Updated on September 30th, 2021
If you plan to join your partner in Australia or have already applied for a Partner Visa, this blog can give you few insights into this visa category. I am not a registered migration agent but working in a related profession for over two decades, having offices in India and Australia. I regularly interact with different registered migration agents, talk to colleagues, and read other professional blogs, so I based the information shared here on my own experiences and research. This blog unpacks the partner visa clauses and few common mistakes you should avoid when applying for a partner visa.
Partner Visa, when lodged Onshore:
The Partners Visa subclass 820 & 801 is lodged, while you are inside Australia. This Visa allows the individual to live in Australia, the spouse or a de facto partner of an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident. The temporary Partner Visa subclass 820 is granted initially. It lets you stay in Australia. Whereas the permanent Partner visa subclass 801, once granted, you can live in Australia as a permanent resident and further work to get your citizenship. There are other requirements on age, health, and character ground for this visa to be granted.
Partner Visa, when lodged Offshore:
Other clauses for Partner Visa are subclass 309 & 100. We can apply for these visas while the applicant is out of Australia. Partner Visa (Provisional) under subclass 100 is a temporary visa that allows the partner or spouse of an Australian citizen or permanent resident to stay in Australia. This Visa is the first step towards permanent Partner Visa subclass 100.
There is another Visa that later can lead to Partner Visa. This Visa is Prospective Marriage Visa subclass 300. This Visa is for those who want to enter before marriage. To apply for this visa, your fiancé must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident. This Visa has a duration of 9 months, within which visa holders need to marry. They can apply to convert their visa to Partner Visa once they get married.
How do Partner Visas work ?
As discussed above, the partner of an Australian citizen or permanent resident can apply for a partner visa either onshore or offshore. When applied onshore, the applicant gets the bridging visa to remain in Australia during the processing time. The applicant is not entitled to a bridging visa when it applied offshore. The applicant has to remain in their home country during the processing time or visit Australia as a tourist for a short time. On tourist visas, they get no working or study rights like other applicants who apply onshore. The Visa fee in both cases remains the same. Presently it is $7715. As per Migration law, those who lodge an offshore application must also be outside Australia when their visa is granted.
Few mistakes that people normally do
Now I will share few mistakes that people usually make while lodging this visa. I have seen so many small and big reasons behind refusals of Partner Visa applications. This Visa is the most expensive, so everyone wants to get it right the first time.
It is not mandatory to lodge this visa with the help of a migration agent. You can file it yourself, but I suggest taking the help of professionals. Otherwise, you need to invest a lot of time in researching various details of partner visas. Because of a lack of professional advice, they refuse many applications. Department refused 47% of Partner Visa applications without migration agents in the financial year 2015-16. It was 53% in 2016-2107. So keeping in mind such a big rate of refusals, I suggest we take professional advice for better outcomes of visa applications.
Importance of Information stated in form 888s
Form 888 is an essential part of Partner Visa or Prospective Marriage visa applications. Your family, friends, or colleagues made this statutory declaration witnessing your relationship. It would help if you took care that the information mentioned in this form should not contradict what you had stated in your application. This declaration considers the social aspect of relationships. If you do not write statements, sometimes the information given does not match with the application. So we need a proper check while lodging a visa application.
Lack of sufficient evidence is one reason
Lack of enough information and evidence can be another reason for the refusal of a partner visa. There is no parameter to say what evidence is acceptable. But you will need to provide evidence to prove your claims in your application. Proving the genuineness of your relationship is an essential part of a successful visa application. Visa Officer, while deciding the application, may look into various facets of your lifestyle. This includes but is not limited to financial interdependence, mixing of finances, financial planning, social conduct, sharing social life, shared properties, home duties, travels, how the relationship was maintained when the couple was separated, and how others view the relationship, etc. We need to provide evidence of all facts to help the case officer to access your application.
Dates are very important in any visa application
All dates related to your relationship mentioned in your visa application must be consistent with each other. Forgetting dates can give visa officers a chance to question the integrity of your relationship. While filling the forms, you must take proper care of all dates. I have seen so many applications where a minor mistake about dates was the reason for visa rejection. You and your partner must know the fact that proper timeline and dates of relationship history.
There is no last list of such mistakes. Here, I just tried to recall a few of them. I suggest proper research on your visa application to be aware of each detail. Otherwise, I recommended the professional services of experts. In case of the department contacts you, you must provide such information within a timeframe. Make sure that you keep checking your Immi account and emails regularly.
