MattW82

Hi all!

After anonymously reading this site for the last couple of weeks, I've decided to sign up as I'm due to move to Oz in 6 months time and there seems to be a wealth of useful knowledge on the board.

I'm going to be flying out to Adelaide on December 28th with my Australian girlfriend to pretty much start a new life there with her. We're both in our mid twenties and are planning on staying in Adelaide for around 12 months before going off travelling around Oz with a view to seeing if we would prefer to live in any of the other cities/states. The reason we're starting off in Adelaide is that's where my girlfriend is from and all her family and friends are there.

Anyway, to the point. Initially I'm after some opinions as to whether what I'm planning regarding Visas is a good idea or not. I'm intending on going over on a 12 month Working Holiday Visa (417) to start with, with a view to getting a job (within IT) with a company who would sponsor me for a 457 Visa. This should see me right for pretty much the next 5 years. Failing me managing to obtain said sponsorship, my girlfriend and I will have been living together for well over a year at that point so I'll apply for a de facto relationship Visa (801) which should sort me out indefinitely.

Does this sound a reasonable way of doing things, or has anyone got any better suggestions? Thanks in advance

donovandenese

easiest thing to do would be to apply for a de facto visa at the start - have you been living together 12 months?
with a de facto visa you have no resatrictions on where you work or how long for. on a working visa you can only work for 6mths in one job then you have to move. with a company sponsorship there is the problem of having to stay with them for a long period of time.
i expect to be moving to adelaide myself next month with my aussie husband, spent a year there in 2004 on a working holiday visa, now moving on a spouse visa

MattW82

Hi there, thanks for the reply

Unfortunately I won't be able to apply for the de facto Visa yet as we haven't been living together for 12 months. Therefore I'm going to have to go over on the 12 month Working Holiday Visa to start with.

I hadn't thought about the whole having to stay with a company for a long period of time to get sponsorship, I don't suppose you know what a minimum term would be do you? If it's anything over 12 months I think I'll have to scrap the idea of sponsorship and apply for a de facto Visa once we have been living together for over 12 months. What sort of proof would be needed to show that we have indeed been living together for that length of time? Bear in mind that we'll have spent 4 of the 12 months living together in the UK.

Annehe28

Get a joint bank account and a rental or mortgage agreement together.
Good luck with everything.
We're off to Adelaide when visa is granted. Hopefully out by this time next year the way things are going.
Anne

MattW82

Hi Anne, thanks for the reply and the good luck! Hope it all goes well with yourself too

The joint bank account sounds a great idea, will definitely do that. There's a slight problem with the rental agreement though in that we'll be living with my parents for 4 months prior to leaving (to help us save up) and with her parents for 2 months upon arrival in Adelaide (to help us find our feet). By the end of my 12 month WHV we'll have only been living together in our own place for 10 months. Will this likely cause problems do you know?

donovandenese

my sister went to oz on a WHV then changed to de facto - wasn't too complicated. they also spent part of the 12months living with parents and that wasn't a problem - parents can write statutory declarations to submit with the application. you have to provide 12 months evidence of your de facto relationship from 4 aspects: financial (eg joint bank accounts), nature of household (eg letters to same address in both names, statement on sharing the housework, joint lease etc), commitment (eg knowledge of each others family, joint long term plans, how you keep in touch during any time apart etc etc etc) and social (joint travel, joint membership of clubs, that your friends and family see you as a couple etc etc). if you apply in Oz you usually have an interview.
would be a good idea to go onto the immigration website and read the partner immigration booklet - loads of info in there

MattW82

Wow, that's absolutely excellent. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, some very useful information there