Guest ozgal Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 Hey people My partner and I plan on moving to Oz next October. I am aussie born and bred but have lived in the UK for 7 years. Has anyone here got in on a defacto visa? My boyfriend and I have been together for almost 4 years, have lived together almost all this time, and have the documents to prove it. However we are young (I am 27, he is 25) and we do not want to get married for the sake of a visa unless we have to. I have got all the documents from Australia house and it seems a bit overwhelming, but we dont really want to pay thousands for an immigration service when we know we are legit. Can anyone shed some advice on what they went through, what we should expect, and, if your relationship is real, how easy it is. We have complete support from both families. I can understand why its so much harder applying for a defacto visa as we havent made that lifelong commitment yet...would we be better off applying for an engagement visa (we kinda are anyway, i just dont have a ring and we dont have a date). How much easier would it be if we got married first? I know i shouldnt be worried as we truely are real and we can prove it, but it just seems so overwhelming. Any advice would be appreciated. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Boomer Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 Hi Ozgal My partner got her permanent residents visa back in 1997. We had been together about a year when we went to Oz. I was on 1 year working holiday visa. Once we got to Oz we applied for a temporary resident visa so I could stay longer. We had the usual proving that we had an ongoing relationship but it was pretty easy. Unfortunately we came back to the UK after 3 years due to family (doh! as homer would say) and I never got permament residency. Basically we are going through the whole thing again. The only difference is my partner is now a citizen. My advice is do not get an immigration lawyer. If you are a Australian citizen it should be pretty straightforward without getting married. As long as you have proof that you have an on-going relationship ie household bils in both name or financial commitments together it should be a forgone conclusion....well that's what I have told myself. Say youself £1,000. The visa is £500 anyway!!! If you got married you would still have to get all the same shit together that you are for a de-facto visa. So it doesn't really matter. Hope this help. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mancunian Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 Although criterias are constantly changing the best thing to do is be HONEST...........had a job and a half with my immigration papers some 10 years ago...the biggest problem? Immigration " lawyers"...they are no necessary...just after the buck... man dealing with my case in Melbourne Immigration said it didn't matter if you have 20 lawyers , they look at the evidence, the facts, the truth, the proof and, basically, stop wasting your money with a " lawyer". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ozgal Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 Cheers guys, thanks for the advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jocky boy Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 hi ozgal we done it through an engagement, defacto , pain in the neck i know everyone goes through it all we have waited longer than anyone i know reason is they want bills, bank, accounts e.t.c. in each others name rent council tax, they want it for a year but we only had all the accounts together for six months so we have had to wait an extra six months. some people disagree but i believe it's better to get an agent god it's some amount of paper work i know it's dear but it's worth it. our case was so complicated but with my agent we sailed through. get a ring c'mon good luck on everything jocky boy.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Naiad Posted October 31, 2005 Share Posted October 31, 2005 What are the benefits of just getting married and being done with it against going for the prospective marriage visa? It seems to me (and I could be wrong) that if you get a prospective marriage visa you go through all the paperwork and jump through all the hoops and then have to do it all over again when you get married and change to a spouse visa? Yasmin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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