We will look at each of these considerations, and provide you with examples which may be applicable for your relationship.
Development of the relationship
In this section, you can outline the initial development of your relationship, for example:
Financial commitments
In this section, you can outline any shared financial commitments and arrangements, such as the following examples:
Nature of your household
In this section, you can outline any joint responsibility for the care and support of children, your living arrangements and sharing of the responsibility for housework. Examples include:
Social aspects of your relationship
In this section, you can outline important social aspects of your relationship, such as:
Your commitment to each other
The following are just some examples of what you can describe in this section:
Referring to your supporting documents
When I prepare a statutory declaration, as I make various statements about the relationship, I often refer the case officer back to the uploaded supporting documents which support and demonstrate the statements made. I think that the main benefits of doing this is that:
How do you write clear and useful supporting statutory declarations for your partner visa application?
.
I, Penny Money, of 5 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000, full-time student, make the following declaration under the Statutory Declarations Act 1959:
Development of the relationship
Financial aspects of the relationship
Nature of the household
Social aspects of the relationship
Nature of the commitment
Question | Answer |
Can we prepare a joint declaration? | No because a statutory declaration is sworn and signed by one person only |
Do we need to prepare two separate and different declarations for the same relationship history? | Yes – we recommend having your statutory declarations ready at the time that you lodge your applications, so that yourself and your sponsor have a clear understanding of your relationship history and information that you have provided to the Department. |
Can our declarations be the same or similar? | Yes but you shouldn’t really be completely copying and pasting each other’s declarations. Overlap and similarities are acceptable since your writing about the same relationship and history, but you still need to prepare two separate declarations written from your individual perspectives |
My partner’s English isn’t very good – should he or she write his or her declaration in his or her native language and translate this? | This would be the most accurate way for the applicant or sponsor to provide the relevant information to the Department. We have had instances where the Department has accepted statutory declarations that were prepared in English for the visa applicant or sponsor, and this information was explained to the visa applicant or sponsor in their native language, before the visa applicant or sponsor arranged for swearing of the relevant statutory declaration. |
121 Comments
Rass · February 19, 2019 at 1:29 am
Hi Peng,
I am currently collecting all documents i need to apply for partner visa, i am a bit confused should i do it online or paper base? want to know the difference
tnx
Peng Cheng · February 26, 2019 at 6:52 pm
Hi Rass,
You need to apply online for a partner visa application.
Paper form application is currently only allowed when the Department instructs you to do so.
PC
Malin · January 21, 2019 at 5:28 pm
I am currently needing to prepare a document like this for my second stage with my Partner Visa. I just don’t know if me and my husband need to write all this in a word document first and then send it to you in order to get a statutory declaration?
Peng Cheng · January 22, 2019 at 3:45 pm
Hi Malin,
You can write it on your computer and then take it to the JP to witness the declaration.
PC
Boio · January 12, 2019 at 2:18 pm
Hi there, we are currently in the process of completing Partner Visa Application and organising supporting evidence for each of the aspects of our relationship. The one thing that is causing us a bit of confusion is the inclusion of our adopted daughter as a “Dependent Child” on my Partner Visa Application (she currently has a Visitor Visa like me but has a No Further Stay Condition). Any advise on what we should do? Add her on my Partner Visa Application or Apply for Adoption Visa for her?
Peng Cheng · January 17, 2019 at 8:58 pm
Hi Boio,
If you have legal custody of the child it is possible to include her in a partner visa application, however the No Further Stay condition will cause issues for an onshore application.
Please see Contact Us page and in relation to our Consultation Service – feel free to contact us if you need advice in relation to your visa options.
PC
Nousheen Begum · December 29, 2018 at 8:24 pm
Hello,
Great Article. Thanks for sharing.
I have applied for visa subclass 309 to join my husband who is currently in Australia. I have always been a housewife with no employment history at all. Neither in Pakistan nor in UAE. Due to this reason, I am not sure what evidence to provide for requirement such as Financial Aspects. I decided to write a statutory declaration from UAE to support this requirement and get it signed. Can you guide me how to write a statutory declaration?
Peng Cheng · January 8, 2019 at 6:45 pm
Hi Nousheen,
You can provide evidence to show that your partner is the main income earner.
Please see Contact Us page in relation to our Consultation Service – feel free to contact us if you need advice in relation to your visa options.
PC
Bijay Tamang · December 27, 2018 at 10:56 pm
Hi Peng,
I feel good after reading your article it
s awesome. Actually i am in the initial stage of this visa. I don
t have any ideas regarding this one and i am still on student visa. Will it affect the application being on student visa. And what do you recommend me to apply through agent or by myself. I don`t even know what documents do i need to follow up. can u please help me out.hope to see you soon
Peng Cheng · January 8, 2019 at 6:45 pm
Hi Bijay,
If your student visa has not been issued with a No Further Stay condition, you can apply for a partner visa and the application will be assessed as a standard partner visa application. Whether or not you want to engage a migration agent is a matter of personal preference.
PC
Bijay Tamang · January 17, 2019 at 5:12 pm
Hi Peng Cheng one more question on statutory decalaratiions for Sponsor, do we need to mention the whole story on number basis as u provided on page or in paragraph…
Also do we need to fill up in the same blank box of statutory declaration page or on any other blank papers
meko · December 27, 2018 at 6:28 am
hello Peng
iam a sponsor living oversea I got married 3 month ago and still living overseas is that okay if stay overseas? or i need to be in Australia when the applicant will apply .is any document need to prove i have income or accommodation?
Peng Cheng · January 8, 2019 at 6:46 pm
Hi Meko,
Living overseas with your partner will provide good evidence of your relationship, and you are allowed to do this during the Department’s processing time. You will need to provide financial and household evidence with your application.
PC
meko · January 9, 2019 at 10:51 pm
thank you peng Cheng for helping your web so useful to me . but in my situation I left my work and left my accommodation before i traveled overseas . how i can provide them financial and household evidence in that situation ?
Peng Cheng · January 17, 2019 at 8:51 pm
Please see Contact Us page in relation to our Consultation Service – feel free to contact us if you need advice in relation to your application.
PC
Jules · December 16, 2018 at 12:37 pm
Hi Peng,
I have one big question. Does the statutory declaration outlining the development of the relation ship etc. just need to be filled in in the 47sp form or as a separate document and signed? Or both?
Peng Cheng · December 23, 2018 at 10:34 pm
Hi Jules,
You can complete this in a separate document.
PC
Bijay Tamang · January 17, 2019 at 5:17 pm
separate document means what kind of documents Peng?? you mean on the statutory declaration sponsor form or a separate different paper
Peng Cheng · January 17, 2019 at 8:52 pm
Please see Contact Us page in relation to our Consultation Service – feel free to contact us if you need advice in relation to your application.
PC
Sam Tiffin · November 29, 2018 at 8:47 am
Hello,
I am currently doing this application, and it is a lot more extensive than I initially thought.
I have a question that I am hoping that you can help me with. When giving details of financial aspects, social aspects etc. is it ok if I refer to my husband and I as the ‘applicant and the sponsor’? for example – the applicant and the sponsor first met on Saturday 26th November 2016.
Does this make it sound too cold, should i put a little more emotion in to it and say things like ‘we’?
Peng Cheng · December 3, 2018 at 3:14 pm
Hi Sam,
I don’t think that this matters that much – the information that you provide in your declaration is the most important factor.
PC
Kat · November 26, 2018 at 8:34 am
Hi Peng, great article and so helpful. Do you recommend making a statutory declaration for each of the categories (development of relationship, finance, household, social, commitment) or is it only needed for the “Details of the development of the relationship”? The list of required document on the government website is a bit ambiguous on what should be a stat dec and what should “just” be a written statement (e.g household) – What do you recommend?
Many thanks for any advice on this 🙂
Peng Cheng · November 28, 2018 at 11:17 am
Hi Kat,
You will need to address all of the relationship aspects (categories) in your application. You can address all of these aspects in one statutory declaration i.e. one statutory declaration from the visa applicant and one from the sponsor.
PC
Sam · November 19, 2018 at 9:40 pm
Hi Peng, I am trying to organise the statutory declaration, when i click the link for the template, it says page not found. Is there a template that I could use or do I type out a letter, and get it signed by the relevant authority please?
Also, I am having troubles trying to locate the sponsor’s sponsorship form. Could I please know where I could find that on the homeaffairs website?
Thank you very much
Peng Cheng · November 23, 2018 at 2:24 pm
Dear Sam,
I would suggest you copy/paste the template into a word document, then complete the statutory declaration from there.
PC
Rohit · November 19, 2018 at 9:50 am
Hi there,
My question is about my wife. We are applying final stage of partner visa for permanent residency. Do we need form 888 again from two different people we know. We have provided this previously.
Peng Cheng · November 19, 2018 at 3:16 pm
Hi Rohit,
You can provide Form 888s from the same or different people from those provided during the temporary stage. It’s what they write that is most important.
It is up to you whether you to wish to prepare and provide Form 888 to support your application – this is useful evidence for the Department.
PC
Marie · November 12, 2018 at 1:45 pm
Hi peng
I am currently in tourist visa now.My partner and i want to apply for partner visa defacto and currently i couldnt work because im under tourist visa so how could we state about sharing financial aspect in our relationship?
Peng Cheng · November 13, 2018 at 1:00 pm
Hi Marie,
You can provide evidence of how you contribute to your finances through savings, if applicable, as well as how you contributed previously when you were able to work.
You will also be able to provide further evidence of the financial aspects during processing time.
PC
Tram · November 11, 2018 at 8:30 am
Hi Peng,
I and my partner just married recently, he’s US citizen and still living in US. Should we lodge the partner visa offshore or in Australia? And the Stat dec about relationship can be type and upload or hand write.. sign and scan then upload?
Peng Cheng · November 13, 2018 at 1:01 pm
Hi Tram,
Whether you lodge onshore or offshore is a matter of personal preference about where you want your partner to be during processing time. It is preferable if you type your statutory declarations as this is easier to read, however handwritten ones will also be accepted.
PC
Tram · November 13, 2018 at 5:01 pm
Thanks Peng. If we lodge the partner visa offshore means my husband must be overseas during processing time right? If we lodge form in Australia as he comes here as a visitor, he will get the Bridging Visa to legally work and study here right?
Peng Cheng · November 19, 2018 at 3:55 pm
If you lodge offshore your partner can come to Australia if he can obtain a visitor visa but otherwise he must remain outside of Australia during processing time.
If you make an onshore application he will get a bridging visa which will allow him full and unrestricted work rights. This bridging visa will come into effect when his substantive visa (the visitor visa) expires.
PC
Imran · November 5, 2018 at 11:20 pm
Hi Peng
I am on 457 visa ,
I have applied for wife visa . She is in Pakistan .
My lawyer said that , I should apply for visit visa first then I could change it to dependant but unfortunately she got rejected with the eligation that she never traveled about of Pakistan before and after coming in Australia,she is not gonna leave.Now my company lawyer wants me to apply for dependant visa which is (482) .Because there is no more 457.She asking 4 types of declaration form , from both parents n us
Peng Cheng · November 9, 2018 at 11:51 am
Hi Imran,
The dependent 482 is the correct visa if you hold a primary 457 visa.
PC
Dean · August 30, 2018 at 11:39 pm
Hi Peng, my partner and I wrote the same information in the section explaining our relationship, social aspects, etc. We assumed this info was to be put individually into our statutory declarations in our own words and so we put a generic/short version when we sent through our application as we weren’t prepared to answer this on the initial forms. Will the statutory dec be taken into account for each of our applications in regards to this section as it greater info regarding the r’ship aspects?
Peng Cheng · August 31, 2018 at 10:37 am
Hi Dean,
You can add more information by uploading statutory declarations to your application – the Department will need to take this information into account in their decision.
PC
Dean · August 31, 2018 at 11:41 pm
Thanks so much for your feedback and advice 🙂
Chris · August 30, 2018 at 11:30 pm
Hi Peng, just a quick question if you don’t mind; My partner and I lodged our partner visa a couple days ago but we accidentally made a mistake when stating the date our defacto relationship began. We wrote it correctly so many times, but they asked the same question a couple of different ways and we messed up on one of them. Will this effect our application or is there anything we can do to correct this?
Peng Cheng · August 31, 2018 at 10:35 am
Hi Chris,
Please see: https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/lega/lega/form/immi-faqs/can-i-change-personal-and-application-details-in-immiaccount
I don’t think that this will affect your application, but I’d need to have a look if you need advice.
Please see Contact Us page and in relation to our Consultation Service – feel free to contact us if you need advice in relation to your visa options.
PC
Dean · August 31, 2018 at 11:42 pm
Thank you for taking the time to reply. Really appreciate it!
alix_r_79 · August 18, 2018 at 3:20 am
Hi Peng, you mention joint statements and joint stat decs from myself and my husband (sponsor). Do I submit two statements for my OWN application 309/100? Or Do I just submit my own statement for my own application and then submit the sponsors statements with the sponsor application form? Also is a joint classed as 2 separate docs or could it be one we both sign? Thanks
Peng Cheng · August 22, 2018 at 9:42 pm
Hi Alix,
You just need to prepare separate declarations for the applicant and sponsor.
PC
alix_r_79 · August 22, 2018 at 9:59 pm
Thanks PC. Does the sponsor just have to answer all the same questions I do (financial, social, commitment, etc) or is it just about our relationship development (but in his own words) and we can submit it all on just a word document as additional piece of evidence. Thanks!
Harjot Kaur · August 9, 2018 at 4:11 pm
Thanks for replying. Also, I have to attach bills with the file now, but several bills are under old address that I forget to mention in the application under the question where it is written the living address from 10 years. I just mentioned only one address from last two years. Now, I am confused that what to do? should I fill the form 80 or just upload the bills with old address?? Please help.
Janepher · June 24, 2018 at 5:43 pm
Hi thanks for the great article and I hope am not too late to ask since we are in 2018. Me and my boyfriend met physically when he was on a holiday but spend only a month and travelled back to Aussie since he works and has a son there. We are still in touch but haven’t met again since April. He has been supportive in almost each and everything in this relationship. We haven’t met again since April 2016. Am asking if the defacto visa will be granted to us. Thanks
Peng Cheng · June 26, 2018 at 12:20 am
Hi Janepher,
Hope for your understanding that I would need to spend a bit of time with you to get relevant information from you and properly answer your queries and provide advice.
Please see Contact Us page and in relation to our Consultation Service – feel free to contact us if you need advice in relation to your visa options.
PC
Janepher · June 26, 2018 at 6:33 am
Hi peng cheng exactly how do I get to that page please… Thanks
Peng Cheng · June 26, 2018 at 10:35 pm
Please see: https://peng-cheng-bwdt.squarespace.com/services/
PC
Zed Maccer · May 29, 2018 at 8:59 am
Hi, Great article and very helpful, thank you! My question is: I have been married before and am now divorced. For my defacto application I’m asking my brother to fill in form 888 and he was at my previous wedding. Should he reference the fact that I was married but explain why my current defacto relationship is stronger and how we are actually muchbetter suited? I feel like it’s an elephant in the room if it doesn’t get mentioned!? What do you think?
Peng Cheng · May 29, 2018 at 10:20 pm
Hi Zed,
You can ask your brother to provide that information in his Form 888. That information could be useful for your case officer but I guess that depends on what your brother writes.
Please see Contact Us page and in relation to our Consultation Service – feel free to contact us if you need advice in relation to your visa options.
PC
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