We shared our experience about getting our Australian Partner Visa granted in six months. This process was stressful and time-consuming but completely worth it. We recently blogged about the most popular questions we have received in our Australian Partner Visa Application FAQ’s article and today we’re sharing the details of what we included in the Australian Partner Visa Financial Aspects of Relationship section.
Joint statement about the financial aspects of our relationship
For this section of the visa application, we typed a three page answer on A4 paper that we titled ‘Joint statement of the financial aspects of the relationship’. At the bottom of our statement we both signed and dated it.
In the answer box in the application that asked about the financial statement, we wrote Please see attached document “Financial Statement of relationship” because I couldn’t fit it in the 2000 word limit.
We started our statement with information about the very beginning of our relationship when I moved to England in May 2014 and how we initially split our bills and finances.
At this time I paid for groceries and our joint travel, whilst Dan paid for our joint rent and gym membership.
We explained how we rented a room in a sharehouse initially and that in England, in share houses you usually pay one amount, once a month and this covers your rent and utility bills. This was quite different to what I had experienced in Australia and so I wanted to explain it to the case officer. I also explained that this was the reason that we only had utility bills once we moved into our own flat 5-6 months later.
We wrote about how I opened a bank account when I moved to the UK and that after 4-5 months of living together, we decided to open a joint bank account as we completely shared all our money so it made sense. We turned Dan’s account into a joint one and continued to use that account until we arrived in Australia.
In late 2014 we decided that we wanted to move out of the share house and into our own place. Together we saved up a deposit, found a perfect flat and moved in. We ensured that the lease and all bills were addressed to both of us (electricity, gas, TV licence, council tax, water etc). We also explained that in the UK all leases are for six months and and detailed the dates for each of the leases we had.
We shared details of our annual wages and explained how we share our money. We both earned quite similar wages and we wrote that we would sit down and work out our finances together and we would work out a way to make things work whenever we had unexpected issues (such as when our car’s clutch and gear box broke and we needed to buy another car)! Half of our joint monthly salary covered all of our bills and living expenses and the other half we used for travel and savings. We also jointly owned our car and were both listed on the insurance and breakdown cover.
We wrote that even though we were both still quite young and have always held good, stable employment that we have a love of travel and have both travelled extensively. Our love of travel means that a good chunk of our money after bills are paid goes towards travel.
We stated that whilst we had not yet undertaken a legal commitment such as preparing wills, we have discussed that we would do this once we settled in Australia. We were both listed as each other’s next of kin/emergency contact with the NHS and as each other’s emergency contacts at work.
I explained that my parents both hold good, stable employment in Australia and they offered us to live with them for as long as it takes for us to get settled and set up when we move to Australia. They are in a very good position to support us financially if necessary (although we feel we don’t need it but they have still offered should the situation arise where we do need their financial assistance/support).
We finished our statement by declaring that we both work very hard and manage our money well, we don’t waste our money and we budget well. We have discussed our plans for the future (including financial) as we do want to buy our own home in Australia once we have established ourselves in our careers in Australia. We assured our case officer that we support each other financially at all times.
Evidence to support the financial aspects of the relationship
At the end of the statement, we wrote another heading titled ‘Evidence to support the financial aspects of the relationship’ where we listed in dot point form all the documents that we had uploaded which supported this section of the visa application.
- 12 months of highlighed and annotated bank statements showing joint bank account and joint spending (Travel, everyday spending such as groceries and financial commitments such as bills and rent etc).
- 3x Leases as evidence we have lived in a defacto relationship for at least 12 months
- Utility bills
- Tenancy Deposit Certificates
- NHS emergency contact wallet cards
- Simone emergency contact for work showing Dan as emergency contact.
- Australian Statutory Declaration from both of Simone’s parents regarding their willingness and ability to financially support us during our time in Australia should it be necessary.
- Joint evidence of Gym membership.
We then ended the statement with both our signatures, names and the date.
Hopefully this may help you when applying for and completing the Australian Partner Visa Financial Aspects of Relationship section. We provided as much personal information about our lives and the intricacies of the financial aspects of our relationship.
Please feel free to leave us a comment if this helps you out or you have any questions. You can also read our other articles on the Australian Partner Visa Process:
- Australian Partner Visa Application FAQ’s
- How our Australian Partner Visa was Granted in Six Months.
DISCLAIMER: We are by no means migration agents or legal professionals, just two people who have been through the process and wanting to share our experience to hopefully help others in this article about the Australian Partner Visa Financial Aspects of Relationship section.
Please don’t rely on our information alone, we don’t hold any responsibility if it is not factually correct (as it is just based on our own personal experience), or if dates, prices or requirements change.
