Tamarin wrote:Thanks JR8 - succinctly put and, at last, most helpful. I simply thought, perhaps naively now, that I could go to an agent, answer a few simple questions and boom-boom, get a yes or a no - hopefully the former.
No problem. There are different folks here with different strokes: But I think what we have in common is that we don't tend to beat around the bush nor sugar-coat it. Anywayz...
No, what an agent here would do (most likely) is take your application, tell you it has a good chance, take your $000's, and then act all shocked if it fails. ... Oh, and then ask you if you want to pay another few $000's to appeal the decision. So consensus is agent's are a waste of time and money.
Tamarin wrote:* I have a multiple entry e-visa {ETA} for Australia, and when she visits here she's relying on SVP-visas on arrival.
Yep, makes sense. It's tricky. As she's not behaving like a tourist for whom the SVP is intended. As the USCBP officer yelled at me...
'You keep coming back on a tourist visa, BUT YOU'RE EFFECTIVELY LIVING HERE!!!' And in many ways he was right.
So the disconnection with the visa and status of your GF is probably not as egregious as in my above case... but from what you described earlier the warning flag is up, and I'd suggest considering carefully how to proceed, as you can't carry on as you are much longer.
Good luck!