Hi all,

I've been in Oz for two and a half months now, came over to live with my Aussie boyfriend and intend to apply for a de facto spouse visa just before my WHV runs out, so I'm quite settled and not your typical backpacker.

I've been looking for work for a few weeks and it really isn't going well. However, I have been offered a job working from home for a British company (not a dodgy home-working scheme, I'm not an idiot) on a self-employed basis.

The terms of the WHV are that I can't work for one company for more than six months; does this still apply if you're not an employee of the company but are carrying out freelance contract work? It is quite possible that I will want to carry on working for this company until my WHV runs out.

My wages would be sent to me through an international money transfer website rather than to my UK bank account, so it would probably be quite easy for the authorities to find out if I was breaking the rules by working for too long with one company.

I'm assuming that I need to set aside a certain amount to pay my tax. Do I need an ABN? Is it possible to get one while on a WHV?

Thanks in advance!

1. Yes you can get an ABN on a WHV. You apply for it through the ATO website.

2. Yes, you need to put money aside to pay your tax bill at the end of the year (If you work on an ABN, you are likely to pay tax at the end of the first year. In future years, you pay instalments throughout the year.) You can earn $14,000 in the 2010 tax year before you have to pay tax [$6,000 is tax-free. Tax due on the next $8,000 is $1,200 - but you qualify for the low income tax offset, which is $1,200. Therefore you can effectively earn $14,000 before you pay tax.].

3. Doesn't matter that you have an ABN and regard yourself as a "contractor". You are still only working for one company - and you can't do that on a WHV. Suggestion: Can you apply for the de facto visa sooner (before your six months with this employer are up)?

1. Phew!

2. Sounds complicated but I'm sure I'll be fine. (Unless it turns out like the first episode of Black Books!)

Unfortunately not; we hadn't lived together until I arrived here so we'll be pushing the 12 month requirement as it is. The plan is to leave it until the day my visa runs out, get a bridging visa and hope for the best. I've already sought advice about that on here, before I even left the UK!

Thanks for the advice.

Dear BYG,

Hoping for the best isn't necessarily a good option with the 12 months rule, suggest you clarify your rights since this is an issue that senior agents often can't agree on.

I think Ozhappy may be correct about trying to avoid the 6 month rule with an ABN, unfortunately.


Cheers,

George Lombard

I'm not sure you can claim the Tax Free threshold on a WHV or in fact on any temporary visa. I think its only eligable to permanent residents and citizens.

cheers

When I saw that I'd had a reply from George Lombard I knew I'd be in for some doom and gloom.

It might not be a good option but it's the only one we have. I can't magic extra time out of thin air, nor can I afford to travel to the UK and back when my WHV is up.

You have actually replied to me previously on a different thread saying the same thing, which at the time caused me to go into a hysterical panic about getting kicked out of Australia. But as people pointed out to me, it is in a migration agent's best interests to make things sound complicated so they can drum up trade. COs are people, not robots - are they realistically going to turf me out of the country and break up a relationship just because we don't have evidence of shared finances on the very first day I got here?

I'm not trying to avoid the six month rule by getting an ABN, I'm trying to find out what the rules are so I don't break them unintentionally.

Yes. They are working to very set guidelines and follow the rules regardless of whether they feel sorry for you or not. People are constantly being 'turfed out' of the country because they've not done the right thing.

I agree you will find some migration agents who will tell a tale in order to get money but any agent who is Mara registered follows guidelines and most of them will not charge you if you fail to get your visa so it's not in their interests to give you doom and gloom advice. In particular, the agents who offer their advice for free on this forum would certainly not give duff information as it would impact hugely on their business if they started getting bad feedback on here.

The "free advice" I was given before was that it would be "unlikely that you would have significant evidence proving that you were in a fully-fledged de facto relationship on the day of arrival", which is really not at all helpful as it implies that there's no point in applying in the first place.

Also, if lack of evidence from day one will damage my case, an agent can't conjure up evidence for me, so it would be pointless to enlist the services of one.

From the sounds of it I might as well just go back home now and forget all about it.

No, that's not correct. People on a WHV or any temporary visa can be "resident" for tax purposes. Whether they are "resident" for tax purposes or not has to with their "behaviour": Someone on a WHV who travels around the country, spending a few weeks in different places and working on and off in many different locations will be "non-resident".

But BrightYellowGun told us that he is living in one and the same place - that makes him "resident" for tax purposes (and with that he gets the tax-free allowance).

Is advice not advice unless it says "yes you should be fine"?

No need to throw your toys out of the pram, just because it isn't all plain sailing! You've been given good advice - which means you won't fall foul of the immigration rules and you won't get kicked out of the country with a "can't come back for five years" stamp! That's a goo thing, isn't it?

Get your ABN and work for that UK employer for three months, surely that's better than not having a job at all? And during those three months keep your eyes and ears open: supermarket shelf stackers, cleaners, bar staff - there are always those types of jobs. You may end up having three "little" jobs to be able to pay the bills - but it's only for a short time.

You're right, I was given good advice by you, which answered my original questions. No, I won't get kicked out for breaking the temporary work rule, but apparently I will get kicked out when my de facto application inevitably gets denied. So I get to spend the next nine months working crappy jobs for crappy money despite having a higher degree, only to return to the UK on my own and with no money. I reckon that's reason enough to "throw my toys out of the pram".

So was that 'free advice' true or false? Don't shoot the messenger. Advice is advice whether you like what you're hearing or not. If the relationship is not important enough for you then yes, go back home and give up. If however you plan to go the Defacto Spouse route why not just go the Prospective Spouse Visa and get married possibly earlier than you planned.

It's no one's fault that you are in a situation you don't want to be in. If you only want to go the Defacto Spouse route and you have to move back to the UK you can continue the relationship to the satisfaction of DIAC providing you keep proof of the ongoing relationship. If you were to employ the services of a MARA registered agent, they would do their job and spend time trying to find the best and easiest route for you. You, however don't appear to want that, you appear to want a quick positive answer from people who may or may not have been in the same situation.

Why would your de facto application inevitably get denied? Did you know your girlfriend before you came to Australia and can you prove that? Then surely you can get the 12 months evidence together by the end of the WHV.

If not, go fruit-picking for three months so you can get another 12 months WHV. Then you'll have enough evidence for sure.

Either this girl is worth it for you to jump through whatever hoops immigration wants you to jump through - or she isn't worth it ... If she is worth it, look at each new "hoop" and start thinking how to jump through it. Don't waste too much time and energy whinging about the "hoop"; spend the energy on getting through it.

I'm only suggesting that you work through your options carefully, not suggesting to anyone that they'll be refused, and no I'm not touting for work, we're busy enough at the moment. Perhaps, though, it might be a good idea to contact IARC - see www.iarc.asn.au and see if they can give you an idea of how this issue is likely to be handled.

Unfortunately the Department of Immigration has to deal with many attempted false spouse applications and occasionally they crack down on documentation and duration issues. There are literally thousands of these cases in the Migration Review Tribunal database and just one is http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/si...2004/1456.html .

Cheers,

George Lombard