[Melaleuca]

Hi everyone,
we are in the process of getting a partner visa application together and have come across a few uncertainties which I would like to ask you about.

About us: My partner (Australian) and I (German) have been in a defacto relationship since December 2012 (this is when my partner moved to Germany and we moved into a rental together).
We are currently Germany to finish up our university degrees by the end of December. We are planing to visit my partners family in Australia in mid January and apply for a defacto visa onshore while over there.
Since we have been in a committed defacto relationship for 5 years the goal is to gather enough evidence to prove this to immigration and get the permanent visa straight away.

Question 1: We have set up a shared bank account at the start of 2014 and have been using it to pay rent, bills and groceries. In Germany bank statements are only stored online for a year. Since we didn't know that we would need them we (stupidly) haven't saved the bank statements. We only have the statements from the past year. It is possible, however, to get old bank statements from the bank. The problem with this option is that it costs a lot of money (we are talking a few thousands euro).
Do you think there is any chance of getting the permanent visa without the bank statements stating back 3 years?

Question 2: Since we are both uni graduates we haven't got proper jobs yet. My partner is a phd student in Germany and got a scholarship for that and I have been receiving money from my parents plus worked cafe jobs.
When we get to Australia in January my partner won't have a job straight away.
Can he sponsor me if he doesn't have a job?

Question 3: We know that using a tourist visa to apply for a partner visa in Australia isn't what the tourist visa is meant for. Yet many people do it successfully. I've previously lived in Australia for two years on a WHV (2010-2012) and returned once in 2014 to visit my partners family. We've booked return flights to not look suspicious and we won't be carrying any suspicious documents either. We might have a large amount of luggage though.
Do you think the chances are high that I will get stopped by immigration?

Question 4: We have bought a car together and have taken out insurance for it. The purchase contract is in both of our names but it doesn't look very official since we just bought it of a private person (it could easily be forged) and we paid in cash. The German car registration and the car insurance don't allow to have two names registered as the car owner. So the official document by the car owner registration is in my name, as is the car insurance.We have tried to have it in both of our names but they just wouldn't do it.
Will this still count as evidence or is it pretty much useless since it is only in one of our names?
My partner actually uses the car much more than I do. We have a speeding fine which shows him as the driver (photo). Could this possibly help?

Thank you so much for reading through our questions. Any help and advice is much appreciated.
Melaleuca

 

[tijanaoc]

Hi everyone,
we are in the process of getting a partner visa application together and have come across a few uncertainties which I would like to ask you about.

About us: My partner (Australian) and I (German) have been in a defacto relationship since December 2012 (this is when my partner moved to Germany and we moved into a rental together).
We are currently Germany to finish up our university degrees by the end of December. We are planing to visit my partners family in Australia in mid January and apply for a defacto visa onshore while over there.
Since we have been in a committed defacto relationship for 5 years the goal is to gather enough evidence to prove this to immigration and get the permanent visa straight away.

Question 1: We have set up a shared bank account at the start of 2014 and have been using it to pay rent, bills and groceries. In Germany bank statements are only stored online for a year. Since we didn't know that we would need them we (stupidly) haven't saved the bank statements. We only have the statements from the past year. It is possible, however, to get old bank statements from the bank. The problem with this option is that it costs a lot of money (we are talking a few thousands euro).
Do you think there is any chance of getting the permanent visa without the bank statements stating back 3 years?

Do you have other type of financial evidence that would date back 3 years+
Joint health insurance? Home insurance? Receipts for joint purchases of major items such as furniture, etc?
I think if you have other types of evidence that cover 3+ years that you would be okay, and I would put a cover page on your bank statements explaining it as you have here.

Question 2: Since we are both uni graduates we haven't got proper jobs yet. My partner is a phd student in Germany and got a scholarship for that and I have been receiving money from my parents plus worked cafe jobs.
When we get to Australia in January my partner won't have a job straight away.
Can he sponsor me if he doesn't have a job?

Yes.

Question 3: We know that using a tourist visa to apply for a partner visa in Australia isn't what the tourist visa is meant for. Yet many people do it successfully. I've previously lived in Australia for two years on a WHV (2010-2012) and returned once in 2014 to visit my partners family. We've booked return flights to not look suspicious and we won't be carrying any suspicious documents either. We might have a large amount of luggage though.
Do you think the chances are high that I will get stopped by immigration?

No personal experience of this, but I suppose if you have a massive amount of luggage for what's supposed to be a two week trip, then in theory you may get stopped. But I'm sure others have passed through with lots of luggage without any issues as well. No one can tell you with 100% certainty I guess.

Question 4: We have bought a car together and have taken out insurance for it. The purchase contract is in both of our names but it doesn't look very official since we just bought it of a private person (it could easily be forged) and we paid in cash. The German car registration and the car insurance don't allow to have two names registered as the car owner. So the official document by the car owner registration is in my name, as is the car insurance.We have tried to have it in both of our names but they just wouldn't do it.
Will this still count as evidence or is it pretty much useless since it is only in one of our names?
My partner actually uses the car much more than I do. We have a speeding fine which shows him as the driver (photo). Could this possibly help?

Possibly. Is there not a way to have a named driver on the car insurance, even if the insured person is different? For example your partner listed as a named driver under your policy? This is possible in most countries I believe (at least all the countries I have ever lived in). It's probably too late to do that now if you're about to apply shortly anyway, but might be worth trying.

 

[Melaleuca]

Do you have other type of financial evidence that would date back 3 years+
Joint health insurance? Home insurance? Receipts for joint purchases of major items such as furniture, etc?
I think if you have other types of evidence that cover 3+ years that you would be okay, and I would put a cover page on your bank statements explaining it as you have here.

Unfortunately we don't have any other financial evidence that i can think of. Being poor uni students most of our furniture was either gifted by family or purchased second hand and paid in cash. The idea with the cover page is good. We will definitely do that and explain the situation with the car as well.
If we were to get some of the old bank statements, what would be a sufficient amount? Could one every 3 months for example do the trick?

Possibly. Is there not a way to have a named driver on the car insurance, even if the insured person is different? For example your partner listed as a named driver under your policy? This is possible in most countries I believe (at least all the countries I have ever lived in). It's probably too late to do that now if you're about to apply shortly anyway, but might be worth trying.

Also not possible. Believe me we have tried. Here you just book an "additional driver package" which doesn't go by a specific persons name but by age. So for example the insurance holder plus anyone over 25 can drive the car.

Thanks so much for your advice tijanaoc

 

[tijanaoc]

Unfortunately we don't have any other financial evidence that i can think of. Being poor uni students most of our furniture was either gifted by family or purchased second hand and paid in cash. The idea with the cover page is good. We will definitely do that and explain the situation with the car as well.
If we were to get some of the old bank statements, what would be a sufficient amount? Could one every 3 months for example do the trick?

Yes, I would say that would be fine. Even one statement per year for the previous years would be sufficient, I would say. Just to show you had a joint account and it was being used should be enough.

Have you seen this? https://partnervisa820uploadguide.neocities.org/
Might be helpful.

 

[Melaleuca]

Yes, I would say that would be fine. Even one statement per year for the previous years would be sufficient, I would say. Just to show you had a joint account and it was being used should be enough.

Ok this makes me hopeful. Thanks so much.