# Nature of commitment evidence



## Snow (Oct 2, 2012)

Hi everyone, my partner and I have spent the day organising all our current evidence and have a good amount for the financial, social and household aspects but the nature of commitment has us a little stuck.

The evidence asks for things that prove our willingness to stay together (as if a partner visa application isn't proof enough!) and terms of our wills/combined affairs etc. 

Having our wills planned out at 20 years old is a bit morbid and its not like we have solid proof of combining our affairs/ living together there yet since we have to wait for our visa grant before that happens.

Can any successful applicants give me any clues what to incorporate here? 


Side question: we've used some bank statement scans (coloured) to show paying for expenses/ bills etc and we've highlighted a couple of things just to make certain things clear. This shouldn't negatively effect the legitimacy of the copy should it? Do we need to get this certified now or is it fine?


----------



## rheia (Apr 10, 2013)

First of all, no need to get bank statements certified.
We did exactly what you did and highlighted relevant transfers from our joint account, as well as our separate accounts and added a short explanation next to it.
Our case officer was fine with that.

Regarding the "Nature of Commitment" section, this was the one we struggled with the most as well. We did consider going down the "will" route but decided we didn't want to do this just for the purpose of the visa, seeing as all of our other evidence was very strong.
In the end, we had a joint statutory declaration from both of us about our plans for the future, how we are committed to each other etc.
We added our past birthday & Valentine's cards to each other to this section as well, in addition to various proofs of presents we gave to each other.
The final bit was an extract of our Facebook friendship, from our "us" timeline.

It is by far the slimmest section in our visa application but we felt we still provided enough to fulfill the requirements.
Again, no additional documents were requested from our case officer.


----------



## Snow (Oct 2, 2012)

Thanks Rheia. I think we might go down that route as well. Hopefully we'll have enough to cover it and the rest of our evidence points. So far we have about 3-4 pieces of evidence for most bullet points under each of the four evidence types so this section will most likely be our smallest part too. 

Thanks again


----------



## Snow (Oct 2, 2012)

Which documents exactly do we need to be certified? The booklet says that original documents should all be provided with certified copies so now I'm unsure of which things exactly they want to be certified and which we can do without.

Also, it mentions that it wants the original police check. We're applying online so all our supporting documentation is done via scan and is in JPEG format. When they say original copy do they want the actual paper hard copy or is scanning of this also fine?


----------



## Mish (Jan 13, 2013)

Snow said:


> Which documents exactly do we need to be certified? The booklet says that original documents should all be provided with certified copies so now I'm unsure of which things exactly they want to be certified and which we can do without.
> 
> Also, it mentions that it wants the original police check. We're applying online so all our supporting documentation is done via scan and is in JPEG format. When they say original copy do they want the actual paper hard copy or is scanning of this also fine?


Just scan everything in colour and you will be right. The only thing we got certified was the id of the person writing the 888 as obviously they are not going to give you their passport/birth certificate.


----------



## Engaus (Nov 7, 2013)

How about listing each other as a beneficiary on your super?

I'm in my early 20's - don't have much to my name, apart from a car worth a few thousand dollars and some things with sentimental value. I created mine online and submitted it with my application, still showed a level of commitment


----------



## lildevil872 (Dec 24, 2010)

Like Rheia said do a stat declaration with a statement from the both of you in regards to future plans. Marriage if haven't already, saving up to buy a house together, buying a car even, having kids etc. 

Creating a will may seem morbid now but did you know you could easily create an online will which costs like $30 only. You don't really need to have assets to do so. Just say you will 20% for instance of your assets/money to your partner. Nothing too complicated. Naming each other as super beneficiaries is very helpful too. Perhaps you could add each other as subsidiary holders of each others credit cards? put each other's name under your car insurance etc

Just think deeper as nobody knows your relationship better than you and your partner


----------



## Engaus (Nov 7, 2013)

My will was free online - literally just copied the same format as one I found online that suited my circumstances.

I know your young, but this visa is all about showing you are all but married. 

We also went to a new estate in an area we were thinking of buying land - they did us up a small letter stating we had come to see them and were interested in purchasing in the next 12 months - another, easy, free bit of proof


----------

