CharleyOz Posted May 14, 2017 Share Posted May 14, 2017 After a couple of false starts I'm finally getting through my partner visa application. I'm British, married to an Australian with 2 children with dual citizenship. I seem to have a slightly different challenge from pretty much every answer Google has been able to find for me, which is... how long should I go back? We've been together for 15 years and married for 13. I have a lifetime of shared stuff - how far back should I go for evidence? Seems like there is an argument for including the last couple of years but then maybe some highlights from the earlier days? For instance we bought our house in 2004 and sold in 2014, so none of that was in the last couple of years. I can get photos of holidays together over the whole time, but older bank statements would cost me a fortune to reprint if I can't find them in the filing boxes. Has anyone else applied with a similar long relationship? What was your rule of thumb? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicF Posted May 14, 2017 Share Posted May 14, 2017 We had been together about 12 years when we applied. It's a while ago now but I think we put in the odd bill and thing for pretty much every year we had been living together. It all shows evidence of continuity of the relationship. I wouldn't bother with too many photos though. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinaK Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 My husband and I have been together 9 years and I've recently had my partner visa (100) granted - I took the approach of including some items from various points during that 9 years. So before we bought our house, we rented a property together so I dug out some old bills and a lease which I'd hung onto for some reason. I also uploaded some old bank statements from different points and anything else that I could dig out which I thought might be useful. I didn't add any photos aside from those that were on a download of our Facebook relationship history as that went back the whole 9 years and covered off engagement, wedding, birth of kids and us attending joint social engagements etc. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beffers Posted May 15, 2017 Share Posted May 15, 2017 We are together 14 and married 11. We included statements outlining our relationship and it's milestones. Evidence then supported that. Bills and joint evidence from each address showing shared responsibilities. A selection of photos from throughout our relationship, and a selection of cards addressed to us as a couple. Then after our daughter was born, we included family photos and evidence of our joint responsibility for childcare. We had bank statements for each year from when we were living together until this year. We applied 3 Feb and were granted 2 May 2017. We scanned lots of individial annotated documents into one big PDF for financial evidence and uploaded just the one file. We did the same for the social evidence. We did 3 stat Dec's from friends who vouched for longevity of our relationship. Good luck! And don't hold back from asking other questions. This forum is a godsend for that!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharleyOz Posted May 17, 2017 Author Share Posted May 17, 2017 Thank you all, I really appreciate it. Everything I'd read was from people saying things like "I included something from every month we have been together" which just made me boggle! I've told himself I'm tempted to put our children in an envelope and call that our evidence! Thanks again, I'm hoping a big push this weekend will mean I can submit next week. @TinaK - how did you present the Facebook download? I'm sure other people have done that but I can't remember seeing it described before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 18, 2017 Share Posted May 18, 2017 I'd really not worry about including FB stuff if you have plenty of other evidence. Just included a few photos of you together from over the years. I think I put in half a dozen. When I applied we'd been married 7 years or so, together 10 all up and for those years we had been de facto then married I inclided one bill or joint bank statement from each year. Then for the 12 months before lodging was when I included a bill or bank statement from each month in he application. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beffers Posted May 18, 2017 Share Posted May 18, 2017 You don't really need to include loads of social media stuff if you have enough other evidence to support your application. My mate put her FB history into a single PDF file and uploaded under social evidence option, together with a couple of stat decs from friends who vouched for their relationship. Good luck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinaK Posted May 18, 2017 Share Posted May 18, 2017 13 hours ago, CharleyOz said: Thank you all, I really appreciate it. Everything I'd read was from people saying things like "I included something from every month we have been together" which just made me boggle! I've told himself I'm tempted to put our children in an envelope and call that our evidence! Thanks again, I'm hoping a big push this weekend will mean I can submit next week. @TinaK - how did you present the Facebook download? I'm sure other people have done that but I can't remember seeing it described before. I downloaded our relationship history into a PDF and then uploaded it as one document - it was 82 pages long! I decided to include that as I felt I was light on evidence under the social evidence category (only really had the statements from friends and a couple of invites) and didn't want to have to plough through my photo stash. The Facebook history covered all our major relationship milestones, so it felt like it killed quite a few birds with one stone! I definitely didn't include evidence from every month, just a couple from the start of our relationship, some from middle and then recent examples. Felt that should cover it off. Good luck with the rest of the evidence gathering, sounds like you're almost there! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharleyOz Posted May 22, 2017 Author Share Posted May 22, 2017 Thanks all again. I have just lodged my application! I've got most of the evidence sorted, and I got to the point where I decided to submit and see exactly what they asked for. I then had a total panic as the confirmation screen said 'no documents required' and I assumed I'd done something really wrong. It's updated itself now though. Turns out when you don't really like having your photo taken, the result is that there aren't many photos of you, even with your beloved husband with whom you have enjoyed most of life's adventures . Managed to find lots of other evidence though, so I'm hoping it's enough. Quite frankly, if it's not then who knows! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinkla Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 You only need information from every month when you are going for a de facto (i.e. not married) relationship and it is relatively short. For a legal marriage of long standing with children you really just need to show some evidence that you live together, have shared finances and that people know you as a couple (so two supporting statements from friends/family). A visa is an entitlement for you - not a gift based on the whim of an official. It's really up to the Department to prove that a relationship is fraudulent, not for you to demonstrate that you are a gold medallist partner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharleyOz Posted May 31, 2017 Author Share Posted May 31, 2017 Quinkla I wish I could like your post multiple times! That's very reassuring in a logical way (rather than just 'sure you'll be fine' that I get from friends and family). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 (edited) We have been together 14.5 years (we applied when we were nearly at the 14 year mark). I randomly kept old joint rental agreements so included that. I also included (only a few) photos from the early days - and ones to current. The ones with each other's family members I thought were especially important. The case officer could see how we had 'grown' together over the past 14 years. I also had kept joint wedding (and other event) invites - included a few from the early, mid and later years in our relationship. The only bank document we included was a joint (now expired) mortgage statement plus our joint savings account. I guess what I'm saying is it's all about quality rather than quantity. A few choice documents, photos and invites rather than reams. We've just been through this process. I would say just try and be patient and take each thing as a small sizeable chunk, don't become overwhelmed by doing too much at once. It feels agonising waiting but it will be all worth it in the end. When we submitted (and paid the ridiculous fee!!) last October I worried so much even though I knew we were a completely legitimate married couple (with one child) and were applying with all good intentions however still felt we would be declined! We received our (permanent resident) visa just under the 4 month mark. Feel free to PM me if you want to chat about anything and all the very best for your application x Edited May 31, 2017 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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