Surely that’s enough evidence for a partner visa?

What else do you want?

How much relationship evidence is enough for a visa application? All that you can get, and then some! No such thing as “too much”. One issue we at Down Under Visa have with Australian partner visa applications is that sometimes getting relationship evidence out of clients is like pulling teeth! A hard, painful process with a struggling patient! Tourist visas are often much the same, but that’s for another day.

We know that many of you are not paperwork-people, and many of you are not computer-people either, so whilst I may sound like I’m complaining I’m not really. We just need to spell out the facts.  

Partner visa application basic facts

Asking the Australian Government to let your lady migrate to Australia permanently is no small ask! It’s a big deal! Think of what you would think if the Government really had a “revolving door”? A Filipina lady in a genuine relationship with an Australian man will come to Australia and she will make Australia a better place. She will be the foundation for a new family. A man with some purpose in his life, and kids brought into the world. Good marriages are what a good society is built on. Australia is better off, therefore these are the ladies who should come to Australia.

And on the opposite side you have the effect when an insincere bad Filipina gets into Australia. The man loses a lot of money and ends up alone again. Nothing gained, whilst the woman ends up reaping the benefits of life in Australia without contributing very much at all. Money goes back to family in the Philippines, no doubt. And maybe some other poor sucker gets caught in time too.

So like it or not, they will scrutinise your application to make sure your relationship is truly genuine, and they can only do this by looking at the facts that you present to them in the visa application.

If evidence is thin? Then maybe so is the relationship! Right now I’m looking at onshore partner visas, which are different to applying offshore in that they really don’t….and shouldn’t…..make allowances for living in separate countries. There’s a certain leeway shown in offshore partner visa applications which you shouldn’t expect when applying onshore. They expect you to be living as a couple now!  

What relationship evidence does the Department expect?

I’m not going to itemise or even categorise the type of evidence needed here, as it’s like asking how long is a piece of string. And each applicant’s situation is different, so the requirements are always different. The illusion of the “standard list of visa requirements” is what gets visa applicants into trouble in the first place, and the assumption that it’s all a mere formality like getting the dog license at the local council. It’s not a formality, and the Case Officers will have no hesitation in refusing the visa if they are not convinced.

What I will say is that they in fact ask for nothing unreasonable in the relationship evidence they expect.

Some of the required documents? These requests can get a bit odd sometimes, but not so with relationship evidence. If you have a genuine relationship and if you lead a committed shared-life like a married couple (or a de facto couple) are supposed to do, you should have everything you need at your fingertips! Yes, there can be exceptions when people lose phones or have computer hard drives die on them, and if they tend to toss out every useful piece of paper. And yes, of course I’m generalising. But “in general”, yes what I said is true.

When Mila came to Australia, I was not a Registered Migration Agent. I stumbled my way through the application and got through by the skin of my teeth. It was also an easier time back then. However I will say that we didn’t have too much trouble getting relationship evidence to meet the visa requirements, because she was (and still is) the love of my life and my life-partner. I didn’t keep a close guard on my life, nor did she keep a close guard on hers. I was (and still am) her top priority, and she is mine.

Partner Visa Relationship Evidence

Let me think……what things did we do when WE applied years ago?

• I had her added to the bank account which we used on a daily basis
• I introduced her to everyone I knew
• Her name went on the letterbox (as I finally removed the ex’s name!)
• She got a tax file number and got a job…..and put her salary into our joint account
• We sent money to support her daughter in the Philippines before she came over on a Dependent Child Visa
• We went to the Church I had always gone to every Sunday before
• I had health insurance for her
• We bought things for the house together
• We went out on “dates” a lot
• We took photos
• She went through the house like a whirlwind, cleaned things that I didn’t know needed cleaning, and banished me from the kitchen.
• She spoilt my two sons rotten
• We shopped together
• She got her drivers license (don’t get me started!!)
• She got involved in my business, and I added her as a partner on the business registration
• It was several years before our next trip to the Philippines, because our priority was our family in Australia. Our next trip was to organise visa requirements for Mila’s daughter (who is now our office manager, by the way). Our family was growing.

If you can’t do similar things, maybe you need to ask yourselves if you are still holding-back? Are you fully committed? Or are you still having trust issues, or do one or both of you have your hearts elsewhere? Is the priority the family back in the Philippines? Or are you putting your kids ahead of her?

This is definitely not the time for dipping your toe in the water. Partner visas ARE for those who are already committed. Take the plunge and get fully immersed in this relationship, and you should have ample evidence to prove to the Department that this is the sort of relationship that truly deserves a visa.

Please note: This is an updated re-posting of a BLOG post from 2018    

Jeff Harvie is a Registered Migration Agent from Australia, but resident in Philippines since 2010 with his Filipina wife Mila and large extended family. Experienced with the Philippines culture, cross-cultural relationships and bureaucracy as well as Australian visas and Australian Migration Law, he writes with authority and fortunately with enough informality and humour that the average Aussie gets it!