Guest Leoni Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Is the 12 month de facto relationship requirement at time of Expression of Interest or Visa Application? All the information I have read about de facto relationships is at time of visa application. However an Expression of Interest is not a Visa Aplication? I ask because me and my partner want to apply for a 189 Visa and have been in a de facto relationship for 11 months. I have heard that the first round of invitations for 189 Visas is due in August (and assuming we get invited to apply as we have 75 points), this will mean that we would have been together for 12 months at date of Visa Application. If we wait until August to submit an Expression of Interest we don't know when the next round of 189 Visa invitations will be? Does anyone know any more about this? I am tempted to play safe and wait until August as we have already lost £2,000 in our first visa by mis-reading the requirements. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lebourvellec Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Welcome to PIO It has been said that invitations will be once per month with first round 1 Aug - no applications can be lodged until 11 Aug, as the new system not working properly - if invited you have 60 days to lodge your application. This is a tricky one - if you have already had to withdraw an application previously - it may be worth going through your case with a Registered Migration Agent - to make sure that everything is in order before you lodge EOI. http://www.immi.gov.au/skills/skillselect/index/including-family-members/ evidence to demonstrate that you have been in a genuine and ongoing relationship for the 12 months immediately before making the application, unless there are compelling reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveS Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 How did you lose £2000?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Leoni Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Well unfortunately my partner awarded herself points for English language ability (on the assumption that having a British passport and BA/MA from a British University would be sufficient. However it isn't - you need to take an IELTS test. We only realized our mistake once we'd submitted our 175 Visa application and paid the fee. We scrambled to get the IELTS taken within the following few weeks (and passed) but we were told our visa would be rejected as we did not have enough points at time of application. Our fault entirely. We ended up withdrawing the application and losing the fee. We appealed for a refund but they said no Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Looking at the sticky about overclaiming points in the EOI I would be cautious. I would err on meeting all the criteria when you submit the EOI rather than hoping you will meet them when an invite comes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveS Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Well unfortunately my partner awarded herself points for English language ability (on the assumption that having a British passport and BA/MA from a British University would be sufficient. However it isn't - you need to take an IELTS test. We only realized our mistake once we'd submitted our 175 Visa application and paid the fee. We scrambled to get the IELTS taken within the following few weeks (and passed) but we were told our visa would be rejected as we did not have enough points at time of application. Our fault entirely. We ended up withdrawing the application and losing the fee. We appealed for a refund but they said no When was this? Sounds awful. Did you try talking to your assigned case officer? I can't believe they didn't let you just post that in........... Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrussell Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Well unfortunately my partner awarded herself points for English language ability (on the assumption that having a British passport and BA/MA from a British University would be sufficient. However it isn't - you need to take an IELTS test. We only realized our mistake once we'd submitted our 175 Visa application and paid the fee. We scrambled to get the IELTS taken within the following few weeks (and passed) but we were told our visa would be rejected as we did not have enough points at time of application. Our fault entirely. We ended up withdrawing the application and losing the fee. We appealed for a refund but they said no Had you taken professional advice, you might have been able to dig your way out of it without losing your money, even if your 175 was doomed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Leoni Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Had you taken professional advice, you might have been able to dig your way out of it without losing your money, even if your 175 was doomed. We did speak to our Case Offer who said that the 175 Visa Application would be rejected as we did not have enough points at date of application. We did not seek any other professional or legal advice. In Lieu of this we withdrew our 175 Application and put a letter together requesting for a discretionary refund (so that we could apply again). The response we got was: Refusal of Refund You have applied for a refund of the Visa Application Charge on 4th July 2012 in relation to (VE 175)Skilled – Independent) Migration visa. Refund claims can only be processed after the claim has been examined and if there is a refund entitlement under administrative or legislative authority. Your application was initially assessed against sections 2.12F(1) and 2.12F(2) of the Migration Regulations 1994, which require mandatory refunds when an application was unnecessary, or was made because of a mistake made by DIAC, or the applicant died before a decision was made. Your request was also assessed as a discretionary refund under 2.12F(3) of the Migration Regulations which allow for refunds where an application is made because of a mistake made by the applicant. Discretionary refunds are decided by the delegate based on the individual circumstances of the case. They are not intended to include circumstances where the client has changed their mind, applied for the incorrect visa subclass or where the client would not have lodged an application if they were aware that it was going to be unsuccessful. Change of circumstances: As the decision to refund is based on information correct at the point of application and the application was valid, it is considered that there was not a genuine mistake made in the lodgement of this application. Your decision to withdraw your application does not constitute standard grounds for a discretionary refund. The 2.12F delegate has considered this case and concluded that your claim does not meet the necessary requirements for refund. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
margaretka233 Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 is that mean 12 monts in relationship and i can include my partner in application? what about 6mth work exp. from his side? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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