Michelle Warner

Would anyone here please explain to me whether a single Mother of two
children on centrelink payments/child support can sponsor in someone
for a prospective spouse visa?

Once he's here he'll earn well and actually be supporting US rather
than the other way around...but everything I'm reading suggests that
I'll need to be able to support him and surely Centrelink would have
something to say about that. I am for reference, an Australian
citizen, he is a US citizen.

Many thanks...

WESTLY

Yes.

You will probably have to find someone to offer an assurance of support.

Best wishes

Westly Russell
RMA 0316072

JAJ

Not necessarily if the visa applicant is a U.S. citizen, especially if well qualified. May depend on the processing culture in the Australian Embassy, Washington DC in that respect.

rancid

yes, my partner couldnt support me, in our case they asked me for evidence of funds i had to take with me and then gave me the all clear when it was obvious i could support myself.

Michelle Warner

    >Not necessarily if the visa applicant is a U.S. citizen, especially if
    >well qualified. May depend on the processing culture in the
    >Australian Embassy, Washington DC in that respect.

That's what I was wondering - so if we put forward a strong case that
indicates he comes with money and has been well employed in the US,
hopefully the assurance of support issue will be waived - given it is
discretionary.

Wouldn't he be processed in Adelaide along with everyone else then?

Also, does anyone know the time line for prospective spouse visas
approximately?

Presumably, if I avoided centrelink payments altogether and went from
my current married status to immediately engaged following a divorce,
receiving financial support from him in the US, it would further help
our cause since I note one of the questions on the form asks whether I
as the sponsor has received centrelink payments in the last 2 years.
I'm thinking that to be able to put a nice clean 'no' in the box is
the way to go in an ideal world.

Personally, I would have thought it would be in Centrelink's/DIMIA's
interests to bring this guy since once supported by him I won't be
draining the system and he will in fact be contributing to it - and
quite a lot too. I'm wondering whether that's worth stating in the
application too?!!

No doubt I'll have some more questions as I'm just beginning to
investigate the possibilities but in the meantime thank you, and I
shall endeavour to do some more investigating.

---

For reference, anyone else in the same boat - I have since found out
that one has to have, as the Assurer (which doesn't have to be the
same person as the sponsor I note), a taxable (note taxable - some
centrelink payments are not taxable and therefore don't count towards
the total) income in the current year of:

AUD$18,252 without dependents
AUD$34,611 with

...and you will have had to have met this threshold for the past two
years also.

Since I haven't been required to file a tax return (income of $0)
during the last 2 years, I am unable to provide an assurance of
support, irrespective of what happens in the current year.

JAJ

Partner visas are processed in DIMA missions offshore.

But what's his occupation, age etc? If he qualifies for a skilled visa, maybe he should apply for that instead. Removes any risk of an assurance of support, and he gets permanent residence immediately.

Michelle Warner

    >Partner visas are processed in DIMA missions offshore.
    >But what's his occupation, age etc? If he qualifies for a skilled
    >visa, maybe he should apply for that instead. Removes any risk of an
    >assurance of support, and he gets permanent residence immediately.

28 year old programmer...he's trying to avoid the RPL which looks like
a nightmare ...but the independent visa may still be the way to go.
It seems to take longer, be more hassle, cost more. These are the
negatives of it... The prospective spouse visa just seemed to avoid
all that and in particular removes the RPL straight away.

His current place of work has an open door policy - he could lose his
job by even asking for a reference especially as right now they're
looking for people to shift off. Going the ACS route could prove
costly in more ways than one.

WESTLY

The good ship Titanic is fully booked.

In all your circumstances, you might be able to make a case that an AoS is unnecessary, but if a discretionary AoS is called for and you are unable to satisfy this requirement, the visa will be refused.

From what you have posted, with respect, it appears on the face of it that you would be unable to satisfy DIMA that you have the means to meet your sponsorship undertaking; accommodation and financial support for a couple of years. Presumably your argument would be that your partner is highly skilled and would have no trouble earning a very high income in Australia. It would not be unreasonable for a case officer to look at the worst case. Due to illness or injury your partner might not be able to work. Would you be able to satisfy DIMA that your partner has adequate funds to last for two years, no matter what? You are of course in a genuine relationship and committed for life. Your lifetime partner has substantial financial resources? In that case, why are you claiming a Benefit?

I hope you can make out your case that an AoS is unnecessary, but if you cannot, you should have a backup plan in place. You should try persuade a qualified person or persons to offer an AoS if necessary. There are commercial organisations that provide assurances of support, for a fee.

Best wishes

Westly Russell

Michelle Warner

Good points well made without a doubt. Thank you for posting.

I'm not on benefits - yet. With his support, I could remain off them
and avoid claiming altogether - perhaps that would make for a stronger
case...

...but it still wouldn't do in a worst case scenario as you suggest -
I could claim but he couldn't and Centrelink aren't generous by any
stretch. ...unless DIMIA decide that his additional income from a
rental property would be enough to cover that worst case scenario
(around 18k after tax).

It may well be better after all that we wait for him to get in under
his own steam. It's been 2 years - we'll just have to wait 18 months
or so on top. Such is life.

Just out of interest, I wasn't aware of these commercial organisations
you speak of regarding assurances of support. Could you please
provide some pointers here? Worth noting just in case.

Appreciated.

    >adequate funds to last for two years, no matter what? You are of course
    >in a genuine relationship and committed for life. Your lifetime partner
    >has substantial financial resources? In that case, why are you claiming
    >a Benefit?
    >I hope you can make out your case that an AoS is unnecessary, but if you
    >cannot, you should have a backup plan in place. You should try persuade
    >a qualified person or persons to offer an AoS if necessary. There are
    >commercial organisations that provide assurances of support, for a fee.
    >Best wishes
    >Westly Russell

JAJ

Do you have any friends or relatives who would be able to help if necessary?

Michelle Warner

    >Do you have any friends or relatives who would be able to help if
    >necessary?

I have two relatives who may be willing to provide an assurance of
support. I haven't asked yet as it's a hard thing to ask and I want
to be sure that I can tick all the other boxes first and even then,
there is no certainty.

I'm seriously doubting my ability to be a sponsor now - I will be in
rented accommodation either (a) totally supported by him or (b)
totally supported by Centelink plus my ex husband with child support.

If we take situation (a) and a worse case scenario applies, i.e. he is
unable to work and I need to support HIM, I would then have to apply
for government support anyway...and it's doubtful it would be enough
to cover all of us since it barely covers me with two young children.

My mother (Australian citizen but not resident) and his (not
Australian, not a citizen) are both prepared to write up letters that
say they'll financially assist him should he need it and are willing
to give details of finances to prove to that end. We thought that may
help. Disregard the rental income - that will be going.

What we absolutely don't want to do is do all the work for a
prospective spouse visa and then have it rejected because of my weak
sponsorship case, which I'm guessing may then impact on him negatively
when he later applies for an independent non-modl skilled visa because
he would have had a visa refused and I'm guessing will need to state
that. ...aside from the additional costs of having tried one route
before trying another.

I may well call DIMIA - there seems to be a low cost enquiry line here
and they've been very helpful with information thus far - and try to
get a better feel for my chances.

Pollyana

It might be worth him paying for a migration agent (as he's the one with the money, rather than you ) who can present the case in as favourable a light as possible.

Michelle Warner

I have found one alternative...I think.

I'm currently in Melbourne and at the moment, Victoria needs
programmers... so presumably that fast tracks him on to a MODL
visa??...and because he's then MODL less points are required (although
I think he has enough anyway going non-MODL).

So my query here is if you look at STNI and what you do is in demand -
is that equivalent to MODL on the points calculator?

I was going to move interstate to WA but I could hang on for 2 years
if it meant he gets in faster and independently.

The only downside I see to this STNI deal is that he has to be
nominated and there's no guarantee of that - I'm a bit grey on how
that bit actually works but will keep reading.