What you need to remember, when applying for a visa, is that you will be dealing with an immigration officer who does not know the first thing about you, cannot distinguish you from Joe Bloggs the impostor, and has no idea whether he should believe you or not.  In fact, immigration officers are naturally wary because in the course of their duties they come across numerous frauds – bogus marriages, pseudo-refugees, fake employment certificates, false identities, sham businesses – the list goes on and on, and it’s not a pretty sight.  Many officers, it seems to me, are so jaded that they begin with a presumption that the claims in a visa application are false and the documents that are presented to them are fake, and it is up to the applicant to prove otherwise.  This is the sorry result of immigration fraud: it disadvantages the honest applicants who do the right thing.

Therefore, you must always supply evidence which will convince a stranger who knows nothing about you.  As a general rule, the more evidence the better, although it is also wise to submit only evidence that is relevant to your case: irrelevant evidence may make the immigration officer impatient or even ask himself why you need to submit irrelevant material if you have a good case.  The core of useful material may be lost in a flood of wasted paper.
 
The question of relevance may be tricky, and it is a good idea to get advice about this.  For example, spouse visa applicants are often told to provide photos to prove the relationship.  But photos of one of them taken by the other prove nothing; neither do photos of penguins at Philip Island where they went for a honeymoon.  The relevance of other photos may need to be explained.  Be realistic when you are thinking about what a photo or a document actually proves.  Is it what the Immigration Department actually wants to know?
 
The documentation that is required will vary according to which category of visa you are applying for, and also according to the particular details of your case.  For example, if you have married your spouse two months after you first met, you are going to have a much more difficult time convincing Immigration that your marriage is genuine than in the case of a couple who have known each other for two years before they took the plunge.
 
Where there is a real difficulty in finding appropriate documentary evidence, statutory declarations may be used, but they are a poor substitute and should only be used as a last resort.
 
Most evidence should take the form of properly certified copies.  In the case of documents not in English, you should supply a certified copy of the original, plus an original translation by an accredited interpreter.
 
Cases that should succeed on their merits often fail because the applicant does not realize the importance of providing proper evidence.  Applicants often wake up to this after receiving a negative decision: in such a case they often (though not always) have a right of review by the Tribunal, with a fair chance of success, but such a procedure is time-consuming and expensive, and best avoided if possible.
 
Dr Rory Hudson, a registered migration agent (MARN 9900954) is Director of Immigration and Refugee Specialists Pty Ltd.  He may be contacted on (03) 9670 7222.