A Singaporean In Australia

I wrote this post to help genuine couples who are applying for this subclass and are finding difficulties understanding what you need to do. It is not intended to help bogus couples who intended to cheat though the information could very well help, but don't be an asshole and misuse the information because it is people like you who cause it to be so tough to get this application done properly.

If you are an Australian citizen or an Australian Permanent Resident and would like to apply for a Permanent Residency for your spouse and don't want to screw up your application, read on......

The folks handling spouse visa are a sharp bunch of people. They reject spouse visa applications for breakfast. They start off handling the application suspecting your relationship with the applicant is not genuine - unless proven! You will get a rejection the moment they are not convinced. There is a reason for this paranoia and a very good one. Too many couples with a fake relationship had made it past the gantry illegally and it is almost impossible to stop this. The immigration department could only make the guidelines as stiff as they could so filter the cheats. Despite that, a handful of them probably still made it through. At the same time, the guidelines are so elaborate that many genuine couples get rejected as well. These are the people I want to help by writing this guide.

Genuine relationship - that's the key.

Yeah we know your relationship is legit but how can you prove it? A single marriage certificate means nothing. Anyone knows that with a little budget, you could get a wife, get some bridal photo shooting done and you will be recognised as husband and wife in the eyes of the law. The immigration department knows that too. Do you expect them to approve your application by submitting a marriage certificate? Put yourself in their shoes.

We'll get straight to the point from here. Immi folks want evidence. Lots of them. If you can't provide them, you're getting a rejection. These are what you need to provide:

1) History of your relationship
You and your partner must each provide a statement regarding the history of your relationship, including:

• how, when and where you first met;
• how your relationship developed;
• when you decided to marry or commence a de facto partner relationship;
• your domestic arrangements – how you support each other financially, physically and emotionally and when this level of commitment began;
• any periods of separation – when and why the separation occurred, for how long and how you maintained your relationship during the period of separation; and
• your future plans.
The statements written by you and your partner can be on ordinary writing paper or a statutory declaration form may be used. 

It sounds cheesy. Your spouse and yourself may even break out in giggles reading these. Trust me, when you get down to writing this statement, you'll crack your head. Please follow instructions. There are no compromise. Points to take note:

1) Each partner are to write one statement each. Your output would be TWO statements and they are supposed to be totally different in terms of writing style but matching in terms of details. We are all intelligent beings, so use some intelligence to ensure this happens.

2) When they say how, when and where. INCLUDE how,when and where. You may not be comfortable revealing your love story but that's the way it is, if you want to get this done. Exclude your sexual stories. Though they may be happy to read it it wouldn't score you extra points.

3) It is difficult to elaborate how your relationship develop. Sometimes you didn't notice it yourselves! Love and first sight with each other and deciding to get married the next week obviously is not going to work. You want to display the foundations of your relationship are set. You may want to include the difficulties along the way and how the relationship strengthen.

4) Your domestic arrangements - Same as point 2. Include every aspect they demand without fail.

5) Provide a simple photo list consisting of photos both of you had taken together every year since you know each other. You don't have to provide a lot of pictures per year. It is more important to provide at least one each year than many pictures of the recent years.

2. Evidence of your relationship
There are 4 broad categories of evidence that you need to provide:
• financial aspects;
• the nature of the household;
• social context of the relationship; and
• the nature of your commitment to each other.

Be creative. Be imaginative. You could think of many ways to prove your relationship. Don't cheat. There are many things you may have done together but have absolutely no way to prove it due to the lack of evidence. That is a pity and that's why this guide is created. Be aware what you need so you can prepare and collect them as early as you can.


Financial aspects

This list includes some suggestions. The items are neither exclusive or inclusive. You should provide more if you can think of any. Evidence will be required that you and your partner share financial commitments and responsibilities, including:

1) evidence of any joint ownership of real estate or other major assets (for example, cars,
appliances) and any joint liabilities (for example, loans, insurance).
If you have a HDB flat or something, that's a strong one. Include it. Insurance with each other's name as the beneficiaries is also a strong claim. You don't put your million dollar insurance claim under a bogus wife's name even if you want it to look convincing. She'll just kill you for the money. Screw the visa. 

2) evidence of sharing of finances such as:
• legal commitments that you and your partner have undertaken as a couple
Such as business partners, sharing of cars, house ownership, pet ownership registration etc

• evidence that you and your partner have operated joint bank accounts for a reasonable period of time
Start early. start now!

• change your spouse's address to your home address or vice versa.
Keep and provide this document.

• sharing of household bills and expenses.
Get your partner to pay the bills such as utilities or car loan with Internet Banking, print it and present. The more backdated the documents, the stronger your case. If you provide only 1 month history of these, ha ha. I'll thrash it into the bin if I am the case officer.