Emma Hadley Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Hello I'm new to this website so forgive me if I use incorrect terminology or don't know the visa numbers etc. So at the weekend my boyfriend and I booked our flights to Australia to arrive middle of December. I have a second working holiday visa to use and he's a citizen. We've been together for two years and it will be three by the time we land back into Australia. However we have never lived together so don't meet the requirements for a partner visa just yet. We intend for me to stay for a year on my second working holiday visa and then apply for a partner visa after this and we will then have lived together for the required twelve months. I am worried though about when to apply for the partner visa because I've read it can take 12-15 months to complete the application, but how do I apply for the visa with enough time on my working holiday visa and to meet the requirements that we have to be living together for a year. I've heard briefly about bridging visas, is this something they might look to grant me if I applied for a partner visa right at the end of my working holiday visa? Also so my boyfriend seemed to think it would be a good idea for me to enter the country first of all on a tourist visa as we intend to travel for a bit before settling down and finding jobs, so he has said to do that so I can fully utilise the working holiday visa. The other thing I'm confused about then, is whether I will be allowed to enter the country on my WHV straight after using a tourist visa and then applying to be de facto. I am just concerned the Australian immigration will ask so many questions and may refuse entry because of how many times I've entered the country on different visas. Sorry if this is really confusing, I would really appreciate any advice at all. We only booked our flights on Saturday but I want to get organised with what I am doing. Thanks in advance for any help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrussell Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 However we have never lived together so don't meet the requirements for a partner visa just yet. You do not have to live together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emma Hadley Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 You do not have to live together. Oh i thought I'd seen that you have to prove you're in a de facto relationship (i.e. Living together.) So how would I go about proving we've been together then as we have no utility bills or joint accounts in both of our names or anything like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 What state will you be living in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Oh i thought I'd seen that you have to prove you're in a de facto relationship (i.e. Living together.) So how would I go about proving we've been together then as we have no utility bills or joint accounts in both of our names or anything like that? I doubt you can as I would expect they still require other evidence/proof you are a de facto couple Hopefully Westly could let you know if it is possible. Fwiw, some states in aus let you register your relationship. This then bypasses the need for a year de facto before lodging. Though personally I would still clock up a good 9 months de facto to have other evidence to submit then when lodging. The processing time on shore is 12-15 months. You woukd go onto a bridging visa automatically when your WHV expires. It would come with full work rights till a decision on your partner visa was made. Just applying off of 12 months Whv leaves you no wiggle room when lodging. That is the tricky part to negotiate, unless you have the relationship registered so getting round that and therefore able to lodge a bit sooner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemesis Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Oh i thought I'd seen that you have to prove you're in a de facto relationship (i.e. Living together.) So how would I go about proving we've been together then as we have no utility bills or joint accounts in both of our names or anything like that? There was a decision recently which rules in favour of people whohave to live apart for long periods - like fly-in-fly-out workers. Somewhere there is a thread started by wrussell on the subject . You have to prove your home base is in the same place and show how you keep your relationship going while apart. Maybe have a chat with wrussell - he's a good agent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emma Hadley Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 What state will you be living in? We will be living in WA, in Perth. Thank you for your advice, it does seem like a good idea to lodge the application 9 months into the working holiday visa to allow some time. We will be travelling for almost three months in Southeast Asia before we arrive into Australia, so will these three months count towards the de facto do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emma Hadley Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) There was a decision recently which rules in favour of people whohave to live apart for long periods - like fly-in-fly-out workers. Somewhere there is a thread started by wrussell on the subject . You have to prove your home base is in the same place and show how you keep your relationship going while apart. Maybe have a chat with wrussell - he's a good agent. The thing is we are currently in a long distance relationship in the UK. He lives in Dorset and I live in Kent, this is why we have no de facto evidence or anything. We have obviously remained together the whole time we've been living apart but not sure how this would stand for the de facto bits and pieces. We have booked our flights to Perth (via a few months in Southeast Asia) with both of our names on the booking etc, we'll have a few months travelling together and then a year on my working holiday visa to count for the 12 months de facto. I'm just wondering if any of the time travelling or any of the time spent in a long distance relationship in the UK will count towards the de facto requirements? Edited January 26, 2016 by Emjhadley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emma Hadley Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 Fwiw, some states in aus let you register your relationship. I've just done a bit of research and have noticed you can't register your relationship in WA. Typical! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GooseRenders Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Hi @Emjhadley, welcome to PIO! It's quite tricky to get your head round all this visa malarkey but you'll get there. My fiancee lives near Perth and I'm in Dorset (where abouts in Dorset is your bf?) I'm moving out in April and we get married in November. Everyone here are real friendly, any questions just ask, there is so much knowledge floating around this forum it's been a god send to us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emma Hadley Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 Hi @Emjhadley, welcome to PIO! It's quite tricky to get your head round all this visa malarkey but you'll get there. My fiancee lives near Perth and I'm in Dorset (where abouts in Dorset is your bf?) I'm moving out in April and we get married in November. Everyone here are real friendly, any questions just ask, there is so much knowledge floating around this forum it's been a god send to us! Ah hi @GooseRenders, thank you for your welcoming words. It is so tricky getting your head around it all, but like you say thank goodness for this forum, it's nice to relate to other people who are going through the same thing. That's funny you're in Dorset too, he's from Bournemouth, how about you? That's so exciting you're getting married soon, so has your visa been granted and everything now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GooseRenders Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Ah hi @GooseRenders, thank you for your welcoming words. It is so tricky getting your head around it all, but like you say thank goodness for this forum, it's nice to relate to other people who are going through the same thing. That's funny you're in Dorset too, he's from Bournemouth, how about you? That's so exciting you're getting married soon, so has your visa been granted and everything now? How funny, I'm in Bournemouth too! Visa hasn't been granted yet, it's a bit tricky with ours as once it's granted we only have 9 months to get married and apply for the partner visa. So technically, because out wedding is November, it can't be granted until March. Annoying! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinkla Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 So at the weekend my boyfriend and I booked our flights to Australia to arrive middle of December. I have a second working holiday visa to use and he's a citizen. We've been together for two years and it will be three by the time we land back into Australia. However we have never lived together so don't meet the requirements for a partner visa just yet. Why not just get married? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 We will be living in WA, in Perth. Thank you for your advice, it does seem like a good idea to lodge the application 9 months into the working holiday visa to allow some time. We will be travelling for almost three months in Southeast Asia before we arrive into Australia, so will these three months count towards the de facto do you think? I'd check with a reputable MARA registered migration agent re the travel time together and also about building de facto evidence from NOW forwards. I am sure I have read of some couples counting this sort of thing but they have kept full records of it and so on. Things to consider doing if you hope to use this time would be things like * Getting a joint policy for your travel/medical insurance when backpacking * Keeping official print outs for hotel bookings (in both your names) * Setting up a joint bank account well before you leave and having your funds in it so you can both use and access the account and show that paper trail * Keeping all flight tickets and booking info to show you being on the same plane, sat next to each other etc. Also paying for these from a joint account would be good (or from one or the other for you both). * Mobile phone bills - have these come out of an account you share (from now if possible) You could be doing stuff already to have things in place now you can use as evidence later on, before you leave the UK like getting a joint bank account and you both paying money into and out of it for things you do together. I'd start doing as much as possible now so you can build a clear picture of your life together, even if you are living apart in different areas and then ensure continue this on your travels round Asia. You need to be able to prove de facto and not having a proper paper trail going back for the timeframe will potentially stuff you up. If you start now you'll have time to build up evidence and not just start it on your travels round Asia. Look into getting on each others car insurance as the named driver asap. So when one of you goes to stay with the other, you can use their car but it will also show your CO you have a link, the insurance for both cars coming out of joint account too perhaps which would be nice. Also consider wills naming the other. Living apart its hard to know what else to try to get paper trail wise. A migration agent could advise you of your options. Also, without the full year you can't lodge as even a day or two short, it will stuff you up. Hopefully starting now, when you are not arriving in Aus till Dec gives you plenty of time to start getting living like you are a de facto couple rather than just dating long distance (you don't have to convince me you are committed, immigration however are a different ball game). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emma Hadley Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 Why not just get married? It's a great idea but we haven't even lived together yet so we want to make sure we live together first before taking the step of getting married. I know it's a huge step to get a partnership visa together, but we want to live together first, then think about getting married. It's just not really the right time for us yet, but thank you for the suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emma Hadley Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 Thank you so much @snifter for all your advice, you've been very helpful. It's a great idea to start to think about it all before we even get to Asia and Australia. You've been very helpful, thank you. In regards to speaking to an agent regarding a bit of advice, how do I go about doing that? I have a feeling agents are very expensive and at the moment I kind of would just like a little bit of advice about the whole travelling thing and it counting towards the de facto. Is there a way I can get a consultation or anything before signing up to have an agent help me out with it all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Thank you so much @snifter for all your advice, you've been very helpful. It's a great idea to start to think about it all before we even get to Asia and Australia. You've been very helpful, thank you. In regards to speaking to an agent regarding a bit of advice, how do I go about doing that? I have a feeling agents are very expensive and at the moment I kind of would just like a little bit of advice about the whole travelling thing and it counting towards the de facto. Is there a way I can get a consultation or anything before signing up to have an agent help me out with it all? Alan Collet from Go Matilda, Raul Senise, Westly Russell and one or two others all post on here. Get in touch with any of them and hopefully they could assess you case re the travel and time in UK and so on counting toward de facto. Also might be worth posting a new thread on here and ask if anyone has done this when lodging an application and see what their story is and if it worked out. And if it did, what evidence they used from their travel time etc. Either way though, you've nothing to lose getting an account set up for you both now and other things. If you are committed and consider yourselves de facto I'd make it so in ways that reflect this commitment and take steps so you can help support your case when you lodge. Otherwise its likely only going to be viewed as dating (which doesn't count toward de facto). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinkla Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 It's a great idea but we haven't even lived together yet so we want to make sure we live together first before taking the step of getting married. I know it's a huge step to get a partnership visa together, but we want to live together first, then think about getting married. It's just not really the right time for us yet, but thank you for the suggestion. I am always slightly surprised when people post that their relationship has reached a stage to apply for a partner visa but not yet reached the stage where they would commit to marriage. The de facto visa is for people who are married in all but name – specifically designed for same sex couples who are not allowed to marry, but extended to others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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