Canadian girl need your help! De Facto Spousal Visa!

Alrighty, here's my dealio.

I am a Canadian student, I spent 2007 in Australia and met my boyfriend (Australian citizen). We dated that entire year and now its coming on two years we've been together. It will be three when I plan on moving over to OZ (fingers crossed).
Because within the first year of meeting each other, we are realistic people and did NOT move in together. We are now screwed for a visa for me to live and work in Australia. He has a plumbing company and cannot leave. While as I am finishing univeristy over here in Canadia.
Is there any. loopholes or special circumstances in which you can prove you are in a relationship without the 12 months living together prior aspect of the visa. Or are the rules rigid and very "textbook"? We have photos, witnesses, Australian and Canadian references, plane tickets for holidays, I spent three months there last summer for my school holidays. etc.
If anyone has information on this problemo. Please contact me! I am desperate so to say. I do not want to move until January 2010 when I have my degree, but I want to get on this ASAP.
Thanks All
Bec

I really don't know enough to say for sure. It might be possible if you provided enough documentation to show how long you've been together, but like I said I don't know much about defacto visas.

I suggest asking on this site:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=32

It is the best sit I've found for getting immigration help, so ask away and see what you can find out.

I believe you can still apply for the spouse visa but you must explain why you did not live together for a certain period of time ie: you finishing you degree and he unable to abandon his company, you will still have to prove your genuine and continuing relationship etc. and there would be a greater chance it would be dismissed. You may want to contact Australian Immigration directly and see your best option or the Australian Immigration website, it is quite detailed.there is always the prospect of marriage visa, but he would have to propose to you
good luck

thanks for the info. i called immigration in australia and they said we can waiver the 12 months living together if we had SOLID evidence. we still have a year to gather more evidence before I want to move. and he is coming over to Canada to meet my family at christmas and i am going back there for 3 months again this summer holidays. maybe if they see the effort we are putting in and our passport with all our overseas trips to see and be with each other. we also just opened a joint bank account which might help. we are too young to get married. 23. and we want to pay for that on our own and be settled. we talk about it all the time. but its not in the cards for the next 9 months. thanks for the advice. i'm just going to cross my fingers and make sure i have all my ducks in a row. i heard if you litterally go into the office and see someone face to face it ups your chances as well. i think i'll send james down soon.

again thanks.
Bec

You'll probably also need statements from family and friends that explain who long you've been together and that you really are a couple.

Keep things like emails, phone call records (if you can) and basically anything that mentions the two of you. A joint account is good. It might also look good if you both put in small amounts occasionaly perhaps as a way of savings for trips or your own place, etc.

I'll have a look and see if I can find a list of evidence that might help.

This might help:
http://www.immi.gov.au/migrants/partner ... onship.htm

wow thanks. that was a big help. we have phone records. even our text messaging shows up on her phone bills. (lemme tell you, its been expensive). All old emails are saved and we found professional members of our comunities to vouch for us (police officers, lawyers, teachers, etc i hear its better if they are a professional). thanks again. we have a year and 3 months to figure this out. but its good to get advice and a start on everything.

my bank statements also show saving money for trips and saving money to buy a home in australia. and when i spend larage sums of money it goes towards plane, tickets, insurance, etc. hopefully that helps.
i'll keep you posted!

I would be very careful because if your visa is denied you will not get you fee back which im sure you are aware that all up its going to cost you over $2100 AUD.
I dont want to sound negative but by the sounds of your situation it doesnt sound all that promising, it states that "dating" does not count towards your visa.
There are many other ways you can go about this. Why dont you get engaged? You dont have to get married straight away, you can wait as long as you want. There is a prospective marriage visa that you have to apply for overseas from australia, so you can apply while your still at home. Its not like getting engaged even means you have to get married at all, to be blatently honest.
I just dont think going to university in canada is a compelling or compassionate circumstance. It wouldnt make sense to be that lenient on the laws about it? Im applying for the same visa with my partner and we have had similar problems, but I would be way too scared to go ahead and do all the paperwork and pay thousands of dollars plus all the police checks and medicals if what you're doing isnt even close to the requirements for the visa...
There are just soo many places in the literature that states you need to meet requirements.
"As the partner of an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New
Zealand citizen, you do not have an automatic right of permanent residence in Australia.
You must apply and be assessed against the legal criteria for the grant of a partner visa."

Again obviously you have read this:

Waiver of the 12-month relationship requirement
The 12-month relationship requirement at time of application lodgement may be
waived if:
• you can establish that there are compelling and compassionate circumstances
such as:
– for a Spouse visa, that you have children with your partner; or
– for an Interdependency visa, that cohabitation was not permissible under the law of
the country where you resided for the 12 months before you applied;
OR
• your partner is, or was, the holder of a permanent humanitarian visa, and before that
permanent humanitarian visa was granted, you were in a relationship with your
partner that satisfies the requirements of a de facto relationship according to the
Migration Regulations, and the department was informed of this before the permanent
humanitarian visa was granted.

So if going to university in your home country is a valid reason for not living together as a couple, why would people go to all the effort of actually taking on a lease together and living together.

Another thing, you could just go back to Oz on a student visa and finish your degree there while living with your partner, a suggestion of a way you could meet the requirements, its what im doing now and seems a lot more feasable.