Liz* and Steve* met and fell in love while Liz was studying in Australia. Realising there are many differences between them, including their culture, language and ages, Liz and Steve were worried that their relationship would not be believed as genuine. They also wanted to make sure they didn’t make any mistakes – Liz only had 2 weeks left on her student visa.
Liz initially called our office feeling very stressed as the application was putting a strain on her relationship with Steve. In our free phone call with Liz we reassured her that this was very common (planning a wedding and lodging a partner visa application are the two most stressful things a couple can go through!) and we gave her some clear steps to follow.
Feeling more confident, Liz then came in to our office with Steve for a one hour consultation. We went through all the visa criteria and confirmed Liz was eligible for the partner visa and Steve was eligible to sponsor her. We also went through the key pieces of evidence they needed to prepare. Steve wanted to know how to prove you love someone in a paper application? We were able to work through this and put his mind at ease.
Steve and Liz engaged us to prepare their whole application – they didn’t want to risk Liz’s future given the short deadline. Our team quickly and thoroughly put together a thorough application which could be approved as soon as an officer was allocated to it (this is called a ‘decision ready’ application). Liz was granted a Bridging visa A with full work and study rights while she waited for the decision and prepared her health and character checks.
Liz’s visa was approved well within the processing time and there were no concerns about the language or age differences between them. They are now living happily ever after!
*names have been changed to protect their identity.
