Richie86

Sorry if this has already been asked but just some advice if you please.

I'm currently going through the process of applying for a job with wa police. If successful they will sponsor me allowing me to gain a permanant residency visa. I'm in what they would call a de Facto relationship & have been with my partner over the 12 months stated period. We however, do not live together and do not have any financial ties I.e bank accounts etc.

What is the likelihood that a de Facto visa will be granted for my partner? I know they want proof of relationship status but what other than the above can we do to prove this? We don't want to cohabit together as its not possible, we both live separately & are in contracted to stay where we are.

Also as a side note, my partner is in debt, is this likely to impact on the visa process?

Sorry for the long email. Replies greatly appreciated.

Pollyana

Your oartner would be looking at being a dependent on your visa, not an actual de facto visa

As far as Aussie Immigration is concerned a de facto relationship is the equivalent of marriage, without the ceremony. They will want proof of 12 months cohabitation ( which would not be required if you were married) and evidence that you share your lives - eg proof of knowing each others friends/family, shared finances, shared travel and holidays etc
If you don't live together then unless there is a very good proven rason they will not accept it as a de facto relationship. Proof would be things like work commitments meaning you have to live at opposite ends of the country, strictly held religious beliefs, or if you live in the Middle East they will accept that its impossible to live together.
Living apart would have to be balanced by other commitments like joint finances though.

Debt shouldn't affect it.

Bermudashorts

As Polly said, you are not applying for a defacto visa, you are just applying to put your OH in your visa application as a secondary applicant on the basis of being defacto. On the face of it, I would think unlikely you would succeed, but you haven't said very much about why you are not living together, so it is hard to comment.

Defacto means you are married in all but name and married people nearly always live in the same house, so you would need to have very good reasons why this is not the case.

Richie86

I am aware it isn't a de Facto visa, I meant my OH coming on my visa as a de Facto partner but didn't explain it very well. Let me explain my personal circumstances a little better... I currently rent and am contracted in for 2 years. This expires in November this year. I intend to move back in with the folks at the end of the contract in order to pay off existing debt & save money to pay for relocation & visa costs. My OH and I live a 90 minute drive from each other & lives with family for the same reason. My OH works 12 hour shifts a further 30 min drive (in the opposite direction to my house) which would make it a 2 hour commute each way via the dreaded m6. I also work long shifts putting me in the same position. It's not financially viable for us to live together at this present time but we have a genuine relationship which can be proven by family, friends & I hate to say it, Facebook. We spend every other waking moment together when we're not working & it will kill me if I'm faced with the prospect of leaving the OH behind. I also don't see why we should have to marry to prove the relationship, something which is also costly and takes valuable funds away from the relocation process.

I hope this makes sense.

Bermudashorts

You don't need to make sense to me or anyone on BE.

In my view though, this is not a defacto relationship, this is a relationship that has not yet moved onto that phase. Married couples live together, they tackle their debts together, they budget together, they don't live apart to save money. You need to be a married couple other than for the legal ceremony.

You don't see why you should get married? Well it might be the only way for you, weddings can be very cheap.

Pollyana

The problem is that from the point of view of DIBP there is nothing to show that you are a de facto couple. You don't seem to have shared property or finances, you don't maintain a residence where one of you lives while the other works away, and there are no children of the relationship. It really does sound like you are just two independent people who happen to spend time together when they can.
To DIBP this is going to just look like a boyfriend-girlfriend type relationship, I'm afraid. I do see your problem, both on contracts that effectively force you to live apart, but honestly as things are there's no way you can prove a de facto relationship

Richie86

Thank you both. I appreciate you taking time out to answer my post. I've done a little bit more research today on the topic. It seems that a 2 year temporary residency visa maybe a potential option? I know at some point ill have to ask the relevant questions to a professional migration agent but I just wondered what your thoughts on the matter are? My understanding is that if a de Facto relationship can't be proven, they can grant a 2 year temporary visa if the relationship can be proven. Once the relationship has then continued for 2 years, which by any case would then definitely satisfy the requirements of a de Facto relationship as we'll be living together in oz, then an application can then be made for permanant residency on the back of my pr visa.

Bermudashorts

No unfortunately not. To even get the two year temporary visa the defacto relationship needs to be proven.

Some people can skip the temporary stage if they can show three years of a defacto relationship or two years with children together. Everybody else has the temporary stage first, even married couples if they are newly married and did not previously have a defacto relationship.

TeeTMI

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From what you have described here you do not appear to fall within the definition of a de facto relationship, or one of the exemptions, within Australian migration legislation and DIBP policy.



This is a completely different visa partner/spouse visa, which has a 2 stage process. Even for the initial stage the 2 year temporary visa you would require to prove there was a defacto relationship that falls within the definition and requirements of the Australian migration legislation and DIBP policy.