De Facto Visa - So Confused - HELP!!!!

Hello everyone,

Im brand new to the board and have some questions regarding the visa i want to apply for. Its all very confusing.

Ok, So where to start. Let me give you guys the facts:

August 2006 - I had a holiday coming up and traveled to Australia for a 2 week Vacation.

February 14 2007 - Myself & a female friend from College move to Australia on one year working Holiday Visas.

March 2007 - We settle into Melbourne & rent an apartment in St. Kilda

April 19th 2007 - At A Pub, Through Mutual Friends, I meet my now Partner Steve

April 29th 2007 - Steve & I have our first date

May 5th 2007 - After The hawks vs. essendon footy game we discuss exclusivity. My working holiday visa is only valid for one year. what happens when it expires? will we be over? will he come to canada with me? After a short discussion he decides to move abroad to Canada. He's also never left Australia and would like to go to the arctic.

Dec 9th 2007 - Steve and I move in together - the friend I came to australia with is leaving to go back home.

Christmas 2007 - Steve's family comes down from Brisbane and his sister stays with us over Christmas and sees we live together - the family is quite religous and frowns upon living together before marriage. The living arrangements are kept hidden from the rest of the family.

January 2008 - Steve & I fly to Brisbane to spend 2 weeks with his family before we move to Canada for who knows how long.

February 2008 - Steve & I fly to Sydney to spend a week with his best mate before we go to Toronto

February 14 2008 - I fly to toronto on my return ticket that was booked a year ago. Steve flies over on etihad airlines for half the price.

February 15 2008 - steve lands in toronto - i had arrived the day before. We move into my mothers house - Basement Apartment with seperate entrance.

Steve Opens His Own Seperate Bank account. We do not have a joint account.

November 4 2008 - Steve & I begin working for a company that has stores in far remote towns in northern Canada. We sign a 2 year contract with them and they fly us to Northern Quebec where we live together in company housing at that location until October 4th when we go on holiday.

September 8th 2009 - Order magazines subscriptions so that mail will be addressed to us in both names.

October 4th 2009 - take the greyhouse bus from Montreal to New York City where we meet up with the friend who was in australia with me on the working holiday visa. We see the sights and stay in nyc until oct 11th when we fly to Puerto Rico.

October 11th 2009 - Arrive In Puerto Rico With Steve and Board a 7 day Royal Caribbean Cruise that travels from Puerto Rico to Barbados to St. Lucia to Antigua to St. Maarten to St. Croix

October 18th 2009 - Fly to toronto to visit family before we go up north again for 1 year

October 30th 2009 - Fly from northern quebec to Nunavut where we will stay for one year working with our company.

I know it was long but now you know.

So We know that we do want to get married either this year or next and we want to do it in barbados where we fell in love with the island and the people. plus it doesnt hurt that my multicultural background includes trinidad and the west indies and barbados is a great mix of the west indian culture as well as the same british culture - cricket and tea - that you find in australia.

The only problem is our money is all tied up to going towards paying off his australian credit cards. and now we have been living together really for 2 years but only for 1 year and 23 months that we can prove via letters, i guess.

I wanted to get steves sister, who is a nurse, to write a letter because she stayed with us in dec 2007 and knows we were living together then.

i want a letter from my mother because we lived together in her house and in addition she traveled to australia in august 2007 with my brother and sister and even met steve and his family while she was here.

I also want a letter from my friend janlyn who came to australia with me, was around steve and i from the start of our relationship and who also joined us on our trip to nyc.

Lastly, one of steves best mates who lives in melbourne, that has also been around us since the start is a psychologist who has a practice in melbourne. I think a letter from him will also carry some weight due to his professional status. He is also completing is doctorate in psychology at the moment.

In addition i have a letter from our HR rep that says we have a 2 year contract with the company and we have lived together that time both working for them and that we have lived in northern quebec and now nunavut. it also says we still have another year left on our contract.

My only issue is this - we have no bills in both of our names, with the exception of times we have flown places together. All the bills for company housing go directly to the company and so we never see them.

I do have pictures of us when traveling to different places in australia, canada, america and the caribbean.

I also have a policy through work for medical and dental. on my plan steve is covered for both. Our policy number reflects both of our names.

Will this be enough evidence for us to file? also keep in mind we have yet to recieve any magazines yet even though we ordered them so long ago.

Also, what should be in these letters that we get people to write?

Steve and I are still in Canada, can he sponsor me even though he isnt working in Australia? His job is guarenteed once we go back, but at the time of filing - within canada - he has a different employer.

Lastly, how long will it take to file all of these papers? How long until the temporary visa is granted? and the permanent?

We also have a dog that we have cared for since November 2008, what are the rules or requirements for bringing him back to australia? I am told quarentine is quite expensive and he needs to stay there for a few months. What are the rules there?

I am so lost, overwhelmed and confused. HELP!!!!

Andrea

Whoa, that's thorough While the sponsorship process does have financial obligations and require proof, it really depends on the immigration officer you get assigned. The fact that you have a historical list of things you did together and pictures will help a lot. The main concern is that you have a genuine and continuing relationship and your family can give a written testament to that. Financial records, like bank records, are the best proof - the magazine subscriptions won't count for much.

If you're both Canadian and Australian, I wouldn't worry, it's a tougher process when one partner is from a dissimilar non-English Western nation. It's hard for anyone to comment until you submit. I doubt you'd even need an interview.

As for importing a dog, take a look at http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/cat-dogs. Not difficult to arrange permit and testing yourself.

It cost me about $2000 per dog about 5 years ago (total fees including airfare). Back then it was 30 days quarantine in Australia. If it is a young dog then consider, quarantine is tougher on older dogs.

thank you for the reply misterbig,

so just so that i can understand, am i assigned an immigration officer when we file the papers?

new to this and dont know anyone who has gone through it, so its a bit confusing at this point.

When i get the family members to write their letters what is it that theyre supposed to say in them?

Thanks Again,

Andrea

Yes, once you file you'll be assigned a case number and case officer.

Family members should all write that they know of your relationship with your partner and that it is genuine and continuing. I believe the immigration forms include this document.

Have you downloaded the package from http://www.immi.gov.au/

It looks overwhelming but once you get started it's not too bad, just nit picky. It took a couple of weeks to get all the forms and required documents before sending and we had a reply in a couple of months. Timelines vary depending on your case and their workload so the sooner you submit the better.

I'm going through the same process at the moment. My WHV ends at the end of July. We're using our 12 month rental lease as evidence of a 12 month relationship. There's tons of forms that have to be filled out and notarized. You'll need police record checks for any country you've lived in for more than 12 months in the past 10 years. Certified copies of idenification, employment evidence from your sponsor (Steve). Honestly, you should go to the aussie government site, and start looking at the check lists. Get Foxit Reader, if you don't have a pdf reader (it's free). Print out all the paper work, and get to it.

Since I cannot apply for another WHV, and our 12 month rental lease expires before my visa, I will be getting a tourist visa. This will allow me to stay living in Australia while I get everything sorted and apply for my de facto visa.

They have a declaration form for people who are vouching for your relationship to fill out. It's a legally binding form, and they prefer for them to be Australia citizens/ residents. You can get this done by someone who is not an Australian (since they would probably be Canadian otherwise, this is pretty easy).

You also need a medical examination performed, and you can find the information about that in the while visa application package.

It's expensive, btw. $2525 AUD. and that's not including all the fees for police checks, and medical exams and so on. So if you aren't ready to apply for this yet, get yourself a visa to live in Aus. in the meantime.