AsH: There are two separate questions here.
1) The theory: Is she a scammer, do you know her, will she turn up etc. For the most part, it would be wise to avoid this course of action until you know someone quite well. Would you send $2 or $3 thousand dollars to someone down the road whom you didn't know and expect them to turn up for dinner? Obviously not so much less would you do it for someone 15000 Kms away.
2) The practical possabilities: Visas, legal and statutory requirements notwithstanding, it is very possible and should (IMO) be made a clear goal for both of you before deciding on any concrete long term plans but should (again IMO), be after your first and perhaps second or third visit to her. Do not allow the legal chatter you'll hear on these forums dissuade you, the Australian immigration system is what it is but you can work with it and yes, Mrs I/O visited here severally before we married. A number of her friends and relatives have visited us since. It isn't (in my experience at least) difficult.
There are all sorts of risk mitigation strategies you can employ if the need arises but IMO, if you do your ground work (trip/s to visit her) first, the risk should be minimised.
realisticly what are the chances of the RW comming to see me ?
Very good to excellent if you both do things by the book.
Obviously financial issues are factors
You pay, period.
what do you guys think?
IMO, it's a must before marriage but pointless before you both seriously have your eye on that end.
Also if women ask for you to pay for them to come and see you is that a instant red flag
A woman (any person) whom you barely know asking is not only a red flag, it's the whole bloody roll of fabric the flag is cut from.
has anyone on here done that before
Yeah but......................it's a long story, not a template by any stretch and my advice remains the same even though the lady in question gave me a baby daughter after 3 1/2 years of marriage recently.
were you nervous about it,did she turn up?
No (qualified by my prior knowledge of her).
I would be suspicious if a lady asked me to pay to fly here anywhere.
Rightly so.
