Partner Visas Sponsorship

I have two relatives who may be willing to provide an butturance of support. I haven't asked yet as it's a hard thing to ask and I want to be sure that I can tick all the other boxes first and even then, there is no certainty.

I'm seriously doubting my ability to be a sponsor now - I will be in rented accommodation either (a) totally supported by him or (b) totally supported by Centelink plus my ex husband with child support.

If we take situation (a) and a worse case scenario applies, i.e. he is unable to work and I need to support HIM, I would then have to apply for government support anyway...and it's doubtful it would be enough to cover all of us since it barely covers me with two young children.

My mother (Australian citizen but not resident) and his (not Australian, not a citizen) are both prepared to write up letters that say they'll financially buttist him should he need it and are willing to give details of finances to prove to that end. We thought that may help. Disregard the rental income - that will be going.

What we absolutely don't want to do is do all the work for a prospective spouse visa and then have it rejected because of my weak sponsorship case, which I'm guessing may then impact on him negatively when he later applies for an independent non-modl send visa because he would have had a visa refused and I'm guessing will need to state that. ...aside from the additional costs of having tried one route before trying another.

I may well call DIMIA - there seems to be a low cost enquiry line here and they've been very helpful with information thus far - and try to get a better feel for my chances.