SummerSam

Have you heard anything from DIAC since submitting police check? I have just applied for the de facto 820 onshore in Melbourne It was a decision ready application. Will keep interested people updated on the progress of the application.

Good luck to you both as well! I hope they process your application soon. Ten months is quite a long time not to have heard anything. It must be frustrating reading when some couples get their visa granted within a couple of months. However, each case and case officer is different I guess, but there's no harm in waiting if you both are able to work!

Thanks BMA, your advice is much appreciated! Glad to hear your partner had no trouble lifting the work restrictions! Has your partner got his temporary residency yet?

I was going to get an EVisitor visa, which appears to be pretty much the same as an ETA (although the EVisitor visa is free.) I thought that the Bridging Visa A has the same work rights as the substantive visa that you are holding - so if I hold a tourist visa I will have no work rights?

Thanks for the advice! We have got a good bit of evidence collected already including joint utility accounts, bank statements showing expenses shared, joint flight tickets, joint invitations, joint memberships etc. We just need the 3 months more living together. My contract has just finished with my work and there was no chance of sponsorship unfortunately. There is a chance I may go back to England and lodge and off-shore application as I'm not sure I could go all that time while the visa is being processed without work!

I actually rang the DIAC today and asked if it was likely that I could get a tourist visa on the back of a 2nd working holiday visa. The lady I spoke to said that I should have no problems with this. She said if Immigration stops me and asks me why I need to re-enter Australia on a tourist visa, just have some evidence of your plans to travel. So I am in the process of getting some evidence in case they stop me. This has eased my mind a bit. She also said the 'No Further Stay' will highly unlikely be issued on a tourist visa of someone from the UK, as we are a low risk country, which eased my mind further

Thanks Rupert. I am actually on my 2nd WHV, and people have said that if I apply for a tourist visa straight after it could get rejected which would be annoying to say the least.

Thanks George. We don't have sufficient evidence in my opinion to qualify as a de facto for the initial 8 months as we didn't have anything joint (apart from a holiday we went on together.) I think I'm just going to get a tourist visa, live with him for another 3 months (and hope there's no NFS attached) and then apply

Sorry, you are correct. Well, for the initial 8 months after we met we were living separately (so I assume DIAC will see this as 'dating'?) , then we decided it was the right time to start living together, and have been for the past 8 months. I think for the initial 8 months of our relationship, DIAC will just see this as dating.

Thanks Louise, we have literally done all of the paperwork etc for the partner visa and thought we were good to go. However, I thought we only had to be in a relationship for 12 months and stupidly didn't read that this also meant you have to be living together for 12 months until today I am in Victoria and the certificate won't be issued under 28 days, so we will have to wait over a month

[TABLE=class: rmenutb, width: 100%, align: center] [TR] [TD] [TABLE=class: tborder vbseo_like_postbit, width: 100%, align: center] [TR] [TD=class: alt1, bgcolor: #FFFFFF]Hi friends, I'm a Brit, over in Australia on my 2nd Working Holiday Visa, which expires at the end of March 2013. I met my partner (an Aus citizen) in October 2011 and I've been in a relationship with him for 16 months. We have been living together for the past 8 months. We obviously want to stay together and it seems the de facto visa is the only way I can stay here with him. However, when my visa expires we will have only been living together for 9 months which does not satisfy the 12 month criteria. Would you advise that when my visa expires, I fly out of Aus and come back in a few days on a tourist visa and continue living with him for the next 3 months (which would be frustrating as I couldn't work)? Or would registering our relationship be wiser, thus waivering the 12 month requirement (the only problem being the certificate would probably be issued after my visa expires)? Or do any of you kind and knowledgeable people/people that have been in my situation have any other ideas? Many thanks Sam P.S I assume I would get rejected if I applied having lived together for only 9 months?[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]