Case Study : Partner Visa Relationship Less Than 12 Months
Here we will explain one of case study where a partner visa relationship less than 12 months affecting the partner visa application.
Jonathon (not real name), an Italian citizen, met Nicole an Australian while he was on a Working Holiday Visa in Geelong, Victoria in early 2009. They began dating and started a committed relationship shortly after.
Jonathon had scored his dream job working in a real estate agency, meanwhile Nicole was in Melbourne’s CBD working in a Law Firm 1 hour away and due to this distance they chose to live separately.
However every weekend they would meet up in Melbourne to spend time together; eating and exploring the hidden treasures of the city.
In 2010 Jonathon’s Working Holiday Visa was set to expire so after a quick chat with his boss (who was happy to keep him on as long as he remained on the visa) he made the swift decision to renew it online for one extra (and final) year.
That second year went by quickly and many things changed.
Jonathon and Nicole’s relationship had developed immensely and in the last 6 months before his visa expiry date, Nicole quit her job and moved down to Geelong in a desperate attempt to spend every last moment with him before he was required to leave so this meant they could move in together.
At this point, Jonathon asked his boss about the possibility of obtaining sponsorship on the Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) so he could stay longer and continue his life with Nicole, but due to the cost of this 457 visa, as well as the Property Market conditions at the time, the company decided against it and simply wished him well in his career future.
Jonathon then thought about applying for the Skilled Independent (subclass 189) Visa which wouldn’t require sponsorship for him to remain in Australia, but unfortunately his nominated occupation of “Real Estate Agent” was not on the Skilled Occupations List (SOL) so this idea was cancelled out.
His occupation was however, listed on the Consolidated Sponsored Occupation List (CSOL) list, but he did not meet the 60 points test requirement so this meant he couldn’t even apply for the Skilled Nominated (subclass 190) or The Skilled Regional (Provisional) (Subclass 489) working Visas.
Since Nicole had quit her job at the law firm so she could move in with Jonathon 6 months before, they now had extremely limited finances and were not in a position to apply for what would been the perfect solution for them; the onshore Partner Visa.
Despite all this, Jonathon got down on his knee and proposed to Nicole, the love of his life, vowing that somehow they could make their relationship work, even though the odds were clearly against them. After all, they would for the first time, be separated by not just a 1 hour train ride but by country borders and oceans.
When Jonathon returned to Italy, he found a comfortable job in a local real estate firm. It offered a good base salary and benefits yet he saw this as only a temporary fit and was determined to get back to Nicole in Australia.
Nicole was in a similar state and quickly picked herself up, throwing herself at Law firms all over Melbourne and going from interview to interview until she finally secured another position.
It was then that Nicole contacted ONE derland Consulting to research how she can be with her partner again. With her full time work commitment, it wasn’t a sustainable or an achievable option for her to fly to Italy every 3 months to see him, so he needed to come to her.
We advised her that she would need to keep a steady income to become his sponsor for a Partner visa and that there was more than one type of Partner visa available.
Since they had only ever lived together for 6 months which is less than 12 months they would not meet the requirement for the Partner Visa-on the Basis of Defacto.
This left them with one option, they needed to get married but with two different pathways to get the right partner visa:
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The Prospective Marriage Visa with an application made while he is offshore. This would give them 9 months to wed in Australia from the time the visa is granted but it would like all Partner visas take between 12-15months to be granted.
OR -
The Partner Visa-on the basis of Marriage– This would mean they would need to be married legally before they applied for the visa.
They explained how committed they were to each other and that they did intend to marry so we suggested Nicole fly to Italy and marry Jonathon in a quick but legal manner and then apply offshore for the visa.
We explained that the only way for them to be able to apply for the Partner visa onshore and to be given a bridging visa (allowing Jonathon to remain in Aus during the entirety of the visa processing) would be if he was to apply for a Visitor Visa and for it to have no conditions of no further stay.
Nicole decided that they would get married abroad in Italy and then applies for a visitor visa and celebrate again in Australia with Nicole’s parents and then hopefully apply for the Partner visa while Jonathon is still in the country.
That was the goal and they set out to make it happen with lazor focus.
That month Nicole married Jonathon and contacted us to help her apply for the visitor visa.
She had more than $5000 in her bank account, at least 3 months of bank statements to prove employment and she has accommodation for him, which meant she would qualify to be his Australian sponsor.
We helped her lodge the first visitor visa and with our support, this visa was granted very quickly with no condition of ‘No further stay” and Jonathon flew down the next week.
The Visitor Visa was valid for 3 months which means we had a sufficient time to apply for the partner visa onshore.
This was an ecstatic day for all of us and since the couple had been planning this day for so long, Nicole had had plenty of time to prepare for the payment and was ready for us to lodge the Partner Visa as soon as he arrived on Australian soil.
Because he was onshore when the application was made, Jonathon was granted a Bridging Visa A and was allowed to remain in Australia until the temporary Partner Visa itself was granted.
That special day came roughly 12 months later and with a baby on the way, the timing turned perfectly in the end.
They were then required to apply for the Permanent Partner Visa 2 years from that date.
ONE derland Consulting fees range between AUD $3,000 to AUD $5,000 depending on the complexity of the application.
ONE derland Consulting has extensive experience in dealing with a complex case of various type of partner visa in which the applicant are coming from all over the world.
To find further information on Partner visa’s in Australia and your eligibility, or you still hesitating about your current partner visa relationship less than 12 months status – please contact our office on (+61) 089477-5831 or email: [email protected]
