Partner Visas for Australia

Covid-19 has had a significant impact on the processing timetable for Partner visa applications.

The Department of Home Affairs regularly up-dates their website and the latest advice is as follows:

Processing times subclass 309/100 (offshore)

•    75% of applications are decided within18 months
•    90% of applications are decided within 26 months

Processing times subclass 820/801 (onshore)

•    75% of applications:are decided within 23 months
•    90% of applications are decided within 27 months

Applications are processed in the order they are received and there is little scope to process applications earlier. It should be noted that as a general policy, circumstances such as employment in Australia; schooling for children, pregnancy; selling your house; or separation from your partner are not considered compelling or compassionate.

You may apply for other visas while your application is being processed. At present there are restrictions imposed by the Australian government for applicants planning to visit Australia during the coronavirus pandemic. Please note that if you are outside Australia when your application is lodged, you must also be outside Australia when your visa is granted. Concept Australia will advise you when to make arrangements to depart Australia which should be for a minimum of 5 working days.

The Department of Home Affairs has revised its policy and applicants must have valid health and character checks at the time their case is decided and will have 12 months to travel and validate their visa from the date of grant.

The Department of Home Affairs will seek to ensure that allowing a child to migrate is not in contravention of Australia’s international obligations in relation to the prevention of child abduction. If your application includes a child aged under 18 years and the non-migrating parent has the legal right to determine where the child can live, that parent will need to provide a statutory declaration giving permission for the child to migrate. Alternatively, you can provide a certified copy of a valid court order showing that you have the legal right to remove your child from their home.

Children born overseas and whose parent is an Australian citizen are eligible to apply for Australian citizenship by descent. If, however, you became an Australian citizen by descent, you must have been present in Australia for periods totaling two years at some time in your life in order for your child to apply for citizenship.

If your child is granted Australian citizenship by descent he/she should apply for an Australian passport. The benefit of travelling to Australia on an Australian passport will mean that your child will not be applying to migrate and will not require health checks.

Concept Australia provides advice and assistance on citizenship requirements and offers a reduced fee for partner clients wishing to register their children as Australian citizens.

Your radiological and medical examination must be carried out by an approved panel doctor who will need you to provide a HAP identity number when making the appointment. You will be advised of your number at the time instructions are issued by the case officer. Once your application has been submitted to the Department of Home Affairs, it is possible to access your HAP ID and undergo health checks in advance of your application being allocated to a case officer, however, we have been advised by Australia House to wait until processing commences.

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) requires both the applicant and sponsor to present evidence that they have a commitment to a shared life to the exclusion of others. This is normally demonstrated by sharing a common residence and evidencing a level of mutual support and co-operation throughout the history of your relationship. Emphasis is placed on presenting evidence on the financial aspects of the relationship, the nature of the household, the social context of the relationship and the nature of commitment to each other.

The amount of evidence you provide will be determined by your personal circumstances and will vary considerably depending on the duration of the relationship. Many applicants present far too many documents and waste time, energy and money gathering evidence which will be discarded by DHA case officers. Concept Australia will assess the history of your relationship and advise you which documents carry more weight.

The decision to engage a migration agent is a personal choice which will depend on the complexity of your visa application and whether you are confident that you have fully understood all the rules and regulations which will be applied to your case.

If you do need assistance with the visa process, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) strongly recommend that you appoint an agent who is registered with the Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA). A registered migration agent must satisfy a strict code of conduct and:

• maintain current knowledge of migration law and procedure
• keep a professional library with direct access to migration regulations via Legend
• undertake continuous professional development in order to maintain knowledge of migration regulations and policy

An agent who is not registered with MARA cannot offer you any legal protection and is not accountable for his/her actions and therefore might:

• make false claims about your chances of success
• give you incorrect advice
• have limited knowledge about current Australian visa legislation and procedures
• increase your risk of being exposed to migration fraud
• charge fees which are unreasonable and excessive.

If you overstayed or breached your visa conditions during your visit to Australia, you are most likely to have been advised on departure that you will be subject to a three year ban from visiting Australia. You will be able to lodge a Partner application once you are outside Australia but you will not be able to return to Australia on a visitors visa to await the outcome of your application.

An eligible New Zealand citizen is a New Zealand citizen who was living in Australia on 26 February 2001 for at least one year in the 2 years immediately before 26 February 2001.

If you marry your fiancé(e) before you are granted a Prospective Marriage visa, you can change your application to that of a Partner visa at no extra charge. To do this you must provide your marriage certificate and notify the Department of Home Affairs that you wish to withdraw your application for a Prospective Marriage visa and change your application to that of a Partner visa. A case officer may also request additional documents to support your relationship history.

Although living together is regarded as a common element in most on-going relationships, it is recognised that, for various reasons, couples may sometimes have to live apart. Provided the separation is temporary and since the relationship commenced you can provide evidence that you had at some point resided together, you may still be able to satisfy the requirements of a de-facto relationship.

In this situation you do not need to prove that you have resided together for 12 months but you will need to demonstrate that you have been in a de-facto relationship for that period. The case officer at the Department of Home Affairs will require you to show that you are not living separately and apart on a permanent basis and you may be requested to provide additional evidence of communications and/or financial support during any period of separation.

To be eligible for a partner visa, it is not sufficient for you to simply show that you are married. You must also demonstrate that your relationship with your spouse is genuine, continuing and mutually exclusive. If you fail to demonstrate that you are in such a relationship you may be a refused a visa regardless of whether you are married.

If for example you married your partner within a month or two of the relationship commencing and then applied for a visa, you can expect your application to come under close scrutiny. If, however, your relationship developed over a period of time and you can present evidence which dates back to when you first met leading to your engagement and subsequent marriage, your application is likely to receive favourable consideration.

Grant of subclass 100 visa – initial entry date

The subclass 100 permanent visa is granted to applicants who have been in a committed marital or de-facto relationship  for 3 or more years or 2 years if you have a child from your relationship. Once you are granted an Australian permanent residency visa, you must make your initial entry to Australia within 1 year from the date your visa was granted. You can then travel in and out of Australia for a period of 5 years from the date of grant. This is referred to as your ‘international travel facility’.  As a permanent resident, you are allowed to lawfully remain in Australia indefinitely as long as you arrive in Australia before your current permanent residency visa expires. If you need to depart Australia once your original visa expires you will need to apply for a Resident Return Visa.

Grant of subclass 309 visa – initial entry date

If you cannot satisfy the criteria for a subclass 100 visa you will be granted a subclass 309 temporary visa and will be invited to apply for a permanent visa 2 years from the date your partner application was submitted to the Department of Home Affairs. You must also make your initial entry to Australia within 1 year from the date your visa was granted, and you can then travel in and out of Australia until your permanent visa is granted.

To become an Australian citizen, you need to meet the following requirements:

•    are a permanent resident at time of application and time of decision
•    meet the residence requirements
•    are of good character
•    have a basic knowledge of English
•    intend to reside or maintain a close and continuing association with Australia
•    have an adequate knowledge of the responsibilities and privileges of Australian citizenship.

You must also satisfy the following general residence requirement which is based on the amount of time you have lived in Australia.

•    have lived in Australia on a valid temporary or permanent Australian visa for 4 years immediately before applying
•    must have been a permanent resident for the 12 months immediately before making an application
•    not been absent from Australia for more than 1 year in total, in the 4-year period, including no more than 90 days in the 12 months before applying.

Once you have become an Australian citizen you will be eligible to apply for an Australian passport and as the holder you must enter and depart Australia using this passport. Most countries (including the UK) permit their citizens to have dual nationality including continuing to hold a passport of that country.

Once your application and sponsorship forms have been submitted and all supporting documents have been attached to the ImmiAccount we will receive an acknowledgement from the Department of Home affairs (DHA) which will be forwarded to you.

Applications are processed in the order they are received and there is little scope to process applications earlier. Until your documents are allocated to a case officer, we are unable to contact the DHA for a progress report as this will only generate an automated response outlining the processing timetable displayed on their website.

You should inform Concept Australia if you have a valid and exceptional reason why you need your application to receive priority processing but, generally, circumstances such as employment in Australia; schooling for children, pregnancy; selling your house; or separation from your partner are not considered compelling or compassionate.