Preliminary Important
FACTS
There are two types of partner visa category: Prospective Marriage visa and Partner visa. The type of visa for which you should apply will depend entirely on your personal circumstances and the type of relationship you are in.
This little guide is designed to help you decide if you are eligible to apply, for which visa you should apply and what you need to know to lodge an application.
APPLICATION STAGES
Are you engaged and want to get married in Australia? This is the process for you, and it involves three stages:
| Step 1Temporary visaSubclass 300 | Step 2Partner visa(temporary)Subclass 820 | Step 3Partner visa (residence)Subclass 801 |
| Plan to marry your Australian prospective spouse;Make an application for a subclass 300 outside Australia | Travel to Australia once visa is grantedMarry your Australian partner while subclass 300 is validMake an application for a subclass 820 in Australia | Two years after first applying for subclass 820Must still be in the relationshipMake an application for a subclass 810 |
If you are already in a spousal relationship with an Australian, you may consider applying for a subclass 309 and the process involves the following:
| Step 1Partner visa(temporary)Subclass 309 | Step 2Partner visa (migrant)Subclass 100 |
| You and your Australian partner are married or intend to legally marry before a decision is made OR have been in a de facto relationship for at least 12 month prior to lodging the application Make an application for a subclass 309 visa outside Australia | Two years after first applying for subclass 309 visaMust still be in the relationshipMake an application for a subclass 100 |
Already in Australia on a valid visa and married or intend to marry, the process involves the following stages:
| Step 1Partner visa (temporary)Subclass 820 | Step 2Partner visa (residence)Subclass 801 |
| You and your Australian partner are married or intend to legally marry before a decision is made OR have been in a de facto relationship for at least 12 month prior to lodging the application Make an application for a subclass 820 visa in Australia | Two years after first applying for subclass 820 visaMust still be in the relationshipMake an application for a subclass 801 |
After you have determined which pathway to choose, the next question to ask if whether you are eligible for the visa that you have decided to apply for. Please note that when you have this visa it is valid for 9 months from the date of grant and you must marry your Below is a list of summaries of the main criteria for each visa and what each visa enables you to do after you have been granted:
ELIGIBILITY FOR A SUBCLASS 300 VISA – PROSPECTIVE MARRIAGE
- Must have an Australian sponsor
- Must meet the definition of spouse
- Must be 18 or older when you apply
- Must meet health requirements
- Must meet character requirements
- Must not have debts owed to the Australian government
- Must not have had a visa cancelled
As the holder of a subclass 300 visa your entitlements are:
- Travel to and from Australia for up to 9 months
- Work in Australia
- Study in Australia at your own expense
- Travel outside Australia as many times as you want while your visa is valid
ELIGIBILITY FOR PARTNER VISAS 820/801
- Meeting relationship requirement for married applicants or de facto applicants and provide evidence to support your claim
- Have a sponsor, usually your partner
- Must at least 18 years of age
- Meet the health requirement and character requirement
- Pay all debts own to Australian Government
- Apply inside Australia
Please note that your partner may not be able to sponsor you if the sponsor
- Sponsored another person or
- Had been sponsored within 5 years or
- If they have sponsored 2 people previously
(Unless compelling circumstances)
Subclass 820/801 enables you to
- Live, work and study in Australia
- Travel to and from Australia as many times as you like
- Attend up to 510 hours free English language classes provided by the Adult Migrant English Program
- Enrol in Australia’s public health care scheme, Medicare
ELIGIBILITY FOR PARTNER VISAS 309/100
- Meeting relationship requirement for married applicants or de facto applicants and provide evidence to support your claim
- Have a sponsor, usually your partner
- Must at least 18 years of age
- Meet the health requirement and character requirement
- Pay all debts own to Australian Government
- Apply outside Australia
Please note that your partner may not be able to sponsor you if the sponsor
- Sponsored another person or
- Had been sponsored within 5 years or
- If they have sponsored 2 people previously
(Unless compelling circumstances)
Subclass 309/100 enables you to
- Live, work and study in Australia
- Travel to and from Australia as many times as you like
- Attend up to 510 hours free English language classes provided by the Adult Migrant English Program
- Enrol in Australia’s public health care scheme, Medicare
SOME FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE APPLYING ANY PARTNER VISA
Submitting your application before you get married
You don’t need to be married to submit an offshore partner visa (subclass 309), in some circumstances, you are eligible to apply on the basis of an intention to get married. This means that you will still meet the eligibility criteria if you are not legally married at the time you submit your application, but you must be married by the time your application is assessed by a case officer.
Registering your de facto relationship
There are two categories of eligible people to be eligible to apply for Partner Visa, you should either be a spouse or de facto relationship with your eligible sponsor.
What is a de facto relationship? (Section 5CB of Migration Act 1958)
- Not legally married to each other,
- Have a mutual commitment to a shared life to the exclusion of all others,
- The relationship between the parties is genuine and continuing,
- Live together or do not live separately and apart on a permanent basis, and
- Not related by family.
You should register your relationship. Some States in Australia have different residency requirements and it can take up to 6 weeks or longer to process your relationship registration and provide a certificate.
Please be aware that your de facto relationship must have existed for at least 12 months immediately before you lodge your application unless compelling and compassionate circumstances and time spend dating or in an online relationship might not count as de facto relationship.
Financial aspects of your relationship
Case officers will consider your financial aspects of the relationship. Usually, the applicant and their partner need to be able to prove that they share or pool their finances together.
You should provide the following evidence to indicate the financial aspects:
- Joint mortgage or lease documents
- Joint loan documents for major assets like homes, cars or major appliances
- Joint bank account statements -evidence that the accounts have been operated for a reasonable period would be given more weight
- Household bills in both names
It is highly suggested to provide evidence of joint bank account and evidence that both applicant and sponsor are actively using the account to pay for daily expenses.
In relation to the joint account, it is possible for both parties to have their own payment system and who pays for what but there must be written evidence of the sharing of expenses. If a partner is financially dependent on the other, there should be evidence that the partner having access to the financial provider’s funds.
Social aspects of your relationship
The following are the evidence that you would have to provide to the Department:
- Joint invitations or evidence you go out together
- Proof you have friends in common
- Proof you have told government, public or commercial bodies about your relationship
- Proof you do joint sporting, cultural or social activities together
- Proof you travel together
- Statutory declarations from your partner’s parents, family members, relatives and friends about how they see your relationship.
Evidence in the forms of statutory declarations from family and friends are critical. We do not suggest submitting statutory declarations from close or immediate family members as some case officers tend to think that family members will provide a biased statement. We suggest providing statements from friends or work colleagues or even far relatives to provide statements about the relationship.
For instance, this is considered as good evidence to support your relationship:
- Photo evidence of couple socialising with different groups of people
- Travel documents such as flight tickets and hotel bookings
- Relationship certificates for de facto relationship.
Change of relationship with sponsor
How about if your relations break down due to death of your partner or family violence situations? You might still be eligible in those circumstances while the case assessor is considering your application and after granted the visa.
You must submit Form 1022 Notification of changes in circumstance to declare any changes
If your partner dies, you are still eligible if you lodged or granted subclass 820 or currently holding subclass 309 visa, but you must provide that your relationship would have continued if your partner was still alive and you have close ties with Australia.
If you or your dependent child are a victim of family violence, you can still receive your partner visa, if you can show your relationship has ended or your partner committed family violence against you or your dependent child.
Decision-ready applications
Our agents prefer submitting your application using the Department’s ImmiAccount.
When handling partner visa applications, our agents will make sure that the application is a ‘decision-ready’ visa applications as they are allocated and processed more quicker than incomplete visa applications. We normally include comprehensive documentation on supporting documents on the relationship and all other required documents to satisfy the migration regulations.
Permanent partner visa
When you are lodging a partner visa application and paying the visa application charge, you are in fact lodging a combined application for both temporary and permanent visas. (the Partner Visa subclass 820/801 (for onshore applicants) and 100/309 (for offshore applicants)
Generally speaking, the permanent visa can only be considered 2 years after you initially lodge your visa
Contact Us
Our team as Aussie Immigration Services has considerable expertise in dealing with partner visa applications. We will make sure that we will avoid any pitfalls in your way and will submit a decision-ready application so that your application will be processed more quickly and secure a successful outcome.
Like us on Facebook and complete a questionnaire with your information and intention at https://aussieimmigrationservices.mmportal.com.au/assessment.
We will contact you after reviewing the questionnaire response to arrange a brief face-to-face meeting.
