Change from De Facto to Spouse

[DeepFriedMatt]

Hey guys

 

Not sure if I am over thinking things here and making a big deal out of nothing but... My fiancé and I are getting married in 2 weeks time and then moving to Melbourne straight from honeymoon. We received our 189 visas in 2014 and applied with me as the primary applicant and her as the secondary applicant as my de facto partner. Is there any need to notify immigration before we enter Aus that our status has changed from de facto to being married subsequent to the visa being granted?

 

She will obviously still be traveling on her maiden name passport at that stage so there won't be any difference in surname when compared to the grant letter.... I assume that there will however be a form or something we will need to complete in future once we get a passport with her new surname so that her visa can be updated to link to the new passport number?

 

Thanks for any help you might be able to provide!

 

 

Matt

[Mara]

I do not know if it is a necessity, but they usually say that you have to notify them of any change in your circumstances... I guess this may be one of those. Perhaps check with @TeeTMI or @SD_MOA our kind forum members that are official migration agents, they should be able to tell you.

 

Congratulations by the way...

[DeepFriedMatt]

Hi @Mara

 

Thanks for the response! I've done some digging on the border.gov.au website and found the "Notification of changes in circumstances" form (form 1022).

 

Below is an extract from the beginning of the form:

 

You do not have to notify the department of any changes in your circumstances that occurred:

• after you were granted your visa (if you applied for your visa in Australia); or

• after you have been immigration cleared (if you applied for your visa outside Australia).

 

Not sure what "immigration cleared" means.... We have been through Aus immigration previously on our visa activation trip. So if this counts, then our change in circumstances occurred after that and we would not need to complete the form...

 

I think I will give the DIBP a call on Tuesday and see if there is someone there who can clarify.

 

Thanks!

 

 

[B0nB0n]

Hi @DeepFriedMatt

 

Hope you are well. Did you ever receive clarity on this. Might affect me...

 

Thanks so much.

 

Best regards,

Bonnie

[DeepFriedMatt]

Hi @B0nB0n

 

Sorry for for the delay in replying, things have hectic since we arrived in Melbs just under a week ago. But we are loving it here!

 

Short answer is no, I never found an answer to my question but my (now) wife came through immigration with no problems. The only issue is that now all her Aus documents (bank account, drivers license, Medicare etc) will be in her maiden name until our marriage is registered in SA, she gets a new SA ID and then new SA passport. But we will cross that bridge at a later stage.

 

 

Matt

[B0nB0n]

Thanks @DeepFriedMatt! So happy you are enjoying Melbs. We have friends leaving today who will be joining you that side.