to make their decision and/or request more evidence. I think she is going to need to have the medical examination as she works in a hospital. Some of the questions relate to whether she will be entering any hospital, nursing home, child care facility while she's in Australia. Oh well, there's plenty of time left for it to be done.

Thanks for the info. It looks like they had a change of heart in the final hour. We won't give up in any way, so they'll have to issue a visa or be hounded by us forever. It's true too. We normally get phone interviews here, unless there's some suspicious circumstances. I'll keep posting as we go through the visitor visa to let everyone know how it goes. I sent a letter to Zijing over a week ago, but she hasn't received it yet. It had an address label printed on it with English and Chinese, with her phone number as well. Zijing designed this label. I think it might have drawn attention though because I sent it registered international. This time I'm going to try standard fedex and see how that goes.

lol, yeah. I just replace Canadian with Australian and bam...there ya go. I don't think I'm going to find Aust specific details. The immigration department here gives different answers about the process every time I ring, so I'm figuring I'll do a whole lot of statutory "I declare"ing just to be safe. I have looked at the U.S visa process and it looks like they really string you along with a never-ending stream of papers. I'm assuming that must be why there are a lot more U.S. who stick around here, after building the online friendships for the many years it takes to bring their lady home. It must be extremely trying, and it shows some of the posts I have read here. Maybe I can invite everyone to Australia, and then you can invite all your ladies over here.

Thx. I'm over the house fire now, but at the time it left me a bit stunned and confused. I'm just glad I was in China at the time. I have managed to find some info on my own query, so I'll post it here so others can find if needed. Letter of Invitation In some cases, the applicant for a Temporary Resident Visa to visit Canada is asked to provide a letter of invitation from someone in Canada. A letter of invitation does not guarantee a visa will be issued. Visa officers assess the applicant to determine whether they meet the necessary requirements. Some visa offices require the letter of invitation be notarized by a Notary Public. The letter of invitation must be submitted to the Canadian Embassy or Consulate outside of Canada by the applicant when applying for their Temporary Resident Visa. The letter of invitation must include the following information about the person being invited: Complete name; Date of birth; The person's address and telephone number; Your relationship to the person being invited; The purpose of the trip; How long the invited person intends to stay in Canada; Details on accommodation and living expenses; and The date the person you are inviting intends to leave Canada. The letter of invitation must also include the following information about the visa applicant: Complete name; Date of birth; Address and telephone number in Canada; Occupation; Whether they are a Canadian citizen or Permanent Resident; and A photocopy of a document proving the letter writer's status in Canada. For example: a Canadian birth certificate or Canadian citizenship card. Permanent residents must send proof of permanent resident status (a copy of PR card or IMM 1000 proof of landing).

Hi. Haven't been back here for a while. Here's the story so far. I went to China to meet Zijing in February and everything is going fine there. Thanks to everyone who has helped with my questions about doing this. When I come back to Australia from China, I find that my house has burnt down. Most everything destroyed or damaged. I was insured, but it has taken some time to get everything replaced. This was a setback, but life goes on. A new house, new contents, and I'm back on my feet again. We have removed the translation company she was using from our relationship. They caused many problems for us, to say the least. I was starting to think that they might like to sleep with us as well. These people did not understand that their service contract was completed and that no further help was required. I still get the occasional email from them pretending to be Zijing. The word 'no' just does not seem to have any effect. We spend a lot of time talking on the telephone every day or two in order to help her English speech. She also attends English lessons 3 times a week. It is remarkable to listen to her speak now. When we first talked, she could only speak two or three words. Now she can hold a really good conversation in English. For me, it's been amazing to watch her learn so much in such a small amount of time. I have learnt a little Cantonese too, but she bursts into laughter whenever I try to use it. Now, we are planning for Zijing to visit Australia for her 30th birthday in November. We are currently establishing postal contact so I can send the visa application to her. I have been able to send some money for her through Western Union. This is to help with the visa costs. So now I'm going through the requirements for the tourist visa application. A lot of it is basically evidence and I already have most of it completed. One of these bits of evidence is a "Letter Of Invitation" from me in the form of a statutory declaration. I have the stat dec forms and am ready to do it. Here's my questions. What information do I need to put on the stat dec? Are there any examples or draft letters floating around on the forum? I had a quick search but haven't turned up anything? Thanks for any help. P.S. I probably won't be able to reply until tomorrow as the internet at this new house is painful. I'm working on fixing this.

That is correct. That's different. So, in western terminology she is really 29. Thankyou for clearing this up. Are you sure about that? do you want to tell me my wife is 1 year younger then she is and that she wasn't actually born on her birth date but rather was conceived on that date??? you got me totally confused now I vote we all change our birthdays to today. It will be much simpler, don't you agree? Who's with me? I understand now. I had figured it out from the age, birth month and day, so when she told me it was her 30th birthday I had assumed she was actually 30 years old. My bad. I've quickly learnt to never assume anything. I agree too Charles, the visa would need the actual age in years, so I have made a note of this potential problem in my paperwork. I've noticed they like to use any excuse to extend the process and charge more money. A great society we live in when you have to pay for your mistakes, but not vice-versa. Oh well, hopefully I can convince her to celebrate her 30th birthday for a second time next year. Hehe.

That is correct. That's different. So, in western terminology she is really 29. Thankyou for clearing this up.

She definitely turned 30 this November 17 so it has to be 1976 unless there is this thing about measuring the age from conception. I will look it up and see what I can find out. She would probably be a little upset if I said "but you're a dragon, and now you're an angry dragon". Thx Charles Troy

lol, no rush. I need to go to work soon anyway, so I may not get back to this till later. Thanks for all the help.

Thankyou. Her birthday is November 17th if that helps any. I'm just interested as to why she would say it's the snake.

My gf just turned 30 in November which means she was born in 1976. She tells me she was born in the year of the snake, but when I have looked on wiki it says that November 1976 is year of the dragon. Not that it's important, but either I'm missing something, or she has a short circuit. I think I have read before that the Chinese people measure the age from the date of conception, not birth, but I'm not sure if that's true. Could that be why she says it's year of the snake? Any help with my confusion would be much appreciated.

Thanks for all the help and links everybody. I'll try get the traditional photos too neverroddoreven. I'll do anything if it gets 'em laughing, and I think she'll be easy to convince too. A bit of humour is always good, even if it is at your own expense.lol

Thankyou for the welcome, links, all the info, and positive comments. I will make sure we have all the proof and documention in order before February. I'm in an above average financial position so I should pass the AOS test easily enough. Now all I need to do is help get her oral English skills better, but I know she is practicing as much as she can. We were going to use a migration agent, but I can see that this isn't really necessary. The Aussie visa application appears to be a lot simpler than the American one. I also have a contact who managed to bring his wife from Thailand to OZ, so he can most likely help us with more info as well. I'm sure we will both have a wonderful time in February and I'll be sure to come back here to tell everything about it. I wish everyone the best of luck in this tedious process.

Thats good. I will take my laptop and vid cam. I will make sure to take all the documents I think she will need to sign as well. I didn't think about this, so thanks for the heads up. I will keep practicing the Cantonese too. Thankyou for all the help. B)