I see it on the daily. Couples giving other couples a false sense of security before they lodge their Partner Visa. These days, with all the different forums and Partner Visa pages around, it’s pretty easy to assume you have good enough evidence simply because your relationship is genuine.
But unfortunately, that’s just not how Partner Visas work. As illogical as it may sound, it’s entirely possible to be in a genuine and committed relationship but not have what you need for a Partner Visa.
There are certain patterns I have seen over the years so let me share some of the weaknesses I’ve noticed.
Warning signs you don’t have good enough evidence
1. Your evidence is mostly just social
Most of the time (but not necessarily always) couples have a lot when it comes to the social pillar. There are hundreds if not thousands of photographs, evidence of trips and holidays together, going to different concerts and festivals. While these documents definitely help your application, they’re not necessarily good enough evidence alone.
We always need to go back to the legislation and policy and see what it says. This then determines what the case officer actually wants to see. From the Department’s perspective, photographs are great, but after about 50 photos? They get the picture.
Couples spend way too long collating photographs of their relationship and neglecting the other aspects of their application.
Remember that you need to show how you have combined your lives. It’s ok if one of your four pillars is stronger and another is weaker, but your application needs to include more than just evidence of the social aspects.
2. You have very limited evidence of shared finances
I know it’s scary hearing other couples talk about having a joint bank account as the holy grail of the financial pillar. I’ve talked about it before in my post all about joint bank accounts. You don’t actually need one for your Partner Visa, but you do need to show how you share and manage your finances as a couple. You need to show some level of financial interdependence.
Again, this is going beyond that of a committed couple, and looking at it from the perspective of what Immigration expects to see from de facto couples or spousal relationships.
In my experience, it’s most common amongst younger couples, although I’ve seen it across couples of all ages, that there might be no or very little financial support, no purchases, and no long term financial goals and commitments.
Does this mean an automatic refusal? Not necessarily, but it does mean that there’s a lot more work that needs to go into preparing your application before you’re ready to lodge.
3. You don’t live together and you haven’t talked about why
If you and your partner aren’t living together at the time of application, then your application will be looked at more closely. It’s that simple.
If you have had periods living apart, this needs to be explained. Periods of separation are normal, and that’s just life. Sometimes people have to move for work, sometimes they travel to care for sick family, or maybe they had to relocate for visa purposes.
One of the biggest mistakes couples make is not addressing the elephant in the room. They simply assume the Department will understand, or even hope they just don’t notice.
If you and your partner have spent time apart, have you explained why? And have you provided evidence to show how the relationship continued? If you’re not sure where to get started, start by reading my blog post around how to evidence periods apart.
4. Your evidence feels ‘messy’
What do I mean by this? It’s one thing to have good enough evidence. It’s another thing entirely that the decision maker understands what they’re looking at.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed and feel confused when you’re putting together your Partner Visa, but ask yourself this. Have you organised your evidence clearly? Have you explained your documents? If someone was to look at it tomorrow, would every single piece of evidence make sense?
A lot of couples who come to the Partner Visa Academy have good, quality evidence across the four pillars, but they just don’t know what to do with it. There is absolutely a difference between a well prepared and poorly prepared application.
If you feel like your evidence is messy or if you’re just not sure, read my blog on how to organise your evidence in a way that will make sense and be clear to the Department.
5. You’re relying on the Department understanding your relationship
I can totally get this one. So often a couple’s relationship is so genuine and committed that they feel like they don’t really need to prove it. This is where it gets dangerous. Because then you’re starting to rely on assumptions, instead of making sure you definitely have good enough evidence.
Australia has one of the toughest immigration policies in the world, and Partner Visas are definitely up there. Do not assume that because you’ve lived together for years, or that everyone knows about your relationship that the Department will also understand the nature of your relationship.
The challenge is that the Department can’t make up these assumptions. I spoke about this in my post about what Immigration doesn’t tell you. You literally need to spell it out for them over a whole range of evidence across the four pillars of relationship. They assess your evidence, not your thoughts!
The best applications aren’t always the biggest ones
Sometimes couples ask me what the attachment limit is on the ImmiAccount, and when I tell them it’s 100 they start to stress out.
No good application I have ever reviewed reaches 100 attachments. It’s not about the number of attachments you have, it’s about how well you’ve been able to organise your evidence into relevant bundles.
You don’t want to overwhelm the Department with 100 attachments. The goal is to help them understand your relationship as quickly as possible.
What does good enough evidence look like?
You’ve heard me say it before, but this is the million dollar question! You can’t know whether you have ‘good evidence’ based off a Reddit thread where someone tells you that ‘you look like you’ll be fine’.
There is no black and white rule around what good enough evidence looks like. Presentation wise, it could look like clearly labelled and organised PDFs. But you could have the neatest application in the world and miss a critical legal requirement.
At the end of the day, having “good enough evidence” isn’t something that can be taught in one or even a series of blog posts and videos online. It’s something that comes with extensive review of legislation, and with time and practice over hundreds or thousands of applications.
This is one of the reasons The Partner Visa Academy was created. In the course of your membership, I’ll work with you to create a tailored document checklist, teach you how to prepare your application, and most importantly, I’ll personally review your entire application to make sure you’ve covered all your bases.
How does your evidence stack up?
If you were to rate your evidence portfolio out of 10, what would it be? Do you know what strong evidence for a Partner Visa looks like?
If you’re still here and reading, I would say that you’re the kind of person who wants to be sure that they have put together the best possible application they can.
If you’re still unsure about your evidence, check your eligibility and I’ll reach out to you soon.
IMPORTANT: Please note, this does not constitute Immigration advice. Always seek advice from a Registered Migration Agent before applying for an Australian Visa. Migration Law is constantly changing. This information is accurate only at the time of publication.
