Odendaal Posted November 9, 2015 Report Share Posted November 9, 2015 Hey RedPandaSadly not. Do you think I can make a call? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odendaal Posted November 9, 2015 Report Share Posted November 9, 2015 And it still confuses me as to why she would ask this? I've done a lot of research and it appears that one needs to provide proof if you are de facto or if you are married to an Australian/permanent resident (spouse visa). We are married yes but neither of us are remotely Australian (or anything other than SAfrican). ....it's really doing my head in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odendaal Posted November 9, 2015 Report Share Posted November 9, 2015 I went to another forum and asked this question and the moderator replied with:"It means that they have concerns about you being in a genuine relationship probably as you married just before lodging it. So you need to provide evidence that they listed ie. Joint bank account, joint bills, joint lease etc. Anything to establish your relationship.It isn't often you hear of someone applying for a 189 visa being asked for this information."Urgh just what we need. Guess I'd better get to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFreshStart Posted November 9, 2015 Report Share Posted November 9, 2015 Odendaal,As annoying as it is, you have to see it from Borders point of view. They are giving you PR - full access to Medicare, Centrelink, Public Education, Family Benefits and potentially Pension Grants as well, you are coming over newly married and it's sending alarm bells.There are MANY that fall through the cracks here, people come over get divorced and use the Aus system to their benefit, so they are trying to protect themselves.I'm Australian by birth right, have citizenship, and have been married for over 10-years with 2-children, and I was STILL required to prove our relationship and even after all that my wife and kids were only given "temporary" residency, only since moving here and showing our commitment have they allowed us to challenge things.All I can share is do what you have to do to keep them happy. If you don't have join bank accounts do you have joint utilities with Telkom, Rates, Taxes, even a joint store account? Use that! Have you been tagged in any pictures together by friends on Facebook? It was most handy for us from 2007 onwards to grab pictures as proof, and we had to provide them for all 16-years we've been together, dating through the 10-years of marriage!We also submitted our will and pre-nup (anc with accrual), anything that could prove our relationship was genuine and on-going and we were committed to each other, a couple 888 forms and testimony of friends and family.Hope that helps!CheersMatt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted November 9, 2015 Report Share Posted November 9, 2015 How utterly strange. Have you tried talking to a migration agent? I'm not sure if it's needed. Otherwise just follow the threads on de facto partners and give her (the CO) as much of that as you can.Good luck!Jip, maybe you can pm Matt and ask, if you have specific questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odendaal Posted November 9, 2015 Report Share Posted November 9, 2015 (edited) I'm Australian by birth right, have citizenship, and have been married for over 10-years with 2-children, and I was STILL required to prove our relationship and even after all that my wife and kids were only given "temporary" residency, only since moving here and showing our commitment have they allowed us to challenge things.It makes sense that they would ask this of you guys since you are Australian. We are both Saffers and the only reason we are applying together is because we are married. In fact, if we applied separately we would have made it. Anyways, thanks for the information and I will surely be using screen shots of facebook posts Just on that form 888, is it imperitve that an Australian PR or citizen completes it? On this side, I'm going to have my mom and his parents and maybe a best friend write up statements and include them. Thanks RedPanda, I'll need it ...will just need to make peace and get going. Edited November 9, 2015 by Odendaal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFreshStart Posted November 9, 2015 Report Share Posted November 9, 2015 (edited) It makes sense that they would ask this of you guys since you are Australian. We are both Saffers and the only reason we are applying together is because we are married. In fact, if we applied separately we would have made it. Anyways, thanks for the information and I will surely be using screen shots of facebook posts Just on that form 888, is it imperitve that an Australian PR or citizen completes it? On this side, I'm going to have my mom and his parents and maybe a best friend write up statements and include them. Thanks RedPanda, I'll need it ...will just need to make peace and get going. Hmmm, if you had been married for a couple years I don't think they'd be asking you these questions, that is the departure point. Borders has declared South Africa a "High Risk" country, having been told this to my face, which is why we were not granted 100 status right away. People come over, integrating is tough, they get divorced and the State has to continuing providing for them.They are protecting themselves by trying to test the legitimacy of your marriage. PR and Citizenship offer almost the same rights to government facilities and services, so they are wanting to make sure you're marriage is legitimate and not a case of "I'm marrying you to get into Australia".If it is genuine and on going you shouldn't have problem proving it to them, just send them what you have, send more than they need, rather than less and hope for the best. In your letters/affidavits about how you meet they MUST be different, like completely different, you can't copy one and just switch out names, it has to be unique and of your own hand, our CO flipped out that ours were too 'similar' and we had to redo them.RE the 888, no, they don't have to be Aus Citizens, one of ours wasn't, one was, it's best if you don't submit largely family stuff because your CO might think it's suspicious if you are already short of proof. A best friend might be better as there is no familial connection.Good luck!Matt Edited November 9, 2015 by AFreshStart 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charne Posted November 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 From our side, we didn't have the 888 at all. We did have our family and friends (South Africans) write statements on a piece of paper and had them sign it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odendaal Posted November 10, 2015 Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 Thanks Charne, I'm getting my people to fill in form 888, I dont think it'll hurt since it will contain basically the same information as a letter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeTMI Posted November 10, 2015 Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 And it still confuses me as to why she would ask this? I've done a lot of research and it appears that one needs to provide proof if you are de facto or if you are married to an Australian/permanent resident (spouse visa). We are married yes but neither of us are remotely Australian (or anything other than SAfrican). ....it's really doing my head in. It is at the discretion of the DIBP to request additional information in respect of your relationship. As with one of the earlier posts I have seen this being requested where couples have been married for some time.It makes sense that they would ask this of you guys since you are Australian. We are both Saffers and the only reason we are applying together is because we are married. In fact, if we applied separately we would have made it. Anyways, thanks for the information and I will surely be using screen shots of facebook posts Just on that form 888, is it imperitve that an Australian PR or citizen completes it? On this side, I'm going to have my mom and his parents and maybe a best friend write up statements and include them. Thanks RedPanda, I'll need it ...will just need to make peace and get going. You should bring together a range of evidence.You can use Form 888 as a template but is will not be considered at the level of a statutory document if the writers are not Australian citizens or permanent residents and should be witnessed appropriately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deezo Posted August 18, 2016 Report Share Posted August 18, 2016 Any other ideas on what we could use to prove our "genuine" relationship? We have been married since April 2016 (4 months to date) but we have been living together for the past 3 years. We dont have a joint bank account (because most banks dont offer these anymore but we just done ). Any other tips would be great Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisH Posted August 18, 2016 Report Share Posted August 18, 2016 They ask for history over the past 10 years of where each of you lived. The same address for 3 years plus the date you started dating should be fine. I'm not aware of having to provide proof of that, they didn't ask for any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyberJoe Posted August 18, 2016 Report Share Posted August 18, 2016 @Deezo We provided the following: Previous holiday flight tickets Photos were we travelled together Family gathering photos Joint mortgage account Life insurance policy naming each other as beneficiaries Medical aid emergency contact number proof There are plenty of options of types of documents you can upload already defined in the VISA application, just have a look. Normal wedding certificate should be more that sufficient based on other peoples experiences. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deezo Posted August 18, 2016 Report Share Posted August 18, 2016 Thanks so much @ChrisH & @CyberJoe I have read that due to us being married for a short period of time they may call for proof so just want to get all evidence together I already have: • Unabridged Marriage Certificate • Proof of Medical Aid showing my wife joined in 2014 and is a dependent • Life Cover & Insurance Policies showing each other as beneficiaries • Wills showing each other are beneficiaries Otherwise that all that we really have at this stage besides lots and lots of photos Thanks again and i will check the list once we start with the upload! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisH Posted August 18, 2016 Report Share Posted August 18, 2016 I'm sure that will be sufficient @Deezo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deezo Posted August 18, 2016 Report Share Posted August 18, 2016 Thanks so much @ChrisH lets hope so Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duggen Posted August 19, 2016 Report Share Posted August 19, 2016 hi Deezo, My wife and I were married on the first of May and applied for our 457 visa on the 14th. We original marriage certificate, proof that she was a dependant on my medical aid, pictures of the wedding, proof of recent travel together and pictures from facebook showing our relationship over the years. We felt we were really light on the proof side (didn't have any joint bills, wills or more official documents) but the visa was still granted. Think what you have should be more than sufficient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deezo Posted August 19, 2016 Report Share Posted August 19, 2016 Thanks @Duggen Lets hope we can secure enough information because ours is a Permanent Residence Visa so they may want more.... Who knows but we can only give what we have in the end Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPanda Posted August 19, 2016 Report Share Posted August 19, 2016 From what I've heard they can be very fickle, nobody knows what they will decide to ask. Friends of ours were put through the wringer, and they were properly married and everything. We were not asked for anything, just gave them the marriage certificate (we were married in 2012 and applied in 2014). Good luck with your application, hope it goes smoothly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deezo Posted August 19, 2016 Report Share Posted August 19, 2016 Thanks @RedPanda I guess we just need to hold thumbs and pray they dont ask for too much!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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