moconnor89

hi all
my girlfriend and i are both from N.Ireland and have been together for 8 years,about a year and a half into our relationship her family were all granted permanent residency to Australia after her father was granted the skilled visa.
However my girlfriend had already decided she was going to study in liverpool which would last 5 years, so we both took a gap year and traveled to oz for the year,after this we returned so my girlfriend could start college and i went back to live with parents as i wouldn't have been able to afford the rent after a years travelling and i didn't want to distract her from her studies. during the 5 years we flew every month or so to see each other. she qualified in the summer and we have been living together since sep. we have did research and have been told we wont get a defacto visa unless we have lived together for 12 months, we just wondered has anyone else been successful with this type of visa who also have not lived together for 12 months? we have lots of proof that our relationship is genuine and continuing from pics of me with her family from 8 years ago recent pics of me also with her family, we lived together in oz and both have payslips sent to that address, we have invitations and lots of photos. Is there any way around not living together for 12 months? also does it have to be continuous 12 months? as we have lived together on and off for about 2 years all in all. any help would be much appreciated as i dont know what to do

Pollyana

Welcome to BE

Its not impossible to get a de facto visa without the 12 months, but it is very difficult. You would need very good documentation to show why you had to live apart and to show how your relationship was sustained during that time - things like bank statements showing any financial support between the two of you, the fact that you have one address which you considered your home base, etc.
Any proof that you had combined lives when you were travelling -ie before you were living apart at home - will help as it shows your lives were combined beforehand and you only lived apart as a means to an end.
The 12 months doesn't have to be continuous, nor does it have to be immediately before applying, though that makes it much easier. .with 8 years together, on and off living together, you stand a reasonable chance I would think.
The problem is you won't know until you apply as to whether the Case Officer will feel you have a strong enough case to waive the 12 months requirement. Might be an idea to have an initial chat with a registered migration agent to see what they think.. Otherwise, just keep collecting as much evidence as you can now that you do live together, and wait for September.

Pollyana

I'm assuming your girlfriend's PR is still current, in that she either has a RRV to enable her tomreturn to Aus, or has actually got citizenship?

moconnor89

Thank you for the quick reply it's much appreciated. I think I will try and speak to a migration agent for some extra advice,my girlfriend has travelled back and fourth to oz when she had time off from college to visit her parents, she has a RRV,I too went back to oz with her for a holiday during this time. We have read about registering our relationship with a state In oz,do u think if we do this, would it help waiver the 12 month period? My girlfriend is contracted to a years work from sep 2014 to 2015 in the UK after which our plan is to move to and live n oz,by this time we will have lived continuous for 12 months but obviously the visa takes time so we wanted to put the application in as soon as possible and hope to have it granted around sep15 but I know now this might be risky as the migration agent might say we haven't lived together for 12 months yet,it's not possible due to work commitments that my gf will be staying in the UK after sep15 so it's either apply now or wait to sep15 apply then and not see my gf until the visa is granted which I don't want to do!

Pollyana

All points in your favour - travelling to and from Aus, being with her family, and she has a RRV already, thats all good.
You mention registering a relationship in Aus - definitely
That counts as being the equivalent of a marriage and will remove the need for 12 months cohabitation. It sounds like you would be pretty safe anyway with a lng relatonship and periods of living together - whether they were while you were travelling or not - but if you add the Registered Relationship you should be fine and sorted.

Lodged in the UK Spouse Visas are taking 12-15 months now, though you can visit Aus as a tourist during processing.

moconnor89

Really I had read somewhere that it used to be 5 months then it changed to 9 months, need to put the head down now then and put everthing together,,it's good to hear some positive feed back puts my mind at ease at bit we also have statements from aus citizens who are friends with my gfs family whom I met whilst travelling to oz on both occasions I suppose the more evidence the beter!

BritInParis

For a 309 visa to be granted a de facto relationship needs to have lasted at least 12 months. Periods of separation are allowed providing you can show evidence that you continued the relationship during these periods and give good reason why you were separated. You do need to cohabit for at least some of this time however. For instance a couple who state they have been in a de facto relationship for 2 years but have never lived together for religious reasons won't be eligible for a 309 - they would be expected to be engaged and therefore apply for a 300.

Five years is a long period to be separated however and it may be difficult to prove that the relationship was ongoing during all this time. Given the massive recent fee hike you may wish to hang on until September to lodge your application. This should at least give you a 309.

I'm assuming you were born in 1989 so why not apply for a Working Holiday Visa to allow you to travel with your girlfriend to Australia whilst you wait for the twelve months processing time?

An alternative option would be to go to Australia on a tourist visa and then lodge onshore. The upside is this should give you a bridging visa with work rights. The downside is it's $1500 more expensive.

Pollyana

No, its 12-15 months for people lodging now, I'm afriad. Was 9 months until late last year.
As you say, the more evidence the better, I can't imagine you having problems with the family/social stuff, but you will need to show things like joint finances to prove the relationship is committed, especially with al e time apart.

Have a serious look into the option of whether you can register your relationship if you are here on a tourist visa, or alternatively bite the bullet and actually get married! Either of those options removes the need for cohabitation,

moconnor89

with a lot of money going towards the visa we would not be able to afford actually getting married, we are looking into registering the relationship to see if that is possible. as we are living together now we have joint bank accounts and bills etc. Thanks for the reply britinparis, i have already used the 1 year working holiday visa from the first time i traveled with my partner so its not an option to get this again. if i did go on a tourist visa and applied onshore how long does it take before i would get the bridging visa to have work rights as i could not afford to be there without work?

BritInParis

Registering your relationship as soon as you arrive in Australia and adding your relationship certificate to your application is certainly a good idea. You could then marry later at your leisure. If you lodge your 309 application online whilst in Australia then you are usually given a bridging visa automatically. If your bridging visa didn't have work rights attached then you can apply again separately but usually this is not necessary.

It should be mentioned at this point that you try to enter Australia on a tourist visa and tell the immigration officer that you intend to lodge a partner application whilst there then you will likely be refused entry.

Since lying to an immigration officer is always a bad idea if you don't already have one already then apply for a British* ePassport. This will allow you to enter Australia via the automatic Smartgate and thus hopefully avoid any potentially awkward questions.

*Irish ePassports are currently permitted as well on a trial basis.

Dorothy

Seriously, how much does it cost to nip down to the registry office and get married? If you're talking about not being able to afford a wedding, then that's another story.

moneypenny20

45 quid plus 4 for the licence. If the marriage was a definite foregone conclusion and strong religious beliefs weren't involved I'd do that. You can always have a full on do with church etc at a later date if so inclined.

Pollyana

I would imagine there's not much difference financially between the cost of a wedding and the cost of registering a relationship - but the advantage of the wedding would be they could do it in the UK so save money on flights etc. In their shoes thats what I'd look at, few quid for the registry office, drag two mates in as witnesses, couple of quid for an extra copy of e certificate to put in with the application - sorted

moconnor89

well to be honest we dont want to just go to a registry office and drag 2 mates for witnesses. looking into information for proof of supporting each other whilst not living together, i have been through bank statements from 2012 showing lots of flights that we booked to see each other whilst she was in college there is also bank transfers from myself to my gf also, will this be enough evidence to show our relationship was always genuine and continuing whilst not living together?

Dorothy

Unfortunately what you want isn't relevant to DIBP. Being boyfriend and girlfriend is not a defacto relationship.