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defacto advice needed!

2K views 5 replies 2 participants last post by  Wanderer 
#1 ·
hey everyone i ve just started collecting stuff together for an off shore defacto application i m currently in australia with my aussie guy (i m irish) on a 6 month tourist visa.i m returning to ireland in august and hope to have everything ready to apply as soon as i touch down in ireland! i originally had an agent (won t mention who but wasnt happy with them) so i ve decided to just lodge the application myself. i send it to london right? i just want to know about the police checks can i get my australian one here before i leave? and my medical can i do that here as well? so i have everything to send in at once?
i ve heard conflicting stories as to whether you have to wait to be notified to undertake the medical/ police checks (as in after you ve lodged your app.)
Also my partner and i have been together since march 2008 - travelling around a bit until sept 2008 when i went home for 4 months i returned early feb 2009 and we lived at fixed address and have letters here etc however i then had to return back to ireland sept 2009 (my dad got taken ill) and couldnt get back here until march (5 months away!) but tim visited me in ireland in november and met my family etc and we have skype and email contact (but my skype only goes back 6 months of history)
how will my absence be viewed? we have 7 months of living together from feb 09 to sept 09 and continued contact until march 10 and now 5 months at same address
any info greatly appreciated!
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Have a look at what I posted for damo with similar circumstances, particularly taking note the link examples though you having an ill father may be considered more compassionately - http://www.australiaforum.com/visas...pective-marriage-advice-time-spent-apart.html

Unfortunately, compassion does not always win through and unless there is a pressing need for you to return to Ireland again, have you looked at alternatives like seeking a tourist visa extension to get a full 12 months up, even seeing if employer sponsorship may be a goer if you have suitable experience and can find an eligible/agreeable employer.
The tourist visa and any extension will likely have a No Further Stay condition on it and so you may need to fly to NZ and apply there or run the gauntlet [ see link on Damo's thread ] of getting an ETA and returning to apply here for any further visa.

I've known of people in overseas offices [ probably quieter ones with less workload at a particular time ] getting partner visas on the spot or at least within a day, and so if not needing to fly back to Ireland, if you can get an extension to get 12 months up and have your application ready for submission, you could take it over to NZ and submit there and see how you go - a lot closer than Ireland.

The other approach you could take is to look at a relationship registration if you are in ACT, Vic. or Tassie [ and soon to be NSW, possibly by July ] and that waives the 12 months requirement but you'll still need evidence of a relationship and so have a good read of the Immi eligibility section and Booklet #1 .

And yes, I believe London is the application centre also for Ireland, offices addresses under Immi contact header.
Immi do say for offshore applications to wait until requested for medicals and PCCs but that is essentially so as applicants may not be disadvantaged by validity expiring if there are delays.
If you want to run that risk, you can do them earlier and you can do your medical here.
If you have not been in Australia for more than 12 months at any one time, you should not need an AFP check but seeing as you have been here a bit, there is a possibility of it being asked for so no harm in getting it done.

And of course you could order your Irish one so as it will be available to get your application in on return or in NZ!
 
#3 ·
Thank you for all the info!
I ve had a read of some other posts on this forum - lots of helpful tips!
my return to ireland in august is not especially pressing - visit my family. friends wedding and my current tourist visa expires sept 3 anyway and i have my return ticket
i have considered going to NZ to apply but don t have the means to hang out there indefinitely!

So i m in NSW so i ve called the registration office about registering our relationship - they ll send me info/ forms after july 1st

1/ Will this carry a decent amount of weight if we get registered??

i still have more questions..

2/ I ve booked my medical and found police cert form - which requires to send to Canberra is this correct or should i go to local police station in Sydney?

3/ one of our stat decs is a JP - i assume he doesnt need to get his stat dec certifed /witnessed by anyone else?

4./ is it only the official docs that need to be certified copies ie. passport birth certs passport photos etc
the other photocopies bank statements and other evidence just copies are acceptable?
also am i correct in saying each stamped page of both our passports has to be copied and certified?

5./ we don t have any form of financial commitment for when i was in ireland sept 09 to march this year apart from when my partner visited me in november he bought my ticket back to australia
will this be an issue?

6./So for our application we have -

>proof of address when we stayed at his mums in melbourne july/aug 2008 for 6 weeks
> email contact and skype for when i was at home sept 08 to feb 09
>letter from real estate and lease agreement for current address from feb 09
>bank printouts from both of us detailing expenses and weekends away and joint bank account from march this year
>socially we have gym membership from feb 2008 museum membership
>photos of us with each others families
> stat decs from house mate. JP who i worked for when we first met march 2008 who is a friend of my partner and another mutual friend
>letter from hospital /doctor to confirm the reason for my return last september plus letter from my dad
Is this enough evidence??

7/ is it worthwhile getting stat decs from each of our families? immi states that they must be non-relative

I m still concerned my time away will go against us and wonder if the fiance visa is a safer option.. but would much rather go for defacto if possible but can t risk the possibility of reapplying............
 
#4 ·
Thank you for all the info!
I ve had a read of some other posts on this forum - lots of helpful tips!
my return to ireland in august is not especially pressing - visit my family. friends wedding and my current tourist visa expires sept 3 anyway and i have my return ticket
i have considered going to NZ to apply but don t have the means to hang out there indefinitely!

So i m in NSW so i ve called the registration office about registering our relationship - they ll send me info/ forms after july 1st

1/ Will this carry a decent amount of weight if we get registered??

i still have more questions..

2/ I ve booked my medical and found police cert form - which requires to send to Canberra is this correct or should i go to local police station in Sydney?

3/ one of our stat decs is a JP - i assume he doesnt need to get his stat dec certifed /witnessed by anyone else?

4./ is it only the official docs that need to be certified copies ie. passport birth certs passport photos etc
the other photocopies bank statements and other evidence just copies are acceptable?
also am i correct in saying each stamped page of both our passports has to be copied and certified?

5./ we don t have any form of financial commitment for when i was in ireland sept 09 to march this year apart from when my partner visited me in november he bought my ticket back to australia
will this be an issue?

6./So for our application we have -

>proof of address when we stayed at his mums in melbourne july/aug 2008 for 6 weeks
> email contact and skype for when i was at home sept 08 to feb 09
>letter from real estate and lease agreement for current address from feb 09
>bank printouts from both of us detailing expenses and weekends away and joint bank account from march this year
>socially we have gym membership from feb 2008 museum membership
>photos of us with each others families
> stat decs from house mate. JP who i worked for when we first met march 2008 who is a friend of my partner and another mutual friend
>letter from hospital /doctor to confirm the reason for my return last september plus letter from my dad
Is this enough evidence??

7/ is it worthwhile getting stat decs from each of our families? immi states that they must be non-relative

I m still concerned my time away will go against us and wonder if the fiance visa is a safer option.. but would much rather go for defacto if possible but can t risk the possibility of reapplying............
If your return ticket is not a refundable one and you want to go you might as well use it eh!
1. Under the One Year Relationship Requirement link / waivers on
Partner Visa: Onshore Temporary and Permanent (Subclasses 820 and 801) you'll find:
The one-year relationship requirement does not apply if the applicant can establish that there are compelling and compassionate circumstances for the grant of the visa. For example:

•at the time of application of the partner visa, the de facto relationship was registered as a prescribed relationship in the relevant Australian state or territory legislation, or
2. You'll find the AFP address and details re payment etc. under the Character Requirements link - Character Requirement - Applications & Forms
3. I think you will find it does not even matter if you had the PM giving you a statement, it'll still need to be properly witnessed if it is to be a statutory declaration and the JP will certainly know.
4. Yes, just copies of the official documents need to be certified and with the passport, I'm pretty sure it is just the ID page that is sought .
5. You ought to supply as much evidence as you can and for as much length of your total time together.
6. Likewise with your general vidence/documentation and if you write up a brief summary in chronological order, listing key events as your relationship developed you may even find you have a few other bits and pieces to add in.
7. With statements, it ought to be quality as much as quantity and where have you noticed the bit about being non-relative for P.27 Booklet #1 - http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/booklets/1127.pdf has no such reference. I could see.

If you have had the one address from February 2009 is it?, that makes the absence to visit your father very acceptable in my mind especially with medical evidence back-up but I'm not a CO.
I'd think it would be a harsh decision indeed to overlook it.

If you can get the relationship registration done before you submit the application that will surely give it extra strength.

If you can get a change of dates for your flight, you may want to also still consider doing the trip to NZ for an ETA to return on and put in the application before heading back to Ireland after some further time or with the ETA, you could use that to come back from Ireland after lodging there though you would have to use the ETA again for NZ if returning before the partner visa was granted.

Maybe the luck of the Irish will be with you and you'll get a quick approval while there.
 
#5 ·
So it was the agent that I initially contacted for info (and have since dumped) that listed the stat decs were to come from australian residents or citizens but had to also be non-relatives.
I took a look at the immi booklet again and it seems there is no mention of it!
so all the better since we now have more options for out stat decs!

Any idea of what will be required for the relationship registration? eg. should i arrange for my birth cert to be sent over ? or will passport be acceptable?
she couldnt give me any info on the phone and said all will be sent out after july 1st!
Hopefully we can get registered soon after that

As far as getting ETAs etc if i apply off-shore for the defacto - is it the case that i can t return to australia before the defacto is granted (eg on an ETA) otherwise the defacto process will be stalled during my time spent here?

thanks again for all your advice i m sure i ll have more questions soon..
 
#6 ·
So it was the agent that I initially contacted for info (and have since dumped) that listed the stat decs were to come from australian residents or citizens but had to also be non-relatives.
I took a look at the immi booklet again and it seems there is no mention of it!
so all the better since we now have more options for out stat decs!

Any idea of what will be required for the relationship registration? eg. should i arrange for my birth cert to be sent over ? or will passport be acceptable?
she couldnt give me any info on the phone and said all will be sent out after july 1st!
Hopefully we can get registered soon after that

As far as getting ETAs etc if i apply off-shore for the defacto - is it the case that i can t return to australia before the defacto is granted (eg on an ETA) otherwise the defacto process will be stalled during my time spent here?

thanks again for all your advice i m sure i ll have more questions soon..
By the look of what they have already put out on it, NSW may be a fair bit simpler than Victoria.
http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/PDF forms/Relationships1.pdf
Seeing as they only require one person to be resident, it could be that a passport would suffice but I'd get your birth certificate sent out or at least get the folks back home to get some certified copies done and sent out to you for you'll need it to submit an onshore application if you decide to do that here.

I'd say that with registration you'll stand a good chance of getting your visa.

As for applying offshore for the partner visa, an ETA will still be able to be used until such time as you have the partner visa granted but you still need to be offshore to have an offshore visa granted, hence what I was saying about applying on your trip back to Ireland and then if you were returning to Australia before the partner visa was granted, you could head back using the ETA and then use it for another trip to NZ to get the partner visa granted.

Alternately, if you travel home to Ireland and lodge the partnr visa you'll need to wait until it is granted or you could apply for another tourist visa to return and then you would still have to travel abroad to have it granted.

The other option using a trip to NZ and an ETA to return is to lodge onshore and you would get a Bridging Visa A until the granting onshore was to occur and to travel back to Ireland you could request a Bridging Visa B which allows you to travel abroad for three months.
They are granted on compassionate grounds and with your fathers previous illness you should be able to get one.
That way, you just come back to Australia and you can remain onshore until the visa is granted, an additional cost being involved with the fee being $2525 and likely to be a small rise for all visas come July01.
 
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