Few questions before submitting partner offshore visa (309)

[lucaschn]

Hello everyone,

My Australian girlfriend and I (swiss-brazilian)  are planning to go back to Sydney after the completion of our master studies in switzerland (around fall 2018).

We already gathered all documents and are about to apply. Before to do so, we would have few questions if anyone could help please :

 

1)Translation overseas: Apparently, we don't need a certified translater outside of Australia. We are both french/english bilingual, would we be allowed to do ourselves or can we ask a student in translation to do it ? Most of or documents are already translated, we just would like to add different train bills, bank records,... for the "commitment" and "financial" proofs. To be honest, one would not even need to be fluent in french to understand the documents as they are super trivial. We are both students so we are trying to lower the expenditures as we can. What are your though about it?

2)Medical check: Should we do it before they request us to make the process faster or just wait ?

3)Once the visa would be approved, how long do we have to enter in Australia ?

4)We have been dating for almost 4 years now. We managed to retrieve flight tickets from 2014 with our names. Is it reasonable to think i could be granted the permanent visa straight ?

5)Layout proofs: What layout is advised for the proofs ? My girlfriend was thinking to include all the pictures in a magazine style with some comments below. I Was more thinking to reference all the documents with numbers and to use a documents to summarise them all.

thank you for any help

Edited December 19, 2017 by lucaschn

[Beffers]

13 hours ago, lucaschn said:

Hello everyone,

My Australian girlfriend and I (swiss-brazilian)  are planning to go back to Sydney after the completion of our master studies in switzerland (around fall 2018).

We already gathered all documents and are about to apply. Before to do so, we would have few questions if anyone could help please :

 

1)Translation overseas: Apparently, we don't need a certified translater outside of Australia. We are both french/english bilingual, would we be allowed to do ourselves or can we ask a student in translation to do it ? Most of or documents are already translated, we just would like to add different train bills, bank records,... for the "commitment" and "financial" proofs. To be honest, one would not even need to be fluent in french to understand the documents as they are super trivial. We are both students so we are trying to lower the expenditures as we can. What are your though about it?

2)Medical check: Should we do it before they request us to make the process faster or just wait ?

3)Once the visa would be approved, how long do we have to enter in Australia ?

4)We have been dating for almost 4 years now. We managed to retrieve flight tickets from 2014 with our names. Is it reasonable to think i could be granted the permanent visa straight ?

5)Layout proofs: What layout is advised for the proofs ? My girlfriend was thinking to include all the pictures in a magazine style with some comments below. I Was more thinking to reference all the documents with numbers and to use a documents to summarise them all.

thank you for any help

Hi

Medicals and police checks are only valid for 12 months and so you take the risk of including them, as if your application takes longer to process then you'll have to redo them (and pay again).

The date of entry is up to 12 months after your police check/medical date, ie medical Jan 2018 = date of entry to validate visa is Jan 2019.

Photos - don't include loads and loads. We put ours within a document with a line of text underneath. We included around 15 photos overall.

Translation - not sure, perhaps someone else can advise.

Also I've not heard of a couple who have only been dating and not married to be given the 100 straight away. It's normally married couples with/without kids who go straight to the 100, but it will depend on the strength of your application overall. Have you been living together for very long, do you have rent/mortgage statements in both your names for 12 months or more, joint bills, life insurances, - these are the kind of documents needed for a 100. A couple of flight tickets won't be enough on their own to prove the longevity, other types of documents such as those rated above.

Good luck with it all!

Edited December 20, 2017 by Beffers

[Guest]

Clarify ‘dating’. De facto and dating are two different things. 

[Beffers]

1 minute ago, snifter said:

Clarify ‘dating’. De facto and dating are two different things. 

De facto is the term I couldn't remember the name for lol

[lucaschn]

Well, to give you an overview of the situation:

We met at the end of 2013 in while we were both in holidays in Brazil and we travelled together for few months. I returned to Europe and she returned to Australia to finish our respective Bachelor. I managed to get a 5 month internship in Sydney in 2015 and we lived together there. Then I returned for my studies in europe and she stayed 1 year to save up money.

In July 2016, she came to switzerland to start a master program in Geneva while i was studying in Zürich. I however managed to have a 6 month internship in Geneva and she's trying right now to find an internship in Zurich. So even in the same country (very small), we dont live together because of our studies. However one of us still comes to the other city for the weekend. This is why we wanted to translate train tickets as proof of commitment.

Despite never properly moving in together except 2x6 months (easily understandable because we were studying in separated places) and having not assets or mortgages (easily understandable due to our relatively young age), we have been committed to each other and our relationship is perfectly genuine even not being married.

 

I consider dating, all relationships which are not under a marriage regime. Sorry for this confusion.

 

Concerning the medical check, should i do it before any request or should i just wait ? i'm not sure to have understood the process correctly.

 

thank you

 

best regards

 

 

 

[Beffers]

5 minutes ago, lucaschn said:

Well, to give you an overview of the situation:

We met at the end of 2013 in while we were both in holidays in Brazil and we travelled together for few months. I returned to Europe and she returned to Australia to finish our respective Bachelor. I managed to get a 5 month internship in Sydney in 2015 and we lived together there. Then I returned for my studies in europe and she stayed 1 year to save up money.

In July 2016, she came to switzerland to start a master program in Geneva while i was studying in Zürich. I however managed to have a 6 month internship in Geneva and she's trying right now to find an internship in Zurich. So even in the same country (very small), we dont live together because of our studies. However one of us still comes to the other city for the weekend. This is why we wanted to translate train tickets as proof of commitment.

Despite never properly moving in together except 2x6 months (easily understandable because we were studying in separated places) and having not assets or mortgages (easily understandable due to our relatively young age), we have been committed to each other and our relationship is perfectly genuine even not being married.

 

I consider dating, all relationships which are not under a marriage regime. Sorry for this confusion.

 

Concerning the medical check, should i do it before any request or should i just wait ? i'm not sure to have understood the process correctly.

 

thank you

 

best regards

 

 

 

I don't know whether there is enough de facto for you to be granted the 100 but it sounds as tho you've enough for a 309,  providing you arrange the information succinctly and clearly, with good stat declarations etc. 

 

Meds, I waited until they were requested as I didn't want to risk paying for them twice, but it's up to you. Good luck!!

[lucaschn]

In case of a 309 granted, i would have to wait 2 years in Australia to re-apply for the 100 ?

 

[Nemesis]

11 hours ago, lucaschn said:

In case of a 309 granted, i would have to wait 2 years in Australia to re-apply for the 100 ?

 

You need to meet the requirement of at least 12 months of a de facto relationship to get the 309 - unless you are married, or have registered your relationship. That means living together, not living apart and dating. 

You then submit the paperwork for the 100 2 years after the date of the application for the 309. 

[Guest]

I’m not sure your relationship would be classed as de facto. It reads more like dating, even if you are committed to one another. You have no shared financial commitments together you say? No joint bank account or savings account? No other things that would support an application? Life insurance policy, wills, savings.....

Its a lot of money to spend (and potentially lose) and they do seem to have gotten a lot stricter of late. I’d run your application past a reputable migration agent to ensure you  know if you stand a good chance of a visa grant or not. 

[lucaschn]

Hi 

thanks for all your remarks.

We are both students (24 years) and as you can imagine our ressources are limited, we don't have financial commitments such as mortgages, cars,... However, we can provide leasing contracts with both our names during our stay in Sydney and other bills, payment transfer,...

Concerning the fact we don't live currently together, the immigration booklet clearly specifies we do not need to live together if we have good reasons. My girlfriend (or partner if you prefer) decided to study in Geneva because she always been interested in international relationships and therefore the UN and i study and work in zürich because i'm into economics/finance.

We both decided to move to sydney together to finally live together and have both work opportunities in the same place

I'm sorry for the confusion "girlfriend/partner" as i'm not a native english speaker, but i had already confirmations our case is enough valid to pretend to a 301 at least, so i would like to come back to the initial questions if you do not mind

[Guest]

Don’t mind at all. 

Allt the things you’be asked that I can write about have been answered. Translation wise, not anything I’ve ever needed so cannot offer any suggestions there.

Good luck.