If you have made any enquiries of Down Under Visa about a partner visa or prospective marriage visa, you will have heard the expression “committed relationship”.

What does this mean? How do we prove it? And why do we need to? Is it really any of their business?

A committed relationship means you have poured your heart, soul, body and mind into the relationship. You have committed your life to this person. No turning back. No escape clauses. No try-before-you-buy. You are in this relationship for the long term. And this applies both to marriages and de facto relationships.

Why is this necessary?

OK, let me give you examples of the opposite.

• A student on student visa is sharing a house with an Aussie citizen or permanent resident. Student visa is coming to an end, and she doesn’t meet the requirements for a skilled visa so she can stay. Why not claim to be in a de facto relationship?

• An Australian man wants to marry a Filipina lady, but is worried that she might try to scam him. So he wants to keep his assets separate and wants to know if the marriage fails can he get her deported so she won’t be a problem for him?

• He’s old, disabled and on a pension, and needs someone to take care of him. He meets an Filipina lady in her 40’s. They strike up an agreement by which he will marry her, and in exchange for caring for him she will inherit everything when he dies.

Don’t sound all that committed, do they? But it happens. And whilst our three example-couples above probably don’t agree, the visas are available only to bring ladies or gents from overseas to Australia because they are in committed relationships to Australian sponsors.

They are not there to help students stay, or to provide full-time carers or to provide an easy-escape relationship for someone. They are playing the system, and that’s not fair. No Australian has the right to waive the promise of Australian permanent residency at someone in order to gain advantage over them.

My wife and I married, and we made vows which included the following:

…for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.

Sounds a bit more committed, doesn’t it?

Do they have the right?

Yes, they do. The Government set the Migration Regulations in place, and they authorised the Case Officers to interpret those Regulations and to decide if an applicant meets the Regulations.

How do we prove it? What are our visa requirements?

I won’t be listing down any requirements here, as this is part of the service that Registered Migration Agents Down Under Visa provides to our clients and it’s highly personalised. We will assess you and guide you through the process so that if you are in a committed relationship we can prove this to the Australian Embassy in Manila.

What if you’re not in a committed relationship? What if you have no evidence?

Well, sorry. We can’t take on cases that are likely to fail, and we certainly won’t take on dodgy cases where someone is trying to play the system. And if you’re just in a hurry and are not ready, we will tell you to come back and see us if and when you are ready and we’ll be happy to manage a partner visa application that will bring your Filipina lady to Australia the right way.

Please visit our website www.downundervisa.com and let’s see if we can help you.