# De facto relationship with a married but separated man



## misty888 (Jan 4, 2011)

Hi everyone! I am newbie here and hoping you could help me with my questions.

I am in relationship with a married but separated (not legally) man who just got his Permanent Visa in Australia. I am from high risk country. When he applied for his PR visa he indicated that he has been permanently separated with his wife in 3 years and I am his de facto partner for couple of years. He provided statutory declaration and supporting documents to prove our relationship and his permanent separation from his wife. As his de facto partner, I was asked to provide medical and penal clearance. He was asked if I will be included in his PR Visa application but he noted that I will not be included as I was still studying here in my country when he lodged his application.

Now that we decided to live together and he will sponsor me for a Partner Visa, do I still need to provide the supporting documents as proof of our relationship as well as medical and panel clearance?

Your comments or suggestions will be highly appreciated. Thank you so much.


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

On other thread


> Hindsight is wonderful Misty and in the future you may look back and think why did we [ your partner and you ] not have you down as a secondary applicant on his PR application! for if you had the evidence of a relationship at the time you could have had PR too and you would have not needed to travel to Australia permanently straight away.
> Now it all means a bit more work and there are several things to consider:
> . as a PR your partner should already be resident in Australia to sponsor you.
> . he needs to apply to be a sponsor and that could mean seeking an Assurance of Support for you, details in the application section @ Partner Visa: Offshore Temporary and Permanent (Subclasses 309 and 100) , 40SP form.
> ...


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## misty888 (Jan 4, 2011)

Wanderer said:


> On other thread


Thank you so much Wanderer for your reply. My de facto partner has been living in Australia for almost 4 years. Initially he had Temporary Working Visa then he was sponsored by his employer for Permanent Visa. The main reason why we didn't put my name as secondary applicant on his application is the fear that my application would be denied which means he as main applicant will be denied too. Another reason is that, his status is a bit complicated as he is still married but separated for 3 years and we live together in my country for only 5 months before he left to work in Australia in 2007. Though we're apart he is supporting me financially and we communicate regularly through phone call and email. Every year he come home and he stays with me and we have photos that will support our travel and living together. Someone advised us that it would be better if my name will not be put down as secondary sponsor as we lived together for only 5 months and the required is 12 months. But after lodgement of his visa, I read different articles about de facto relationship I understand that even if we only live together under one roof for only few months as long as we can prove that our separation is not permanent, it could be considered as still living together. Can you please add your insights about this. Thank you very much.


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

The additional information does make your situation somewhat different and if your partner has been in Australia for four years and just returns to your country for a month or so each year, I suspect that will hardly be seen as being an eligible defacto relationship and yes, even when he applied for his PR it would likely not have been the case with just five months together.
Though there is an example given in the Immi relationship requirement of someone being apart, yours is much more a stretch of the situation.
I think that the best you could hope for as far as being sponsored by your partner with the current situation would be for him to get a divorce and then you could apply for the PMV 300 re proposed marriage.
Alternately, if you now have qualifications for a particular occupation that is in demand in Australia, and you get some experience to go along with your qualifications you could look at a skilled visa application.
If there is a demand situation for your occupation, your partner may be able to make some enquiries in Australia and see if there is a chance for an employer sponsorship and then with that you could be in Australia with him and with 12 months together you could then apply for a partner visa.


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## misty888 (Jan 4, 2011)

Wanderer said:


> The additional information does make your situation somewhat different and if your partner has been in Australia for four years and just returns to your country for a month or so each year, I suspect that will hardly be seen as being an eligible defacto relationship and yes, even when he applied for his PR it would likely not have been the case with just five months together.
> Though there is an example given in the Immi relationship requirement of someone being apart, yours is much more a stretch of the situation.
> I think that the best you could hope for as far as being sponsored by your partner with the current situation would be for him to get a divorce and then you could apply for the PMV 300 re proposed marriage.
> Alternately, if you now have qualifications for a particular occupation that is in demand in Australia, and you get some experience to go along with your qualifications you could look at a skilled visa application.
> If there is a demand situation for your occupation, your partner may be able to make some enquiries in Australia and see if there is a chance for an employer sponsorship and then with that you could be in Australia with him and with 12 months together you could then apply for a partner visa.


Your reply Wanderer is very helpful. Thank you so much. Actually, what you've suggested is what we are currently thinking. He is contacting a family lawyer to have his divorce get started. I graduated as Psychology major and had more than 2 years experience in a recruitment. But my partner said that profession is not that in demand in Australia for non Aussies. Most likely, I will apply for a prospective marriage visa when he got divorced. Thank you so much Wanderer and please add more information here that might help us if in case we'll proceed with PMV300.


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

As you'll see from Family - Visas & Immigration the PMV is relatively straightforward and the only real obstacle being the eligibility to marry and so you'll need to plan around when that is possible and then it'll just be a case of making a date to be within nine months from when a visa is granted and so that'll mean doing something like allowing 6-9 months for visa processing and then adding on another 6-9 months for a tentative date but your partner should be able to find a minister/celebrant to make a tentative date and they can always be changed to fit within the nine months if processing was delayed or made extra short.

Recruiting is something of a general field re the type of qualifications people may have but if your speaking/listening english is as good as your written and you also have ability in other languages, that combined with experience of recruitment for specific types of occupations could see an employer more interested in sponsoring for many recruitment firms are active in internationally so you may care to do some searching - just google say something like Australian International Recruitment for starters and then start making a few enquiries, get your CV out there and you might find you could snag an interested employer to sponsor you.


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