# Evidance - Genuine and Continuing Relationship



## Yapa (Jan 14, 2013)

Hi,

We are about to submit our application this week and have one area of the application which does not have evidence as suggested in the Migration booklet and email sent to us from immigration (standard email sent when a booking is made).

In the email it says:

You should also bring evidence that demonstrates you have a genuine and continuing relationship with your partner. 
Examples include:
·	Evidence of shared accommodation (example: lease agreements, rental receipts, mortgage documents, council rate notices, utility bills)
·	Evidence that your relationship has been declared to any relevant government bodies (example: Centrelink or the Australian Taxation Office)


We do not have any of these as we live with my mother and the lease is in her and my name, the utility bills are in her name as she gets a discount on them.
If we change the lease name the rent will go way up.

We do however have evidence for the following suggestions:

·	Evidence of joint financial obligations (example: insurance policies, joint bank account statements)
·	Letters addressed to you and your spouse individually or together at your common address covering the period you have lived together
·	If you have recently married, marriage certificate, photographs of the wedding, the wedding invitation, cards from other people, bills for the wedding
·	Any other item which you consider demonstrates a genuine and continuing relationship (example: evidence of holidays taken together (such as photos and tickets) or shared interests or activities). No videos or CDs please.


So I'm wondering how much of this information is actual needed? 

All of it would be great but I dont think every relationship can have all of it, especially things like loans for house/car etc as some relationships are still young. 

Anyone have any suggestions? 

I have written a paper detailing our relationship and why we do not have the lease(rent) in our name, and utility bills. Hopefully it gets read?

Thanks,


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## ozzy (Jun 8, 2013)

Who do you rent from? Is there anyway you can get a letter from then confirming your partner lives there too? As you said every relationship wont have every singlw document. Have you bank statements that u can maybe show transactions from each others account. 
Have u taken any holidays? U could show boarding passes or travel insurace if u still have these.
How long have u been together? Im sure u will find something. But then again every new relationship isnt going to keep every bit of evidence and diac will understand that.


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## ozzy (Jun 8, 2013)

Sorry just re read ur post and yes u already have statements  lol


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## Yapa (Jan 14, 2013)

Thank you, just wondering how important those first two are?


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## ozzy (Jun 8, 2013)

As long as u can prove through letters that you both live at that address and that you have done for the past 12 months u should be ok  wouldnt worry if your relationship isnt registeted. Theres alot of people on this site they will be able to help too and from people who have already applied, so im sure u will get more advice


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

What type of visa are you applying for? If you are applying for an 820 or a 309 as a defacto couple, then yes - you need evidence you've been living together for the last 12 months (with a few exceptions). If you're applying for an 820 or 309 as spouses, or if you're applying for a prospective marriage visa, you don't need to necessarily evidence living together for 12 months.


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## Yapa (Jan 14, 2013)

Hi, 
Thanks for replies again. 
We are married since 7th April and applying for 820 and 801.
We have been living together since December. 
Thanks.


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## kmarees1986 (Apr 23, 2012)

Yapa I still believe you need 12 months proof of living together even though you are married - can somebody please confirm?


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## ozzy (Jun 8, 2013)

Yapa said:


> Hi,
> Thanks for replies again.
> We are married since 7th April and applying for 820 and 801.
> We have been living together since December.
> Thanks.


You will also need to explain why u werent living together even tho u were married??


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## Yapa (Jan 14, 2013)

kmarees1986 said:


> Yapa I still believe you need 12 months proof of living together even though you are married - can somebody please confirm?


I hope not, from all the reading I have done it should be ok... there is no minimum limit on married relationships, but there is on de-facto.



ozzy said:


> You will also need to explain why u werent living together even tho u were married??


We have been living together since December 2012 and got married in April 2013 and are living together and will be without any separation.


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## kmarees1986 (Apr 23, 2012)

ozzy said:


> You will also need to explain why u werent living together even tho u were married??


Ozzy - look they they were living together since DEC 12 and got Married APR 13 so I guess they were living together.


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

kmarees1986 said:


> Yapa I still believe you need 12 months proof of living together even though you are married - can somebody please confirm?


I've seen varying answers on this. It is so hard to get a direct answer on a few things - this is one of them. I think you don't have to have been... but who knows.


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## Yapa (Jan 14, 2013)

kmarees1986 said:


> Yapa I still believe you need 12 months proof of living together even though you are married - can somebody please confirm?


I just had another look on the immi website and for the 820/801 visa the following is said:

*Applying on the basis of marriage:*
Your marriage must be legal under Australian law.

*Applying on the basis of a de facto relationship:*
Your de facto partner may be of the opposite or same sex as yourself.
You and your partner must be at least 18 years old when you apply.
You and your partner must have been in an ongoing and committed de facto relationship for the entire 12 months immediately prior to applying for the visa. Any periods of separation must only be temporary.
Note: The 12 month relationship requirement does not apply in some circumstances.

So it seems the 12 month requirement is not necessary when applying as a married couple. They would have to state this as a requirement if it was, they do for de-facto (however even de-facto 12 month does not apply in some circumstances)


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## Zamaussie (Jan 16, 2012)

If you still hold the Prospective marriage visa the you dont need to prove that you have lived together for 12 months

What visa are you on at the moment?


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## Yapa (Jan 14, 2013)

On a student VISA until the end of the year. 

I really dont think there is a requirement to have lived together for more than 12 months if you are married, this would be stated as one of the prerequisites for the visa.


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## kmarees1986 (Apr 23, 2012)

Yapa said:


> I just had another look on the immi website and for the 820/801 visa the following is said:
> 
> *Applying on the basis of marriage:*
> Your marriage must be legal under Australian law.
> ...


It does look you are correct, but I got caught out recently by taking the same sort of attidtude with the immi website - I thought since they didn't specifically indicate something then I didn't need to meet the requirement. That has just cost me and my husband a few weeks of tourist visa waiting.

I agree the information appears to say that you only need to be married, but I would call them to confirm if I was you. You are still a few months away from living together for 12 months and you are better of checking stuff like this before you take the plunge.


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## ozzy (Jun 8, 2013)

kmarees1986 said:


> Ozzy - look they they were living together since DEC 12 and got Married APR 13 so I guess they were living together.


Well there was no year?? Should have been worded living together since dec and then got married in april.


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## Yapa (Jan 14, 2013)

ozzy said:


> Well there was no year?? Should have been worded living together since dec and then got married in april.


Yes but there has only been one April since December


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## ozzy (Jun 8, 2013)

Well i assumed april 2012 since u need 12 months evidence


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

But you don't need 12 months evidence if you're applying for a spouse visa and not a defacto... and here we go, 'round in this circle again... 

"Here we go 'round the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush..."


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## Yapa (Jan 14, 2013)

CollegeGirl said:


> But you don't need 12 months evidence if you're applying for a spouse visa and not a defacto... and here we go, 'round in this circle again...
> )


That is correct, confirmed today when we handed our application in


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## kmarees1986 (Apr 23, 2012)

Thanks for confirming!! Sadly for me this means another black mark against my migration agent. Im wondering why on earth he would make us send him 12 months evidence living together when it wasnt required. Ive been ill advised by his agency 3 times now. 3 strikes and you're out in my opinion, I need to have faith in the people i'm dealing with especially when it comes to hopefully getting my husband's PR through with a criminal record.


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

Is it possible that he just thought it was better with your extenuating circumstances to provide more evidence rather than less? Just because it's not required doesn't mean it's not a good idea for those whose applications are not completely straightforward, maybe. I dunno. Just giving the benefit of the doubt. Feel free to tell me to shut it. LOL


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## Yapa (Jan 14, 2013)

kmarees1986 said:


> Im wondering why on earth he would make us send him 12 months evidence living together when it wasnt required.


If you are married it is not required, however it is probably a good thing to have it.

It's quite possible that your migration agent wants the best possible application for you, and that includes having 12 months of history even though you are married.

The longer the better, but not always possible when you want to start a family, buy a house together etc... such as our case.


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## kmarees1986 (Apr 23, 2012)

Good points Yapa and Collegegirl and you're both probably correct. I guess i'm having a couple of doubts about wether our agent is capable enough to handle our case at this point so maybe i'm looking for flaws.

You know when you ignore your gut feeling and it ended up being right? Worst fear right there!


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

I COMPLETELY understand. What finally set my mind at ease was having Mark Northam (whom I met here) tell me, when I told him my migration agent's name "Oh, HIM. He's great. He's exactly what you need for your situation." The fact he came highly recommended even by other agents really set my mind at ease. I'd probably still be worrying otherwise, lol. What else has your agent told you that you don't this is correct? Just curious.


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## kmarees1986 (Apr 23, 2012)

I got some bad advice about tourist visas. A few things dont sit right - for example he told me to send my husbands CV/Resume with the application. I didnt do it because I felt quite strongly thats the wrong thing for a tourist visa. I was also encouraged to go for the wrong visa. Not entirely his fault but still frustrating.


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

Ohhhh, I see. Yeah, I can see why you'd be worried.


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## rajurengith (Apr 5, 2013)

kmarees1986 said:


> I got some bad advice about tourist visas. A few things dont sit right - for example he told me to send my husbands CV/Resume with the application. I didnt do it because I felt quite strongly thats the wrong thing for a tourist visa. I was also encouraged to go for the wrong visa. Not entirely his fault but still frustrating.


How much IELTS band score has needed for apply partner visa?


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## kmarees1986 (Apr 23, 2012)

rajurengith said:


> How much IELTS band score has needed for apply partner visa?


Hello - a bit confused about your question? You don't need a IELTS band score for a partner visa...


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