Laoshu

Hi everyone. I need some advice as to which visa my girlfriend should apply for.

Some background info:
I'm British and live in the UK. I have a shiny new PR visa (Skilled Migration) but have yet to validate it, let alone move to Aus! I met my girlfriend a few months before the visa was granted. We've decided we'd like to marry and live in Aus. She's Chinese and is here in the UK on a student visa.

We want to apply for a visa for her, but have some fundamental questions:
1. should she lodge her application in the UK, China or Aus? The DIMIA info seems to suggest China and that's where she'd get her PCC as she hasn't lived here for 12 months. But, she's in the UK now. So what's best?
2. what visa should she apply for? We've got some good relationship evidence for the 6 months since we met and have just started living together.

I was thinking Prospective Spouse / Fiancee, given that our intention is to marry, wherever we are. But I came across this thread:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...pective+spouse
in which Pollyanna (congratulations btw!) says:

"I think the fiance one is designed for people who for whatever reason haven't manged to live together for long enough - if you can prove residence, just stick with the de facto ..."

That would seem to sum it up for us - prospective - but actually we have just started living together and can prove it. I know that the DIMIA info clearly states that de-facto applications should only be made if you have 12 months "proven relationship time" but, having been through the visa process, I know that there is room for human judgement. And we'd really like to not have to go through the whole approval process again in 2 years time! Of course, we could marry now but I'm concerned that applying straight afterward might look a bit contrived. Difficult difficult difficult ...

If anyone would like to comment on these 2 questions (especially, where to apply), I'd be very grateful.
Thanks!
Mike

chris and farideh

Hi Mike,

Does your girlfriend got chinese passport, and when she enter UK, did she register with the centrel police station in Holborn London, cause when I came to UK 28 years ago as a student we had to go and register there.
Thats one way if need to have a police check done, but I think you need to be in the country for at least 12 months.

I really think you should talk to agent to see if they can suggest something which would help you both.

good luck to you both

farideh

Wendy

I'd suggest ringing an agent and getting their expert opinion. You don't have to use them, but at least you will be clear of what to do.

It's a bit complex a case for an online forum, where you could be given wrong advise and consequently ruin your chances.

Good Luck

joho

It is a very difficult one. Have you considered a student visa for her or the working, travel 12 month visa. Or another possibility is for you to validate your visa and come back and live together for 12 months then apply for her. You should validate your visa though.

Jo

Pollyana

Thanks for the congrats! Hope some of my posts are useful to you

Re the Prospective marriage v de Facto - you generally do have to prove 12 months of living together, or have a good reason for living apart. If you have only just got your visa, be careful if you apply for the de facto visa as the first thing they will look at is the dates when your rel'ship started. If you were in a de facto rel'ship at the time of application, then you should have included your partner on your own application. I believe (though am not certain) that you also need to declare it as a change of circumstances if
Of course, if the relationship became a de facto, mutually exclusive, rel'ship AFTER the visa was granted to you, then one option might be to validate your own visa, return to the UK, build up 12 months of living together, and then apply for a de facto visa for her and both move to Australia together.

One hitch might be that to sponsor her as a fiance they may well want you to have some kind of ties to Australia, even if you are not resident there at the time of application.
=======================
I think an agent's advice would be handy as to which way to proceed - if you do end up going for either Pros Marriage or de facto, you shouldn't need an agent for the actual application, just for an initial consultation as to the best route. There may be a route by which she can move with you - student visa or something like that - and then apply for the de facto onshore after living together there for the required time.

Good luck!

Betty Boot

We were in a similar situation where we met in UK just after my then boyfriend got his visa. We came out on holiday together to valid it, moved in together when we got back to the UK. I then applied for 12month working holiday visa from the UK and come out on that. We got advice from an agent when we got here. We ended up getting married here and applying that way with no problems along the way. That was over 5 years ago but dont think things would have changed that much, I know everyone is different so you should get advice from a professional but hope this helps.

Laoshu

Good advice Pollyana (like all the other posts of yours which I've been reading). Thank you and thanks very much to everyone else who replied. I think you're right - so I'll take your advice and consult an agent on this one.
Cheers,
Mike.

Pollyana

A working holiday visa is the first thing that came to mind, but I know that not all nationalities are eligibile for them. certainly worth checking out

Laoshu

Interesting, I'll check that and the student visa possibilities, thanks. Do you think it would be acceptable to apply for de-facto or prospective spouse after a student or holiday visa? Would she have to leave Australia and apply offshore?