820 Evidence

[144millerdebrak]

I have finally finished filling out my part of the form.

 

Anyways... I'm now concentrating on getting the evidence. we live with his parents and therefore don't have any bills in our name. We have very little out going payments except our own phone bills out of our own accounts. we don't have a shared bank account either, however he has sent me money in the past.

how can we prove that we have been living together, his mom is happy for us to have a rent agreement as proof but do we need more?

 

Thanks in advance. K

[robfromdublin]

More would definitely be better. Keep the records of him sending you money, especially if it was used to support you. I would open a joint bank account now and put some of both your savings in there (although this won't satisfy the 12 month requirement it's better than nothing). Have you any records with both your addresses on there? For example both your mobile phone accounts should show you've been living at the same address for 12 months at least. Maybe your employment records would too? Of course, flatmates have this too so you'll have to demonstrate some other form of commitment. Joint holidays together? Wedding invites to the both of you as a couple? The rent agreement will help but obviously it's from his mother and not an independent landlord so it may not. What about shared interests/hobbies?

 

You have to ask yourself, what proof do I have other than testimonials from friends/family? Right now it looks like you can prove you stayed at the same address, but that doesn't prove a commitment to each other.

[144millerdebrak]

That's what I'm worried about, we do have photos and invitations that are to us both and We have registered our relationship with NSW.

I work he is a student) so technically I don't need 'support' and we live a very low cost life style, which has made this process harder.

 

thanks, K

[robfromdublin]

So he sent you money in the past, but it wasn't for financial support? That doesn't really add to the proof of your relationship then. The registered relationship is good, and I suppose that could cover off on the 12 month period of commitment. I'm no agent so I don't know the burden of proof but it just looks thin to me, and it's an awful lot of money to spend if you're only 50% sure your application will be approved.

 

If you're living with his parents and they are providing accommodation and food (I base this on you saying your only outgoings are your mobiles) then are you saving towards a house deposit together? Can you demonstrate that those are joint savings somehow? I would be getting as much as possible in joint names now and start building evidence. Also, if you both have super then you should make each other your beneficiaries too.

[144millerdebrak]

Yeah they cover food, I pay weekly rent. He pays by helping around the house/garden.

I have been saving for this visa and he is a student so gets very little money and pays for all our dates.

 

He doesn't seem worried about the evidence (his brother sponsored his partner and he isn't the 'brightest spark') so he thinks we wont have a problem, we are going to get a joint account tomorrow. 2 of the payments sent were for my gym membership which he helped me with at the beginning, this is stated on the title of the payment sent. as well as 1 being forvisa and another for a costume a bought. surely the first 3 should look good as evidence?

we have so many people that can account for our relationship. I met him when all his friends were there so they saw our relationship begin. We constantly talk to them each day

as well.

 

I do have a diary that I used to write, starting from when I started backpacking, it includes when we met however I did stop once I moved in here as I was no longer sight seeing. would that be of any use?

[aussiegirlbay]

You have to show evidence in 4 Broad categories : Financial, Household, Social Context, Mutual Commitment towards each other.

 

For Financial you can provide bank statement showing transactions in each others account, doesn't matter how big or small the amount is. You really don't need a joint bank account as well.

 

Household: Bills any, letters (both your & your partner name separately) showing same mailing address

 

Social Context: Any wedding/birthday invitation, photo with family, friends. You need to send them with proper names, date etc

 

Mutual Commitment: Any traveling you both did together, hotel stay receipt, pictures together as a couple, ticket of any place like museum/reptile park together.

 

Aussie Girl Bay

 

I have finally finished filling out my part of the form.

Anyways... I'm now concentrating on getting the evidence. we live with his parents and therefore don't have any bills in our name. We have very little out going payments except our own phone bills out of our own accounts. we don't have a shared bank account either, however he has sent me money in the past.

how can we prove that we have been living together, his mom is happy for us to have a rent agreement as proof but do we need more?

 

Thanks in advance. K

[engaus]

Yeah they cover food, I pay weekly rent. He pays by helping around the house/garden.

I have been saving for this visa and he is a student so gets very little money and pays for all our dates.

 

He doesn't seem worried about the evidence (his brother sponsored his partner and he isn't the 'brightest spark') so he thinks we wont have a problem, we are going to get a joint account tomorrow. 2 of the payments sent were for my gym membership which he helped me with at the beginning, this is stated on the title of the payment sent. as well as 1 being forvisa and another for a costume a bought. surely the first 3 should look good as evidence?

we have so many people that can account for our relationship. I met him when all his friends were there so they saw our relationship begin. We constantly talk to them each day

as well.

 

I do have a diary that I used to write, starting from when I started backpacking, it includes when we met however I did stop once I moved in here as I was no longer sight seeing. would that be of any use?

 

From what you have described in your posts I would be worried that you do not have enough financial evidence. You will need to demonstrate more than just 3 payments to each other over the course of your relationship + if you are about to apply, opening a joint account now is not going to help - I don't know when you plan on applying but if you can operate the joint bank account for a few months before you apply, then it would be worth it.

 

They hold a lot of weight on the financial side of a relationship and you need to remember that you need to demonstrate that you have a relationship akin to marriage - that doesn't mean that you need to have a joint account but you would still have joint finances. E.g you pay for groceries + he pays for dates (as you say).

 

My partner and I lived with my parents for an entire year prior to my partner and I applying for our partner visa. Below are some of the things we had - not just for the financial requirement:

 

1. A letter from my parents explaining our living arrangements. For example, that we had out own room and bathroom, that we cooked several meals a week together, that we would often go out for dinner, that I was the one that generally did the clothes washing whilst he would wash + dry the dishes. That my partner would drop me off at the train station each morning for work and he would pick me up again in the evening. Things like this show that we lived independently as a couple even though we lived under my parents roof.

2. We did not have a joint account. But we paid my parents a small sum every week for rent. My partner would transfer his half to me and then I would transfer my half and his to my parents account. Wasn't a huge sum of money but my parents were helping my partner and I whilst we saved for a house. This was something they also mentioned in their statement.

3. We printed off our bank statements - my account and his account. We highlighted every transfer to each others account (we had several a month). We had a car together - we took turns in filling up petrol but it was almost always at the service station near my house which showed on the statement - so we highlighted these transactions in my statements and his to show a joint responsibility (we also had car insurance, which had us on the same policy). We would often go to the supermarket and pick up some ingredients for dinner or lunch. We also highlighted these on our statements as we took in turns buying these but they were almost always from the same supermarket. We had a few weekends away so I could show reservations in my name, but he would pay for things whilst we were there. We could show on his bank statements that he had transactions in the town/city we had been staying in to correspond with my reservations for example.

4. We bought gifts for each other e.g. anniversary, birthday and Christmas. We had receipts for these that we included in our application.

5. We had a joint cinema membership, and a few joint rewards memberships. We highlighted any transactions on the statement to this cinema and included our cinema membership card along with a transaction report of the tickets bought on those days. We did the same for the other memberships we had.

6. We had wills drawn up - we don't have any major assets or anything but these went a long way to prove commitment. We also had each other name as a beneficiary in our superannuation along with being next of kin at the doctors and our workplace.

7. We had joint invitations - engagements and birthdays with photos to complement those invitations.

8. We had ambulance cover in our names, very cheap to take out (not sure what state you are in, but we needed this in Victoria).

9. We had approx 6 form 888's plus a few statements from his friends a family (they live overseas).

10. Statements and various other official documents to show we lived at the same address

11. Tax documents to show we were listed as being in a defacto relationship for the previous year.

 

So you may find that you have more than you think when it comes to relationship evidence (it's surprising what you can use!) - but IMO you will need more than proof of three transactions to meet the financial requirement. It's COMPLETELY up to you as the applicant to paint a good overall picture of your relationship and ensure you have evidence in all 4 evidence categories. They don't know who you are and if you can't show them that you are in a relationship akin to marriage (and that you are not just dating) then you will be in a bit of trouble.

 

As a young couple, who lived at home, who had no large joint assets, I felt like my partner and I had a lot to prove. We on paper could be seen as dating if we didn't have solid proof of sharing responsibilities and costs like a young couple who lived out of home would.

[Quinkla]

I am not an expert but this does look thin. I don't know how much is required, but I imagine DIBP is worried that some people rort the defacto visa when they are not in the kind of full on relationship envisaged by the rules. I would talk to a migration agent because this doesn't look like a straightforward case.