Discuss Marriage whilst awaiting Remaining Relative Visa (subclass 835) posted within the Australian Visas and Immigration Advice forum at Getting Down Under

**dandan** · 2nd February 2012, 12:18 AM

Hi all,

This is my first post, so I hope we'll all get along nicely

Down to business... I have been waiting around 2 years for my remaining relative visa and have in the mean time met my lovely wife. I contacted my migration agent via email before we got married asking if it would be faster to apply for a spousal visa, but was told that it would probably not be the case. He neglected to tell me however that there may be complications if I did indeed get married. I wish I had known...

We have been married for 3 months now, and had not heard anything from them for a around a year. When I contacted the office to ask for an update I was informed that he had since retired and so I spoke to his old business partner. I mentioned the fact that I was now married to him in an email.

He said that this will potentially cause issues with my application since I would not be considered a last remaining relative and so would have my application refused when it is eventually processed. This confuses me since:

a. I have absolutely no direct relatives living outside of Australia (only uncles, aunts and grandparents.)
b. Neither does my wife (all her direct family live in Queensland in fact.)
c. I seem to fit the definition of a remaining relative based on the the Dept. of Immigration and Citizenship:

This visa is for you if both of these apply:

you have a brother, sister, parent (or step-equivalent) who is an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen usually resident in Australia
you and your partner have no brothers, sisters, non-dependent children, parents (or step-equivalents) other than those in Australia.
Your partner and other family members may be included in your application if they meet certain requirements.

Can anybody point me in the direction of the latest and authoritative formal definition of a remaining relative and the surrounding law, provide some advice as to what can be done if I now fall outside of this or provide me with any other information concerning this situation that may be of use. Also is it possible to appeal the decision to refuse my visa based on the fact that I was not informed by my agent that I should avoid marriage?

Thanks allot,

Dan