ulpul

Some good and bad advice in this thread. I have done this so here is my 2c:

There are certain visas that can be piggy backed onto others. The WHM one can be piggy backed on to a De Facto as an example.

Something that CANNOT be done is for her to come her on a WHM Visa, then when that expires, both her and your son go to immigration and ask to go on a De Facto. While there for my interview with my g/f, I saw no less than 6 "couples" try that and I was sat there for probably 2 hours so can only imagine the number that do.

Find out the key requirements of the De Facto visa, which I did before landing on my WHM Visa. The primary one is cohabiting for 12 months but when I did it 3 years ago, there were a total of 16 criteria and the more that were met, the better the chance of getting the visa. We met 14 (couldnt meet Wills or Mortgage).

I would be interested to see the levels of evidence other De Factos have put in but we turned up with 2 large boxes of evidence. The life had to be documented from virtually touch down in Australia so photos with appropriate family members, invitations, bank statements, bills, cards, communications while apart (emails, phone bills), other examples of commitment. I also had to have Stat Decs from people who knew me in Australia. It took probably a month of collating at the end.

Hardest part was getting a straight answer out of immigration who I rang no less than 12 times until I got the same answer twice and something in writing. Responses ranged from, come into the office on your last day, no appointment needed, you are calling too early, you need to make an appointment the day before etc.

I eventually made an appointment about 1 month out, turned up for our interview in business dress with our evidence. Both of us had succeeded at 20 and 21 to do this and was a very proud moment.

To do this, the sponsor needs to be a citizen or a PR for longer than 5 years I believe - This should be confirmed though and if is the case would mean your son wouldnt be eligible.

Hope this helps.

Pollyana

Are you sure about that? I ask because I have heard on people on here doing it, de facto can be applied for onshore.

Search the forum for "de facto evidence" - there are many many examples of lists of evidence

As far I know this is not the case, certainly never used to be, so if any agent can confirm/deny if the rules have changed, it would be useful.

ulpul

Yes I am sure about what I wrote, however it has been misread. I applied onshore and was in the waiting room for 2 hours witnessing others just coming in and asking to go on the visa. This cannot be done as per original post, its not like a going into a shop and asking for something over the counter, evidence of a cohabiting relationship must be provided for 12 months prior.


the statement was more a figure of speech than actually wanting to know personally but also it would help having it in this thread for OP so she has a central resource of information.



This was the case for 2 friends of mine from Hong Kong, she was a PR and her boyfriend tried to stay here on a De Facto visa with her but she wasnt a citizen. He had to leave and she subsequently followed by choice. This was in 2003. They are now back as a happily married couple with a child after doing the paperwork from Hong Kong for a different visa.

Pollyana

I don't think the original poster was suggesting they just turn up and ask for a visa, they were looking for options. Whatever visa they went for would have requirements and conditions, and the need for cohabitation for 12 monhs has been mentioned in other posts. The son and girlfirend may already have lived together, I don't know, but there is a good possibilty that the WHV would provide the required cohab time. (this can be within the family home as long as the couple are living in an exclusive rel;ship, as husband and wife)
To the best of my knowledge there is no rukle that says you cannot go onshore from WHV to de facto.
Ifthere is such a rule now, please point us to it as it is a route often recommended for people in this situation.


OK
DIAC booklet 1 has the list, there are also examples here -
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=293022
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=429899
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=279456
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=504368
and many others in the archives



You do not need to be a citizen to sponsor for a de facto or spouse visa, unless this is changed very recently.

ulpul

Still missing the point based on the last paragraph, I applied onshore and saw numerous others applying onshore but without evidence. They were young couples like us who were just walking in and going to the counter asking, only to be told that they need to provide 12 months of evidence not just come in to the office. We were sat there with 12 months of evidence in boxes.


Good examples and useful to have in the thread


This was the reason my friends left, well the guy left and the girl followed. If this wasnt the case, I might suggest they lodge a formal complaint as they were ill advised by immigration. Getting off topic so if you are certain only PR status is required currently, we will leave it at that.

AHamm

Technically you can make an application without providing evidence. All you need to do to lodge a valid onshore de facto application is complete the forms and pay the fee.

Of course the evidence will have to be provided at some point, but your point was, I believe, that you can't rock up at DIAC and apply for the visa without evidence. You can.

ulpul

Just so Ahamm and Pollyana are clear in what I am saying as it is either being misread or not clear.

I was sat in Melbourne with my g/f and our box of 12 months worth of evidence proving a genuine de facto relationship.

There were other couples coming in, going to the counter and asking to go on a De Facto Spouse visa. This was because one partner in each relationship was nearing the end of their current visa (let's say WHM to keep it simple).

The couples were being told by different admin staff that, they need to have 12 months worth of evidence to prove they are a genuine couple, none did.

The simplest way to put what I was witnessing was a guy meeting a girl or vice versa, the non resident/citizen of the couple would have been in the latter stages of the visa they were on (say the last few months), they were coming in and asking to just go on a De Facto Spouse visa. They had been a couple for minimal time, they had no evidence nor could they go away and obtain it as it hadnt existed. They also had no appointment.

The reason I mentioned it in the first place is so the OP is under no misillusion that the son's g/f can arrive in Australia, stay 11 of the 12 months (as an example), then arrive at immigration and ask to go on the De Facto Spouse visa.

I am trying to relay what I witnessed with my own eyes and what I have experienced having been through the process successfully so that a useful thread can be created for either the OP or anyone else in the same boat.

Hope this is clearer now, I cannot make it any simpler.

Pollyana

With respect, the fact remains that it IS possible to go from a WHV to a de facto visa onshore, as long as the couple meet the requirements of the visa - including the 12 months cohabitation.
Maybe you did see people that couldn't meet them, that doesn't mean it can't be done.

AHamm

Yes, I'm sorry but I'm with Polly on this one. It's certainly possible to rock up and apply without evidence and you certainly don't need an appointment to just lodge an application. And I'm not sure how being near the end of their visas is relevant.

If they were not in a genuine and continuing relationship for the requesite period of time then their applications may be refused eventually and perhaps this is what you mean. But even then, they would certainly be able to make the initial application.

ulpul

Seriously, I have had my g/f and mate read what I have written and they understand it.

YES it is possible to apply onshore - I know this as I have done it
YES it is possible to go from a WHM to a De Facto Spouse - I know this because I have done it - I was put on a bridging visa whilst they assessed our application
YES they have to meet the minimum requirements including 12 months cohabitation
NO the people coming in whilst I was there DIDN'T meet the requirements, they had only been together in some cases, weeks not 12 months cohabiting but were asking to go on the visa. This is NOT possible as they don't meet the minimum requirements.

Being near the end of the visa IS relevant because they hadn't completed the minimum requirement of 12 months cohabitation.

Finally, when I applied, you needed an appointment to lodge as we were interviewed at that time also. Maybe now they have spare staff who can wait for couples to rock up.

Hope this is clear finally.

AHamm

Gotcha, sorry my days are pretty stressful at the moment - maybe it's dulling my brain

You do still need an appointment if you want your application to be lodged and assessed the same day, btw, but not if you're happy to just lodge the application and wait for it to run its course.

Pollyana

Sounds clear enough now I think my issue really was with your initial post that seemed to indicate that you couldn't go WHV to de facto, I guess it was just the wording of the post. This bit -
As AHamm said it is possible to lodge without an appointment - if they want to see you, they'll call you, but you can send the paperwork in first.
I agree that just walking in and asking for a de facto with only a few weeks together is a waste of time - make you wonder whether they have any idea of the requirements.

For the OP -
It's a little easier to do the WHV to de facto route now too - in the last year or so, if the WHV holder has worked in a rural occupation, such as fruit picking, then they qualify for a second year on the WHV. If both people travel to a rural area and work there together the cohab rules are a lot easier to deal with.