CharlieCole Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 Hey folks This is my first post on here, so thankyou for reading and I'd welcome any feedback! I'm from North London and have been over in Melbourne since late Nov 2010, so have done about 26 months so far. When I came over initially I was on a WHV, but I was sponsored after 6 months by my current employer and am now on a 457 visa (I'm a recruitment consultant - sorry). Since I've been in Aus, I've been in a relationship with my now-fiance, who is an Aussie citizen and who I met travelling on Boxing Day 2009. We are getting married on March 21 this year, and I'm looking at visas that I can apply for that allow me to stay here without work restrictions. The main two seem to be the 820 partner and 300 (prospective marriage) visas. It's all totally legit so have no qualms about doing it, but there's two areas of the criteria that I'm concerned about not meeting, and wanted to see if anyone had had any similar issues. 1. 12 month de facto - we've been living together for the past 2 years (pretty much, a couple of months short maybe) but the lease has always been in my name, not both of ours. So I'm not sure whether that means we can prove we've lived together or not. Although we have had a shared bank account for in excess of 12 months that we've paid rent out of. However, all utility bills etc are also in my name - my fiance is pretty disorganised when it comes to that stuff, so I've been looking after it all. 2. This is the main one - she works in a cafe and gets paid in cash, and doesn't pay tax. So we can't actually prove she's worked at all over the last 2 years..although we can prove bank accounts that have had money paid into them, we can't show where that money has come from.. The rest - stat decs, photos, etc etc should be no hassle at all, and I'm in the process of getting that together in case, but does anyone have any advice as to what to do? I was planning to apply for a visa over the next month or so (by end of Jan) but if I wait until we're married end of March and we have a marriage certificate, does that make it easier or mean we have to prepare less info? It wouldn't actually be an issue but we're planning to go travelling for 6 months in June/July (if possible) and I won't be able to get a sabbatical of any sort from my job, so I guess my visa would just end. Which would mean I couldn't get back in and work.. Please please ANY thoughts/feedback would be greatly appreciated! Cheers Charlie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 You need to prove joint address, joint tenancy agreements and bills are great ways of doing this but not the only way. Presumably your OH has a bank account / medicare card or has received some kind of post at the address during the two years you have lived there? I am not sure that you have an issue over proof of her earnings to be honest, you are working there yourself so there is hardly an issue and some women do not work anyway. As the thread is not about the criminal offence of tax fraud, I won't even bother commenting on why she thinks it is ok to do this.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GeorgeD Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 Forget the Sc 300 PMV, you need to apply Offshore for it and be Offshore when it is granted. Then you need to get married and apply for the Spouse Visa within 9 months of grant. You're getting married shortly, so it's irrelevant. Being married means you don't need to provide evidence of having been in a relationship for 12 months. That's the only difference...you still need to prove you are in a genuine and continuing relationship the same as any other defacto or married couple who have been together 20 minutes or 20 years. You still need the evidence, so start getting it together. If your partner doesn't have anything with her name on it, start getting it now. Do you have a car, get her name on the insurance. Do you have wills? Name each other as beneficiaries, etc. The tax thing is unlikely to have any effect on your visa application. You can prove you are working in Oz already, and she doesn't need to give an assurance of support anyway,. so it shouldn't be a problem if she has no earnings. Again, I won't comment on the tax fraud situation itself. Be careful about travelling...if you leave your job, your 457 will cease. When you leave the country your 820 application will still tick along nicely in the background...but you will need to apply for some sort of visa if you want to return to Oz before it is granted. Even if it is just a tourist visa, you'll need some sort of visa to cross the border. If it is a tourist visa, then you won't be able to work...and if it only allows you to stay for 3 months, then you'll need to leave the country if your 820 still isn't processed (current published times are around 12-13 months) If you want my advice...put your travel plans on hold for a little bit. Wait until you have your 820 visa or until near the grant time if you plan on being out of Oz for 6 months. You don't want to try to come back to Oz before it is granted as you won't be able to work. If you were planning on travelling around Oz...I'm not sure how that would work, there has been a thread about this before and I don't know where we got to...can you apply for a 820 visa and then quit your 457 job and not have any 457 qualifying employer? I don't know. Quitting your job and not being sponsored means you have breached the terms of your 457...the visa hasn't ended, so do you get a bridging visa?? Don't know. If you are travelling abroad, then it's not a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blossom Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 No there would be no bridging visa if the 457 was cancelled rather than running out. I 'thought' you had to show you could support your partner on a defacto visa. If this isn't the case the visa fraud probably won't be an issue, but if they do ask for it then she either has to say she can't support you, or admit the fraud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GeorgeD Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 No there would be no bridging visa if the 457 was cancelled rather than running out. I 'thought' you had to show you could support your partner on a defacto visa. If this isn't the case the visa fraud probably won't be an issue, but if they do ask for it then she either has to say she can't support you, or admit the fraud. There's no assurance of support any more...so DIAC don't require a sponsor to provide any hard and fast guarantees of support. As the OP is already working in AUS then it is unlikely there would be an issue. I honestly can't recall anyone from the UK being declined because a sponsor couldn't support them, and there have been people who didn't work, etc or who were on disability benefits, etc. As Rupert says, in a family situation with young children there are often times when the women isn't working when the application goes in, so it isn't unusual to be granted a spouse visa without the sponsor working. The lack of bridging visa after quitting a 457 job would be a worry if they planned to not leave Oz at all or return to Oz before the Spouse Visa is granted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.