Hi all,
I'm currently in the process of getting everything together for my Partner Visa 820/801 application and hoping to get some advice regarding past centrelink payments. We have been together for 5 years but I intend on saying we have only been de facto for the past 2 years - it is only during this time that we have taken out a lease together, both started getting paid into our joint bank account and declared each other as spouses on our tax returns etc. Not during the last 2 years, but in the past my partner received Centrelink as he was a full time uni student but he never changed his status from single. We were living together at the time in a sharehouse with other friends/housemates and never had an official lease. We had a joint bank account but it was used mainly only to pay rent and bills - we both transferred money from our personal accounts to cover our share of this, as did our housemates. At the time I wouldn't say we were in a "marriage like relationship" and it did not occur to him to change his centrelink relationship status. I was also a full-time student so not earning much. Seeing as we are not claiming we were defacto for the time he was on centrelink will this still be a problem? If it looks like it will be problematic I think I would rather repay any possible centrelink overpayment than risk having the application denied. Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks in advance!
Katherine
I'm currently in the process of getting everything together for my Partner Visa 820/801 application and hoping to get some advice regarding past centrelink payments. We have been together for 5 years but I intend on saying we have only been de facto for the past 2 years - it is only during this time that we have taken out a lease together, both started getting paid into our joint bank account and declared each other as spouses on our tax returns etc. Not during the last 2 years, but in the past my partner received Centrelink as he was a full time uni student but he never changed his status from single. We were living together at the time in a sharehouse with other friends/housemates and never had an official lease. We had a joint bank account but it was used mainly only to pay rent and bills - we both transferred money from our personal accounts to cover our share of this, as did our housemates. At the time I wouldn't say we were in a "marriage like relationship" and it did not occur to him to change his centrelink relationship status. I was also a full-time student so not earning much. Seeing as we are not claiming we were defacto for the time he was on centrelink will this still be a problem? If it looks like it will be problematic I think I would rather repay any possible centrelink overpayment than risk having the application denied. Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks in advance!
Katherine