Discuss Visa advice needed posted within the Australian Visas and Immigration Advice forum at Getting Down Under

Hello,

I'm from England and I went to Australia on Working Holiday Visa from October 2010 - September 2011. In October 2010 I met an Australian guy, but we didn't officially become and item until June 2011. And since then we have only lived together for about 2 months altogether, because I was working in Perth for 6 months and he lived in Newcastle NSW. I lived with him for my final month in Aus but then my visa ran out so I had to unfortunately leave. Since then we have stayed an item and he came to visit me for 3 weeks over Christmas.

I would now like to go and live in Australia with him, but we are trying to work out which visa I can get (if any). Am I correct in saying that to apply for a partner visa we have to have lived together for 12 months with shared bills etc? My partner would obviously be willing to sponsor me, and I saw that if you have a close relative living permanently in Aus they can sponsor you to live there, is that not possible with an Australian partner?

I also looked at student visas, but all of the courses I liked in Newcastle were way too expensive.

Also, if it came to it and I wasn't eligible for any Australian visas and me and my partner lived together in another country for 12 months and then afterwards applied for the partner visa, how long would it take to be granted? And is it possible to live in Australia together whilst waiting for it to be granted? As I've seen that it could take 1-2 years, and we definitely wouldn't want to be apart for that long!

The perfect situation would've been for me to have done fruit picking and then come over for a second year working holiday but I didn't think of that at the time - I didn't realise it'd be so hard to get back into the country!

I also looked at the work sponsored visas, but I see you have to have a certain amount of points for that and have a certain skill/experience that is needed in Aus. I have a Travel and Tourism National Diploma, and a couple of NVQ's, and hotel receptionist experience and would like to continue working in hotels to one day become a hotel manager, but I have no experience as one yet. I take it I can't just apply for jobs in Australia and see if they are willing to sponsor me?

We were also thinking perhaps if it came to it, I could stay in Aus on a tourist visa for 12 months, obviously I wouldn't be able to work then. But could we do that and then apply for the partner visa afterwards? And would it be possible to do volunteering on a tourist visa?

I'm going to visit him in April and, if possible, we'd like to not spend months apart again.

Sorry for all the questions, we just want to find a solution but every time we think we've found one it soon becomes a dead end!

Advice would be very much appreciated.

Thanks for your time :-)

Hi Emily,

If you do a search through the posts you may find many similar questions there.

From the information you have provided it would seem that here are various options open to you, but I couldn't advise on it without having access to all your documentation and full details of your relationship history.

I suggest you seek some professional advice. Even if you want to do the application yourself, it might be worthwhile to get someone to explain all the options and associated requirements to you properly.

Keep in mind that refusals can be very costly and frustrating. Many applications get refused simply because they were not prepared properly or because applicants were not aware of all the requirements.

Kind regards,

I know there is a thing as the prospective marriage visa ... or the fiance visa. See this link
http://www.immi.gov.au/migrants/part...ospective/300/

I dont know the details of those, but look into it. It might be applicable to you.
And as nick said, getting some professional advice, might be worthwhile. I am sure there must be other options too.

Prospective marriage is probably the best option.

Regards

Thank you for the advice, I think we will definitely talk to a specialist before applying for anything.

Would it be possible for me to go out on a tourist visa for 12 months and work voluntarily? and then apply for the partner visa whilst on a bridged visa?

Originally Posted by Emily

Thank you for the advice, I think we will definitely talk to a specialist before applying for anything.

Would it be possible for me to go out on a tourist visa for 12 months and work voluntarily? and then apply for the partner visa whilst on a bridged visa?

If you were in Australia on a valid visitor visa without "No Further Stay Condition" you could make an application for a partner visa onshore and you would be granted a bridging visa (most likely without work rights) while your application is being processed, which could take anywhere from 6 to 12 months (current processing times).

However, if you are applying for a visitor visa with the intention of applying for a partner visa in Australia, the application may be refused, because you would not meet the "genuine visitor" requirements.

[I"]To be eligible for this visa you must have a genuine intention to visit Australia as a tourist, for recreation or to visit your family and friends".[/I]

You have to think carefully how you would answer the questions on the application form truthfully. If you don't declare your relationship at this stage, it might well cause problems later on when applying for the partner visa.

Alternatively the visa may be issued with a "No Further Stay" condition, which means you cannot apply for another visa while you are in Australia.

See here for volunteer work:

Tourist Visa (Subclass 676)

Originally Posted by Nick

You have to think carefully how you would answer the questions on the application form truthfully. If you don't declare your relationship at this stage, it might well cause problems later on when applying for the partner visa.

Take Nick's advice. Get professional advice. We got into trouble because we did not declare a relationship at a point in time DIAC felt we should have. We had reasons for not doing so (we were not acknowledging to ourselves we were in a relationship at the time) and in our particular case we would probably have been in trouble either way, but ours was a fairly unique situation. Anyway, the point is, whatever path you take, you need to be sure you can be 100% honest all the way through.

How likely is it that I'd get a "no further stay" tourist visa though? and would I even get the tourist visa for 12 months if I'm honest (which I would be) and say my reason for getting one is to live with my partner for 12 months? As I read that you can use the tourist visa to visit friends and family.

Would I be able to get a bridged visa after getting a student visa for 12 months?

Basically, we'd just like to know what the best option is to live together for 12 months to meet the partner visa criteria, and not have to leave each other for a year or more whilst the partner visa is being granted. Ruling out the prospective marriage visa.

Thanks :-)

Originally Posted by Emily

would I even get the tourist visa for 12 months if I'm honest (which I would be) and say my reason for getting one is to live with my partner for 12 months?

It would be very unlikely.

Originally Posted by Emily

Would I be able to get a bridged visa after getting a student visa for 12 months?

Bridging visas are not 'stand-alone' visas.They are usually associated with onshore applications. So if you were in Australia on a student visa and applied for another visa that could be granted onshore, you would be granted a bridging visa, which kicks in once your original visa expires and will keep you legal while your application is being processed. Obviously this would not work if there was a "No Further Stay" condition on the original visa, as you would be prevented from making an application while in Australia.