# History of your relationship statement



## llawjm (Jul 7, 2011)

Hi all!

Quick question about this. We are writing our own personal statements and printing them on blank paper. What is the process of signing these? Do we simply print, sign and date our own statements? Do we need a witness?

Thanks,

Matt

*History of your relationship*

You and your partner must each provide a statement regarding the history of your relationship, including:

• how, when and where you first met;
• how your relationship developed;
• when you decided to marry or commence a de facto partner relationship;
• your domestic arrangements - how you support each other financially, physically and 
emotionally and when this level of commitment began;
• any periods of separation - when and why the separation occurred, for how long and 
how you maintained your relationship during the period of separation; and
• your future plans.

The statements written by you and your partner can be on ordinary writing paper or a statutory declaration form may be used. Each statement or statutory declaration must be signed and dated by the author. For details on who can witness statutory declarations, see page 27​


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## nitka (Apr 27, 2011)

Hey! That is what we did and it seems to work ok as I was granted a visa. We just printed the statements out, put the date and the place where they were written, and signed them. That was it.  
Let's say: Brisbane, 4th October 2011, John Smith.


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## aussiegirl (Dec 15, 2009)

I used the official opennings of a real stat. dec, and the official ending and copied and pasted onto a word document. Then I typed in what I had to say in the middle.

Whatever you do should be OK, but I have heard of some JPs for example not accepting statement hand written on note paper for some reason. If you type it out though, I guess it would be OK.


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## SarahM (Feb 8, 2011)

As the others noted - it really doesn't matter how you do it, as long as it's signed (you don't need a witness), dated, and legible.

We chose to do ours as statutory declarations, using the word document template here:
Statutory declarations (in the top rigt)
- we typed it in word, printed it and signed it at the police station

Again, it's not really necessary and it won't make much difference


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## Daniel15 (Apr 14, 2010)

Oh my, my girlfriend and I forgot to sign and date ours!!! Do you think they'll ask for new copies? D:


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## SarahM (Feb 8, 2011)

Daniel15 said:


> Oh my, my girlfriend and I forgot to sign and date ours!!! Do you think they'll ask for new copies? D:


...maybe not, but I'm not sure as in the migration booklet it says "sign+date". I think the date is not extremely important, but you should have put your name on there somewhere  Maybe even if you didn't sign it, they'll accept it as long as your name is somewhere...maybe even without - who knows ?

Don't stress, they won't refuse the visa just because of a little mistake!


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## Daniel15 (Apr 14, 2010)

Yeah, we put our name in the header of the page, so it was on the top of every page. And of course, we mentioned each other a lot . It just wasn't signed or dated.



> Don't stress, they won't refuse the visa just because of a little mistake!


Yeah, I don't think they would. I'll let you know how it goes


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## hellokimmi (Jul 28, 2011)

Hi there...

I'm still confused about this. Do these statements need to be witnessed or not? I've read that "you don't need a witness"... but then I also see comments about "JPs not accepting statements hand written" and on the VERY UNOFFICIAL DeFacto tips "Don’t forget to get them certified!".

Many thanks


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## Daniel15 (Apr 14, 2010)

As per my post above, my girlfriend and I didn't date or sign our statements, or get them witnessed, and they were still accepted. We got our visa granted today


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## thejumpingkoala (Nov 1, 2011)

Hmm we did ours a little bit more 'official' with the headings of a statutory declaration.
This was what it contained:
______________________________________

*STATUTORY DECLARATION:
*
I, [*your name*], of [*your address*], a [_*your occupation*_], make the following declaration under the Statutory Declarations Act 1959:-

[*Copy and Paste your Declaration HERE*]

I understand that a person who intentionally makes a false statement in a statutory declaration is guilty of an offence under section 11 of the Statutory Declarations Act 1959, and I believe that the statements in this declaration are true in every particular.

[*signature of YOUR NAME*]
Declared at [*place*] on [*day*] of [*month*] [*year*].

Before me, [*signature of person before whom the declaration is made*]
[*Date: Day/Month/Year*]
[*Full Name*]
[*Address*]
And [*Qualification/Occupation*]
[*Telephone Number:*]
______________________________________

Hope that helps


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## thejumpingkoala (Nov 1, 2011)

hellokimmi said:


> Hi there...
> 
> I'm still confused about this. Do these statements need to be witnessed or not? I've read that "you don't need a witness"... but then I also see comments about "JPs not accepting statements hand written" and on the VERY UNOFFICIAL DeFacto tips "Don't forget to get them certified!".
> 
> Many thanks


Yeah there's conflicting information and experiences about this, if you want to be safe, I suggest you get them witnessed by a Justice of Peace (JP) = certified.

Our statements were very LONG as well. So it was much easier to just type everything out, that way you can format and edit it accordingly as you gather all the relevant details. Having the "Save" button was a lifesaver!


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## aussiegirl (Dec 15, 2009)

*Get them witnessed anyway*



hellokimmi said:


> Hi there...
> 
> I'm still confused about this. Do these statements need to be witnessed or not? I've read that "you don't need a witness"... but then I also see comments about "JPs not accepting statements hand written" and on the VERY UNOFFICIAL DeFacto tips "Don't forget to get them certified!".
> 
> Many thanks


I would sign and date them and get them witnessed. While some COs may cave in and go against official practices, don't rely on this from all visa officers and do whatever you can to make things official and less likely to hold up the application.

What does it hurt? I think it's better to do it than to have to go and do it at a later date.


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## whatnext (Aug 3, 2011)

The partner visa booklet states that if you provide a written statement it just needs to be dated and signed by you. If you provide your statement on a statutory declaration it must be witnessed. Either one is fine. 

The only documents that need to be witnessed or certified are official documents, stat decs and identification documents. 

Copies of Bank statements, payslips, written statements etc do not need to be witnessed or certified.


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## hellokimmi (Jul 28, 2011)

*Get them witnessed anyway - good advice*

well just an FYI on this...
I asked the "DIAC Americas" and they wrote back saying:



> In reference to your recent enquiry, the declarations from you and your partner about your relationship should be witnessed by a notary public or commission of oath.


Thanks to everyone


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## Turboadam (Apr 19, 2011)

Good to see taht you have worked out what to do!


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## Not_sure (Apr 9, 2011)

hellokimmi said:


> well just an FYI on this...
> I asked the "DIAC Americas" and they wrote back saying:
> 
> 
> ...


Seeing as you asked DIAC Americas you should follow their advice.
Of course just because an employee of DIAC said this was necessary does not make it a legal or bureaucratic necessity for the Partner Visa.
Frequently they have no clue and just err on the side of caution.

I've emailed questions to the ACIO in Taipei and they've answered me wrongly. I told them they were wrong and give examples why i think that. They've emailed me back and confirmed i was right all along 

As someone said earlier if the statement is on stat dec form then it should be witnessed. If it's on paper then it can just be signed and dated by you.

Personally i find the partner visa application form badly written, unnecessarily confusing, and appears contradictory in many places.
lots of fun


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