darrio

I'm currently in Australia on a 457 temporary business visa and would like to bring my American girlfriend to live with me. How can I do this?
If it's not possible to do this as a girlfriend, would it be possible as my fiance? I gather that if we do this then we would have to marry within 9 months?
Thanks for any advice!

owieb

You can get her put on your visa as a defacto-spouse, but there is certain criteria that has to be met. One of the main ones is that you have to prove that you have been living together in a defacto-relationship for at least 12 months.

I did exactly the same as you, but I was on a 457IE visa (not sure which 457 you are on), so you may not be able to do it. Probably worth checking out the immigration site, www.immi.gov.au

Can't say I have ever heard that you have to get married in 9 months, where did you get that from?

owieb

Here is another link worth checking out:

http://www.immi.gov.au/facts/35relationship.htm

darrio

I read about the 9 month requirement for fiances here.

I'm not sure we'd satisfy the de-facto spouse requirement either because although we have been in a relationship for over a year, very little of that has been spent living together.
The immigration website also doesn't clarify whether the exception of "where cohabitation was contrary to law in the applicant's country of residence" would be applicable in the circumstance that I am unable to live in the US without marrying her, and she was unable to live in the UK.
Thanks for the help!

owieb

That's a totally different type of visa and is only applicable to permanent residents and citizens. You just need to add her to your visa as a family member. At the time when you applied for the visa you would have had the option to put down family members. But as I understand it, and this is what I did, you can add a family member to the visa once your visa has been issued.

But it does come down to proving the defacto-relationship. If you can give good reason why you couldn't live together then they may consider it. My girlfriend (now wife) and I hadn't physically lived together, nor did we have joint bank accounts or a mortgage, but we had various receipts, holidays, photos, stats decs (from ourselves, friends and family) etc to confirm that we were in a defacto-relationship. It's worth exploring it a bit further and maybe getting some advice from an agent and see how much supporting marterial you can pull together.

If you can get her on your visa, then she gets the bonus (unlike you) that she can do any type of work and isn't restricted to a single employer.

darrio

Thanks very much owieb!

We have been on holiday together and so on - there should be photographs around of that, and could get statements from friends and relatives. I hope that would be enough since like you we've never actually lived in the same house before (though would be in Australia).

Can anyone recommend a good agent in Sydney to chat to?

owieb

Alan Collett from Go Matilda handled all my visas, worth dropping him a line. He often posts on here, so he may even pick up on this thread, otherwise visit his site at www.gomatilda.com

clop

Hi Darrio.

My application for a sponsored long stay 457 visa was lodged last week and included my girlfriend as a de-facto partner. We had not lived together for more than seven months and even that was a couple of years ago. Our migration agent (Fragomen plc in Sydney, professional but kind of slow to respond to emails etc.) advised us to send photographs showing us together in various social settings over the past few years, also to prepare a list of statutory declarations stating the long-term nature of our relationship and our future plans to stay together, which had to notarised by a Notary Public, and various other little bits and bobs. I think the idea is that you have to prove beyond reasonable doubt that you are not fabricating your relationship and I got the impression they're willing to bend the rules slightly in most cases. No one has mentioned anything about having to get married.

clop

Siren & Brian

Hi Darrio!!

I AM on a fiance visa and I can tell you.. YEP, you DO have to marry within 9 months of her moving to Oz. It's part of the deal.

A finace visa works in three steps.

1) a nine month temporary visa during which you must marry to move to step 2 or lose your visa and get sent home.

2) A 2 year spouses visa during which you could very well have "pop in" visitors to check and make sure that you are indeed married in life as well as name. Unless there is a death, a child or spousal abuse, a divorce within this time would mean deportation.

3) Permanent residency and the ability to become an Australian citizen.

Our deadline is November 12 and our wedding date is October 15th!! (Moved back to allow for better wedding weather)

Unless you are REALLY willing to commit, I suggest other venues offered.

Best of luck!!

Siren

darrio

Just wondering if anyone else has experiences with this?

JAJ

I think you need to get professional advice - it's not the kind of problem where asking on an online forum is going to add much value.

Jeremy

chels

I am in Australia on my partner's 457 visa. When he applied, he included me as his defacto. We hadn't been living together so had a trawl for evidence of our relationship which we intended to send off if it was asked for. But they didn't ask for any evidence and we got the visa through about 6 weeks after applying for it.

clop

As far as I can determine, the rules for a 457 de facto partner differ from those for a 457 prospective spouse. There is no requirement for a de facto partner to marry the 457 visa holder but there is a requirement for a prospective spouse to marry the 457 visa holder.

clopstah

JAJ

The difference is that there is no 'prospective spouse' visa for which 457 holders can sponsor.

Jeremy

MrsMangle

....I am now feeling slightly sick...my partner applied for (and got) a PR visa last Christmas...as we hadn't lived together for the whole 12 months we were advised that I couldn't apply for a defacto visa immediately?