Most Important Piece of Partner Visa Relationship Evidence, How do you develop a Partner Visa evidence building strategy??
When preparing a partner visa application, be it an 820 or a 309 application what is the most important piece of evidence? How do you assess important.
Answer:
In my 18 + years of practice, as a partner visa specialist, this is probably the question I get asked the most. It is asked by almost every client as well as each and every prospective client. However, the answer isn’t as straight forward as it seems. It is more complex and nuanced, as every relationship is different and every relationship provides an individual blueprint for the possibility of relationship evidences. So, rather than focussing on the different possible relationship evidences and what is THE most important……let’s work on commonality and what is common to all relationships and from there let’s sketch a blueprint for success.
What do all partner visa Applicants and Sponsors have in common??
They live and breathe right! and one day they will DIE. Common to all partner visa applicants and sponsors is the fact that that day and time is not of their choosing. This being the case for all applicants and sponsors, I suggest that every partner visa application include a LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT.
WHAT IS A LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT??
A Last Will and Testament is a legally binding document that basically sets out what will happen to the assets of a person if, or rather when they pass away. In addition, it may also designate legal guardians for minor children in the event that, say both applicant and sponsors (parents) pass away. Important stuff, right??? Now let’s think about the partner visa criteria. Let’s take 2 examples in the instance of a married couple:
1. s5F of Migration Act Requires a:
· Mutual commitment to a shared life to the exclusion of all others
· Genuine and continuing relationship
· Live together or do not live separately and apart on a permanent basis,
Then
2. s5F of the Migration Act points to Regulation 1.09A to determine whether the requirements of s5F are met. The assessment of Regulation 1.09A will make an assessment on the basis of the 4 pillars:
· Financial Aspect
· Nature of the Household
· Social Aspects
· Nature of the Commitment to one another.
Now, strategy is the key to partner visa success stories. DYI applicants and sponsors can learn a lot by using a simple technique that many partner visa experts employ on a daily basis. I call it My Inversion Strategy. My inversion strategy approaches every question from the perspective of why not? First, rather than to Why? first. My inversion strategy seeks to inhabit the mind of the decision maker (the case officer) by applying the rules of logic and reason to illicit a strategic understanding of what is best for my client.
Let’s presume that the case officer is assessing your partner visa application. Let’s say the Australian sponsor owns a house, has some money in savings, superannuation, life insurance etc. We know that the Migration Act and Regulations assesses the demonstration of a genuine and continuing relationship to the exclusion of all others, Commitment to a shared life, integrated finances, trust, pooling of resources, joint assets, joint responsibility and care, whether the person sees the relationship as long term etc….etc….etc
Now, having regard to all of the above; imagine a case officer is assessing a partner visa application and does not have a Last Will and Testament for either the Applicant or the Sponsor. Under My inversion strategy, the case officer must then ask themselves, WHY? What could be a possible and logical conclusion, that is not inconsistent with the relationship requirements in the Act and The Regulations?? Is the case officer not bound to question:
A. Do the parties really have a genuine and committed relationship – if so, wouldn’t each party want their life partner to benefit from their assets if they tragically passed away??? If not, what could be the reason they don’t want their surviving partner to benefit from their tragic passing????
B. Under My inversion strategy the case officer must ask, do the parties really see the relationship as long term? – so much so that they do not worry about the asset pool, as “what is yours is mind and what is mind is yours” .
C. Under My inversion strategy the case officer needs to have a logical response to all of the above and must reconcile that view with the requirements set out in the Act and The Regulations.
D. Does providing a Last Will and Testament reflect the norm, in regards to the body of partner visa applications a case officer assesses??? Is your application travelling against the grain???
E. If the Case officer were to call or write to you requesting an explanation as to why you don’t have a last will and testament, what would be your official reasoning???? If you were the case officer, would you view that reasoning as credible???
Placing yourself in the mind of the decision maker positions you one step ahead and provides you with an opportunity to strategically pivot away from a potential risk factor that you do not need to entertain. Ask yourself the question, why not? And is the “not” consistent with the Migration Act and Migration Regulations???? Why Do you need to wager on the outcome of the assessment….is it not easier to provide The Last Will and Testament and completely negate the variable???
My inversion strategy can be applied to the entire body of evidence available for a partner visa. Use this strategy to improve and to take a more objective view of your partner visa application. The Department is in no way shape or form your enemy, however it may be useful to apply the theory of Sun Tsu,“To see with the eyes of your enemy” – substituting the word “enemy” for “assessor”.
Note: Do not apply this strategy to any evidence that is mandated by the Migration Act or Migration Regulations – if it is mandatory ensure that you comply and provide any mandatory evidence.
Disclaimer: Note there is no specific requirement in Migration Law that you must provide a Last Will and Testament. I suggest to you; it is strong evidence of a shared life to the exclusion of all others and touches on the financial component of the relationship assessment and on whether the parties genuinely see the relationship as long term.
In my practice we choose not to represent clients that choose not to provide a Last Will and Testament. I personally feel that entertaining this risk factor is nonsensical.