I’ve previously talked about the financial aspects of your relationship, nature of household, and commitment to each other. This blog will talk about the fourth and final pillar – which is the social aspects of your relationship.
What does Immigration want to see under the Social Aspects?
Simply put, Immigration needs to be satisfied that you are actually a couple! They will look at factors such as whether your friends and family are aware of your relationship, the types of social activities and networks you have, and how you present yourselves as a couple in public.
Ultimately, is your relationship a secret or is it known to those nearest and dearest to you? Bonus points if it’s also known by work colleagues or community members who can also attest to your relationship.
What if our families aren’t aware of our relationship?
Although not super common, I have seen quite a few cases where either one party or both parties’ families aren’t aware of the relationship. It may be that you’re in an LGBTQ+ relationship or another relationship that isn’t seen as culturally or religiously appropriate. In my opinion, Immigration will look at the social aspects of your relationship more closely here. If both sides of your families are not aware of your relationship then you’re going to want to do a really good job at explaining why. Make sure you use your relationship statements to explain why they are not aware, and then talk about who is aware.
Although not explicitly stated that family members need to provide witness statements attesting to the genuineness of your relationship, there is some level of expectation (from my experience anyway) that the decision maker would expect to see letters of support/photographs with family members. So if you’re reading this and your family or your partner’s family aren’t aware of your relationship, then I would recommend taking some extra precautions with your case.
I don’t have two people in Australia who can complete a Form 888 for us
One way to demonstrate that you and your partner are recognised as a couple and your relationship is known to others, is through Form 888s.
A Form 888 can be used by anyone who is over the age of 18. This wasn’t always the case – prior to July 2023 a Form 888 could only be used by Australian Citizens or Permanent Residents. For this reason, couples often get stuck on this requirement if they don’t have two Australian witnesses to provide a form 888, but luckily from July 2023 the Form 888 changed and now it can be used by anyone. It doesn’t matter if they’re inside Australia or outside Australia.
You can read more about Form 888s in my witness statement blog.
My partner and I don’t use social media
Social media is a really great way to demonstrate that your relationship is widely recognised. It’s easy and accessible to take screenshots of pictures posted, places travelled, mutual friends and followers you both have. But not everyone has social media and that’s okay!
Again, there’s no one mandatory document or piece of evidence that’s going to get you the Partner Visa. So if you’re one of those people that doesn’t use social media, don’t panic (yet). As long as you can still demonstrate that you and your partner are a couple and can provide evidence to substantiate your claims then you don’t necessarily need social media as a form of evidence.
Remember that Partner Visa applications have been around long before social media was around! So although it’s helpful to provide social media evidence where you have it, it’s not going to make or break your applications.
Perhaps you can provide additional photographs of your relationship with friends and family, additional witness statements, maybe you’ve done a lot of travel together or are part of joint clubs and membership groups. There can be a lot of ways to prove that your relationship is recognised by those around you.
My partner and I don’t like to take lots of photographs
Generally I will see two types of couples – those who literally have thousands of photographs together, or those who barely have 20.
If you’re in the latter category then use your relationship statements to explain why you don’t have a lot of photographs. Contrary to popular belief, having photographs of your relationship doesn’t equal a Partner Visa grant. It definitely helps to demonstrate the social aspects of your lives, but having just 10 or 20 photographs won’t necessarily mean you won’t get a Partner Visa.
Again, you need to look at the Partner Visa process and evidence of the relationship as a whole. If you don’t have documents from a particular category, how can you make up for it?
How many photographs do we need to provide for Social Aspects of Relationship?
There’s no black and white rule here, nor is there a right or wrong answer. But what I will tell you is based on my experience with the hundreds and hundreds of Partner Visas I have seen.
With most cases, providing 50 photographs is plenty. These should also be collated into a single document with a cover letter and context. If you have hundreds of photographs, you’re probably providing way too many.
There are other cases where I would recommend more photographs be provided, but this requires me to look at all aspects of your relationship before providing that specific advice. These are the types of questions that I cover during weekly ‘office hours’ sessions. As a Partner Visa Academy member you will have access to a private Facebook group where you can have all your Partner Visa questions answered!
My partner and I are introverts – we don’t socialise much with other people
Being more introverted myself, I totally get that some couples don’t always love socialising and might not have attended hundreds of events with other people. This can make it a bit trickier when is comes to evidencing the social aspects of relationship, but you need to focus on what you have done as a couple. What joint activities and hobbies do you enjoy? Do you take any combined classes together? What do your friends and family think of your relationship?
It’s not a deal breaker again if you’ve not gone to hundreds of concerts or attended multiple weddings as a couple, but you do still need to demonstrate that you are recognised as a couple. Another way to demonstrate this, particularly if you are introverted is having a work colleague or employer who you see on a regular basis attest to your relationship. Maybe your partner comes and has lunch with you at work, maybe they pick you up from work on some occasions. It would be helpful to have people outside your friends and family provide a Form 888 where possible.
Having a full review of your application done is going to give you the peace of mind to know you are providing enough evidence across the social aspects of your relationship. And where you haven’t provided adequate evidence, it’s only during a complete review where we can provide you with feedback on how to strengthen particular pillars of relationship, including the social pillar.
Where to from here?
If I’ve been able to get any message across to you so far, I hope it’s been that Partner Visas are so subjective. The evidence you have around the social aspects of your relationship, and in fact each of the four pillars, is going to be unique to your relationship.
If you’re on the DIY route and wanting more guidance and a tailored strategy and document checklist specific to you, the first step is to get in touch so I can learn a little more about your relationship. If we can help you navigate this process, then we would love to! And if we can’t, you’ll also receive that feedback so you can find the level of support that’s right for your case.
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.
