De Facto visa for British partner advice - evidence

[Aussie and Pommie KR]

Hi all,

 

Looking for some general advice. I am an Australian by birth but have lived in UK for most of my life (31 years). My boyfriend and I have been together almost 2 years now and plan to move to Aus in about 1 year from now (hopefully!).

 

The issue I am having is when looking at the immi.gov.au website and advice for de facto visas is that the evidence they want appears to be very specific. My boyfriend and I will not be able to provide evidence of co-habiting or sharing utility bills because we haven't/won't be living together fully before we move over as he is in the Army (and of course due to the nature of his job he is away a huge amount of time and stays during the week mostly on the base he works at). He plans to leave the army and so transferring to Aus army is not really a viable option, he plans to work in his trade in electronics.

 

Does anyone have experience of a partner who has been in the services when they have applied for a de facto visa and if so, are there any alternatives to the kind of things that we could provide for evidence in lieu of those things we probably won't be able to provide?

 

Any advice appreciated - many thanks

[readstogo]

Have you got evidence of trips together (plane bookings, hotel stays etc), evidence that you have been in contact even though you are apart (itemised phone bills). Do you go on each others car insurance when visiting? Is there a paper trail between each other's bank accounts?

 

I have seen others on the forum who are in a relationship, but don't live together because the Australian is in Australia and the partner is somewhere else.

 

You will also need to submit statements from yourselves and from others, including Australian citizens. Here is where they would be effectively giving evidence that you are both in a mutually exclusive relationship together.

 

Work with the evidence that you have. Use your personal statement to explain the evidence provided.

 

Good luck!

[Adam Grey]

People commonly confuse the 12 month relationship requirement with a requirement that the de facto couple must have co-habited for that entire period. While co-habitation is a large part of what the Department defines as a de facto relationship, there are situations in which a couple can be deemed as in a de facto partnership despite living in separate locations. One such situation would of course be military service.

 

In these circumstances the case officer will be looking at the reason for not co-habiting, the periods of non-cohabitation, how you support each other whilst apart etc. They will want to see that the periods apart are temporary and necessary and they will expect all the other aspects of a de facto relationship to be in place as well.

 

The bit that concerns me is that the post implies you've never lived together at all and I get the impression that you don't have many joint responsibilities. This would be an issue and you would need to take steps now to ensure that you build enough evidence to be eligible to apply in a years time.

 

Hope this helps,