Can a Lawyer Help Write Our Partner Visa Relationship Statements?

What does a lawyer do when helping with a relationship statement?

A lawyer helping with a partner visa relationship statement interviews both partners, builds a timeline from their documents, and shapes the account so it covers how the couple met, how the relationship developed and how they share their lives now. The lawyer then checks every date and event against the evidence and earlier visa applications. Our guide on how to write a partner visa relationship statement explains the structure in detail.

Is there one relationship statement or several?

A partner visa has one relationship statement, not several. Couples sometimes hear that they need a separate statement for finances, the household, social life and commitment, but those are four aspects of the relationship that the one statement addresses, not four documents. The statement may be written jointly, or each partner may contribute their own part within it. Our article on partner visa relationship statements explains how joint and individual contributions work.

Can a lawyer write the statement for us?

A lawyer can draft the wording of a relationship statement from the couple's instructions, but the content must be the couple's true account and both partners must read and agree with it before it is lodged. A statement that sounds like a lawyer rather than the couple can lose credibility. The best statements keep the couple's own memories and voice while the lawyer ensures nothing important is missed and nothing conflicts with the evidence. Where one partner writes more easily than the other, the lawyer makes sure both contributions are reflected fairly, so the statement does not read as one person's story about the other. This is particularly important where the sponsor and applicant have different first languages.

What should the relationship statement cover?

The relationship statement should cover how and when the couple met, when the relationship became committed, any periods apart and why, how finances and the household are shared, how the couple is known socially as a couple, and their plans for the future. Our article on future plans in a relationship statement explains how plans are treated as part of the statement, and our article on the nature of the commitment explains what shows long-term commitment.

What mistakes in a relationship statement cause refusals?

The mistakes in a relationship statement that cause refusals are dates that conflict with other documents, unexplained gaps or separations, previous relationships not disclosed, and generic wording that could describe any couple. Differences between the partners' contributions also raise questions if they are not explained. Our article on relationship statement mistakes to avoid covers each of these problems.

How does My Migration Lawyers draft a relationship statement with a couple?

My Migration Lawyers drafts a relationship statement with a couple by holding a structured interview with both partners, often by video across two locations, and then preparing a draft that follows their timeline and uses their own descriptions of key moments. Both partners review the draft and correct anything that is not exactly right before the firm checks it against the full evidence bundle. The firm, led by Principal Lawyer Weiwei Zhang, can consult in Mandarin, and couples can speak with our partner visa lawyers about their statement.