Partnerschaftsportrait Amanda, Australien & Stephanie, Frankfurt

We first met each other in London. Steph (Stephanie) was making a Praktikum for her studies while I was living in England with a 2 year working/holiday visa, that all Australians are entitled to.

As Steph's Praktikum was coming to an end we realised, that our relation was more than just a "holiday romance". For the next year our bank accounts emptied on phone bills and long weekends together like all good distance relationships tend to do. At the same time our anxiety was starting to grow as my visa for England was soon to end. A long distance relationship between Germany and England is one thing - from Australia to Germany was out of the question. Steph had another year before her studies would be finished, so we decided to apply for my residence visa to Germany as Steph's partner.

And began the long and stressful process of having to prove and justify our love for each other to the German state. I felt completely useless sitting in London as Steph spent hours waiting in front of one door only to be sent to the next in order to find out what the State requires of us.

Steph being a student presented our major hurdle as the German partner must take full financial responsibility for their foreign partner. We are very grateful and lucky that Steph's parents were more than willing and in the position to accept that responsibility. As I had been financially independent for the past 9 years I found it a very humbling experience to be placed in such a situation.

We first came in contact with the LSVD in Frankfurt around this time, were found a wealth of information, advice and most importantly: personal experience. It was a traumatic and isolating period so coming in contact with couples who can understand what are experiencing was crucial.

With all fingers crossed we submitted our application to the German Embassy in London and then waited. That was really hard time having our future placed in the hands of a someone sitting behind the desk somewhere in Germany. It was easy to lose sight of what we were doing this all for and take our frustrations out on each other. Luckily we managed to retain our sense of humour although a little battle weary and a couple of impromptu visits did wonders to remind us.

Our application took about 3-4 month to be decided and as our smiling picture indicates it was our favour. Our next little battle is for my right to be able to work. That story has only just begun as my application for a Arbeitserlaubnis was only recently rejected by the Wiesbaden Arbeitsamt. We will be off to court in the next year but feel confident that the judgement will rectify the glaring injustice with the way same sex partners are treated under the current law. The main thing is we are now together and that makes everything else very small in comparison.