Hi Andre!

I want to decribe you my situation and I hope, I'll get some help from you.
I came as a backpacker to australia and -thats life- I met one or better, my australian dreamman We lived 9 months together in australia, he visited me 1 month in germany and stayed with me and my family.
Of course, there is no question, I want to get back and live with him. Im a bit desperate, because I'm not sure if we get the spouse-visa. At the moment, I think, I'll apply for it in august (then we have 12 months relationsship) in germany. I read the booklet for partner migration a thousand times..
My problem is, that I'm not sure, if we have enough evidence for a relationsship (that is similar with a marriage). When our relationsship started, of course, we're sure, that we want to be together, but we didnt started straight with collection evidence for our love (we had better things to do )

The evidence, we have:
-Lots of pictures in different occasions (travelling,chrismas,family-pictures) from august starting.
-Lots of emails, we're always writing each other (starting in august)
-Big personalized telefon-bills for the 2 months, we dont/wont see each other.
-a invitation for a wedding with both names
-cards we send to my relatives with a picturre of us
(in case we apply for the visa within australia: its no problem to get 2 statutory declaration from australian citizen to proof that our relationship is genuine)

The mainproblem is the 'financial side' and the living situation.

We lived togehter, but how can we get evidence for that?
- I lived for free in his house. The only proof I have is the post, I got to his and my adress. And I thought about asking the library, if they can give me a letter, that I was a member with his adress since september. Or I can ask my former employer, if he can give me proof. But is that enough?

The financial thing is the next problem.
We dont have a shared bankaccount. I lived, like I already told, for free in his house and he paid all the bills. We shared fuel and groceries, travelling - but no proof for that. We had a few occassions, when I transfered money in his account for different things..but 'the silly me' wrote only funny reasons in the transactions like ''200 $ for the goodlooking man''

Do you think, we have chances to get the spouse-visa?
Do you have any ideas how too improve our evidence for the living and financial situation?

Some more information: my friend is sponsering me, he is regulary working and has a income, that should be enough. We both never lived in a spouse-relationsship like this before and my partner never sponsered somebody before.
Im 26 years old,in germany at the moment, a degree comparative with a master, but no working-experience.

One more question:
If I apply for the spouse-visa within australia - is their any chance, that I get a working permit, while Im waiting for the visa-decision?
Im at the moment only in germany, because Ive got no working-permit and my working-holdiday-visa run out.

Sorry for my shitty english and thanks for your answer. I hope it wasnt too much information!

Schreib doch einfach in Deutsch hier.

Ist ja das Forum der Bundesbuerger in Melbourne

Everybody who wants Andre to understand their questions needs to phrase them in English - as mentioned in the readme first post...

Cheers,
Matthias

Das habe ich dann wohl ueberlesen.

Ich wuerde meinen privaten Visakram auch direkt an den Andre senden. Einen Werbebanner hat er ja uch aktiviert!

Dann entschuldige ich mich mal ganz hoeflich

Dear Federboa,

Thank you for your message.

There are many considerations in terms of evidence required to establish a de facto relationship. From the information supplied I think you have some of the right documentation to provide.

I understand that not all couples live their lives collecting evidence in anticipation of lodging a visa application to DIAC. However there may be some things you can do now to enhance your application.

It may be worthwhile using the Ask An Agent Service so I can provide personalised advice on this issue and also run throught the policy on de facto relationships as outlined in the Procedures Advice Manual (PAM3).

Please click here for more information about this service:

www.myaustralianvisa.com/Ask-an-Agent/General/ASK-AN-AGENT.php

hallo kristin!

ich dachte vielleicht kann ich dir auch helfen! ich hab die ganze geschichte gerade hinter mir bzw. stecken mitten drin. mein freund lebt in melbourne und ich habe ihn dort beim backpacken kennengelernt und alles nahm seinen lauf. nachdem er mich in deutschland besucht hat, bin ich wieder zurueck nach australien um bei ihm zu leben. erst mit 6-monate-touristenvisum, das dann durch eine ausreise einmal verlaengert wurde. und dann haben wir uns nach 1 jahr fuer das de facto visa beworben. und seit 2 monaten habe ich es in der tasche!
wenn du also irgendwelche fragen hast, ich kann sie dir bestimmt beantworten. es ist eine fuerchterliche prozedur, aber wenn man sich muehe gibt, dann klappt es auch!
schreib mir doch hier, oder ne email, wenn du magst!

liebe gruesse,

christina

Hi there Christina - could you write that in English ? Andre is doing such a great job that I thought it would be worth the support.

Hello everyone

I'm looking into the spouse visa at the moment as well and have pretty much the same amount of 'evidence' (or lack thereof) of a relationship as federboa described.

I am collecting everything I've got and the biggest worry on my mind right now is:

How do I present it to the DIAC?

Photos, Letters, Documents, Invitations to weddings etc. Do I put the pictures in a scrapbook? A photoalbum? Chuck it all into a big folder?
The whole: document your relationship isn't an easy one either and the official sites give no guidance on that point.

Could any one tell me in what form they put all the evidence together to make it personal and offical looking at the same time?

Would be a huge help,

Thanks

Dear Veronica,

Thank you for your message.

Generally, DIAC dislike visa documentation being placed in folders, binders or collated in other formats. From their perspective, and I have seen this first hand, it is annoying to have to unclip or unbind documentation.

We normally send everything DHL courier in a sealed envelope. We present the visa application with our professional submission at the top which will address the relevant criteria in the Migration Regulations 1994, as well as in the policy guidelines which DIAC Case Officers use to assess applications called the Procedure Advice Manual (PAM). Underneath follows the document checklist, the actual application forms and the supporting documentation.

hi everyone,
i just stumbled across this discussion which is very relevant for me/ us. a number of my questions have probably already been raised but since there seems to be a lot of experience here i thought i'd quickly run you through our situation to see whether there are any thoughts or any advice.
i am german, my other half aussie, we've been together 2,5 years and have been living in the uk. as far as evidence is concerned for the 'genuineness' of our relationship i think we'd be ok - loads of flight tickets, pictures from joint trips, spending christmas with my parents etc etc. we have a joint account too. the thing that's giving me a bit of a headache is the whole proof of living together - when my man first came to the uk he was living at mine (shared flat), then moved into his own room in another shared flat. i then lived at his for a bit, we then stayed with his parents in melbourne and are now living with my parents. so, while we've always sort of been living together, it's never been the two of us exclusively in a flat, neither have we ever had a contract together. we have, however, both had mail to the same address, for the joint account as well as while living at the other's place (does that make sense?). so, in terms of applying for a spouse visa, i'm doubtful whether this might pose a problem since living together seems to account for a lot in terms of proving a relationship. has anybody here been in a similar situation? from what i gather from the visa regulations you should've lived together for 12 months, or 6 when married, but would we qualify for this 'living together'. i actually spoke to an australian government official at an immigration fair and she said that we wouldn't stand a chance and advised us to move to oz with me on a WHV, live together ('properly, not in shared accommodation etc) for 12 months and then apply for the spouse visa. would the situation be any different if we got married now?
any thoughts or comments would be much appreciated - this is doing my head in.
cheerio, and ta.
j.

Hi Andre,

That's very interesting indeed. I guess being German - a nation who is well known for being relatively orderly - I would have neatly and carefully glued all my documentation, photos and papers to several white A 4 sheets, made my way to Office Works and have it nicely binded there.

To know that DIAC dislikes that is a great insider tip from an expert that will surely help everyone looking into the Spouse Visa. What do you think, Veronica?

Thanks, Andre!

Cheers, Claudia

Dear Jules,

Thanks for your message.

Given the personal nature of your query it may be worthwhile using the Ask An Agent Service so I can provide personalised advice on this issue and also run throught the policy on de facto relationships as outlined in the Procedures Advice Manual (PAM3).

Please click here for more information about this service:

www.myaustralianvisa.com/Ask-an-Agent/General/ASK-AN-AGENT.php

yes it is an incredibly helpful tip, Thank you Andre for taking the time, so glad that someone knows what's going on.

Unfortunatly putting everything in an envelope probably won't work for me, can't keep the stack of documents from falling over. And I have so many pictures it could get quite messy if they are not somehow fixated.
Am still 6 months away from lodgin my application and have so far collected 2kg of evidence. I will not leave a single bit of 'proof' behind that might help.
This is my home, my life, my future on stake. Am quite freaked out by the whole thing as you can probably tell, and I am sure I am not the only one *g*.

Maybe it is a german thing I also thought sticking the pictures at least on white paper with explanations would be the best way to do it. But if the DIAC people think it annyoing to have to open a folder I can imagine what they would think of glued in pictures *g*.

I am now changing over to a photoalbum where the pictures can be easily taken out, sort them, add the relavant invitations (weddings etc) and so on where they belong.

I was rather surprised that I couldn't find a single finished application online. The closest I came to find something was a site that asked $20 for a relationship history.
Pretty frustrating.
Where are all the people who have gone through this?
Anyone out there who took a picture of their evidence stack?

Any ideas as to how to sort it all and stop it from being terribly messy? There are so many little lose bits of paper and other stuff.

I am still saving for the application fee so enlisting an agent would be quite out of the question but I will look into it.

Thanks to everyone contributing to this discussion, every litte bit of Information helps.

Hi Veronica,

I am surprised that you can't find anything on the web. Well, perhaps not as it contains a lot of personal information.

But if you want to make a difference to others in your situation after you've gone through the process, you can send your experience and descriptions to us and we publish it as an article. I am sure we will find more contributors too.

Good luck with your application,
Matthias

Hi Veronica,

when I applied for my spousal visa in Berlin, they told me to send not more than 10 photos and to please not send photo albums! You can find this information on the website as well www.germany.embassy.gov.au/beln/partner_engl.html
I'd say just call DIAC and ask. They are very friendly and helpful!