James96

If I were to apply in July from the UK, I would be able to prove cohabitation for the prior 12 months. That is what they are after right? Before that, I can prove we lived together for six months here and there, but then have had to do long distance. Regarding the financial part, if we open a shared account now, and start using it day to day and for large purchases, would that work in our favour? Or is 6 months before the application not sufficient? Thanks for the warning about the new regulation, I will do some research on that!

A couple I think. I'm not ready in terms of having documents prepared. I'd also really have to scrape to get the money right now! Also, I thought if I started the application offshore, I had to be offshore when it is granted. I don't really understand that, as I have no way of knowing when it would be granted. RE getting an agent involved, I'll look into it, thank you!

I've lurked this forum for a while since I did a study abroad in Newcastle, NSW, but now I'm planning on moving out to Melbourne with my partner I have a few questions! My girlfriend is an Aussie, from Melbourne, and I'm planning on going out to join her in 8 months or so. I will need to work once I get out there, so will I need to enter on a Working Holiday visa (417), send off my temporary visa application (820), and then get a bridging visa after that 1yr Working 417 visa expires? Or would I have to fruit pick after my 1st year in order to stay and wait for the 820 application to to be granted/rejected? In terms of the actual application, any advice on how to prove a de-facto relationship would be appreciated. We've been together over 4yrs now, and can prove we have lived together for at least 12 months. There are big gaps in living together due having to do long distance, or one of us not being on the housing contract; do these gaps matter? We can prove a shared social life with photos, plane tickets etc, so I think that is fine. Shared finances may be harder: we are both in our early 20s, and have been moving around houses a lot. There are no large purchases with both our names on it, no shared bank accounts, or bills with both names on. We can show lots of bank transfers between our accounts, would this satisfy the requirements? Finally, should I be paying a visa service to do all of this application for me? I don't want to pay if I don't have to, but if it makes it more likely that I won't be flushing £4,000 down the drain, maybe I will. Thanks for any advice!