[nagina]

Hi my husband and i have been married for 9 months, we applied for a defacto/spouse visa about 11 months ago...we had only been living together 6 months at that time...today we recieved an email stating "Since you do not meet the criteria on de-facto grounds at time of application, you have the option of withdrawing the application, by 21 August 2012, or if you have any compelling or compassionate reasons as to why this requirement should be waived, then please give reasons in writing by 21 August 2012. " What should we do, my husband is now a stepfather to my children is that compassionate grounds...or should we withdraw the visa and apply again...pls help

 

[nighstar]

I am not an expert on visas, but I would recommend that you do not claim that your husband being a stepfather is a compassionate reason for approving your application.. I think you need to find compelling or passionate reasons that existed at or before the time that you applied for the visa because anything that has happened since then is irrelevant to your application, including your marriage.... If you are unable to provide compelling or compassionate reasons, then I would recommend that you withdraw your application and apply for another visa in the future. It's better if your application is withdrawn than if it's denied.

 

[amonsalve]

Hi,

Clarify something. You applied for the visa 11 months ago, but you legally married only 9 months ago. That means you signed the marriage certificate after applying for the visa, correct?

Did you update DIAC about your new marriage status by including the certificate to your application? If not, you should have done it. Because DIAC takes decisions based on the available documentation. Newly married couple do not require a 12 months cohabitation.

Also, please tell us which visa subclass you applied. Sometimes there is a technicality between the visa subclass and the type of spouse: married, de-facto, fiance.

 

[Paradise]

Ask your case officer if you can submit evidence of marriage to your existing application. If they decline, then withdraw your application, once an application gets refused, its gets complicated & you don't want to go there.

Once you withdraw, submit another partner visa based on marriage, make sure you supply all documentation to evidence your relationship & marriage.

Goodluck on partner visa.

 

[Nelly87]

Hi my husband and i have been married for 9 months, we applied for a defacto/spouse visa about 11 months ago...we had only been living together 6 months at that time...today we recieved an email stating "Since you do not meet the criteria on de-facto grounds at time of application, you have the option of withdrawing the application, by 21 August 2012, or if you have any compelling or compassionate reasons as to why this requirement should be waived, then please give reasons in writing by 21 August 2012. " What should we do, my husband is now a stepfather to my children is that compassionate grounds...or should we withdraw the visa and apply again...pls help

First off six months of living together (or proof of six months of living together) is simply not enough for a de facto visa - it may be enough in some rare cases where the relationship is registered, but I don't think anyone would ever recommend filing for De Facto based on only 6 months of evidence, as it is just a huge risk of being rejected.

As others said before me, you should have reported that you got married as soon as you did - changed the visa to Spouse visa (there is a big difference in fine print between DeFacto and Spouse!) and gone from there because the 12 months living together requirement would have been viewed completely differently had they officially taken into account your marriage. In Spouse visas, proof of a currently existing shared household usually takes priority by far over how long you have lived together. This would have greatly improved your odds.

Don't file for compelling/compassionate reasons with your partner being a stepfather as a reason. It may be compelling to you and your family, and rightfully so, but sadly an immigration officer might just as easily say; that was your choice, to have them bond this much while filing for a visa of which you did not meet the requirements. They might not take you seriously again after that.

Withdraw your DeFacto application and there will be no harm done, and just file for a Spouse one as soon as you can (contact your case officer about this right away to try and smooth this over as best as possible).

Good luck! I'm sorry if I sounded harsh or preachy but I just don't want you to wage your hopes on a visa that did not and still doesn't apply to you! There is one much more suitable, don't waste your credibility fighting for the other one!