Australian policy is a little contradictory in regards to same sex recognition. My girlfriend is here on what’s called an interdependent visa yet we don’t have basic civil rights that are accorded to others. Although officially she is here as my legal partner we have no legal status here and have no way of getting our relationship acknowledged. I know this is a problem faced by many within the community and it just frustrates me that it continues. Obviously this is in the news quite a bit at the moment with a bit of a push by some parliamentarians to change the law and about time too. I do seem to remember though, when the re-definition of the marriage bill went through three years ago, Labour supporting it. It makes me sad and frustrated that the people running this country are so antiquated. I had better rights in England, pity about the weather.

Anyway, back to the visa which is the real topic for today. The process of getting a visa was so complex and long winded. It took hours of time at photocopiers, health checks and a complete examination of our lives together. Not only did we have to prove our love in a way that no heterosexual couple would be asked to do, we had to apply for a special category visa. That’s right, in Australia, you can’t be in a de-facto relationship with someone of the same sex. It still bothers me to this day, nearly 18 months after we were granted the visa that she in here in this beautiful country as my interdependent. The definition interdependent is: mutually dependent; depending on each other. How does this add up? Why is it that we are classified as being mutually dependent? More so than the term, why is there a separate category for same-sex couples? It just shows again how wrong this government is in regards to rights and recognition.

We were granted the visa on the grounds of having a continuing and genuine relationship, which of course we do, but we had to prove it. I think everyone that knew both of us (even if somewhat distantly) was asked to sign a statutory declaration saying exactly that, that we weren’t trying to con the system. Then of course, we had lots of evidence in terms of emails and cards just because I am a bit of a collector. We had to write personal statements and gather as much as we could to show we had been living together in the same house. Just in case anyone is thinking of getting a visa then definitely keep everything and anything you can think of, especially envelopes that are addressed to both of you at the same residence (just as a side note).

As much as I like to whinge about the state of the country etc, its ironic really that one of the only reasons we were able to apply for the visa in the first place was because we had the money to do so. So not only does the government differentiate on the basis of love, it discriminates against those who can not afford to pay to even be assessed. It is disgraceful to think that if we hadn’t had any financial backing we wouldn’t be able to even apply to get into the country, that if we had been a lower socio-economic bracket we would have been laughed at.

So as a couple, we are lucky, extremely lucky to have had financial means to pay for private doctors and for people to judge our relationship as worthy of being given a visa. Yet once we got that visa our luck didn’t matter, we have no more rights than we did if my girlfriend had been able to come here on her own and that doesn’t look likely to change in the near future. I simply don’t understand why, if she is here as my partner through immigration, we can’t be legally recognised as a couple. It simply doesn’t make sense!