Chapter 1

Under threat…
Sponsors for Partner
Visa Applications?

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Under threat… Sponsors for Partner Visa Applications?

A bill introduced earlier in 2016 (which, if passed, will have an enormous impact
on partner migration) has been re-introduced to Federal parliament in August of
2016.

Here is an extract from the Explanatory Memorandum- with BOLD and underline
added to emphasise the impact it will have:

To address the integrity issues currently experienced in the sponsored partner

visa, the bill will extend relevant aspects of this sponsorship framework to apply to
partner sponsored visas with a view to:

• separate sponsorship assessment from the visa application

process for partner sponsored visas;

• require the approval of persons as partner sponsors before

any relevant visa applications are made;

• impose statutory obligations on persons who are or were

approved as partner sponsors;

• provide for sanctions, if such obligations are not satisfied;

• facilitate the sharing of personal information between a

range of parties associated with the program; and

• improve the management of family violence in the delivery of

the program by allowing the refusal of a sponsorship
application; and cancellation and/or barring of a partner
sponsor where inappropriate use of the program or serious
offences are detected – especially those involving family
violence.

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The reason why I started this chapter with such a headline with impending
material changes to legislation is because for 19 years I have seen so many Filipino
applicants and their Australian sponsors attempt to conduct their partner visa
application on their own and fail to fully understand the ever changing landscape
that is constantly being applied to partner visa applications by the federal
government of the day through the department of immigration.

Note: It’s now 2018 and that particular Bill was passed on November 18,
2016 and even more requirements were passed in November 18, 2017.
The whole partner visa application process is now much tighter than
ever before, it’s being scrutinized and more closely assessed and the
department is now known as the Department of Home Affairs (HA).

I have no problem with Filipino applicants and their Australian sponsors

attempting to do their own partner visa applications and I for one, feel a great
sense of pride and affinity to the fact that in Australia, everyone is given a ‘fair go,
a crack at it’ as they say, at anything they want to attempt.

However, I’ll soon be 55 years of age and have been in business since I was 18, I
realise and understand the folly and mistakes of doing just that, i.e. having a go at
something I have no or little experience in and no or little knowledge about
‘expecting to achieve all my goals and meet all my expectations at that particular
activity, along the way’.

In the course of this book, I will give you examples of this and the one I will start
with is researching something of interest to me, like doing my own Tax Return
(Yes, a totally stupid and painful past time) for my business. I would have to admit
that to this day, if I really wanted to get the most out of all my tax deductions, I
would need to start talking to a registered tax agent initially who would 'set up my
books of accounts properly' at the very beginning to enjoy all the tax concessions,
benefits and deductions the business has been entitled to in a cost effective and
timely manner.

Like many activities in life, lodging your own tax return is an anxious experience
whether you are employed, a tradesperson or self-employed and running a small
3
business, or even a large corporation. There are deadlines to meet, documents to
produce, even statements to declare, then sign off on. Guess what else I found out
about Tax Returns and lodging them?

Tax agents themselves are also under enormous pressure to ensure that they are
up to date with the constant and recent changes in taxation laws and what can
and can’t be used to claim as a business expense in your particular tax application.
The federal government is constantly examining ways of generating additional
revenue for the services it deems are needed to run their political and economic
agenda for the country. The search for revenue by governments is insatiable and
relentless and if you want a Tax Return paid to you these days, you really need to
justify and fight for every legitimate deduction; otherwise, as this whistle-blower
has recently experienced, the revelations and consequences are shattering:

Ron Shamir: http://bit.ly/2gAvzAP

However, unlike a Tax Return, filing a partner visa application is NOT FREE and a
further article from an SBS investigation covers more light on this heated topic
that affects so many Australian sponsors for partner visa applications from the
Philippines.

The fact of the matter is the federal government through and the Department of
Home Affairs is under criticism from the Productivity Commission, and this is what
it had to say about the federal governments visa application charge and its impact
to the Australian community from a recent SBS report entitled “Dutton’s own
department just contradicted him on visa price hikes” on June 10, 2016:
Dutton: http://bit.ly/2fvHKPJ

• The non-refundable application fee in Australia is $6,865 – more than double

that of a similar visa in the UK and four times the price of a US partnership
visa.

• It’s true that applicants are eligible for Medicare as soon as they apply and a
range of other services after a few years. But – and this is critical – visa
recipients can also work and pay taxes, contributing to government revenue.

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 • “Analysis conducted by Access Economics on behalf of the Department in
2008 showed that partner migrants had a positive impact on the
Commonwealth budget,” a spokesperson told The Feed.
• From their very first year, partnership visa recipients give to the country more
than they take, according to the department's report.

• The report shows that the government was effectively making a profit from
the partnership visa program, even when visa fees were a fraction of the
current price.

• The most recent price increase was announced as a savings/revenue

measure in December 2014 under the Abbott government when Scott
Morrison was Immigration Minister. The revenue raised from the fees does
not go to the Immigration Department but rather to general government
revenue.

• For a family including two children, the cost of moving to Australia can exceed
$25,000 on airfares, lawyer’s fees and additional visa fees for children are
taken into account.

There you have it. I can now present to you, as a starting point, 6865 financial
reasons why I recommend you shouldn’t lodge your own partner visa application
to Australia from the Philippines at this particular time until we have had the
opportunity to discuss it in greater detail with someone like myself. By the way, as
stated in that SBS report, the Department of Home Affairs does not refund visa
application charges once paid and your application is refused.

Furthermore, in the coming chapters you will also realise that on top of those
6865 financial reasons, there are many more costs lurking in the actual application
process and the changing culture that has currently taken hold within the
department itself that won’t make the partner visa application process any easier.
I will cover them, I assure you in this book, so you get ‘a clear high definition
snapshot’ of what you are getting yourselves involved with, what you are actually
walking into and those financial headwinds that suddenly seem to appear from
nowhere.

5
Note: It’s now 2018 and the Visa Application Charge is now $7,000.00 dollars.

So, how will this all pan out? With any changes, ‘the devil is always going to be in
the details’. So, as this bill is developing into law, which it already has, as of 2018, I
will be updating these developments on our website www.respall.com and of
course on our Facebook Page RESPALL MIGRATION AUSTRALIA for you to keep an
eye on, and the ways it may impact further on your application itself if you decide
to do it on your own.

Currently the partner visa application process takes two general pathways.

You may decide to lodge an off-shore Prospective Marriage Class TO subclass 300
or Spouse or a De facto Partner Class UF subclass 309 visa application whilst the
Filipino visa applicant is in the Philippines. I will argue in the coming chapters to
avoid these types of pathways at all costs but instead consider seriously lodging
the application on-shore, i.e. in Australia itself.

That’s right an ‘on-shore’, i.e. inside Australia and not an ‘off-shore in the
Philippines’.

The ‘on-shore’, which is a more beneficial strategy of lodging a partner visa

application for both the Filipino applicant and the Australian sponsor, is an on-
shore Spouse or De facto Partner Class UK subclass 820 visa application and can be
achieved even if you were contemplating a Prospective Marriage or Fiancé visa
application in the first place in the Philippines. I will also indicate why a Fiancé visa
application is likewise an application to steer clear of once you realise the length,
weakness in your migration position, and unacceptable extra financial expense of
that particular visa pathway which Australian sponsors seems to favour due to
commentary of past applicants and some religious traditions.

Let’s first have a glimpse at what the current pathway looks like graphically for an
‘off-shore’ visa application and some of the consequences you face that are not
revealed in the department’s website or booklets that are provided to be
downloaded.

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Applying from OUTSIDE of Australia can take two forms of the application process
and these flow charts below explain them very easily and conveniently by the
department of Home Affairs website. It all appears nice and neat and straight
forward, so let us just go along with it at this stage.

3-Step Permanent Visa

Step 1 Temporary Visa Step 2 Temporary Visa Step 3 Permanent Visa

Class TO Subclass 300 Class UK Subclass 820 Class BS Subclass 801 Partner
Prospective Marriage (Fiancé) (Spouse) (Spouse)
(Temporary) (Temporary) (Residence)

You: Once the subclass 300 visa is Two years after first applying for
granted, you: the subclass 820 visa, you:
• plan to marry your Australian
fiancé (e); • travel to Australia; • are still in the relationship with
your Australian partner (sponsor);
• make an application for a subclass • marry your Australian
AND
300 visa either online or at the partner (while the subclass 300
nearest DIBP office outside visa is valid); AND • make an application for a
Australia. subclass 801 visa and provide the
• make an application for a
required documentation.
subclass 820 visa (in Australia)
to stay in Australia.

OR

2-StepPermanent Visa

Step1: Temporary visa Step 2: Permanent visa

Subclass309–Partner (provisional) Subclass100–Partner (migrant)

You and your Australian partner: Two years after first applying for the subclass
309 visa, you:
• are legally married; OR
• intend to legally marry before a • are still in the relationship with your
decision is made on your visa; OR Australian partner (usually your
• have been in a de facto relationship sponsor); AND
for at least the entire 12 months prior • make an application for a subclass
to the date of application. 100 visa and provide the required
• make an application for a subclass documentation.
309 visa either online or at the
nearest office outside Australia.
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Now, here is a couple of NASTY SURPRISES to consider for those who decide and
insist to apply for the 3-Step ‘off-shore’, i.e. commence the application process in
the Philippines that is (a) lodge a Class TO subclass 300 Prospective Marriage
(initially lodged in the Philippines), (b) lodge a Spouse Temporary Class UK subclass
820 (in Australia), then (c) lodge a Spouse Class BS subclass 801 (in Australia).

You see, many unscrupulous and unregistered individuals and organisations in the
Philippines won’t tell you how the burdensome 6,865 financial reasons will
suddenly become an 8,010 financial nightmare reasons, if you decide to take that
visa pathway. Yes, that’s right. You will ‘fork out, from your hard earned dollars’ to
the Australian Federal Government an additional $ 1,145.00 dollars and here’s why.

You see, as earlier stated, the initial Visa Application Charge (VAC) is already at
Aud. $ 6,865.00 once you apply for the initial Class TO subclass 300 Prospective
Marriage visa application if you lodged it in the Philippines. However, once your
fiancé arrives in Australia and you marry them within the 9 months of the visa
being granted, you will need to apply and pay an additional $ 1,145.00 Visa
Application Charge for the second stage of that particular visa application process
being Spouse Class UK subclass 820 in Australia.

Like, that would be a DOUBLE OUCH and has now burnt a massive hole in your
financial pocket. So, imagine if you had children involved and had to pay their VAC
as well. The numbers are getting ridiculously high.

Note: It is now 2018 and just to update you on the actual visa application
charge for a Class TO subclass 300 is $7,000.00 with an additional
$1,170
for the second stage.

In my first book i.e., AVOID THE MIGRATION MINEFIELD: Safely Migrate to

Australia from the Philippines, I talked about the many ways Filipino visa applicants
and their Australian sponsors are scammed or are ‘willing victims’ in their visa
applications. But now, here is ‘a classic minefield to walk straight into’, this time
set-up by the Department of Home Affairs which may appear yet to be another
revenue generating activity if you don’t have your wits about you. This financial
hole has become bigger and nastier when the initial VAC, which increased by a
whopping 369 per cent in the past 2 years, is further compounded by the second
VAC payment increase, in the same period.
8
To remedy these ‘mysterious and hidden costs’ and bring them to light, we now
have Partner Conference Calls, as a matter of business protocol and procedure.

As part of this educational process for the Australian sponsor and their Filipino
applicant, ‘I personally speak not only to the Filipino visa applicant, but also to the
Australian sponsor’. This, in my view, is essential so you get the full picture of what
really is being offered by the Department of Home Affairs when you are deciding
which partner visa pathway you will decide to take.

If you intend to use a registered migration agent, insist that you personally discuss
these options with them and don’t just settle for a barrage of email
communications that do not deal with all the details and possible scenarios that
could happen. My dad would always have wise sayings and I want to share these
with you and here is one that I want to reiterate, i.e.

“The DEVIL is always in the details”. In other words, study carefully on what you are
about to do first as there could be many unpleasant financial surprises included
just up ahead and in partner visa applications, 'I can assure you there are plenty of
these nasties about’.

This ensures you both realise and understand the benefits of lodging a partner visa
application in Australia and trying to avoid lodging an off-shore partner visa
application in the Philippines and having to wait 12 to 15 months before it gets
granted, that is of course if your particular partner visa application was lodged in a
valid and genuine manner, in the first place.

Did you read that? It takes 12 to 15 months before your visa is granted. These are
the current estimated published departmental times for processing. However,
these published processing times ‘traditionally blow out further’ rather than
improve, as your visa application is progressing through the department's
processing line. If it is lodged in the Philippines, you (i.e. the Australian sponsor)
may end up unexpectedly travelling to the Philippines more often if you want to
be with your partner and can’t secure a tourist visa for the Filipino applicant, or if
there are unforeseen issues involved in granting a tourist visa for them to travel to
Australia and visit you there.

Oh, and let me now give you another heads-up, you’ll also need to provide
additional information to the Department of Home Affairs ‘along those potentially
lonely 12 to 15 months’ to ensure you also comply with the ‘continuous
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relationship portion of the requirement’, if your expectations are for the
Department of Home Affairs to grant your particular partner visa application in
that processing time period posted by them.

In my personal view, that will start becoming difficult to do if you aren’t regularly
seeing each other and you ‘begin to feel the financial pinch’ of the additional costs
of airfares, accommodation, transfers, loss of income, etc. regarding your off-
shore partner visa application once you understand those possible scenarios from
occurring.

So, is there a better alternative for the Australian sponsor when contemplating on
lodging a partner visa application in the Philippines? In my view, there is. I will
start exploring this, justify those views in the coming chapters, and reveal many
more emotional issues and so called ‘financial traps’ along the way for each of
these options, as I have been lodging hundreds of permanent visa applications
from the Philippines to Australia every year since 1999.

Getting tripped over in these permanent partner visa applications is so easy to do

and I, for one, am always on guard with transitions in government policy and
internal cultural changes within the Department of Home Affairs themselves that
affect the application from being granted.

Once you read on, you will see how, for example, children involve in these
applications, bring a whole new dimension in managing these hidden immigration
issues that are likely to occur. But, the wisdom in setting your application up and
properly assessing it before you commence the process is what we can bring to
the table, in terms of legal remedies and solutions and minimising the overall cost.

This will certainly deter you from doing another Tax Return by yourself, but more
importantly, not attempting to do a partner visa application on your own with the
Department of Home Affairs but instead seeking professional and experienced
advice before lodging it.

Hmmm, I always look at that last part of the department’s title more intensely
these days, i.e. Home Affairs. I will share with you in the chapters to follow what
we, as registered migration agents, are becoming more aware of, i.e., the
‘changing culture’ within the department and the impacts they are having on
partner visa application processes for the Australian sponsor and their Filipino
10
partners.
Just to set the records straight, I never have and never will, lodge a Tax Return for
my business by myself with the Australian Tax Department. I left those
applications and processes to my Tax Agents for the past 37 years when I first
ventured into business at the tender age of 18. My father advised me on these
matters and I listened to those wise words, which I would like to share further
with you.

In closing this first chapter I think it fitting to write down another one of dad’s wise
words and they were - “Son, Act in Haste, Repent At Leisure”. I can assure you, if
you rush your partner visa application and lodge it to the Department of Home
Affairs without going through all the other possible scenarios thoroughly, you will
soon find out how complicated and convoluted the Migration Act of 1958 as
amended in 1994 can be and how ruthless the Department of Home Affairs
applies the rule of law in possibly refusing your partner visa application instead of
following ‘the past civilian way of processing them which was by using policy to
assist in massaging and providing a visa grant’.

11
 Chapter 2

Kiss Me Forever,
& on-shore partner visa
application.

12
Kiss Me Forever, an on-shore partner visa application.

Ah, that’s better. I am getting back to the main concept and topic of this book.

When I was witnessing and reflecting on the physiological pain, emotional

suffering and heartbreaking loneliness Australian sponsors and their Filipino
applicants experience during even a temporary separation, I made it a point to do
everything legally possible to either minimise these intense and damaging feelings
that statistically tend to tear relationships apart before their lengthy application
process is even approved or better still, eradicate them completely, if their current
or developing relationship and the Australian sponsor’s capacity, permits this to
occur.

Before I commence commentary regarding a more beneficial strategy for our

Filipino applicant and their Australian sponsor, i.e. on-shore permanent partner
visa application, some developing news has just reached our email INBOX today,
i.e. the 17th of November 2016 which will take effect on the 18th of November,
2016 from the department of Home Affairs regarding the first chapter’s headline:
Under threat… sponsors for partner visas application?

Below is an extract from a new Fact Sheet, the first of many I suspect, that are
being rolled out because of that Bill which was reintroduced in August 2016,
appears to have taken traction and is giving further directions to the Department
of Home Affairs to implement.

New limitations on approval of sponsorships for Partner and Prospective Marriage

visa applications

What will change from 18 November 2016?

Sponsors of Partner and Prospective Marriage visa applicants who lodge a visa
application, on or after 18 November 2016, will be required to:

• provide Australian or foreign police checks to the department when requested;

and
• consent to the department disclosing their convictions for relevant offences to
the visa applicant(s).
13
What are relevant offences?

Migration legislation defines a relevant offence as an offence against a law of the

Commonwealth, a State, a Territory or a foreign country, involving any of the
following matters:

(a) violence against a person, including (without limitation) murder,

assault, sexual assault and the threat of violence;

(b)the harassment, molestation, intimidation or stalking of a person;

(c) the breach of an apprehended violence order, or a similar order,

issued under a law of a State, a Territory or a foreign country;

(d)firearms or other dangerous weapons;

(e) people smuggling;

(f) human trafficking, slavery or slavery-like practices (including forced

marriage), kidnapping or unlawful confinement;

(g) attempting to commit an offence involving any of the matters

mentioned above or below;

(h)aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of an

offence involving any of the matters mentioned above.

What about visa applications lodged before 18 November 2016?

The changes do not affect visa applications lodged before 18 November 2016,
even if the sponsor submits their sponsorship form after 18 November 2016. The
changes only apply where the visa application is made on or after 18 November
2016.

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Do the changes affect applicants for a subclass 801 or 100 visa who already hold a
subclass 820 or 309 visa?

No. Applicants who already hold a subclass 309 or 820 visa and are waiting for a
decision on their subclass 100 or 801 visa are not affected. This is because they
lodged their visa application before 18 November 2016.

What happens if a sponsor does not provide the police checks within a reasonable
time?

The visa application may be refused.

What happens if a sponsor does not consent to the department disclosing their
convictions for relevant offences?

The visa must be refused.

Will a visa application be refused if a sponsor has convictions?

If a sponsor has convictions for a relevant offence but no significant criminal

record, a visa cannot be refused on that basis. In those cases, the department will
still disclose the convictions to the visa applicant(s) to allow them to make an
informed decision about continuing with their application.

If a sponsor has convictions for a relevant offence and a significant criminal

record, the visa must be refused, unless it is considered reasonable not to refuse.
All the circumstances of the case will be taken into account when considering if it
is reasonable not to refuse, including but not limited to:

• the length of time since the sponsor completed the sentence(s) for the
relevant offence(s);

• the best interest of any children of the sponsor or primary visa applicant;
and
• the length of the relationship between the sponsor and primary visa
applicant.

15
What is a significant criminal record?

A sponsor has a significant criminal record in relation to a relevant offence if, for
the offence(s), the sponsor has been sentenced to:

• death;

• imprisonment for life;

• a term of imprisonment of 12 months or more;

• 2 or more terms of imprisonment, where the total of those terms is 12

months or more.

What if a sponsor’s conviction for a relevant offence has been quashed or otherwise
nullified?

A sponsor is not required to consent to the department disclosing these

convictions. Even if the sponsor has consented, the department will not disclose
convictions for relevant offences that have been quashed or otherwise nullified.

What if a sponsor has been pardoned in relation to a conviction?

If the effect of the pardon is that a sponsor is taken never to have been convicted
of the offence(s), the sponsor’s consent to the disclosure of conviction(s) is not
required. The department will not disclose those offences to the visa applicant(s)
even if the sponsor has consented.

Can the visa application charge be refunded if an application is refused because of

the new changes?
No. The visa application charge cannot be refunded in those circumstances.
Applicants and sponsor are urged to consider carefully what effect, if any, these
changes may have on the prospect of having a visa application granted before
they make an application.

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How can a sponsor apply for an Australian Federal Police (AFP) National Police
Check (NPC)?

Sponsors can apply for an AFP NPC through the AFP website at: -
http://bit.ly/29ohCl1

There you have it, a written proof on how fast changes occur with newly
introduced government legislation being passed and directed to the Department
of Home Affairs to implement and imposed by the departments visa application
processes that need to be carefully considered when making your own partner
visa application, whether it be an off or on-shore pathways.

The bottom line with all these new requirements is that if ‘you fail to disclose any
material they deem relevant in making a decision on your particular partner visa
application, the department will not hesitate to refuse your partner visa
application’ and this trend appears to be escalating since the department of
immigration and citizenship amalgamated with Australian Border Protect and
Australian Customs over 5 years ago, to be now called the Department of Home
Affairs.

These are just more tightening up provisions which will continue to occur with the
current ‘policing militarized culture’ that seems to be establishing themselves in
‘traditionally civilian federal government departments’. Care and a thorough
understanding of the consequences of these new and evolving directives need to
be considered when shelling out large amounts of visa application charges and
failing to secure a visa grant at the end of the process. The experience may cause
you both a lot of emotional and financial strain and frustration which can all be
avoided.
Let’s now look at what the department’s website flow diagrams reveal about
lodging a partner visa application inside of Australia, if this is at all possible, for a
Filipino applicant to do and all the benefits that are gained if it was available to
them and their Australian sponsor. I have actually produced a 13 minute video
explaining this preferred strategy and if you haven't seen it yet please don’t
hesitate to let me know and I will send it you immediately by emailing me on
[email protected].
17
Applying from INSIDE Australia takes one pathway of the application process. The
flow diagram below explains this very easily and conveniently by the Department
of Home Affairs website. Again, it all appears nice, neat and straight forward, so
let’s just go along with it at this stage, tease out and scrutinise why I personally
and professionally believe this to be the most beneficial pathway for any Filipino
partner applicant and their Australian sponsor to take, if the Australian sponsor
has the capacity to do so.

I will explain and expand what capacity will entail during the following paragraphs
and chapters so that the Australian sponsor is clear on their obligations and
requirements when embarking and more importantly ‘budgeting’ on what could
possibly develop into an emotional roller coaster ride, if not properly planned and
managed along the way’.

2-Step Permanent Partner Visa Process lodged in Australia.

Step 1: Temporary visa Step 2: Permanent visa

Subclass 820–Partner (Provisional) Subclass801–Partner (Migrant)

You and your Australian partner: Two years after first applying for the
subclass 801 visa, you:
• are legally married; OR
• have been in a de facto • are still in the relationship with
relationship for at least your Australian partner (usually
the entire 12 months your sponsor); AND
prior to the date of • make an application for a
application; subclass 801 visa and provide
AND the required documentation.
• (and all the applicants
included in your
application) are in
Australia when you make
an application for a
subclass 820 visa.

I will now share with you some ‘very valuable trade secrets’ about the migration
application process. Pay attention and understand their legal benefits and how
they protect the Filipino visa applicant in their partner visa application in Australia.

18
Let’s first establish some very important legal immigration information for the
Australian sponsor to consider, and understand so that you know how important it
is to ‘always lodge a partner visa application inside the Australian migration zone,
if at all possible’. That is the first bit of information that is taught and drilled into to
legal practitioners and migration agents when studying the Migration Act of 1958
as amended in 1994.

The reason for this is because it is far easier to appeal, over turn then remit back
to the Department of Home Affairs, any possible future partner visa application
refusal decision whilst the Filipino visa applicant is physically in the migration zone,
i.e. inside Australia.

Think about it? Even if the visa was say, refused tomorrow for whatever reason,
the following actions could be taken to mediate the impact for such a decision by
the Department of Home Affairs, namely:

• You are permitted to lodge an appeal against the decision within a

prescribed time.

• The Filipino applicants have a good chance of successfully reacquiring their

full-time work rights once the matter has been appropriately filed at the
Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT).

• Can resume any full time study courses that they may had been pursuing at
the time of the visa refusal.

• The Filipino applicant’s MEDICARE cover resumes.

• What is more important for the Australian sponsor is that the level of stress
and any additional financial anxieties will be minimised as there are no
overseas trips or phone calls to make as both the Filipino applicant and
Australian sponsor are still living and loving each other in Australia.

• You are both together and not apart, still.

19
Although there would be an additional lodgement fee and a professional cost to
take the matter to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), you really can’t get
any better than that, right? I mean, yes it wouldn’t be the best scenario if your
partner visa application was refused, but at least you are in a better position than
it being refused, and say, the Filipino applicant was stuck back in the Philippines.
But, the scenario outlined above is for those partner visas that are refused, if they
were able to lodge a partner visa application by themselves in Australia.

The fact of the matter is that many Filipino applicants and their Australian
sponsors are under the false impression that they can only lodge a partner visa
application from the Philippines. This, as I have uploaded on so many earlier blogs,
is probably one of the worst visa strategies to pursue. There are many lazy and
out-of-touch individuals and organisations in the Philippines that still insist that
the only way to lodge a partner visa application is in the Philippines especially if
the Filipino applicant marries in the Philippines. Wrong!

Let me make this perfectly clear – this is absolutely not the case. Based on your
relationship circumstance and the capacity of the Australian sponsor, given an
opportunity to discuss their personal and financial background in great detail, I
believe that a majority of partner visa applicants CAN and SHOULD be lodged in
Australia, and NOT in the Philippines.

This is because of the earlier benefits stated above even if the Filipino applicant is
still married in the Philippines and even if the initial partner visa application was
refused in Australia. I will keep explaining this as the book unravels itself to you.

What I will now explain and endeavour to convince you, based on my 19 years of
experience in lodging hundreds of successfully granted partner visa applications
every year, is to dispel what I call the ‘local Filipino Flim Flam Witch Doctors’ that
continually insist it’s not possible to do, i.e., what I have been doing for so many
years, purely because they are just so lazy and do not have the knowledge,
training and resources to apply and process it in the following manner, which I will
generally outline in the succeeding paragraphs.

20
In a nut shell, what I propose to do is secure the Filipino partner visa applicant and
‘any of their other immediate family members, i.e. dependent children, a ‘visa that
does not have a Condition 8503’ slapped on it to enter Australia by the
Department of Home Affairs. Because this condition was not imposed on that
particular visa, then we are able to lodge a further valid and genuine permanent
partner on-shore visa application for our clients who were holding that initial visa
they entered Australia, provided their relationship and the Australian sponsors’
capacity permit it to commence.

Turn your pages back and look at that 2-Step Permanent Partner Visa Process
lodged in Australia graph again, and see how it then smoothly and seamlessly
flows onto a permanent visa status after the 2 year temporary visa duration takes
its course.

Not only will it be a quicker way of transitioning into a permanent visa status, but
whilst the application is being determined, the Filipino partner visa applicant will
benefit from MEDICARE Cover, Full-time work and study rights and as I have said
many times before, you are both together and never apart during the entire
course of the partner visa application process in Australia and we can even
organise them to travel outside of Australia if they so wish, during that 12 to 15
month period, as a decision is pending.

You read it correctly, the Filipino partner visa applicant can also travel back to the
Philippines during that decision making period, provided that they make the
appropriate Bridging Visa B (BVB) application that would permit this to occur.
More on this and other amazing benefits the Filipino visa applicant will be entitled
to if their partner visa application was lodged in a valid and genuine manner, and
the Filipino applicant and Australian sponsor provide subsequent evidence of a
‘continuous relationship’ in the course of the decision making period, inside
Australia.

Again, these on-shore partner visa applications CAN and DO involve children, but
we will discuss the additional capacity the Australian sponsor needs to
demonstrate for that to occur in the following chapters of this first follow-on book

21
for Partner Migration To Australia from the Philippines after I launched AVOID
THE MIGRATION MINEFIELD back in 2013.

In the next 2 chapters, I want to focus on what requirements and capacity the
Australian sponsor really needs to be looking into and as the title of this particular
book implies, ensure that you are both kissing each other FOREVER in Australia.

22
 Chapter 3

Are you eligible to apply

for or be granted with a
partner visa?

23
Are you eligible to apply for or be granted with a partner visa?

I know many of you have already downloaded the Partner Migration - Booklet 1
published by the Department of Home Affairs currently Design dated 07/2017
from the department’s website and read it on your computer screen. I suspect
that you rushed off and started reading the Content Page and are eager to get the
‘show rolling’, so to speak. I mean come on, THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE, IS WAITING
TO COME TO AUSTRALIA, LIKE YESTERDAY… FROM THE PHILIPPINES!

Let’s move it! Right?

He/she is telling you how much he/she loves you and is looking forward in joining
you in Australia to take very good care of you as their spouse or de facto partner.
The pressure is enormous and the loneliness of being separated is tearing this
huge hole in your bleeding heart. The pain is excruciating. Correct?

But, my question will always be, in which direction will your show, be rolling off
too… will it be rolling off a cliff and free falling shortly thereafter? I wonder?

Get it wrong and that initial excruciating pain you were experiencing in the early
stages of the application process will ‘feel more like a tickle, once you comprehend
and then suffer the cost, physically, emotionally, spiritually and worst of all
financially’.

That’s what happens when you get your particular partner visa application
invalidly lodged, or information you submitted to substantiate your relationship
claims were then viewed by your case officer as either being false and/or
misleading, or documents supplied in support of that partner visa application were
viewed as bogus in nature and material and you just received a letter from the
department to explain and write back to them as to why this had occurred in the
course of your application within 28 days otherwise they will refuse the
application and bar the partner visa applicant for 10 years from ever entering
Australia again?

24
Not a very fun or happy place to be in, even for someone like me with all my years
of experience. I would be taking that kind of communique very seriously from the
Department of Home Affairs as it may end up causing some pretty harsh sanctions
on the Filipino visa applicant. Remember, the love of your life? Some long
exclusion periods of 10 years of entering or re-entering Australia, depending on
the severity of the claims made by the Department of Home Affairs against your
Filipino partner visa application so pay close attention to the information
contained if the Department of Home Affairs sends you any communications via
emails.

However, by far my favourite part, of these booklets, is where the department

further states, usually on the second page, the following information:

About this booklet

This booklet is designed so that you can understand the steps in applying for
Partner Migration to Australia, and complete the application form with minimal, if
any, help.

Information about partner migration can also be found on the Department of

Home Affairs (the department) website:

www.immi.gov.au/migrants/family/family-visas-partner.html;

and, That Fact sheet 30 Family Stream Migration – Partners, available on the
website:

www.immi.gov.au/about/pages/media/fact-sheets.aspx

For general information about migration to Australia, visit the website:

www.immi.gov.au; or, contact them via telephone at 131 881 in Australia (for the
cost of a local call) or the nearest office of the department outside Australia.

Using a migration agent

25
You are not required to use a migration agent to lodge a visa application.

Migration agents in Australia

In Australia, migration agents must be registered with the Office of the Migration
Agents Registration Authority (Office of the MARA) unless they are exempt. If you
use a migration agent, we strongly encourage you to use a registered agent.

Further information including a list of registered migration agents is available on

the Office of the MARA website: www.mara.gov.au

The Office of the MARA investigates complaints against registered migration

agents and may take disciplinary action against them. If you have a concern about
a registered migration agent, you should contact the Office of the MARA. The
Code of Conduct and complaint form are available from their website.

Migration agents outside Australia

Migration agents who operate outside Australia do not have to be registered. The
department may give some overseas agents an ID number. This number does not
mean that they are registered.

Note: Some Australian registered migration agents operate overseas (that would
be someone like me, I suppose).

There you go. See? It must be true, then. It’s a bed of roses. You were thinking to
yourself, “This is going to be easier than I thought”.

Why would you even bother to protect your large currently over-priced visa
application charge, as declared by the Productivity Commission in Chapter 1, of
now Aud. $ 7,000.00, when the government’s booklet is stating that you may not
even need any assistance at all?

26
Why would, Jose Respall be writing a book (in fact numerous books) about
Partner, SkillSelect, Visitor’s or Tourist, Child, Parent visa application topics if the
official departmental booklet says that, ‘This booklet is designed so that you can
understand the steps in applying for Partner Migration to Australia , and complete
the application form with minimal, if any, help’?

Well, it’s because the booklet is just that. It’s nothing more than 'free general
information'. Again, nothing more than 'free general information' about how to
lodge a partner visa application. It is obvious that no one is responsible for it. No
one will take ownership of your partner visa application once you have lodged it.
No one will update you about the status of your application. No one will be
responsible if you may need to provide additional information to the Department
of Home Affairs and you have another matters to juggle in your already busy and
hectic lives together.

And, if you are like most Australians and Filipinos that have had life experiences
you would have had found out, possibly the hard way, that 'free general
information' is both dangerous and when applied wrongly can and does lead to
massive financial holes in your pockets and in the case of your particular partner
visa application may even cost you, REMEMBER, THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE, your
relationship itself, as an additional collateral damage, if you mismanage the entire
partner visa application and get it wrong.

Ah, yes. Read chapters 1 and 2 again just to refresh your memory of what the
Productivity Commission further reported and the other examples if you do not
comprehend the consequences of your decision. You really need to develop a
deeper understanding of the requirements placed on partner visa applications,
especially the Australian sponsor, these days.

I am not disputing that the booklets make understanding the steps and filling in
the form simpler to grasp, I suppose; but, I do dispute that the booklets wouldn’t
make your particular partner visa application be lodged in a valid and more
strategically correct manner by following the 'free general information' provided in
these government booklets or even on their website

27
On the contrary, I and most of my colleagues believe that these government
booklets and information on their websites are giving a ‘false sense of security, an
overly simplified over-view and approach to your particular and very important
partner visa application’.

If you do follow them to the letter without consultation with an expert who
lodges them in the course of their professional career in providing a remarkable
migration service and your expectations were not met during the course of the
long application process, then as my father would always say to me, “Son, STOP
moaning and groaning about the results, as you actually contribute to everything
that happens in your life”.

I have not seen a partner visa application that I had ever lodged or sat down and
discussed with hundreds of potential applicants in the past 19 years, who either
did or did not use my services, that did not require ‘a high degree of analysis and
planning’ to ensure that their particular partner visa application was lodged in a
particularly more beneficial way, even when the Filipino applicant and Australian
sponsor were disputing that theirs were a ‘straight forward and easy’ application.

I’ve had these conversations numerous times with so many Filipino applicants and
their Australian sponsors that thought they knew everything there was about
lodging a partner visa application to Australia from the Philippines.

I am in constant communication with migration law specialists and in the course of

those ‘think tank activities’, even we find evidence, change of departmental
policies and ways in those collaborative moments of lodging a particular visa
application with different and more beneficial ways for our Filipino partner visa
clients.

These migration law specialists have applied for these types of visas for much
longer than I have and they are the first to admit that lodging partner visa
applications can take many pathways. It is paramount that you STOP and analyse
these other options very carefully to fully understand the impacts it may have on
you and your future together, and ‘the ways they benefit you more’ as a couple.

28
The theme I want to weave in this remaining chapter is that – if you are looking for
migration advice that involves your future as a couple together, then if I were you,
insist your relationship background is discussed in great detail and in person with
the particular registered migration agent at hand, the details of the application
process itself and what are all the other possible options involved, that may be
available.

Also, ensure you divulge your financial capacity and other support mechanisms
that are in place and the expectations you and your partner have for your
particular partner visa application for Australia from the Philippines.

At the end of the day, it always boils down to the financial capacity of either the
Filipino applicant and/or their Australian sponsor to support the visa application
process.

Let’s face the commercial reality of life. We have all heard it before, many times
and it is really true. That is, ‘there are no free lunches’.

Eventually, you are going to have to pay the Bill. What I think the whole purpose
of this book which is clearly expressed and by the way is amplified in the Code of
Conduct stating that a registered migration agent must present the best options in
minimising possible additional costs and further heartache, for their valued clients
that are involved in an Australian visa application process.

So, if that is the case, then let’s attempt and continue looking at what Booklet 1
currently Design dated 07/2017, has to say. Let’s try and concentrate on the
requirements for the Australian sponsor, if we can, so we can plot the application
process more clearly and expand on those points Booklet 1 provides that need to
be UNPACKED (WHICH I PRINTED IN BOLD, BRACKETED AND ALL CAPPED) even
further, to justify my earlier comments about how dangerous 'free general
information' really is. I will pick it up from the next sentence below.

I really do not know how far I will get with this before I give up in frustration as I
put myself in your shoes as we read further into Booklet 1, but here we go...

29
BOOKLET 1: Before you make your Partner visa application, please read the
following information carefully.

There are certain circumstances that may prevent you from lodging a valid
application or may prevent the visa from being granted.

If you are applying in Australia, you may not be able to make a valid application or
you may not be eligible to be granted a Partner visa, if you:

• do not hold a substantive visa and have had a Partner visa refused or
cancelled since your last entry to Australia; or (SO WHAT DOES A
SUBSTANTIVE VISA MEAN AND WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES?)

• do not hold a substantive visa (see page 6) and your previous visa has
ceased; or (SO WHAT DOES A SUBSTANTIVE VISA MEAN AND WHAT DOES A
CEASED VISA MEAN?)

• hold a visa with a No further stay condition (conditions 8503, 8534 or 8535);
or (SO WHAT DOES ‘NO FURTHER STAY CONDITION’ MEAN AND WHAT DO
THOSE NUMBERS REALLY IMPLY?)

• since your last entry to Australia, hold or held a Provisional General Skilled
Migration visa and you have not held or did not hold that visa for at least 2
years; (SO WHAT DOES ‘PROVISIONAL GENERAL SKILLED MIGRATION VISA’
MEAN AND WHAT IS SO IMPORTANT OF NOT HOLDING IT FOR THE LAST 2
YEARS?)

• have a debt to the Australian Government and have not made satisfactory
arrangements to repay the debt. (SO WHAT DOES DEBT TO THE AUSTRALIAN
GOVERNMENT MEAN AND WOULD DEBT INCLUDE UNPAID TAXES TO ATO?)

Note: If you do not hold a substantive visa and have had a visa refused or
cancelled since your last entry to Australia (other than a visa
cancellation or refusal on character grounds or a Partner visa refusal),
you may be able to make a valid application in Australia as long as you
30
 provide a completed form 40SP Sponsorship for a partner to migrate to
Australia (see page 14) and 2 statutory declarations from Australian
citizens, permanent residents or eligible New Zealand citizens
supporting the existence of your relationship with your sponsor (see
page 28).

STOP! STOP! Please STOP! Can you see what I am getting at? I mean, I may even
retract my earlier suggestion that Booklet 1 helps at all.

Unless you have some background in immigration law you would honestly struggle
to translate all this ‘Swahili, Mumbo Jumbo Stuff’ into English. Let me explain it to
you this way and I think an experience I had with my plumber put it so beautifully
one day, not so long ago.

You see, I bought an old property down in the South Coast of NSW at Lake
Tabourie.

Nothing flash, pretty worn down but the potential was all there and in the course
of almost 3 years of renovating it slowly, I have got it to a stage that you couldn’t
even recognise it at all from the photos I took when we first settled on the
property.

I mean, am 55 now, and I haven’t done a real renovation since I was 37 years of
age and I can tell you, I am aching (mentally, physically, emotionally and
financially, everywhere). But, I still persisted and I know one day it will be all over.

It just so happened that I engaged the services of a ‘genius plumber’ that was
actually referred to me by another very experienced master electrician who was
also providing me with excellent electrical services at the time.

Anyway, the house is on stumps and this plumber, more or less, told me all the
problems I had, told me, more or less, the scope of work needed to be done, the
amount, more or less, it was going to cost me and the time, more or less, it was
going to take to complete the works. He took the time and explained it all to me
and there and then, I knew he was MY MAN.
31
We shook hands on the deal and the rest was history as they say in the fairy tale
movies. The reason it went so well was simply because we both understood what
was expected of us, what was involved and how we would both meet our
expectations, in the course of that project.
He went about his work quietly and professionally and I paid him as the project
was being completed in stages. He took responsibility of that aspect of the
renovation so I could concentrate on other matters. Phew, perfect and let me tell
you I will never do another renovation in my life.

When he was, more or less finished, he told me he had been introduced to a very
lovely lady in the Philippines in the course of that project. He made the effort to
go and see her in the Philippines in the course of him dropping by the house in the
South Coast as the renovations were taking place. He then asked me if ‘I could
help him sort out his paper work’ to get her over to Australia as he was watching
and over hearings what I was saying and organising for other applications during
the time he was at the property doing all the plumbing work for me. Amazing.

I told him, “Look, I have seen your plumbing job and it’s a work of art. You won’t
have any problems doing your own partner visa application from the Philippines to
Australia,” and that ‘I would just point out some crucial aspects of the application
processes. I had a great deal of respect for this highly skilled bloke. He as far as I
was concerned, could walk on water, if he wanted to and I just wanted to
reciprocate the great work he did on the house.

I mean, I use to go under the house when he had finished and marvelled at the
way he could ‘command the pipes, copper and plastic’ to go around bends and
dips and do the journey he put them through. I saw the perfectly spaced supports
he used to keep those long lengths of pipes falling at the perfect levels to comply
with local council regulations and kept the sewerage pipes flowing away from
bathrooms, kitchen, laundry and other wet areas effortlessly.

He did all the re-fitting of the gas, hot and cold water pipes as well. I wish I could
post the photos and show you the amount of intellectual and physical skill this 63

32
year old tradie possessed and some. He installed the instantaneous hot water
system and re-positioned where the gas bottles had to be placed.

He installed a Eureka fire combustible heater in the living area and skilfully weaved
the flue through an existing narrow chimney, sorted out a galvanised capping
where the flue inserted perfectly through and replaced the lead flashing where
the chimney and the roof joined.

He hooked up the dishwasher, taps and worked all the plumbing in and around
the kitchen benches, bathroom vanities, shower areas even in and round the
outdoor laundry area on the deck.

He was like a magician; Merlyn had stepped into my life and made things work and
work magnificently. The electrician was the same. Both with amazing abilities and
experience. These guys just knew their stuff and every time an issue cropped up
they had the answers to them all, or had the ability to contact others in their trade
for their views and remedies as well.

But back to the plumber. Actually, back to my plumber, because man alive, I’m not
going to use any other plumber after what he did for me. To my shock and horror,
Brad, the plumber’s name, suddenly got very upset with me when I responded to
his request for assistance. I said, “What’s wrong mate? What have I said and done
to upset you so much?”

He simply turned around and snarled:

“Look, Jose. I have been listening to all your conversations, so happened to bump
into and met some of your Filipino visa applicants who arrived in Australia from
the Philippines here in the South Coast and all I want is for Kate to join me here
and live with me forever. I don’t have time for all of this bullshit with written
statements, filling in forms, dealing with government public servants then dealing
with more paper warfare. I’m tired of reading all that stuff on the department’s
website. I would rather hang myself than having to deal with all of that stuff. Now,
are you going to help me or not.”

33
And that is when it really drove home to me again, that although he was a demi-
god in the plumbing world, he was but a mere mortal in the migration universe.
This wasn’t the first time someone off-loaded on me like this. Briefly, a young
Australian executive, then living in the Gold Coast Queensland with a Master’s
degree in Business Management from no less than Harvard University in the USA,
spoke to me and said, “Jose, I have spent 60 solid hours of my life trying to
understand and sort this de facto visa application out for my partner, and I still
don’t know if I have it right. Could you please just take over and get this
application lodged correctly’.

And this is how I also felt. The overwhelming desire to end it all if there wasn’t an
experienced plumber there to get me over the line. To explain everything to me.
He not only held my hands and took me into a journey I could never do by myself
but made it look so simple and straight forward.

He took all the worries and anxieties away so I could concentrate at what I was
really good at. I can honestly say to you now, that Kate is living with Brad in
Mollymook and we have already lodged their first stage of their partner visa
application which required a great deal of planning and discussions so that the
partner visa pathway actually suited them both and Brad’s lifestyle and now that
it’s 2018 I can assure you their UK 820 has already been approved and we are now
waiting on the permanent residency to be processed.

Brad took all the worry, hassle and anger out of my plumbing problems down by
Lake Tabourie in the South Coast of NSW and I tell you what, I could ‘Kiss Him
Forever’ for the work he did.

In return, I took all the pain, frustration and anger out of his partner visa
application to Australia from the Philippines. He told me repeatedly that he will be
“Kissing Kate Forever’ and not me. LOL! What did you expect him to say? Oh, yuck!
Come on! Like, yea we a tight these days, but we only shake hands actually. LOL!

34
 Chapter 4

Why the Federal Government is

focusing on Australian Sponsors
‘capacity’ before the partner visa
application can commence?

35
Why the Federal Government is focusing on Australian Sponsors
‘capacity’ before the partner visa application can commence?
Statistics! That’s right, statistics. We need to get blunt about this, everyone. Every
government policy in Australia is driven by statistics. Once they get these
‘undisputed numbers’ up their sleeves, boom, off they go and start developing
policy around the issue and they even become law, if the government of the day is
more serious about sorting out repetitive problems causing grief for the Australian
society and community from occurring again and rightly so.

For so long Australian sponsors had bathed in a fairly relaxed partner visa
application regime until about 1996. Did you know, that up to that point, i.e. 1996,
there weren’t even restrictions on the number of partner visa applications an
eligible Australian sponsor could apply for?

It quickly came to the attention of the federal government of the day that
something drastic had to be done to rein in the ‘serial sponsors’ portrayed as
being abusive and in many aspects, they were. These Australian sponsors would
apply, maintain for ‘a short period of time an applicant from overseas’ then move
on to the ‘next love of their lives’ until something else would upset them then
apply all over again. On and on it went and the financial and social fall out was
getting unacceptable to the whole country.

In a way, like smoking cigarettes, it all became very addictive to those ‘abusive
Australian sponsors’ and like cigarettes it was causing many health and social
problems in Australia and at the end of the day it was left to the tax paying
Australian community to pick up the tab from all the relationship breakups.

So, just like cigarettes, I suppose the federal government decided to tighten the
whole application process up and charge more to pay for the fallout that may
occur in any partner visa applications unless of course the Filipino applicant and
Australian sponsors are more compatible so that they can sort out personal issues,
as they arose and work through their relationships and stayed together.

36
In response to my personal rationale regarding the title of this chapter and my
take on the paragraph above, I strongly believe that if anyone in Australia who is
considering to develop a relationship with anyone in the Philippines then I would
suggest you download from www.respall.com, a copy of my other book entitled
Love, Lust, Lies & Losers, ‘Compatible Dating in the Philippines from Australia’.

Because, in this day and age, if you are going to lodge a partner visa application in
the future it’s going to cost you a lot more money and you certainly do not want
to be lodging another one so quickly if your relationship broke down as you
weren’t even compatibly matched at the beginning.

The book Love, Lust, Lies & Losers spells this out and I hope it helps in explaining
the importance of ‘compatibility’ in a relationship to potential Australian sponsors
and their Filipino applicant that want to develop a relationship with each other.

Ask any addicted smoker, once they have finished ‘enjoying that last stick of
cigarette’ from a packet of what could cost $35 dollars or more these days, will
honestly say they aren’t looking forward in purchasing another, at such a high
price.

The same rationale is now taking hold in my view with these partner visa
applications. If you read closely Chapter 1 again the department will definitely look
at the financial capacity of the Australian sponsor more closely and if the
relationship busts up, the Australian sponsor is going to pay for a heavier price
through government regulations somehow, some way when it is all finally
legislated and becomes law.

Like the $35 dollars you pay for your smokes in Australia, the heavily levied taxes
on them are to raise valuable funds to pay for future medical expenses of these
‘addicted smokers’ so will the federal government of the day raise visa application
charges or a similar levy for partner visa applications to pay for the financial fall
out of your relationship not lasting all that long in Australia and their
consequences to the Australian community.

So, let’s have another closer look at what you can also download from the
department’s booklets and see what else I can share with you that you wouldn’t
37
had otherwise known unless you are using a registered migration agent with over
17 years’ experience in lodging hundreds of partner visas from the Philippines to
Australia.

All applicants for a partner category visa must have a sponsor. The sponsor must
be prepared to sponsor the visa applicant and any dependent family members
who are also included in the application and who are also migrating with the
applicant.

The sponsor is usually the person with whom the visa applicant has the fiancé (e)
or partner relationship. There are situations that they may not be but as this does
not occur often I will just say that if a Filipino applicant or the Australian sponsor is
under 18 years of age it can still be permissible to lodge a valid and genuine
partner visa application.

You, as the sponsor, must meet a range of legal criteria to be eligible to sponsor
your fiancé (e) or partner. As part of the application process, your relationship
with your fiancé (e) or partner will be assessed. This means that you and your
fiancé (e) or partner will be asked to provide personal information and documents
to the department. You may also be asked personal questions about your
relationship at an interview.

Now, may I just draw your attention to the Australian sponsor’s social media
accounts and how wonderful it is to be able to stay in touch with 1000’s of people
using an application such as Facebook? However, my question to you right now
is… how does your Facebook accounts look like right now or any other account
you maintain for that matter including professional platforms like, LinkedIn, etc.?

The reason for this is simply this. If I was a case officer delegated to assess your
application the first thing I would do is go straight to your and of course the
Filipino applicants social media accounts.

There I would see everything you have been posting and saying since you opened
your account(s). Now, you may start to argue with me about the Privacy Act and
what not but once you lodge that application you actually signed off and waivered
that all and the department will commence their ‘forensic search’ regarding you
38
and your Filipino partners social media information on top of all the other wide
ranging powers they have to collect information from all other, Local, State and
Federal government agencies.

I have seen so many applications sink because of their Facebook and other social
media account information. They claim to be in a heterosexual relationship, yet
the Filipino applicant's Facebook account may clearly suggest they are engaged in
gay relationships and activities.

Or the Australian sponsor claims that their relationship is genuine to the exclusion
of all others, yet there are so many other potential suiters in constant contact with
them, posting and commenting about their previous night’s nocturnal activities.
GET THE PICTURE? Bye! Bye! Aud. $7,000.00 dollars! Bye! Bye! Relationship! Kiss it
all Goodbye!

The booklet goes on to say, to help determine whether or not you can meet these
criteria, you (the Australian sponsor) must complete Form 40SP Sponsorship for a
partner to migrate to Australia, which includes providing evidence of your
employment and financial status and giving a sponsorship undertaking.

TAKE NOTE: providing evidence of your employment and financial status and giving
a sponsorship undertaking’… many partner visa applications have fallen on their
own swords because they didn’t plan their application properly and couldn’t fulfil
or prove their ‘sponsorship undertakings’. We developed a PARTNER BUDGET
SUMMARY which will give you a visual matrix of costs and other ‘undertakings’
that is placed on the Australian sponsor as the application progresses to its finality.

There is no guarantee that your fiancé (e) or partner’s application for a visa will be
successful. This will depend on whether your fiancé (e) or partner can satisfy the
applicable legal criteria. If their application is refused, depending on the partner
category visa for which they applied and where they applied, either you or your
fiancé (e) or partner (the visa applicant) may be able to seek review of the
decision.

39
I will sort of wrap up this area of ‘free general information’ for sponsorship
obligations by giving you some more figures to work with if your application is
refused.
The only other way to move forward is to appeal the negative decision of the
Department of Home Affairs and lodge the appeal to the Administrative Appeals
Tribunal (AAT).

That will incur an additional cost of $ Aud. 1,673.00 for the AAT application fee
and if you need the assistance of a professional person and if it is a ‘straight
forward appeal’, the starting price of registered migration agents to represent you
I have been told is usually Aud. $4,400.00.

• Personally, I have never needed to lodge an appeal to the AAT and frankly I
do not want to either and it can all be avoided if you focus and understand
the entire partner visa application and all its benefits of lodging it in
Australia.

The booklet states that there are limitations on sponsorship and if you have
previously sponsored a partner or been sponsored as a partner yourself then your
partner’s visa application may be refused if you are affected by certain
sponsorship limitations relating to previously successful partner applications.
These include if you:

• have previously sponsored or nominated * 2 or more persons as a fiancé (e)

or partner for migration to Australia (including sponsorships/nominations you may
have withdrawn but your former fiancé (e) or partner obtained permanent
residence on family violence grounds); or

Now, let’s just stop here for a moment. If you are an experienced migration agent
and know anything about Division 1.4B - Limitation on certain sponsorships under
Division 1.4 and Reg. 1.20J Limitation on approval of sponsorships - spouse,
partner (de facto, including same sex applications) and prospective marriage visas
you will also know that there are ways of legally getting around these limitations.
But according to the ‘free general information’ in this particular booklets and the
department’s website, it appears there isn’t.

40
My point is this as an example: what if you were an Australian sponsor and your
relationship with your first spouse visa sponsorship, which was lodged in February
1996 and granted on the 30th of October 1996, broke down. Sometime in 2001,
you then decided to have another attempt at finding 'love and affection' that you
lodged another application in June of 2001 granted sometime in February 2002.
But, July 2005, you had already filed a divorce as you found out that your partner
had a gambling problem and couldn't live with them any longer? This is an actual
case, by the way.

Having read the Booklet about limitations on sponsorship, surely this person
CANNOT sponsor another Filipino partner visa applicant. However, the answer to
this may be yes. They CAN and if you know how these regulations work and
certain deeming dates function and argue why the limitations shouldn’t apply to
you then it is all possible.

So, if you have the slightest doubt about your situation you should stop and call an
experienced registered migration agent and get the facts squarely on the table
and get your lives back on track again if you can get legally around these published
limitations on sponsorships.

On a personal note, I have seen many partners on their third, fourth or even fifth
attempts before they find a compatible person to share their lives with. When I
was a young boy and I was growing up my ideal thoughts were that when a couple
hooked up it was forever, but unfortunately due to many factors beyond their
control this may not be the case and why should the ignorance or more to the
point, your failure to get the correct and professional advice of the laws and
regulations, prevent you from finding your ‘soul mate’.

By the way, there are many other scenarios that crop up and there are again just
as many ways for an Australian sponsor that can and still do, sponsor more than 2
other partner visa applications to Australia from the Philippines in their lifetime.

Let’s continue then.

• have sponsored another fiancé (e) or partner within the last 5 years; or
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• were sponsored as a fiancé (e) or partner yourself within the last 5 years.

Wait one minute please. What these two points are implying in this ‘free general
information’ is that if anyone involved in a previous partner visa application, they
need to wait for 5 years from the date they ‘lodged’ the application if it was
granted before they are allowed to sponsor and apply for another partner visa
application.

Well, again I beg to differ when in fact you can if you know how to approach the
department and ask permission to do so as it is permissible under regulation,
which I will be more than happy to discuss personally to you if you are in that
same situation.

* Prior to 1 July 2002, persons who applied in Australia for migration to

Australia as a partner were ‘nominated’ by their partner. Those who applied
outside Australia as a fiancé (e) or partner were ‘sponsored’.

Approved sponsorships or nominations are those that resulted in the grant of a

permission, an entry permit (granted prior to 1 September 1994) or a visa.

There is a waiver provision that allows your sponsorship to be approved if the

decision maker is satisfied that compelling circumstances affecting you exist.

Compelling circumstances include, but are not limited to, those where:

• your previous partner has died;

• your previous partner has abandoned the relationship leaving young

children;

• your relationship with your current fiancé (e) or partner is long standing; or

• you and your current fiancé (e) or partner have children of your relationship.

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The purpose of the sponsorship limitation is to prevent abuse of the partner
migration programme and all aspects of your circumstances are relevant and
taken into account when considering the waiver provision.
The extent and importance of your ties to Australia as well as the consequent
hardship/detriment that you would suffer if the sponsorship was not approved are
also matters that are taken into consideration.

Domestic violence should also be included above and again I will remind the
Australian sponsor that the federal government is cracking down heavily on these
types of abusive activities and like the price of the cigarette they will ensure that
they will come down heavily on the Australian sponsor if the relationship collapses
because of ‘any proven domestic violence involved’ and may be more than likely
that the Australian sponsor will pick up the entire ‘financial tab’ at the end of the
day from the fallout.

As sponsor for your fiancé (e) or partner’s visa application to migrate to Australia,
‘you sign a sponsorship undertaking at the end of Form 40SP Sponsorship for a
partner to migrate to Australia’. If your fiancé (e) applies for and is granted a
Prospective Marriage visa, as sponsor you are responsible for all financial
obligations to the Australian Government that your fiancé (e) might incur during
the period they are in Australia.

Let me again refresh your memories about pursuing a 3-stage Prospective

Marriage visa pathway. Those two statement above is correct in that ‘the sponsor
is responsible for all financial obligations to the Australian Government’ in those
booklets but remember to add that additional Visa Application Charge (VAC) of
Aud. $1,170.00 to that application process as explained in Chapter 1.

If your partner applies for and is granted a Partner visa, as sponsor you agree to
provide adequate accommodation and financial assistance as required to meet
your partner’s reasonable living needs. If your partner is applying outside
Australia, this assistance would cover their first 2 years in Australia. If your partner
is applying in Australia, this assistance would cover the 2 years following the grant
of their temporary Partner visa. You are also required to provide financial and

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other support, such as childcare, that will enable your partner to attend
appropriate English classes.

So, when I said earlier in Chapter 2 that the Australian sponsor will need to have
‘the financial capacity to pursue these types of partner visa applications’, reading
the above information from the department booklets is starting to make sense
and adding up.

How can an average Australian sponsor possibly understand all of these unless
someone with years of experience can make sure they fully comprehend the
entire undertaking and start breaking them all down in their small components
and explaining everything in great detail. The booklet goes on to say.

By signing the undertaking, you will also be agreeing to provide information and
advice to help your partner settle in Australia. This information and advice should
include telling your partner about employment in Australia.

It is important that your fiancé (e) or partner and dependants understand that
Australia’s national language is English. A good standard of spoken and written
English is essential if they want to work in Australia.

Without these skills, it may be very difficult for them to gain employment at a level
commensurate with their job skills and qualifications. They should therefore
assess their own employment prospects in Australia, whether or not they intend
to work immediately.

Well! Well! Well! See how the federal government is also attempting to raise this
issue to a higher consciousness for the Australian sponsor and Filipino applicant.
Well, let me give another area still not being covered appropriately by ‘free
general information’ in the booklets which absolutely bring the Australian sponsor
on their financial knees if they did not budget for its School Fees. Yep, that’s right,
school fees!

Many Australian sponsors that agree to lodge their partner visa application in
Australia, as we would rather them do, need to understand that ‘not all state

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governments permit free education to school aged children in state funded schools’
by Filipino applicant’s children who lodge their application on-shore.

In fact, only NSW allows this to occur. Other states may charge a premium, i.e.
international student fee amounts, to allow primary and secondary students of
on-shore partner visa applicants to attend their Public Schools in their particular
state. This is also discussed and thrashed out completely during our preliminary
discussions with the Australian sponsors and Filipino applicants who have children
and want to do their partner visa application in Australia.

As I stated earlier we developed a PARTNER BUDGET SUMMARY allowing for more

incidentals to be incorporated into the overall cost of an on-shore partner visa
application because we are very aware that when the Australian sponsors and
their Filipino applicants see these ‘hidden additional costs involved’ they are more
than likely to make a better and accurate decision in lodging their partner visa
application and will strive to work more closely with me in sorting out these
additional activities, if they decide to go ahead with an on-shore visa application.

I will further expand on this critical part of the on-shore partner visa application
requirements for the Australia sponsors as the new legislation develops but I feel
the information already provided definitely gives a lot to consider when you
decide to use the services of a registered migration agent.

I have always been upfront and brutally honest with everyone I have ever
provided our remarkable migration services and experiences to and I know why.

I decide who my clients are and not the other way around because providing false
or misleading information and or bogus documents when lodging a partner visa
application for Australia from the Philippines to the Department of Home Affairs
has FATAL CONSEQUENCES FOR ALL CONCERNED.

I for one still enjoy providing migration advice and guidance to those hundreds of
Filipino applicants that approach me for assistance and help but I am not prepared
to lose my migration license because of some sloppy decision to accept an
application that is not valid, genuine and continuous in the first place and the

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Australian sponsor and Filipino applicants are not demonstrating that they will
fully co-operate and support the entire partner visa application process.

Our whole operation and processes is based on mutual respect and co-operation
and we do not intend to waste your or our time in lodging a partner visa
application if there is little or no prospects of successes.
We discuss the entire application process with the Australian sponsor and Filipino
applicant and once we have agreed to proceed with the application, expect it to
be lodged and granted in the soonest possible time.

The Australian sponsor needs to be clear that there will be more responsibilities
placed on their shoulders shortly and most of the new legislation will be clearly
articulating this by slapping more requirements on them. More than ever, I
personally believe that anyone contemplating on lodging their own partner visa
application with the Department of Home Affairs to think many times before
attempting to lodge it themselves.

THANK YOU AND

MABUHAY!

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