# Partner Visa 820 approved



## Coral2013 (Jan 9, 2013)

Hi Guys,

I lodged my 820 partner visa in Sydney on 21 December and it was approved on 4 Jan.

Super speedy and very unexpected - I hope some of you also have luck with applications lodged in December.

Coralie


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

Coral2013 said:


> Hi Guys,
> 
> I lodged my 820 partner visa in Sydney on 21 December and it was approved on 4 Jan.
> 
> ...


How is that even possible? Crazy!  So happy for you - congrats!


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## Coral2013 (Jan 9, 2013)

My partner's sister is Aussie and her boyfriend is British. Theirs was approved in 1 week last year so I wonder if that has anything to do with it.

I might also add, my boyfriend and I have been together 8 months, lived together since the beginning as we were housemates. But we waived the 12 months by registering our relationship and giving really solid proof of genuine and continuing.

Happy to advise if anyone wants help.


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## carolyn0961 (Nov 14, 2012)

Wow that is so quick, bet you are so relieved! I'm british and hoping mine gets approved pretty quickly too! 

I don't suppose your willing to share what evidence you provided to show genuine and continuing? This is the one I am struggling with!


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## Coral2013 (Jan 9, 2013)

From memory I supplied:

Joint lease
Joint bank account
My bank account with highlighted purchases
Skype history with calls highlighted
Facebook timeline screenshot
Email inbox screenshot
4 photos
Receipts for hotel stays x3
Christmas cards to us both x3

My application was really simple and not huge and this may have helped. I didn't supply excess of anything but just the basics of what they needed.


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## louiseb (Dec 22, 2012)

well done and congradulations, yes very speedy approval, but were still happy for you, now you can relax and enjoy, it must seem like a breathe of fresh air lol. Well done.


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## melandabdul (Sep 1, 2012)

Coral2013 said:


> Hi Guys,
> 
> I lodged my 820 partner visa in Sydney on 21 December and it was approved on 4 Jan.
> 
> ...


I have no idea how some people wait months and others go through in weeks but I am so very happy for you both and wish you all the very best in your life. Do not feel bad that you are the lucky ones...spread the hope and share with people that this is possible


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## kttykat (Oct 30, 2012)

Coral2013 said:


> Hi Guys,
> 
> I lodged my 820 partner visa in Sydney on 21 December and it was approved on 4 Jan.
> 
> ...


That is great news 

Still hoping for good news with our application lodged in October lol... Oh well ours was offshore and that usually takes longer, so I can't complain compared to many, many people on the forum here.

Good for you though 

Kttykat


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## Nelly87 (Jul 3, 2011)

Coral2013 said:


> From memory I supplied:
> 
> Joint lease
> Joint bank account
> ...


Congratulations, that is amazing!! You must be thrilled! Enjoy your victory together 

Did you have many big joint purchases on the bank statements? Our issue is we've had very little money so no big purchases besides flights, and money for groceries we always take out to budget better (with cash)... we're scared we're in trouble with that.


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## Laegil (Sep 17, 2012)

Oh my God I am so superjealous of you!! I applied in Sydney 19th of December and haven't heard anything... You lucky bastard you


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## Coral2013 (Jan 9, 2013)

Nelly87 said:


> Congratulations, that is amazing!! You must be thrilled! Enjoy your victory together
> 
> Did you have many big joint purchases on the bank statements? Our issue is we've had very little money so no big purchases besides flights, and money for groceries we always take out to budget better (with cash)... we're scared we're in trouble with that.


Hey there!

No we just paid rent, some hotel payments and also groceries from our joint account!

Thanks for the well wishes everyone and good luck


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## mary79 (Dec 14, 2012)

Coral2013 said:


> Hi Guys,
> 
> I lodged my 820 partner visa in Sydney on 21 December and it was approved on 4 Jan.
> 
> ...


Woh dat is fantastic ... Congrats we have lodged our application in may 2011 n we havnt eve. Got a co nor has our file been opened my partner will be eligble for his pr in may this year but i dont k ow how it will be posiable if we havnt even go our tr yet


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## templeton (Jan 17, 2013)

lucky, lucky!  We applied onshore in Sydney on the 12th Oct, decision ready verified by a reputable migration agent, still no approval and my employment contract here finishes in 6 weeks time :-/


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## Coral2013 (Jan 9, 2013)

It makes you wonder what goes on in there really. I am wishing you luck that yours will be granted soon. If you're on BVA though can you not work fulltime anyway/find a new job?


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## templeton (Jan 17, 2013)

unfortunately not. My visa is 4 year 457, but contract was only 6 months. Theres different rules, which is silly: if the visa expired, then I would stay on a bridging visa and be able to work, however as mine would be cancelled as my contract would finish before my visa, it also cancels my bridging visa. So either ive gotta get responsored before this happens (tough right now in my industry, most work is short term freelance) or go on a bridging visa E, which means I cant work or leave the country. Basically giving me the same rights as a refuge! 

Anyways, dont want to rain on your parade, congrats again


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## lildevil872 (Dec 24, 2010)

Congrats dear! i get overjoyed every time i read about people's success stories  I just got approved of my Graduate visa 485 and am strongly thinking of applying for a de facto visa with my Aussie partner. But i wish mine was as simple as yours. Congrats once again and would definitely love to read about ya timeline


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## Whitney (Jan 4, 2013)

How many stat declarations did you use? I have kept my application succinct as well in hopes of quick processing so I have only included two declarations, one from our housemate/landlord and one from my partner's mother. I figured a CO probably doesn't want to read a statement from everyone we know about how much we love each other.


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## Coral2013 (Jan 9, 2013)

Yes, I think this is correct. My application was not long. 

We used 2 stat decs, from our 2 housemates.


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## melandabdul (Sep 1, 2012)

Please don't be fooled into thinking that your CO doesnt want to read all this stuff...this is their job and this is a serious process you have entered. In the end it is our job and only our job to convince these people that we are worth this visa we have requested.

It is my opinion that CO's come to the analysis of all applications with that view...prove yourself...so a lack of information due to wanting to not overload a CO might not prove to be advantageous for your plight in the long run.


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## Nelly87 (Jul 3, 2011)

Yes, I actually agree. There is definitely such a thing as overloading, like with 100+ Facebook screenshots or every receipt ever produced on top of bank statements. But I personally always understood that Statutory Declarations as evidence are being taken VERY seriously. I don't think it's easy to overload on vital evidence. You can always add a statement that more declarations can be requested.

I presume most people do fine with just two. But especially if any other area of your application feels slightly weaker to you (for instance we live with his parents so no bills in our names) why not add some more weight in the stat dec area of you easily can anyway.

We'd rather it takes them a year to approve a giant stack, than it taking them a few days to doubt us.


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## melandabdul (Sep 1, 2012)

Nelly87 said:


> Yes, I actually agree. There is definitely such a thing as overloading, like with 100+ Facebook screenshots or every receipt ever produced on top of bank statements. But I personally always understood that Statutory Declarations as evidence are being taken VERY seriously. I don't think it's easy to overload on vital evidence. You can always add a statement that more declarations can be requested.
> 
> I presume most people do fine with just two. But especially if any other area of your application feels slightly weaker to you (for instance we live with his parents so no bills in our names) why not add some more weight in the stat dec area of you easily can anyway.
> 
> We'd rather it takes them a year to approve a giant stack, than it taking them a few days to doubt us.


I love that statement Nelly...."We'd rather it takes them a year to approve a giant stack, than it taking them a few days to doubt us." You hit the nail on the head....because there is often no coming back from a rejection for a lot of people. The wait to get into a review at the tribunal is 2 years last I heard. 2 YEARS of more heart ache and WAITING...I would rather overload them than have any doubt left in their mind as to the natural of my love and my relationship.


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## Nelly87 (Jul 3, 2011)

melandabdul said:


> I love that statement Nelly...."We'd rather it takes them a year to approve a giant stack, than it taking them a few days to doubt us." You hit the nail on the head....because there is often no coming back from a rejection for a lot of people. The wait to get into a review at the tribunal is 2 years last I heard. 2 YEARS of more heart ache and WAITING...I would rather overload them than have any doubt left in their mind as to the natural of my love and my relationship.


Yes! Look, some people have a fantastically strong case with just the basics. That's great and clearly adding much more to an already very strong case may indeed cause more waiting.

But we felt we were not a standard case due to the fact that we had been fairly poor, few big purchases, living with family - so we did not want to go easy on anything.

It always depends on the individual and case! If we had all the staples (a place in our name, buying big things together, vacation bookings together) we would not have bothered either, probably. But we did not have the money for any of these things until, well, now that we've paid for the visa stuff we csn finally start saving for other things!


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## Coral2013 (Jan 9, 2013)

I think you make a fair point and each case is different.

"At least two statutory declarations from Australian citizens or permanent residents" is subjective and I think you're right - in cases where evidence may be lacking in one instance, it's a good way to build up your application.

I think stat decs are more valuable to them than heaps of photos, but then again none of us really know what goes on at immi, and I also suspect it has a great deal to do with who looks at your file.


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## Nelly87 (Jul 3, 2011)

Coral2013 said:


> I think you make a fair point and each case is different.
> 
> "At least two statutory declarations from Australian citizens or permanent residents" is subjective and I think you're right - in cases where evidence may be lacking in one instance, it's a good way to build up your application.
> 
> I think stat decs are more valuable to them than heaps of photos, but then again none of us really know what goes on at immi, and I also suspect it has a great deal to do with who looks at your file.


Yes, definitely that, too! We can only imagine what happens behind the scenes there but one can presume that every case officer is different and that besides having theories and guidelines to stick to, they also have to use at least some of their gut... and that depends on the individual CO, too. I'm sure there would be no HUGE differences in "grant/deny" between different case officers in what they would have done, but I am sure that some may be a little more forgiving than others?

Either way yeah - very dependent on the situation. For instance we live with my in-laws so their declarations are very useful since they see how we share our household every day, and they are the ones we pay our rent to, and them not having declarations would probably look strange as we live with them. On top of that they work for the state, making them maybe a little extra credible (I would hope). So for us, the stat decs were huge. For others in maybe even opposite situations, they would never be as vital.


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## MarkNortham (Dec 19, 2012)

Stat decs are an absolutely key part of the relationship doc package - and in many cases I've seen, applications with thin relationship evidence (for example, not much financial sharing docs such as bank stmts if everything was paid in cash, etc) have literally been saved by beefing up the stat decs - getting a few more and getting the writers to focus on aspects of the relationship that are not well-supported by the other relationship evidence documents.

Congrats Coral2013, and well done!

Best,

Mark Northam


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