Partner – Onshore (820/801)

The Partner visa allows the spouse or de facto partner of an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen to enter into or remain in Australia. The spouse or de facto partner is initially granted a temporary visa, and is eligible for a permanent residency visa if the relationship still exists after a two-year waiting period.

If you are engaged to an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, and you wish to travel to Australia for your marriage, you may be eligible for the Prospective Marriage visa, which allows fiances/fiancees to enter Australia for a period of 9 months in order to get married. Following your marriage you may then be eligible for the Partner visa, provided you meet the requirements listed below.

Partner visas are often more complex than initially thought. Ensuring that you have the right strategy in place from the beginning is critical to setting up a strong and secure application.

Minimum Requirements

If your application is based on a marriage, you must:

• be legally married to an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen.

If your application is based on a de facto relationship, you must:

• have been in a de facto relationship with an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen for at least 12 months (unless there are compelling and compassionate circumstances)

In all cases:

• you and your spouse/partner must be in a mutually exclusive relationship
• the relationship must be genuine and continuing
• you and your spouse/de facto partner must either live together, or live apart on a temporary basis only.

Partner Visa Application Process

Applying for a Partner visa is a two-stage process. If you lodge your application outside Australia, you must be outside Australia when the temporary visa is granted. If you lodge your application in Australia, you must be in Australia when the temporary visa is granted.

If your application is successful you will be granted a two-year visa that allows you to live and work in Australia. At the end of this two-year ‘waiting period’, you will generally be granted a permanent Partner visa, provided you are still living together (or apart only on a temporary basis) in a mutually exclusive, genuine and continuing relationship with your spouse/de facto partner.

If you and your spouse/de facto partner have been in a relationship for more than three years (or you have children together and have been in a relationship for more than two years) the Department of Home Affairs may waive the normal two-year waiting period.

Upcoming Changes

There are important changes that will have a significant impact on applications lodged onshore. This new legislation (now passed) will soon change the application process by requiring a seperate sponsorship application to be lodged and approved. This will end the process of simultaneously lodging a sponsorship and visa application, causing further delay.

For those who hold an Australian visa with a close expiry date, applying onshore may not longer be an option. Previously, a partner visa applicant received a Bridging visa A (BVA) to remain in Australia once the partner visa was lodged. The applicant will now need to wait until the seperate sponsorship application has been approved before they will be able to lodge their visa, and receive the BVA.