CraigLucy26 Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Hi! So. My fiancé is Australian and I'm English, and in May we'll be applying for our de facto visa. I'd love some advice from anyone who's been through this process, here's a breakdown of our situation. We met when I was on my 1st year working holiday visa, after I'd completed my regional work. In July 2013 I decided to stay in Aus to be with him and activated my 2nd year visa. May is our 1 year anniversary - so I'm right that we can apply for our visa after this time - according to the 12 month relationship requirement. Everything was going fine until I called Immigration and the lady said "You have to have lived together for 12 months, not just have been in a relationship 12 months" - is this true?!?! We didn't move in together until August 2013! We have a joint 1 year lease on our 1 bedroom apartment so it's pretty clear it's just the two of us together. Can anyone help clarify that point first of all!? Here's the rest of the evidence we've got to go with everything.... - Rent receipts and lease from August 2013 - Joint travel to Thailand and the UK (to meet my family) - Photos with our mutual friends, photos of us all over and photos of us with each others families - Joint bank accounts - Joint savings - Joint household bills accounts - 2 x joint party invitations - We're engaged!? The date is soon to be set and we'll at least have our "save the date" cards to add to our application - We're registering our relationship with the Births, Deaths and Marriages registry - We will have our marriage license by the time we apply - Mutual friends on facebook and instagram - Linked profiles on facebook and instagram - Reference letters from our families ..... Along with all the forms we need to fill out, the police checks, the medicals etc, is there anything we're missing? We really want to do this without going through migration agents etc, so any help on here is greatly appreciated!!!! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Time spent dating does not count no and most relationships have a period of dating up front. In your situation, I would use the living together as the start if the defacto relationship. Where do you live? In some states you can register a relationship and circumvent the 12 month living together requirement that way. Some of your evidence looks superfluous to me, it is the joint address that is key, you don't need to go overboard on party invitations and flight itineraries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigLucy26 Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 Thanks for your advice. We live in Queensland so as far as I know, registering the relationship should be ok. Finanically and with living arrangements, everything on paper is in joint names. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinkla Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 The good news is that partner visas are amongst the most straightforward so going it alone should be possible unless you have health or character issues. But, it is harder to go down the de facto route than the marriage route as you need more evidence. Since you say you are getting married and don't have the date set yet, why not set it for an early date (you need to give one month's notice) and then apply as a married couple? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigLucy26 Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 The good news is that partner visas are amongst the most straightforward so going it alone should be possible unless you have health or character issues. But, it is harder to go down the de facto route than the marriage route as you need more evidence. Since you say you are getting married and don't have the date set yet, why not set it for an early date (you need to give one month's notice) and then apply as a married couple? Yes we have thought about that, but for us, marriage is only something we'll do once, and we want time to save money and plan for our day, not be rushed into doing it just to make the visa process easier. We don't mind putting in the hard work to go down the de facto route, it just gives us more time and freedom. We plan to set our date and book our venue in the next 2 weeks, so we will have a lot more wedding planning done by the time we apply. Again - we are registering the relationship too, so do you think with all that we will be ok ? The last thing I want is for it to be rejected and us be forced to have a quicky wedding just to be able to stay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Yes we have thought about that, but for us, marriage is only something we'll do once, and we want time to save money and plan for our day, not be rushed into doing it just to make the visa process easier. We don't mind putting in the hard work to go down the de facto route, it just gives us more time and freedom. We plan to set our date and book our venue in the next 2 weeks, so we will have a lot more wedding planning done by the time we apply. Again - we are registering the relationship too, so do you think with all that we will be ok ? The last thing I want is for it to be rejected and us be forced to have a quicky wedding just to be able to stay! Read the partner visa info on the Gov website. It does clarify the registering your relationship question. [h=4]De facto applicants[/h]Usually your de facto relationship must have existed for at least 12 months immediately before you apply for this visa. Time spent dating does not count towards a de facto relationship. You can be granted a visa without having been in a de facto relationship for 12 months if: you can demonstrate compelling and compassionate circumstances, such as having dependent children your partner has been granted a permanent humanitarian visa and your de facto relationship existed before it was granted, and you told us about the relationship before the visa was granted your de facto relationship has been registered in Australia (this is not available in all states and territories). http://www.immi.gov.au/Visas/Pages/801-820.aspx Agree with Rupert. A lot of your evidence is superfluous. I'd not go overboard with pictures, holiday bookings, FB stuff (I'd not include the FB/Instagram at all if it were me). Nor the party invites. They are looking for evidence putting you at the same address. Official proof of this like bank statements, bills sent to both or either of you placing you at the same address in the timeframe you are giving. Include that stuff and throw in a few photos (and I mean only a few) and perhaps your flight booking to the UK together and it would be fine. Make sure you get a couple of stat decs and get them witnessed etc properly. Those are expected and having more than 2 won't hurt. Again, don't go overboard, but 3 or 4 total won't hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrussell Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 You have to have lived together for 12 months, not just have been in a relationship 12 months" - is this true?!?! No it is not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bessiedoll Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Hi! So. My fiancé is Australian and I'm English, and in May we'll be applying for our de facto visa. I'd love some advice from anyone who's been through this process, here's a breakdown of our situation. We met when I was on my 1st year working holiday visa, after I'd completed my regional work. In July 2013 I decided to stay in Aus to be with him and activated my 2nd year visa. May is our 1 year anniversary - so I'm right that we can apply for our visa after this time - according to the 12 month relationship requirement. Everything was going fine until I called Immigration and the lady said "You have to have lived together for 12 months, not just have been in a relationship 12 months" - is this true?!?! We didn't move in together until August 2013! We have a joint 1 year lease on our 1 bedroom apartment so it's pretty clear it's just the two of us together. Can anyone help clarify that point first of all!? Here's the rest of the evidence we've got to go with everything.... - Rent receipts and lease from August 2013 - Joint travel to Thailand and the UK (to meet my family) - Photos with our mutual friends, photos of us all over and photos of us with each others families - Joint bank accounts - Joint savings - Joint household bills accounts - 2 x joint party invitations - We're engaged!? The date is soon to be set and we'll at least have our "save the date" cards to add to our application - We're registering our relationship with the Births, Deaths and Marriages registry - We will have our marriage license by the time we apply - Mutual friends on facebook and instagram - Linked profiles on facebook and instagram - Reference letters from our families ..... Along with all the forms we need to fill out, the police checks, the medicals etc, is there anything we're missing? We really want to do this without going through migration agents etc, so any help on here is greatly appreciated!!!! Thanks my partner and i had only been living together for 9 months when we applied for my de-facto visa, and i was not even on his tenancy agreement, as i moved into his house, so i couldn't be put on, we registered our relationship before i submitted my visa application, and on Tuesday my visa was approved, so thats proof enough that you dont need to be living together for 12 months (providing you are able to register your relationship) i didnt use migration agents, in my opinion they are a waste of money, you can quite easily do it yourself good luck xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinkla Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 i didnt use migration agents, in my opinion they are a waste of money, you can quite easily do it yourself I think agents have their place. If you have issues with health or character - or if you aren't good with forms or perhaps have English as a second language. Or if you haven't got the first idea of a strategy and want some ideas about how to emigrate. I think agents don't help their cause by signing people up to a full package rather than splitting up their services and charging high fees for the real value (knowledge of cases) add bits and modest fees for the simple bits (form filling). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bessiedoll Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 I think agents have their place. If you have issues with health or character - or if you aren't good with forms or perhaps have English as a second language. Or if you haven't got the first idea of a strategy and want some ideas about how to emigrate. I think agents don't help their cause by signing people up to a full package rather than splitting up their services and charging high fees for the real value (knowledge of cases) add bits and modest fees for the simple bits (form filling). i agree they are useful if there is a complicated case, but if it is straight forward, i cant see any reason to use them. i have heard so many horror stories about agents ripping people off and doing things wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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