Thorne210 Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 Hi, My boyfriend and I had plans to apply for the partner visa before my temporary skilled visa expires in November this year. However, in light of recent news that bridging visas will not be granted when changes come into effect anytime before 10th June this year, we are now very keen to apply ASAP. Advice from friends who have gone through the partner visa process themselves in the last 12 months has been to apply now despite us living together and hence having limited evidence of a de facto relationship. I am aware that we can get around this by registering the relationship and don't necessarily need to be living together. We do also have a shared bank account and other evidence. Friends have said that it was several months before they were contacted re their application and that you have ample time to get your evidence, therefore once we are living together we can start to attach more. I have concerns about doing this of course as it's a lot of money to get this wrong. It would be great if anyone going through the application process could give me some advice. Thanks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonderingaloud Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 I would talk to a registered migration agent. You said it yourself, it’s a lot of money to get this wrong. I don’t think you will get the generic information you are looking for applicable to your specific circumstances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 I would as wonderingaloud suggests run it by a migration agent. The dept of home affairs website, does say that usually your defacto relationship should have existed for 12 months prior to applying for the visa and that time spent dating may not count. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom1993 Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 Hi, My boyfriend and I had plans to apply for the partner visa before my temporary skilled visa expires in November this year. However, in light of recent news that bridging visas will not be granted when changes come into effect anytime before 10th June this year, we are now very keen to apply ASAP. Advice from friends who have gone through the partner visa process themselves in the last 12 months has been to apply now despite us living together and hence having limited evidence of a de facto relationship. I am aware that we can get around this by registering the relationship and don't necessarily need to be living together. We do also have a shared bank account and other evidence. Friends have said that it was several months before they were contacted re their application and that you have ample time to get your evidence, therefore once we are living together we can start to attach more. I have concerns about doing this of course as it's a lot of money to get this wrong. It would be great if anyone going through the application process could give me some advice. Thanks,We are in a similar situation as applying onshore off an ETA was our original plan in August, however having heard of the changes it looks like we’ll just have to apply from London offshore.Where did you hear that bridging visas won’t be granted sometime before June 10th? My agent just told me to sit tight and they will let me know if we have to change our plans.Regarding your question I’m not sure.. i think it’s better to meet the 12 month requirement before u part with $7k+ and play by the rules, but that’s up to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beffers Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 21 hours ago, ali said: I would as wonderingaloud suggests run it by a migration agent. The dept of home affairs website, does say that usually your defacto relationship should have existed for 12 months prior to applying for the visa and that time spent dating may not count. Time spent "dating" doesn't count. They will look at evidence of defacto/common law/living together, and not boyfriend/girlfriend stuff. Use a migration agent to make sure your evidence stacks up. Better than running risk of a visa refusal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 58 minutes ago, Beffers said: Time spent "dating" doesn't count. They will look at evidence of defacto/common law/living together, and not boyfriend/girlfriend stuff. Use a migration agent to make sure your evidence stacks up. Better than running risk of a visa refusal. I quoted the website which said 'may not' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beffers Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 34 minutes ago, ali said: I quoted the website which said 'may not' Yep I understand the 'may not' but why take the risk? Easier to consult a migration agent to make sure your application is watertight. Better than risking a rejection in my opinion, but obviously entirely up to you whether you get professional advice. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 1 hour ago, Beffers said: Yep I understand the 'may not' but why take the risk? Easier to consult a migration agent to make sure your application is watertight. Better than risking a rejection in my opinion, but obviously entirely up to you whether you get professional advice. Good luck. Totally agree, I would wait until I knew I met the criteria rather than face the possibility of the application being rejected because it's a fair amount of money to throw away 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bencooke86 Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 On 29/01/2019 at 20:00, Thorne210 said: However, in light of recent news that bridging visas will not be granted when changes come into effect anytime before 10th June this year, we are now very keen to apply ASAP. Can you elaborate on this please? It's altogether rather confusing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemesis Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 1 hour ago, bencooke86 said: Can you elaborate on this please? It's altogether rather confusing. From what an agent (Raul( has posted it appears that the sponsor will need approval before the applicant can lodge their paperwork The chances are very high that the approval for the sponsor will take a few months, which means if the applicant has arrived on a 3 month visitor/tourist visa then that 3 months will run out before they can file the application. Hence they will have to laeve and apply offshore, no bridging visa will be possible. This would seem to fit with the desire of the government to cut the number of people sitting onshore on long term bridging visas, having arrived as "tourists" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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