Hi guys,
My partner and I have recently lodged the application offshore (in Singapore) and just received a mail from the embassy to confirm my application and to require for more documents.
My partner and I met in May 2012 in Singapore. He is an Australian and was in Singapore for work. The main phase of the project was completed in June 2013 and he had to go back to Melbourne. Since then we had a long distance relationship, travelling to and fro every 2 – 3 months (max) to see each other. We skype every night and email each other regularly at work about random what not and/or funny news. Other times we use WhatsApp and FaceTime (thanks to technology).
It took us a lot time (more than 6 months) to prepare for the application and some of the forms are not up to date when I submit them earlier this month (forms were updated in March 2014). Since my partner is currently in Australia, I was told to only re-do my 47SP and some of the documents required from the embassy are:
- Updated form 888 (we’ve used the ones designed in July 2013)
- Evidence of de facto relationship
We were happy the case has been assigned to a CO within a week of submission but at the same time, we were upset why there is a need for an updated form 888 as the questions did not change. I’ve called the CO to enquire and she just said the forms I’ve used were outdated (which we were aware). I did not make any further enquiry about the need for the updated form but just felt apologetic we had to get both witnesses to get it re-done.
The next question I’ve asked her, of course is on the evidence of the de facto relationship as we’ve submitted what we have – photos of our holiday trips, hotel and air ticket expenses (not all as my partner has absolutely no habit of keeping his credit card bills. I’ve only gotten this habit recently. We took turns to pay for things), photos of 3 weddings we’ve attended, emails (including one from his mum sending to their relatives in UK of our Christmas in Melbourne and photos) and skype logs.
Her reply to me was: holidays together are only a small part of a de facto relationship so we are very lost as to what else we can submit. I know we have to address more in terms of our financial aspects but my partner and i are in a pretty unique situation. We lived in Singapore between June 2012 to June 2013 and because of his work, he was put up in a hotel. Yes, we stayed in a hotel for a year and the bills are paid for by his company so we do not have any shared bills. Since he has moved back to Melbourne in June 2013, he has leased a place and despite me asking for my name on the lease (we didn’t take this step so I am not sure how easy it is to officially include my name on the lease, considering I’m currently still on ETA), my partner felt that it is unfair for me since I am not living there full time at the minute (example if he defaults on the payment – which he never will – I will have to pay for the rent). I visit and stay with him whenever I visit but he felt that it will be better for my name to be included once I have the partner visa approved.
I have spoken to a friend who is a migration agent in Melbourne and she said it is very likely the CO wanted us to prove that we have been living together for more than 12 months. We definitely have but really unsure how we can do that. Since his company puts him up at a hotel, we know the hotel’s Account Manager very well so we could probably ask her to write a letter, if it is necessary. Then again, we are not sure how we can address the issue.
We do not have any joint bank account but will do so when I visit him in Melbourne next month for our anniversary. He will also be in Singapore for work again in June, so I am thinking if it is good if I were to apply for a supplementary credit card for him and vice versa (to show our commitments towards each other)? Any thoughts on this?
Thanks a lot in advance.
Offshore partner visa 309 (extra evidence required)
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét