tunisians going overseas

[the big burp]

hi everyone
my hubby got a visa to aus but the silly australians wrote this visa is a valid residency visa until the next one is approved (in aus everyone who gets a spouse visa gets about a 2 yr 'probation period' before getting a permanent visa to aus) and gave no expiry date so the tunisians are now saying they wont let him out of the country on a one way ticket but its going to be 2-2.5. yrs before aussie immigration look at his next visa application and i cant imagine he will go back within a year (i would say 18mths at the earliest).

Has anyone encountered this sort of problem before? do you know what the exact rule is and how to get around it?

i mean even if we get a oneway fare back to tunisia and cancel it, he still wont beable to go back on holiday unless he pays for another fare back to tunisia and cancels it again or waits 2.5-3 yrs....which is crazy.

[pej]

First, congratulations on getting the visa! I have personally never heard of this... my husband got a 2-year visa too, I beleive that is the rule throughout most of the world, although they have specified an expiry date on his. Can Australian authorities not give your husband some sort of documentation with a specified expiry date on it? Tickets to where I live are expensive enough for Tunisians, and having to buy an extra ticket that you don't need when flying to Australia is in itself absurd!

[SageMother]

I would think the Aussies would have a form ready for this situation. It can't be the first time this has happened.

[the big burp]

pej, thanks on your congrats. :-)
yeah its a really silly rule i think...the aussies just replied to me saying he should show his visa acceptance letter but my hubby doesnt think it will help because 1. like the police will read pages of english information about some stupid visa and 2. the work provision is written on the visa..grrr...stupid tunisian rules.

Originally Posted by SageMother

I would think the Aussies would have a form ready for this situation. It can't be the first time this has happened.

[SageMother]

I am sorry you are going through all of this. Recent international problems have probably made all these silly rules even more of a nuisance as the processing hasn't changed to fit the new circumstances and speed things up.

[the big burp]

yes its still not sorted, its strange we have so many problems with the tunisian authorities because the problem is not with australia but tunisia not wanting to let one of its citizens out of the country who has been granted a long term resident visa.

Originally Posted by SageMother

I am sorry you are going through all of this. Recent international problems have probably made all these silly rules even more of a nuisance as the processing hasn't changed to fit the new circumstances and speed things up.

[SageMother]

Originally Posted by the big burp

yes its still not sorted, its strange we have so many problems with the tunisian authorities because the problem is not with australia but tunisia not wanting to let one of its citizens out of the country who has been granted a long term resident visa.

What reasons would Tunisia have to hold people there against their will? Do they need the taxes?

[the big burp]

thats what im trying to work out. the problem is not taxes, we can pay the 60 dinar but its the fact that we are supposdely required to pay for a return ticket to tunisia (about 2200 dinar for another one way ticket) which we wont use...the saga contiues. my hubby picked up his ticket successfully after the airlines read about the visa, lets hope the police listen too. *sigh*

Originally Posted by SageMother

What reasons would Tunisia have to hold people there against their will? Do they need the taxes?

[SageMother]

Is a round trip ticket much more expensive than a one way ticket? I don't travel much outside of long driving trips here in the USA so I don't know about airline prices. Perhaps the airlines actually required it as part of their flying in and out of Tunisia, to assure themselves more profit.

[the big burp]

i got to the bottom of it. emirates bascially didnt understand the australian visa and deemded it in the same class as other temp. visas such as a tourist visa and they didnt bother to read that this was not the case when my hubby brought the documentation. Anyway his now allowed to fly because i got emails from the head of immigration at the australian consulate to say that its a resident permit,a return ticket is not required, theres no information to indicate the visa can be revoked upon arrival and 1000's of others in this visa class come on one way tickets to aus. Emirates then decided they would give him hubby his ticket and then suddenly the police had no problem with him flying. his flying today and we only got this sorted yesterday, so it was all a bit tight. :-) but my tip, is just make sure you have similar information from the embassy of your country if you have trouble getting a tunisian out of the country.

Originally Posted by SageMother

Is a round trip ticket much more expensive than a one way ticket? I don't travel much outside of long driving trips here in the USA so I don't know about airline prices. Perhaps the airlines actually required it as part of their flying in and out of Tunisia, to assure themselves more profit.