Let me try to ‘kill two birds with one stone’, so that I can assist both the Filipino applicant and their Australian sponsors on how to write a letter to support a genuine relationship for both a Visitors or Tourist Visa application and a spouse, de facto or partner visa application for Australia from the Philippines.
Below is background information you must understand first before you start writing or more to the point typing your long and emotional letter of support for your particular genuine relationship in the hope that the Department of Home Affairs will take it into consideration and provide you with a visa grant for your Filipino applicant to come over to be with you in Australia.
I have over the years summarised aspects of the policy used by the department in guiding their case officers in making an informed decision-making process for both Visitors or Tourist Visa and for Partner visa applications both for spouse and de facto applications.
Directly below is a small part of a synopsis of how the department structures and approaches the Visitor’s Visa program and this will give you clues on how to structure a letter to support your genuine relationship with your current relationship in the Philippines.
‘An overview of Australia’s visitor visa program from the Philippines was developed using the objectives and principles of the visitor program namely:
- The objectives of the visitor visa program are to
- facilitate the entry of genuine tourist, business and family visitors,
- support the integrity of Australia’s migration programs and
- contribute to Australia’s economic development and social and cultural enrichment and
- The principles governing the entry of visitors (and reflected in Schedule 2 provisions) are that visitors to Australia must
- genuinely intend only to visit Australia temporarily,
- not work unlawfully,
- not engage in studies or training for more than 3 months – for policy and procedure, see section 71 Condition 8201 – 3 month limit on studying or training.
- have, or have access to,
- adequate means to support themselves during the period of the visit so that they do not need to access Australia’s social welfare system and
- leave Australia on or before the date their visa ceases, unless they make a valid application to stay for a longer period to the benefit of Australia.’
This maybe the first time you have seen a tightly worded and defined guidelines for making a Visitor’s visa application to Australia from the Philippines but if you have this type of information you can then commence a better written letter of support than just rambling on about how much you love and care about the person you are ‘inviting’ to Australia from the Philippines.
Think of it as a skeleton which you start adding the other organs and bodily parts to create a watertight and compelling argument about how the Filipino visa applicant’s application would satisfy most if not all of the above objectives and principles. Doing this will more than likely secure you a more favourable decision.
The whole exercise here to concentrate and focus on what will make the decision maker comfortable in issuing a Visitor’s visa to a Filipino applicant which statistically are in the top 10 overstaying nationals in Australia.
This is what I have been doing the past 19 years as a registered migration agent.
Writing and developing consistent and accurate submissions so that our Filipino applicants are able to travel to Australia and abide by the increasing requirements and conditions that the Minister of Home Affairs is placing on these types of applications.
Keep your narrative within the objective and principles of the Visitor’s Visa program and you will have a better prospect of success in your Visitors visa application to Australia from the Philippines and have the opportunity to be together soon rather than later or in some unfortunate cases never as they were tempted to include ‘false or misleading information or bogus documents’ in lodging their Visitor’s or Partner Visa application.
Let’s now have a look at what is required in a letter to support a genuine relationship involving a spouse or de facto visa application for you partner which you intend to lodge either in the Philippines under Class UF subclass 309 or in Australia under Class UK subclass 820.
Again, allow me to present it in this manner so you can see and understand what the department is looking for in your narrative in support of a genuine relationship. Read the Four Factors that the department is looking at when you construct you letter of support.
Again, use it to add relevant bits and pieces of information and even attaching evidence to amplify and substantiate your statement about your genuine relationship when you send your letter of support of your relationship to the department.
Factor 1 – Financial aspects of the relationship
The financial aspects of the relationship may be evidenced by:
- Joint loan agreements for real estate, cars, major house hold appliances or any other agreements relating to finances or purchases (for example, property purchased by the parties as tenants in common)
- Operation of joint bank accounts – evidence that the accounts have been operated with reasonable frequency and for a reasonable period of time would be given more weight than just opening such accounts
- Pooling of financial resources, especially in relation to major financial commitments
- Legally binding financial obligations that one party owes to the other, for example, as guarantor for a loan, existing power of attorney (these can be specified to cover various things, such as financial and medical)
- The basis of sharing day to day household expenses (for example, if each party is responsible financially for their own expenses only and expenses are not pooled).
Factor 2 – The nature of the household
The nature of the household may be evidenced by:
- Joint ownership of residential property
- Joint residential leases
- Joint rental receipts
- Joint utilities accounts (electricity, gas, telephone)
- Correspondence addressed to either or both parties at the same address
- Shared responsibility for care and support of children
- Shared responsibility for housework.
Factor 3 – Social aspects of the relationship
Social aspects may be evidenced by:
- Evidence that the relationship has been declared to other government bodies and commercial/public institutions or authorities and acceptance of these declarations by these bodies.
- Statements of parents, family members, relatives, friends and other interested parties. Statements in the form of statutory declarations should be encouraged on the basis that, as a legal document, they carry more weight.
- Joint membership of organisations or groups, documentary evidence of joint participation in sporting, cultural, social or other activities.
- Joint travel and plans for the future.
- Whether the parties present themselves as a couple socially.
Factor 4 – The nature of the commitment
The nature of the partners commitment as requiring an assessment of the mutuality of their commitment to each other, having regard to (but not limited to) the four factors listed in the Regulations, namely:
- The duration of the relationship.
- The length of time the parties have lived together.
- The degree of companionship and emotional support that the parties draw from each other.
- Whether the parties see the relationship as for the long term.
Examples of assessing the nature (mutuality) of the relationship in regard to the above components include an assessment of:
- The partners’ knowledge of each other’s personal circumstances (this could include background and family situation and could be established at a possible interview).
- Evidence of intentions that the relationship be long term (for example, by the extent to which the partners have combined their affairs, and the extent to which they have provided for each other, such as being beneficiary to each other’s will and/or superannuation).
If parties who are (or until recently, were) living separately claim that their separation is (or was) not permanent, officers need to consider their reasons for the (temporary) separation.
I have drilled down into this area of the application process and have developed many styles and structure of writing a support letter of a genuine relationship in lodging a valid, genuine and most importantly continuous partner visa application for Australia from the Philippines.
NOTE: Please do not lodge a weak or unsubstantiated or badly evidenced partner visa application as the Minister has given a directive to refuse them immediately once a case officer peruses them initially after lodgement. It is not a great way to start your application. The current Visa Application Charge is Aud. $7,000 dollars and frankly that is just too much money to risk on a flimsy or hurried partner visa application these days.
