Married to a refugee

[furpaws]

Please if someone could give some hints,

I am in serious relationship with a guy from Iraq having refugee status here in my city in North Sumatera. He is awaiting Visa to go to Australia, such a long wait actually it has been for 2.6 years now. I am myself have been separated with my husband for 5 years and have a little baby girl. I would like to know if we are eventually got married 'nikah siri' as he is not having passport would it be a problem to his refugee status? Or better we wait until he is residing in Australia so then we could plan about having family? Can i join him as a wife to Australia shortly or is there any certain period for us to reunite maybe because he is new in Australia with refugee status. Please i would be so thankful to any information. Many thanks.

[ponyexpress]

It's quite normal for a refugee to wait for 2.5 years to get his/her case finalised and approved by the DIMMA (the department of Immigration and Citizenship). In some cases, refugees have to wait for 8-10 years until the government finalises its decision. I am not trying to scare you, it's not always a happy ending story with a refugee application. But there are heaps of people who made it.

1. If he already lodged in his refugee application visa, then you probably have to wait until it's approved then he can apply for another visa for you and your little one. Once he is granted a refugee visa, he will have the same right as a permanent resident visa holder does, who can sponsor relatives and families to come to Australia.
2. Any dependent children and partner can be included in the application for a refugee visa. I guess he has lodged it in already without including you and your baby. He probably won't risk it to start the process all over again.
3. As far as I know, his refugee status won't change if he marries you.
4. I am not sure what sort of documents will you need for a marriage in Indonesia. You have to find out whether it's possible for a refugee who has no passport or any identity cards to get married in Indonesia.

Here is the link to the Australian immigration website:

http://www.immi.gov.au/visas/humanitarian/offshore/200/

Maybe it's a good idea to talk to any lawyers dealing with refugees in Australia. Good luck!

[ScooterIndo]

Dont worry about it - according to my present status my wife is married to a tourist.

[747-8]

Please if someone could give some hints,

I am in serious relationship with a guy from Iraq having refugee status here in my city in North Sumatera. He is awaiting Visa to go to Australia, such a long wait actually it has been for 2.6 years now. I am myself have been separated with my husband for 5 years and have a little baby girl. I would like to know if we are eventually got married 'nikah siri' as he is not having passport would it be a problem to his refugee status? Or better we wait until he is residing in Australia so then we could plan about having family? Can i join him as a wife to Australia shortly or is there any certain period for us to reunite maybe because he is new in Australia with refugee status. Please i would be so thankful to any information. Many thanks.

In Australia, they recognize defacto relationships which has as much legal standing as a real marriage; you only need to prove that you are in a genuine relationship with the other person and live just like a husband and wife does, ie, share the same roof, share in paying bills, have a joint bank accounts etc. If the guy from Iraq is the father of your little girl, then this adds more weight to your case that you are in a defacto relationship with him, and in which case, will make it easier for you to move with him, if he is granted refugee status in Australia.

[furpaws]

ty

Thank you all. The up date news is all the process has come to the final stage. Medical check up then waiting for the visa. My fiance registered me and my baby girl into his visa application. We talked about a possibility whenever i could come to visit him within 3 months after his arrival to Australia. But he thinks it would be better if he the one who came to visit me to Indo rather i come there. He will submit my case and his sons and to assign a private lawyer in Australia and he is worried it would be affecting the process if i came to Australia with visit visa while he is processing my resident permit. Could someone give any reliable information about this? Many thanks.

[ScooterIndo]

he thinks it would be better if he the one who came to visit me to Indo rather i come there. He will submit my case and his sons and to assign a private lawyer in Australia and he is worried it would be affecting the process if i came to Australia with visit visa while he is processing my resident permit.

Call me a pessimist but..................................

[ponyexpress]

Thank you all. The up date news is all the process has come to the final stage. Medical check up then waiting for the visa. My fiance registered me and my baby girl into his visa application. We talked about a possibility whenever i could come to visit him within 3 months after his arrival to Australia. But he thinks it would be better if he the one who came to visit me to Indo rather i come there. He will submit my case and his sons and to assign a private lawyer in Australia and he is worried it would be affecting the process if i came to Australia with visit visa while he is processing my resident permit. Could someone give any reliable information about this? Many thanks.

Whoa....do you know that a private lawyer or any lawyer dealing with migration visas are dodgy as? Not all of them but they can easily rip you off. If this guy is a refugee then where can he get the money to pay the lawyer? 10.000 dollars is a conservative number in this case, it can cost more than that. Not all refugees are allowed to work once their visas are granted. You better check with him what sort of visa that he has at the moment or the immigration has issued for him?

[ScooterIndo]

Hence my earlier comment

[rabbit_39]

is he taking the son with him but leaving you in Indonesia?

[colroe]

Why do I hear alarm bells when reading this? Why is the Iraqi boyfriend not asking these questions of Immigration? Why?, because he does not want to risk missing out on getting to Australia, and cynical me, maybe he does not want to take a woman and child with him.

[furpaws]

Whoa....do you know that a private lawyer or any lawyer dealing with migration visas are dodgy as? Not all of them but they can easily rip you off. If this guy is a refugee then where can he get the money to pay the lawyer? 10.000 dollars is a conservative number in this case, it can cost more than that. Not all refugees are allowed to work once their visas are granted. You better check with him what sort of visa that he has at the moment or the immigration has issued for him?

Hello Pony,

We have been discussed about this. My fiance said the Australia government provides lawyer for free but, it takes time. Minimum 1.5 to 2 years process. Some even more. So assigning a private lawyer takes only 3 to 6 months. The maximum charge for each person is 6000 dollars. Half in advance and half after arrival in Australia. A friend of ours has been through the process, he said it was 4700 dollars last year when he start to proceed his family's case.

Some time, i will share with you the whole story about my fiancee's refugee story. If you don't mind. I see some pros and conts in this topics. It has been a long and painful journey. I don't expect anyone will understand though. Thank you.

[Pemalang]

I smell fish,rotten fish ...and you trust him?!?

[Pemalang]

Australian govt does NOT provide free lawyer....end of story!

[lantern]

Australian govt does NOT provide free lawyer....end of story!

While the government "does NOT provide free lawyer" there are however services that can be accessed free of charge.

The NSW government seems to provide free legal assistance http://www.legalaid.nsw.gov.au/publi...-aid-factsheet

If you are in Queensland you can contact these guys http://www.qails.org.au/01_directory/details.asp?ID=38

This website is also worth a look: http://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/r/dir-as.php

These guys give free legal advice but will not represent you in court http://www.rilc.org.au/Home/Home.htm

[Niko Z.]

Refugee status does not mean that the man is necessarily poor. Many wealthy or well-to-do people leave their countries due to persecution or because they simply want to try life in a more developed place (in which case they invent/embellish the persecution part). I have friends that have refugee status in Pekanbaru so I am speaking from experience.

It is perfectly possible that paying $5 000 - 10 000 in lawyer fees is not a big deal for this person.

However, if the baby girl is his, the 'wife-to-be' might look into getting some official status/paperwork before he leaves for Australia, just to be on the safe side. The fact that man does not have a passport is not an insurmountable obstacle to recognize paternity or marital status.

Quite frankly, the statement 'don't visit me in Australia, I'll visit you in Indonesia' should ring a few alarm bells. Some refugees serve as anchors, they leave their family behind and go through the process by themselves in order to spare small kids from 2-3 years in a detention center. After they get permanent visa, they can sponsor their real wife and kids to come to Australia as well.

OP 'furpaws' should consider has she ever been introduced to close members of her boyfriend's family as a 'wife to be'? Grandma and grandpa might be beyond Skype these days, but has she been introduced to various uncles and aunties via video-link, talked on the phone, pictures of babies exchanged etc. If not, the guy is probably not serious, she is just a time-filler. In which case, she needs to get some paperwork done in order to secure baby's future.