Posts with tag: relationship visa

Love and Migration

Perhaps I'm showing my age but for many of my generation the movie "Green Card" was the ultimate migration movie.

I'm sure you know the plot but if not, the character played by Gerard Depardieu wants to stay in the United States and enters into a marriage of convenience with the character played by Andy McDowell to secure a Green Card to enable him to commence a job that he's been offered. She enters into the marriage to be able to keep her apartment [which is for married couples only].

Gerard’s character has his comeuppance during his interview with Immigration and Naturalization Service when he cannot identify her brand of cold cream.

You could be forgiven for thinking that the moral of the story is if you are thinking of a partner visa to spend some time studying your partners cosmetic cabinets in more detail but the actual point is don't use fraudulent means to apply for visas. I'm sure a good migration lawyer could have secured the appropriate visa by legitimate means. Perhaps it's time that scriptwriters wrote in a storyline for a Brad Pitt type migration lawyer. Not that I have any resemblance to BP or am considering a career change.

With a more selective immigration policy and tougher student/permanent residence pathways partner visas [relationship-based visas] have never been more popular. In fact the Australian Federal Government has set aside 44,000 places [as many as the independent General Skilled Migration category] for partner visas in the recent budget announcement.

Partner visas include applicants who are engaged, formally married, in a de facto relationship [same-sex or heterosexual] with an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

The term "de facto" is unfamiliar to many of our readers but generally means a common-law marriage where the partners have been living together for 12 months or more in a genuine stable relationship which is likely to endure.

Partner visas generally fall into one of the following categories:

Prospective marriage -- also known as the fiancée visa.  This visa is for a person who is engaged but not yet married to Australian citizen or permanent resident. This is the "try before you buy" concept that allows overseas migrants to enter Australia for the purposes of marrying their Australian fiancé's. The marriage must take place within nine months.

Spouse [provisional] -- this visa is for a person who is married to, or in a de facto relationship with an Australian citizen. The visa is provisional and can lead to permanent residence, generally once the Department of Immigration and Citizenship are satisfied that the couple is living together in a genuine stable relationship after two years.

Spouse -- this is a permanent visa for a person who is married to or in a de facto relationship with an Australian citizen permanent resident.

The tighter migration laws referred to above together with the fact that the "relationship register" operated in many States in Australia [which means that de facto couples who register their relationship don't even have to live together for 12 months before they can apply] have meant that a greater degree of vigilance is required on the part of Australian citizens/permanent residents.

The following are some warning signs for the unwary Australian/permanent resident:

• Although you could have been blessed with good genes if the migrant finds you irresistible and she is half your age, beware;
• If you met on the internet on any site with the terms “Russian Brides” in the URL, beware;
• If your paramour is a student about to finish a course of study in Australia who uttered the words “oh damn” on 8 February last year (when the student policy changed), beware;
• If she suddenly decides to open a joint bank account, sign a joint lease, cancel her postal box and have all of her mail directed to your common address, suggests joint travel or any of the other evidence required to support a de facto partnership application beware, you could be set up.

Relationship visas might be seen as the ultimate "shortcut" to securing permanent residence in Australia but immigration officers are not naïve. Relationship visas have amongst the highest decline rate of all visa applications in Australia. Approximately 40% are declined and not simply because applicants neglected to check her brand of cold cream!

We ensure that our clients apply for relationship visas for the right reasons. Not for the purposes of a "quick fix" in terms of immigration policy but rather because there is a genuine desire on the part of both parties to enter into a long-term relationship with migration to Australia being a by product of the relationship.