The circumstances of your relationship

The Tribunal sets out that in reviewing your partner visa refusal, it will look for evidence from the time you lodged your application right up until the time it makes its decision. This means you should think back to when you first lodged your application.

Did you provide enough evidence for the early part of the relationship when you first met?
Maybe there was a big gap of proof from a certain period of time after you lodged your application and the partner visa refusal?
What do you plan to give the Tribunal from the date of the refusal to the date of your hearing?

The refusal will detail some of the difficulties that the Department had when assessing your partner visa application and will likely explain what aspects of your relationship they did not accept and why. Using this information, can help you gather sufficient evidence to address these issues.

Explaining the circumstances of your relationship to the Tribunal is crucial for a successful partner visa appeal. The Tribunal will consider all the evidence from the initial application to the information you give it orally during your review hearing. You should ensure that all the information is consistent with documents and evidence you have given earlier, and that duplicate documents are not submitted to the Tribunal member to review again. The Tribunal also has a number of helpful factsheets available to help you with your partner visa refusal.

Detailing the circumstances also involves providing context for any anomalies during the course of your relationship. If there were unforeseen circumstances or reasons for a lack of documentation during a specific period, clarify these to the Tribunal. A transparent, clear explanation can enhance the credibility of your case. Avoiding the issues for the refusal of your partner visa application, will mean that the Tribunal will need to question you about these at the hearing, where you may be under more pressure to answer ‘correctly’.

Feel free to book a no obligation 15 minute appointment to speak to an experienced partner visa lawyer.