[Umbreon]

Hey guys, I am getting ready to apply for a partner visa and I have a question about proving that our relationship has continued despite time apart.

In the fact sheet on homeaffairs it states that applicants may need to show that 'any periods of separation, when and why the separation occurred, for how long and how the couple maintained their relationship during the period of separation'

We maintained the relationship almost exclusively via internet communication and I have collected the skype logs from when I have been in the UK and him in Australia. However from just the first time we were apart (about 3 months while I applied for a tourist visa) I have over 3000 lines of text showing both text messages and call durations. We are currently apart again (reluctantly) while I prepare to apply for an offshore visa and I expect by the time I apply I will have a similar if not larger log file for this period.

Is it worth adding this to my documentation for the visa, or will it be unnecessary. I would honestly not want to put anyone through the trauma of reading 3000 lines of our chitchat, let alone twice, even if they wanted to. That said if it does help our case I'd obviously want to provide it, even if just to show that we were in contact almost every day. Is there a better way to prove this that doesn't involve uploading the raw chatlog file? What did you guys do if you had to prove the relationship was maintained during time apart?

Thanks for any help

 

[Savage_Flame]

Pretty much what you described is a good way to show relationship was maintained during separation. Obviously a CO cannot and would not want to read every single message/email/chat over such a long period - so in snippets and significant messages (big upcoming plans/future talk/emotional support when either of you has had a bad day etc).

As a guideline - for my application we put Facebook Messages, WhatsApp messages, text messages, and then also Skype call and WhatsApp call records. But we cut them down to 2 or 3 long messages from each month - and explained that we can provide many more if needed. We focused on significant and more meaningful messages mentioned above when we could.

A case officer only has about 5 hours for each application apparently, so you want to provide them with clear and easy, but valuable and to the point evidence. To flood them with thousands and thousands of pointless messages would just overwhelm them with more work than necessary.

Also things like birthday gifts, postcards etc are all good evidence. Be creative. All the little things count.

 

[Umbreon]

Pretty much what you described is a good way to show relationship was maintained during separation. Obviously a CO cannot and would not want to read every single message/email/chat over such a long period - so in snippets and significant messages (big upcoming plans/future talk/emotional support when either of you has had a bad day etc).

As a guideline - for my application we put Facebook Messages, WhatsApp messages, text messages, and then also Skype call and WhatsApp call records. But we cut them down to 2 or 3 long messages from each month - and explained that we can provide many more if needed. We focused on significant and more meaningful messages mentioned above when we could.

A case officer only has about 5 hours for each application apparently, so you want to provide them with clear and easy, but valuable and to the point evidence. To flood them with thousands and thousands of pointless messages would just overwhelm them with more work than necessary.

Also things like birthday gifts, postcards etc are all good evidence. Be creative. All the little things count.

Thanks so much for the reply. Exactly why I asked is that I didn't want to flood them with so much info and waste their time. I know well written and easy to assess applications are now taking priority so I want to keep it as concise as possible. I will take snippets from us giving emotional support, chatting about prospective houses should my visa be granted and getting pets and stuff, all of which are in there. I did buy my partner a Christmas gift of course but I bought it online in Aus to have it shipped to him (and him the same with me in the UK). Would an invoice from that count or would a picture be better? Unfortunately just due to visas and work issues we've not been together in person for our birthdays or Christmases for the last 2 years (and not for lack of trying).

 

[Savage_Flame]

Pretty much what you described is a good way to show relationship was maintained during separation. Obviously a CO cannot and would not want to read every single message/email/chat over such a long period - so in snippets and significant messages (big upcoming plans/future talk/emotional support when either of you has had a bad day etc).

As a guideline - for my application we put Facebook Messages, WhatsApp messages, text messages, and then also Skype call and WhatsApp call records. But we cut them down to 2 or 3 long messages from each month - and explained that we can provide many more if needed. We focused on significant and more meaningful messages mentioned above when we could.

A case officer only has about 5 hours for each application apparently, so you want to provide them with clear and easy, but valuable and to the point evidence. To flood them with thousands and thousands of pointless messages would just overwhelm them with more work than necessary.

Also things like birthday gifts, postcards etc are all good evidence. Be creative. All the little things count.

Thanks so much for the reply. Exactly why I asked is that I didn't want to flood them with so much info and waste their time. I know well written and easy to assess applications are now taking priority so I want to keep it as concise as possible. I will take snippets from us giving emotional support, chatting about prospective houses should my visa be granted and getting pets and stuff, all of which are in there. I did buy my partner a Christmas gift of course but I bought it online in Aus to have it shipped to him (and him the same with me in the UK). Would an invoice from that count or would a picture be better? Unfortunately just due to visas and work issues we've not been together in person for our birthdays or Christmases for the last 2 years (and not for lack of trying).

Absolutely - pictures and receipts of Christmas gifts are good evidence.

And i understand with birthdays and it being hard to send and receive everything for example. My fiancé has been studying back in her home country in Germany for the past few years. It is hard to physically be together with work commitments/jobs, and also the fact that a lot of the time you cannot really be together easily while awaiting the visa process. Immi understands this if you provide them with the right evidence and explanation