Partner visa | Spouse or De-facto

A partner visa can be sponsored by an Australian citizen and permanent resident by lodging the visa and sponsorship applications.

The onshore 820/801 partner visa and offshore 309/100 partner visa will allow you to enter Australia as either a temporary visa holder (while you complete a wait period before you can lodge your permanent partner visa application, which is approximately two years after the date of lodgement of your initial application), or directly as a permanent residency visa holder if your relationship satisfies the long-standing relationship requirements. You can apply for a partner visa either on the basis of a de-facto relationship, or a spouse marriage relationship.

The onshore 820/801 partner visa and offshore 309/100 partner visa will allow you to enter Australia as either a temporary visa holder (while you complete a wait period before you can lodge your permanent partner visa application, which is approximately two years after the date of lodgement of your initial application), or directly as a permanent residency visa holder if your relationship satisfies the long-standing relationship requirements. You can apply for a partner visa either on the basis of a de-facto relationship, or a spouse marriage relationship.

Your visa application must be sponsored by your Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen partner. Your partner must be eligible to sponsor your visa, which may be affected by the sponsorship limitation requirements. Your sponsor also needs to provide police clearances and character information to demonstrate that he or she satisfies the character requirements for sponsorship, and confirm that he or she will comply with the sponsorship undertakings.

 

Partner visa | Spouse or De-facto


The following requirements will apply to all partner visa application (i.e. de-facto or spouse relationship):


  • You must be living together or, if not, any separation must be only temporary (and you would need to explain how your separation is only temporary if applicable)
  • Mutual commitment to a shared life to the exclusion of all others
  • Genuine and continuing relationship with your partner
  • Health and character: Primary visa applicant and all members of his or her family unit must satisfy the health and character requirements for the grant of a permanent residency visa. If any member of the family unit fails to satisfy the health and/or character requirements, then the visa applications may be refused for the primary applicant and all family members. Members of the family unit who are not included in the visa application also need to satisfy the health and character requirements, even though he or she is not included in the permanent residency visa application. The sponsor does not have to complete any health examinations or pass any health requirements for this visa application.

Spouse visa

 

You can apply once you are legally married with your partner, either in or outside of Australia, and this marriage is legally valid in Australia. If you were married outside of Australia, then your marriage will generally be regarded as valid in Australia if your marriage is valid in the country where you were married and registered your marriage. You can contact the agency for births, deaths and marriages in your state or territory if you have any questions about the validity of your marriage under Australian law.


De facto visa

 

Unless an exception applies, at minimum, you need to have been in a de-facto relationship with your sponsoring partner for at least a period of 12 months prior to the date of lodgement of your application.


The 12 month requirement will be waived if your relationship is registered with the relevant Australian state or territory government authority. Relationships registries operate in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory. You can contact the agency for births, deaths and marriages in your state or territory for information in relation to registering your relationship, or see their relevant website for eligibility and application requirements. You are allowed to register your relationship after you lodge your partner visa application, and this would also allow you to waive the 12 month relationship at the time of application requirement. Hence, you can firstly proceed with lodging your de-facto partner visa, then apply for registration of your relationship and then upload this certificate to your application once this is issued.


This 12 month requirement can also be waived if compelling and compassionate circumstances apply to your application.


Registration of your de-facto relationship with a foreign government cannot be used to waive the ‘12 month de-facto relationship’ requirement. However, such registration can be submitted as evidence of your de-facto relationship.


Documents checklist

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The Department’s online system requires you to pay for the application before you access the next web pages in your Immiaccount which allows you to upload your supporting documents, and also access your HAP ID which is required for your health examinations (using the ‘View health assessment’ link).
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You just need to upload clear scanned copies for all supporting documents. You do not need to provide certified or notarised copies unless the case officer specifically asks for this which is generally rare.
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You need to organise the following supporting documents for your application (as applicable to your circumstances and relationship), as well as statutory declarations for both yourself and your sponsor which will outline the history and circumstances of your relationship – and English translations if applicable:

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TypeRelevant documents may include
Identification and government issued documentsPassports – applicant, sponsor and all family members included in your visa application.
Birth certificates – applicant, sponsor and all family members included in your visa application.
Marriage certificate if applicable (or if you have your future wedding ceremony booked, then documents demonstrating the confirmation and booking of your wedding).
Relationship registration if applicable.
If you or your sponsor have been permanently separated, divorced or widowed – divorce certificate/decree, statutory declaration/separation certificate, or the death certificate of the deceased partner (as appropriate).
If you, your sponsor or anyone included in your application has changed his or her name – evidence of the name change such as prior marriage certificate, or government issued change of name certificate.
Wedding, engagement and honeymoon related documentsConfirmation of engagement ceremony.
Wedding invitation to guests.
Receipts for wedding or engagement expenses (e.g. venue booking, food, car hire, gifts and jewellery purchases).
Cultural or religious rituals or ceremonies completed before or after your wedding.
Flights tickets or receipts for any travel for your engagement, wedding or honeymoon.
Bookings and receipts for honeymoon (e.g. hotels, gifts, shows, events, activities, travel).
Household aspect of your relationshipHousehold bills and expenses, which ideally should be joint accounts that will have both your names (e.g. rent, water, electricity, internet, council rate notice).
Evidence of your current residence such as your lease, property ownership certificate, council rate notice with your name and address (ideally this should be a joint lease or demonstrate that your property asset is jointly owned).
Joint purchase of household items (e.g. cars, appliances, furniture, electronics).
Financial aspect of your relationshipJoint bank account which demonstrates that yourself and your sponsor have both regularly used your joint account for your general living expenses and/or both regularly contributed to your joint savings account (yourself and your sponsor do not both need to be earning your own independent incomes.
You can just demonstrate that you and your sponsor have both regularly used your joint account, and explain your financial and work circumstances in your supporting declaration).
Joint liabilities (e.g. loans, insurance).
Sharing of finances such as regular international transfers, bank transfers or online transfers to each other. This evidence is generally important if you are living apart for a significant period of time during the Department’s processing time.
Naming each other as beneficiary of your respective wills, superannuation savings, insurance benefits etc.
Social aspect of your relationshipFlight tickets or receipts evidencing your joint holidays or travels.
Photos Emails/letters to each other.
Social media interaction with each other.
Records of telephone conversations or messages.
Receipts for presents, movies, dinners, social events etc.
Social invitations to you both for weddings, birthdays, Christmas and other holidays etc.
Letters, invitations or correspondence addressed to both you and your partner at your common address
Form 888 from Australian friends or family (you can copy and paste the same questions from this Form 888 into a statutory declaration, and get this supporting evidence from non-Australian citizens or permanent residents).
Child or children from your relationship if applicableEvidence that the applicant has the legal right to determine where the included child or children shall live (e.g. court order of custody, divorce decree with custody details).
Evidence of school attendance such as bills, report cards etc.
Evidence of the child’s or children’s cost of living, such as receipts for clothing, membership with sporting club etc.
If any child included in your application is adopted, then relevant adoption papers will be required.
Evidence of dependency for any dependant child or children aged 18 years or over included in your application.
You will need to demonstrate that any included child or children who are 18 years of age or over are financially dependant on you or your sponsor for his or her basic needs of food, shelter and clothing, and how long this support has been provided.
Evidence may include bank statements, money transfers, rent receipts, education fee receipts etc.
Character related documentsPolice clearances – applicant and sponsor need to provide police clearances for all countries that he or she has lived in for 12 months or more (cumulatively) in the last 10 years.
Military service records, such as discharge records – this applies to the visa applicant only.
Form 80 – it isn’t mandatory to provide this Character information form, but the Department may ask for this as a requested document.
You can potentially save yourself some time by completing and uploading this form during the Department’s processing time, which could avoid the delay of having to receive and respond to a Department request.

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You can only upload a total of 100 documents to your visa application after lodgement, and you can also upload a total of 100 documents to your sponsor’s application. With your visa application, we generally recommend uploading up to 75 documents after the lodgement of your visa application. This would give you space to upload at least another 25 further documents after lodgement to demonstrate your continuing relationship during the Department’s processing time, and also to provide further information and documents in case you receive any Department requests after lodgement for further information.

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This does mean that you will need to compile multiple documents into a single PDF or Microsoft Word document. You can screenshot your computer or phone and save this as a single image for upload, or copy and paste and compile these into a Microsoft Word document.

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You should be compiling and organising your relationship related documents and images into single file PDF or Word documents such as:

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  • Social Invitations to wedding, birthdays etc.
  • Social Photos 2011-2014
  • Social Tickets or receipts
  • Social Holiday to USA
  • Household Gas bills 2017
  • Household Council rates 2017
  • Household Rent expenses 2017
  • Financial Joint account 2011-2013
  • Form 888 sponsor father

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With your photos, you can use Paint in Windows or Paintbrush in Apples to add brief caption text to your photos to add some information and context to the photos which can help your case officer understand what you are trying to demonstrate, such as the below example:

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    You don’t necessarily need to undertake compiling for all your documents, as it is appropriate to upload some documents just as single file documents such as:

    • ID documents such as passport
    • Police clearances
    • Marriage certificate

    In relation to the documents that you should have ready at the time that you lodge your visa application, so that you can upload these to your visa application after lodgement, we provide the following recommendations:

    • You should upload as many documents as possible, and as you have available after lodgement
    • You don’t have to have all your supporting documents organised and uploaded to your visa application immediately after lodgement. You can log back into your Immiaccount at any time after lodgement and continue to upload further supporting documents
    • There is no strict deadline by which you need to upload your documents after you pay and lodge your visa application. Given the Department’s long processing times, your application will likely be sitting in the Department’s processing queue for a number of months before this is allocated to any case officer. However, we don’t recommend that you delay the uploading of your documents. You should upload as many documents as possible, as soon as possible
    • You can provide your police clearances after you lodge your visa application during the Department’s processing time. You don’t necessarily need to have all your police clearances at the time that you lodge your visa application
    Department's assessment

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    Your case officer will place more weight on some forms of evidence/documents relative to others, so it is important to provide the Department with plenty of convincing, organised and understandable evidence of your relationship:

    Strong evidence

    Documents that show joint assets, liabilities, undertakings, bequests etc. Examples include:

    • Joint bank account which demonstrates that yourself and your sponsor have both regularly used your joint account for your general living expenses and/or both regularly contributed to your joint savings account (yourself and your sponsor do not both need to be earning your own independent incomes. You can just demonstrate that you and your sponsor have both regularly used your joint account, and explain your financial and work circumstances in your supporting declaration)
    • Jointly owned assets such as real estate, investment portfolios, bonds or other investments
    • Joint liabilities (e.g. loans, mortgage, insurance)
    • Sharing of finances such as regular international transfers, bank transfers or online transfers to each other. This evidence is generally important if you are living apart for a significant period of time during the Department’s processing time
    • Any joint undertakings such as a joint lease
    • Naming each other as beneficiary of your respective wills, superannuation savings, insurance benefits etc.

    This type of evidence is strong because it can be relevant to multiple factors which your case officer needs to consider. These documents usually state both your name and your sponsoring partner’s name, your address and a date. Consequently, these documents can evidence your co-habitation as well as the duration of your relationship. More importantly, these documents demonstrate the joint commitments that you and your partner have made together, such as jointly incurring a loan or mortgage, or ensuring that your assets are left to each other under your wills and/or superannuation savings.

    As part of your application, you and your partner confirm that you have a ‘mutual commitment to a shared life (to the exclusion of all others)’. Hence, the Department expects you to share various aspects of your lives with each other, such as finances, liabilities, assets, contractual obligations, sharing income etc.  Child or children from your relationship

    Child or children from your relationship

    Demonstrating that you and your partner are jointly responsible for the care and support of your child or children will likely be seen as strong evidence of your relationship: 

    • Full unabridged birth certificates
    • Evidence of school attendance such as bills, report cards etc.
    • Evidence of the child’s or children’s cost of living, such as receipt for clothing, membership with sporting club, education fee receipts etc.
    • Evidence that the applicant has the legal right to determine where the included child or children shall live (e.g. court order of custody, divorce decree with custody details) if applicable
    • If any child included in your application is adopted, then relevant adoption papers will be required
    • Evidence of dependency for any dependant child or children aged 18 years or over included in your application. You will need to demonstrate that any included child or children who are 18 years of age or over are financially dependant on you or your sponsor for his or her basic needs of food, shelter and clothing, and how long this support has been provided. Evidence may include bank statements, money transfers, rent receipts, education fee receipts etc.

    Useful evidence

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    You can also include documents generated by third parties/companies/businesses/friends or relatives that are addressed to you and your partner (such correspondence can be addressed to just you or your partner, although correspondence that are addressed to both you and your partner are better). Examples include:

    • Bank statements
    • Bills, invoices, receipts etc.
    • Letters, invitations
    • Flight tickets or receipts evidencing your joint holidays or travels

    These documents show that you and your partner live together,and also evidence how long you have been living together. In my view, there is a difference between documents that are addressed to you both, and documents that are only addressed to one of you. I have seen case officers take the view that just providing documents that are addressed to you or your partner only is not sufficient. Their reasoning is that there isn’t enough evidence of your ‘shared life’.

    So you should really look at everything that you ‘share’ and determine whether you can demonstrate this. Do you have your membership at the same gym? Do you attend the same church? Do you share any other hobbies, classes or activities? If these bodies or companies send you correspondence, ask whether they can send you documents in your joint names. Of course, some of these bodies and companies will be a lot more accommodating then others, but it never hurts to ask.  

    I would also include third party evidence of your travels/holidays and social activities under useful evidence. Showing consistent travel, vacations and social activities together is good evidence of your shared life and interests.  

    Regular contact evidence

    This category is evidence that you or your partner can directly generate. Examples include:

    • Photos
    • Emails/letters to each other
    • Social media interaction with each other
    • Records of telephone conversations and messages

    It is critical that you provide this type of evidence as it adds context, colour and life to your application. These documents also demonstrate several factors which your case officer is required to take into consideration such as the ‘social aspect of your relationship’.

    But since this type of evidence is self generated, if you submit nothing but documents under this category, it is difficult for your case officer to confidently conclude that your relationship satisfies the relevant legal requirements. The risk of refusal is particularly high if you cannot provide any evidence in relation to the shared aspects of your lives, such as the financial commitments and obligations that you have together.

    Planning your evidence

    Now that you have an idea of the types of evidence that you are expected to provide, and the relative usefulness of the different types of evidence, I hope that this will assist you and your partner with planning out your application before you prepare and lodge it. It is a lot easier to prepare a properly evidenced application if you start to plan your application from the moment that you decide that you want to apply for a partner visa (i.e. give yourself as much time as possible to gather relevant and quality evidence, and preparing your supporting declarations).  

    If you are lacking strong forms of evidence, then you may want to consider delaying your application and taking steps towards organising better evidence in the meantime. For example, you can contact your household utility providers and see if you can change your accounts to joint accounts. You can apply the same principle to your insurance policy, gym membership etc. Sure, this may be a hassle, but showing this level of commitment and the sharing of various aspects of your lives will really make it easier for your case officer to conclude that your application satisfies the relevant partner visa and sponsorship requirements.  

    Preparing statutory declarations

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    Yourself and your sponsor both need to prepare detailed supporting declarations, which explain various aspects of your relationship such as the development, social aspect, financial aspect etc. of your relationship. Please see guide for preparing your declarations, and detailed statutory declaration example.

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    The following are common questions in relation to preparing your statutory declarations:  

    QuestionAnswer
    Can we prepare a joint declaration?No because a statutory declaration is sworn and signed by one person only
    Do we need to prepare two separate and different declarations for the same relationship history?Yes
    Can our declarations be the same or similar?Yes but you shouldn’t really be completely copying and pasting each other’s declarations. Overlap and similarities are acceptable since your writing about the same relationship and history, but you still need to prepare two separate declarations written from your individual perspectives
    My partner’s English isn’t very good – should he or she write his or her declaration in his or her native language and translate this?This would be the most accurate way for the applicant or sponsor to provide the relevant information to the Department. We have had instances where the Department has accepted statutory declarations that were prepared in English for the visa applicant or sponsor, and this information was explained to the visa applicant or sponsor in their native language, before the visa applicant or sponsor arranged for swearing of the relevant statutory declaration.

    Preparing online application forms

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    You firstly need to create an Immiaccount with the Department’s website before you can access the online forms.

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    1. New application (top left)
    2. Family
    3. Stage 1 – Partner or Prospective Marriage Visa (300,309/100,820/801)
    4. With the sponsorship form (Sponsorship for a Partner to Migrate to Australia (300,309/100,820/801)), you prepare and lodge this after you pay for and lodge your partner visa. You need to lodge a valid partner visa before you can proceed with the online sponsorship form, as you need the Transaction Reference Number (TRN) from your partner visa application when you prepare the sponsorship form

    FAQ – Online visa form

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    Processing times (updated: 22 April 2019)

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    The Department’s processing time for both onshore and offshore partner visa applications are unfortunately very lengthy at the moment. The Department’s current processing times are approximately:

    Onshore 820 temporary partner visa: 12 – 24 months or potentially longer depending on the complexity of your application

    Offshore 309 temporary partner visa:  12 – 18 months or potentially longer depending on the complexity of your application

    Permanent residency 801 or 100 partner visa: 16 – 20 months or potentially longer depending on the complexity of your application  

    Please note that the above information is only providing estimated processing time information based on our recent experience, and actual processing times will vary for each individual application. Generally speaking, more complicated applications which may have issues satisfying the relevant legal requirements may take the Department longer to assess and decide.  

    Please also see the Department’s website in relation to current processing time information for onshore partner visa and offshore partner visa:  

    Stream75 per cent of applications processed90 per cent of applications processed
    820 – Temporary visa21 months28 months
    801 – Permanent visa19 months24 months
    Stream75 per cent of applications processed90 per cent of applications processed
    309 – Provisional visa14 months20 months
    100 – Permanent visa20 months37 months
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    Uploading further evidence during processing

    Given the Department’s very long processing times for all partner visa applications, it has now become increasingly important to continue to accumulate and organise documents of your on-going relationship and upload these to your visa application during the Department’s processing time.  

    Tips in relation to organising and uploading further documents of your relationship during the Department’s processing time:  

    • The amount of documents and further evidence that you need to organise and upload after lodgement does depend on the circumstances of your relationship, application and how much supporting evidence that you were able to provide at the time of lodgement
    • If you only recently met your partner and got married shortly before lodging your visa application, then you and your sponsor would need to spend more time and make more of an effort post lodgement to ensure that you are continuing to accumulate strong and further evidence of your relationship, to remove/address any potential doubt about the genuineness of your marriage and relationship. The Department does seem to place a strong emphasis on long term joint financial commitments, so we suggest that you ensure that you arrange your financial affairs and accounts so that you can demonstrate this. Your supporting evidence may include:
      • Maintain joint account where your salaries are paid directly into this account, and you both regularly use this account for your general living expenses
      • Maintain a joint savings account, where you both regularly contribute to this savings account for your future use such as purchasing a property together. You don’t have to contribute equal amounts, as it is more important to show that you have both contributed regularly to this account over a reasonable period of time
      • Arrange for regular international fund transfers to your partner’s account overseas if you are separated during the Department’s processing time. We suggest that you arrange for these regular transfers to show your on-going financial support to each other during your time apart. We recommend these transfers even if your partner that is receiving these funds does not need these funds, as it is just important to accumulate the on-going financial evidence. You can just save these funds overseas and bring these back to Australia after visa approval
    • If you and your sponsor have clear and strong evidence of your long term relationship (e.g. a relationship of 2-3 years or longer, and child or children from your relationship if applicable), then you should have plenty of evidence of your long term relationship at the time of lodgement. You should still continue to accumulate evidence of your relationship during the Department’s processing time and upload these to your application, but such evidence should be less critical in the Department’s assessment and decision for your application. We suggest that for such long term relationships, you just need to accumulate further evidence of your:
      • Joint financial ties and arrangements
      • Household expenses and bills
      • Education and expenses for your child or children if applicable
      • Social invitations and photos of significant events such as weddings, Christmas, birthdays etc.
    Responding to Department requests

    If you have followed the steps in this guide, then generally speaking, the Department should have most of the information and documents that is needed to assess and decide your application.

    You may still receive a Department request for further information and documents, for a number of different reasons, such as:

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    • If you need to complete your health examinations and/or upload your police clearances, or if your sponsor needs to provide his or her police clearances. If you receive such a request, then you shouldn’t really be concerned. You just need to complete the items requested by the Department and then follow the below instructions in relation to responding to your request via your Immiaccount.
    • If the Department just wants updated and current information in relation to your relationship before deciding your application, then generally speaking, the Department will send you the following generic request information which can look rather daunting when you first look at this as the Department seems to be asking you to provide some of the same information that you previously provided already:

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    Department request
    • If you receive such a request, then you should note:
      • Receiving such a request doesn’t necessarily mean that your Department case officer has any issues with your application, as these requests are very common now days even if you have submitted comprehensive evidence of your relationship already
      • You can upload recent relevant evidence of your relationship and organise this in response to the Department’s request, such as your recent joint account statements, household bills and expenses etc.
      • We generally suggest preparing another statutory declaration to accompany the new information and documents that you upload, in which you should provide your case officer with an update in relation to the current and recent circumstances of your relationship and household, including the financial, social etc. aspects of your relationship and household (your declaration can be much briefer than your earlier declaration as you are just providing the Department with an update in relation to your current circumstances). You can also explain to your case officer how this is demonstrated by the new additional information and documents that you are uploading. This should help your case officer understand how and why your relationship satisfy the relevant legal requirements, rather than just leaving it to the case officer to assess and interpret your documents and information
    • If the Department has particular concerns about your visa application, your sponsor and/or your relationship which you need to address, then these items will generally be stated under a heading called ‘Other requirements’. For example, the Department may ask you to provide:
      • Evidence of contacts between you and sponsor while you are apart (if you lodged an offshore partner visa and if you are separated during the Department’s processing time)

    The Department’s correspondence will confirm the deadline by which you need to respond. If you are in Australia, then generally speaking, you are given 28 days to provide the requested information and/or documents.

    Please have particular attention to the date by which you need to respond to any Department request. If you need more time to collect the requested information and/or documents, then you should send a request asking for this extension at least 3-4 working days before the deadline by which you need to respond. Your case officer should grant this extension, however, whether you are granted an extension is still at the discretion of your case officer, who can deny your request.  

    Once you have collected all the relevant information and documents required in response to the Department’s request checklist, you can upload your new information and documents to your application via your Immiaccount. You can then use the ‘I confirm I have provided information as requested’ link to inform the Department that you have responded to their request. Once you have used this link in your Immiaccount, you do not need to take any further action, send emails or call to inform the Department.  

    Once you have responded to the Department’s request, we find that it may still be some time before your visa application is finalised and decided. Generally speaking, the Department may take another 2-6 months to decide and finalise your visa application, once you have responded to an earlier Department request.  

    The Department may also send further requests for information and documents if the Department believes that this is necessary before a decision can be made.

    Department’s decision

    If the Department approves your application, then congratulations!   You will receive either a temporary visa (while you complete a wait period before you can lodge your permanent partner visa application, which is approximately two years after the date of lodgement of your initial application), or you can be granted a permanent residency partner visa directly (with 5 years of international travel facility) if your relationship satisfies the long-standing relationship requirements.   If the Department unfortunately refuses your visa partner application, then we may be able to assist with appealing to the Tribunal and/or preparing and lodging a new application with the Department, with updated and new additional documents and information which was previously not provided to the Department.  

    Can I appeal to the Tribunal if the Department refuses my application?

    If unfortunately your application is refused by the Department, then you can appeal this refusal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The role of the Tribunal is to review the Department’s decision for refusing your application (or cancelling your visa), and re-decide if the Department’s decision was correct. The relevant Tribunal Member will assess and decide if your application satisfies the ‘compelling reasons’ requirement. If your hearing and appeal is successful, then AAT can make a decision in your favour and decide that the Department’s decision is incorrect and send the matter back to the Department for reconsideration. If the matter is sent back to the Department for reconsideration, then generally speaking, the Department will grant the visa.

    What are the advantages/disadvantages of lodging onshore in Australia?

      Advantages:

    • You can continue to accumulate more time living together and evidence of your relationship for the purposes for your visa application
    • You may be able to obtain a bridging visa with unrestricted work rights that allows you to stay in Australia until your visa application is decided
    • If the Department refuses your application, then you can appeal to the Tribunal as explained above, and continue to live in Australia as a bridging visa holder until the Tribunal decides your appeal

      Disadvantages:

    • You need to satisfy the discretionary ‘compelling reasons’ requirement which would not apply if you lodged your application when you are outside of Australia
    • You may not be able to travel overseas as a bridging visa holder (you will not be able to travel if you lodged and you were unlawfully in Australia at the time of lodgement)

    What are the advantages of lodging offshore outside Australia?

    • You do not need to satisfy the ‘compelling reasons’ requirement. You would just need to satisfy the standard requirements for an offshore Subclass 309/100 partner visa
    • You may be able to apply for a visitor visa during the Department’s processing time, and see if you can live with your sponsor in Australia as a visitor visa holder for some of the processing time

    Disadvantages:

    • You will not be able to work if you are living in Australia as a visitor visa holder. You would only be staying in Australia as a visitor visa holder as you cannot obtain a bridging visa for your partner where you lodged an offshore partner visa application
    • It may be difficult to obtain an Australian visitor visa if the visa applicant has prior migration compliance issues
    • It may be best for the sponsor to travel and see the applicant overseas, and perhaps even do this on multiple occasions to demonstrate your relationship if the applicant is unable to visit Australia during the Department’s processing time
    • It may be more difficult to accumulate strong and convincing evidence of your relationship due to the separation of the visa applicant and sponsor. You may have to make extra efforts with demonstrating your relationship such as regularly making international transfers to each other to demonstrate the financial aspect of your relationship

    Lodging offshore application as a Bridging visa B holder

    One possible way to lodge another visa application while you a waiting for an AAT hearing or Court appeal is to apply while you are outside of Australia. If you are currently holding a Bridging visa A or B, then you may be to apply for a Bridging visa B which allows you to temporarily leave Australia. This may allow you to lodge an offshore partner visa application when you are outside of Australia as a Bridging visa B holder, and then return to Australia on your Bridging visa B and remain in Australia while you wait for your AAT hearing or Court appeal.

    This would allow you to both avoid having to satisfy the Schedule 3 and ‘compelling reasons’ requirement, as well as stay in Australia with your sponsor so that you can accumulate further evidence for your relationship.  

    Please note that by lodging a new visa application while you are outside of Australia, you will not be able to get a bridging visa that is linked to this offshore partner visa application. Your right to return and stay in Australia as a Bridging visa B holder is based on your need to be in Australia for your AAT hearing or Court appeal. Hence if your AAT hearing or Court appeal is not successful, and your Bridging visa is set to expire on a certain date after the AAT or Court’s decision, then you cannot apply for a new bridging visa on the basis of your undecided offshore visa application. 

    If you need to lodge a partner visa application in Australia and you currently hold any bridging visa or you currently do not hold any visa at all, then you will need to satisfy the Schedule 3 requirements for your partner visa application.

    This generally occurs if you are in Australia waiting for a Tribunal appeal hearing or Court hearing in relation to your visa refusal or cancellation, or if you overstayed your prior visa and you are currently unlawfully in Australia.  

    In this situation, you are allowed to lodge a valid partner visa application while you are in Australia as long as your prior visa refusal was not a partner visa refusal.  

    Generally speaking, in order to satisfy the requirements under Schedule 3, you will need to demonstrate that there are ‘compelling reasons’ that affect the circumstances of your application (‘compelling reasons’ requirement). There are no specific circumstances or events defined under the law as ‘compelling reasons’. Whether the circumstances of your application are considered to be compelling is at the discretion of the case officer that assesses and decides your application.  

    If the Department sends you correspondence to address this requirement, then you likely will receive a request like the following example:

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    Schedule 3 request

    As stated in the above example of the Department’s correspondence, visa application and circumstances are considered on a case by case basis.

    If you currently do not hold any visa and you are unlawfully in Australia, then the Department will also likely ask you to provide an explanation in relation to why you overstayed your last visa and became unlawful.

    The Department’s current policy guidelines indicate that the existence of a genuine relationship and the hardship suffered from separation are not in themselves sufficient reasons to satisfy the compelling reasons requirement:

    An example of where the circumstances may not be compelling to waive the Schedule 3 requirements may be where an applicant has remained unlawful for a number of years, made little or no effort to regularise their status and claims compelling circumstances on the basis of a long term relationship with their sponsoring partner and/or hardship caused by separation if they were to apply outside Australia for the visa.

    With the intent of the waiver provisions in mind, it is generally reasonable to expect that compelling reasons to exercise the waiver provision exist where an applicant’s circumstances happened beyond their control. That is, circumstances beyond the applicant’s control had led them to become unlawful and/or prevented them from regularising their status through means other than the Partner visa application for which they seek the waiver.

    For example, in the scenario given earlier, it is reasonable to accept that compelling circumstances exist to waive the Schedule 3 criteria if, for reasons beyond the applicant’s control – such as severe illness or incapacity – the applicant was prevented from regularising their status in the years they had been unlawful.

    .

    As a general rule, the existence of a genuine spouse or de facto relationship between the applicant and sponsoring partner, and/or the hardship suffered from the separation if the applicant were to leave, and apply for the visa, outside Australia are not, in themselves, compelling reasons not to apply the Schedule 3 criteria. This is because a genuine relationship forms the basis of all Partner visa applications, and hardship caused by separation, whilst it differs in degree from one case to another, is common in the Partner visa caseload, particularly in the offshore context where partners may be separated for extended periods during visa processing.

    .

    Policy intends that the waiver provision should not be applied where it is reasonable to expect the applicant to leave Australia and apply outside Australia for a Partner visa. This not only ensures fairness and equity to other applicants and discourages deliberate non-compliance, but also preserves the integrity of the Partner visa program in general and the waiver provisions in specific.

    Matters that officers should take into consideration when assessing whether the applicant’s circumstances may be considered compelling include but are not limited to:

    • any history of non-compliance by the applicant
    • the length of time the applicant has been unlawful
    • the reasons why the applicant became unlawful
    • the reasons why the applicant did not seek to regularise their status sooner
    • what steps, if any, the applicant has taken to regularise their status (other than applying for a Partner visa). 

    Will the Department approve my application?

    The above policy guidelines essentially confirm that you need some ‘compelling reason’ that is beyond just your genuine relationship to satisfy this requirement, and ideally this circumstance should be one that is beyond the visa applicant’s control. Based on our experience with the Department’s assessment, we find that the following circumstances may satisfy the ‘compelling reasons’ requirement:

    • Applicant and sponsor are looking after their Australian citizen child or children, where you can argue that the separation will adversely affect the Australian child or children, as well as requiring the sponsor alone to raise his or her child or children on a temporary basis for around 1-2 years and possibly longer given the Department’s processing times
    • Applicant provides regular daily health care and household support for the sponsor, and/or other family members of the sponsor’s household
    • Applicant is suffering severe illness or incapacity and is receiving treatment and support in Australia

    You are allowed to rely on circumstances that occur after the lodgement of your visa application, as the compelling reason or a further compelling reason to satisfy this requirement. This includes events or circumstances that arise during the Department’s processing time, and the Tribunal’s processing time if you need to appeal. You are not limited to circumstances and facts that existed at or before the time of lodgement of your visa application.

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    Comments

    138 Comments

    amir · December 3, 2019 at 11:34 pm

    Hi Peng, thank you for this blog. It has been very helpful. I would like to ask one question.
    My ex partner got permanent visa through Me 186 direct entry..
    We are not together anymore, do i have to inform the Department about our current situation?

      My Access Australia · December 21, 2019 at 2:31 pm

      Hi Amir,
      There isn’t any legal obligation to inform the Department about this change.

    Anisha · September 19, 2019 at 10:26 am

    Hello, my name is Anisha and i’m in Australia on tourist visa which expires in Feb 20. I applied for offshore spouse visa 309 in 2017. Status is initial assessment. Immigration told me i need to be offshore & they do not inform if i should leave the country. I planned to go to NZ in Nov for 1day to renew my tourist for 3 months and go to my home country in Feb 20. Please advise if i wait till Feb 20 to go offshore wat impact this will have on final decision of spouse visa.

      My Access Australia · September 22, 2019 at 8:20 am

      Hi Anisha,
      The Department should contact you if you are in Australia, and they need you to leave Australia for the application to be finalised and decided.

        Anisha · September 23, 2019 at 8:28 am

        Thank you for your reply.

          Anisha · September 23, 2019 at 9:13 am

          Hello, please advise if in the meantime I can extend my tourist visa ( I do not have no further stay condition)for another 3 months instead of going out of the country. How can I extend my stay as Nov it will be already 3 months. Is it advisable to do that or better I travel in Nov n wait for them to tell me to leave till Feb as the tourist visa expires.

            My Access Australia · September 28, 2019 at 8:14 pm

            Please see the Department’s website in relation to lodging an onshore visitor visa application as an online application:
            https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/visitor-600/tourist-stream-onshore
            Please see Contact Us page and in relation to our Consultation Service – feel free to contact us if you need advice in relation to your visa options.

              Anisha · September 30, 2019 at 4:06 pm

              Thank you very much for your reply. Note that my case officer has sent me a mail telling me to leave the country as they need to finalise my spouse visa. i will be travelling back to my home country in Oct 2019.

    raquel · August 26, 2019 at 1:48 pm

    Hello, I am on a 482 onshore/mid term/secondary visa – i have recently separated form my partner – do I need to apply for a new visa

      My Access Australia · August 31, 2019 at 12:47 pm

      Hi Raquel,
      If the Department contacts you in relation to your visa due to the end of your relationship, then you would need to apply for a new visa before the Department cancels your current visa.
      PC

    Raiyan · August 22, 2019 at 4:27 pm

    hi, my wife is an australian citizen. we are married for two years . have a lease under both on our name. i had a cancellation of my student visa. my case is in the federal court. i just wanna inquire if i apply for a partner visa onshore , what are the chances of approval? please let me know. thanks.

      My Access Australia · August 25, 2019 at 6:49 pm

      Hi Raiyan,
      Please see post in relation to Schedule 3 requirements:
      https://www.myaccessaustralia.com/schedule-3/
      Please see Contact Us page and in relation to our Consultation Service – feel free to contact us if you need advice in relation to your visa options.

    Jodi · August 12, 2019 at 12:51 pm

    Hi, I applied for my partner permanent visa October 2017 and included all relevant documentations like defecto proof, jkinnt lease, joint bills, bank statements character references etc and was granted a bridging visa pretty soon after my application. A year later i received a letter to say I had been granted a temporary permanent visa (820). I was under the impression it was a 2 year wait from the date I submitted my application in 2017 but was told it’s 2 years from when the 820 was granted?

      My Access Australia · August 17, 2019 at 3:29 pm

      Hi Jodi,
      That is 2 years from when you lodge the initial temporary partner visa, not from the date of grant.

    Sandhya Pandey · August 9, 2019 at 3:59 am

    Hi Peng. I’m currently in India and my partner is in Australia on a Student Visa. Although we have been dating for 3 years, he hadnt checked the partner box in his original application for student’s Visa. Was wondering if I can still go ahead and apply for a defacto partner Visa? Also, we dont really have concrete evidence such as joint bank accounts or joint loans. But we’ll be able to provide social evidence with parents approval, regular bank transfers and travel documents etc. Please help.

      My Access Australia · August 17, 2019 at 3:24 pm

      Hi Sandhya,
      Please see Department website:
      https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/student-500#About
      You must declare your family members in your student visa application even if they do not plan to travel with you to Australia. If you do not do this, your family members will not be eligible for a student visa to join you in Australia.

      Your husband may need to lodge a whole new student visa to include you due to the above requirement.
      Please see Contact Us page and in relation to our Consultation Service – feel free to contact us if you need advice in relation to your visa options.

    Sanna · August 8, 2019 at 11:14 am

    Hi I’m currently on a 461 NZ family visa (which I applied for when with my ex partner) which will expire in October 2020. I have now been in a relationship with my current partner for 1.5 years and thinking of applying for a 309/100 partner visa in couple of months time. My question is: If I apply for an off shore visa while I’m home in Europe – am I allowed to come back to Australia on my 461 and stay and work lawfully until October 2020? Or does my new application overwrite my existing visa?

      My Access Australia · August 17, 2019 at 3:20 pm

      Hi Sanna,
      You are allowed to return on your 461 visa while it is valid. Lodging your partner visa doesn’t affect your current 461 visa, until the partner visa is granted at which time the partner visa replaces the 461 visa.

        Sanna · August 21, 2019 at 4:33 pm

        Thanks. Since it is possible to apply overseas and then come back and stay until October 2020 I have some further questions. I’m aware that I need to be overseas when the immigration grant my visa. Will the C.O warn me before they are about to grant my application and ask to exit? I will of course inform them about my situation when I apply for the visa but I don’t want to risk getting my visa cancelled. And do I need to be in the same country when the visa is granted as when I lodged the visa?

          My Access Australia · August 25, 2019 at 6:47 pm

          Yes the Department should contact you if this is required for application decision/finalisation.

    Kriti Gulshan · July 20, 2019 at 3:02 am

    Hello,

    I am an Australian resident,recently got married and planning to apply spouse visa for my partner.He is an Indian national,currently in UK on a student visa. His visa in UK will expire in coming 3-4 months. We are confused if we should go ahead with 309/offshore visa and then call him to visit here on a tourist visa or apply a tourist visa first and then apply onshore spouse (820) visa once he is here.
    Can we apply for Long term Visitor Visa before 309 ?

      My Access Australia · July 26, 2019 at 9:42 pm

      Hi Kriti,
      It would be best to contact us if you need consultation and advice in relation to your application. It isn’t really possible to obtain the information/documents that we need, or provide detailed advice via these comment fields which are intended for short/specific queries.
      Please see Contact Us page and in relation to our Consultation Service – feel free to contact us if you need advice in relation to your visa options.

    YING LIU · July 17, 2019 at 10:14 pm

    HI, I am currently holding 3 years visitor visa 600 ( multiple travel for 3 years ), can I apply parter visa 309 while i am holding the visitor visa?
    Because my friend told me the immigration officer has told him that he cannot apply partner visa until his current visitor visa expiring. That means my friend has to wait 3 years for his current visitor visa expired then he will be able to apply the partner visa.
    Is that right? thanks

      My Access Australia · July 19, 2019 at 8:21 pm

      Hi Ying,
      Generally speaking you can apply for an offshore partner visa while also being the holder of a visitor visa.

    Yash · July 13, 2019 at 9:27 pm

    Hello ! I am Yash from Australia and my wife is an indian citizen… I am applying for her spouse visa from here however I am bit confused about form 80. If I have to fill it or not. It is mentioned on embassy website that it is not required for indians. Please advise.

    Second, she has irregular work experiences and doesn’t have all the certificates from job and payslips too. Does she has to submit such documents with form 80? Please advise. Thank you!

      My Access Australia · July 19, 2019 at 8:24 pm

      Hi Yash,
      It’s a discretionary requirement so you can either provide it now or wait to see if the Department requests this information from you.
      You don’t need to submit job records and payslips for the Form 80.

        Yash · July 20, 2019 at 3:05 am

        Thank you for your reply. As she is not working, Can we apply for Long term Visior visa (Sponsored) or (Unsponsored) before 309?

          My Access Australia · July 26, 2019 at 9:35 pm

          You can if you wish – applicant would need to satisfy the relevant visa requirements.
          Please see Contact Us page and in relation to our Consultation Service – feel free to contact us if you need assistance.

    Sam · June 24, 2019 at 7:47 pm

    Hi, I just wanted to ask a question please. I have applied for my fiance a subclass 300 visa about 3 months ago, she has decided to end the relationship with me,she is still overseas and it’s still in the processing stage.I have contacted immigration here in Australia and they told me to download form 1446 which i have filled and uploaded on my immi account and filled out form 1424 for a refund.They told me that I may get a refund as the visa hasn’t been refused or approved yet,can you comfirm

      My Access Australia · June 27, 2019 at 2:00 pm

      Hi Sam,
      Sorry but I don’t think that you can get a refund but you can ask the Department.

    Natalia · June 24, 2019 at 9:22 am

    Hi Peng, thanks for all this amazing info, it’s been really useful!
    I wanted to ask you if I could apply for a partner visa offshore and once the process started I could get a student visa to go and live with my partner that is currently working in Australia till we get some news about the application.
    Thanks!

    Mary · June 22, 2019 at 8:24 am

    Hi, thank you for this fantastic information, very comprehensive! Although this gave me lots of info, I’m still unsure about one point, maybe you can help? My Australian partner & I, live abroad and I applied for the Offshore 309 de-facto partner visa. We’re trying to find out how fast we’d have to move to Australia if/when my visa gets granted? Would I need to take up residency in Australia immediately or can we wait until it’s convenient? Many thanks!

      My Access Australia · June 24, 2019 at 4:26 pm

      Hi Mary,
      The Department approval notice will have the entry date, however you don’t have to come and live here permanently. For the permanent stage visa you will need to show an intention to live in Australia.
      Please see Contact Us page and in relation to our Consultation Service – feel free to contact us if you need advice in relation to your partner visa options.

    Sam · June 21, 2019 at 1:09 pm

    Hi Peng, thank you for this blog. It has been very helpful. I would like to ask one thing. When I filled the online form I had listed a couple of people as witness to relationship but now I would like 2 different people to sign the statutory declaration part. Wondering would that be allowed? Or the 2 people on the online form have to match the

      My Access Australia · June 24, 2019 at 4:27 pm

      Hi Sam,
      You can use different witnesses for the Form 888.

    KIKU · May 18, 2019 at 8:45 am

    Hello Peng. I have a question regarding the uploading the document file limits.

    “You can only upload a total of 100 documents to your visa application after lodgement, and you can also upload a total of 100 documents to your sponsor’s application. ”

    I have already used up to 95 files and still need to upload more to my application.
    I am wondering when I reached 100 files, I could upload my documents to the partner’s section, for example under Other document?

    Please help, thanks!!

      Peng Cheng · May 19, 2019 at 9:47 am

      Hi Kiku,
      Yes you can.
      Instructions from your Immiaccount after login:

      Attachments – document limit has been reached

      If you have exceeded the maximum number of documents that can be uploaded in ImmiAccount, you can attach additional documents to another applicant included in the visa application.
      PC

        KIKU · May 26, 2019 at 8:29 am

        Thank you Peng!

    Anne · April 16, 2019 at 2:13 pm

    Hi Peng. Good day. I have a question regarding me and my husband’s Statutory Declaration. Since I am lodging my application online, where can I have our Statutory Declarations sworned and signed? Thanks so much.

    Nathan Purgass · April 12, 2019 at 1:46 am

    Hi i need your help to answer the following question?

    form 80 question 25, i am not sure what to write? please help. Thanks
    Currently am on student visa and applying for de facto visa.

    Further stay
    25 . What is your main reason for remaining in Australia?

      Peng Cheng · April 15, 2019 at 1:49 pm

      Hi Nathan,
      You can state that you are applying for a partner visa in order to live with your partner.
      PC

        Nathan Purgass · April 16, 2019 at 1:49 am

        Hi Mr Peng,

        Thanks for your reply.

        Also, is it necessary to have 2 passport photos if we are making online application.

        Regards,

        Nathan

          Peng Cheng · April 23, 2019 at 12:59 pm

          I generally don’t upload passport size photos for partner visa applications.
          PC

    Paola · March 28, 2019 at 2:59 pm

    Hi! My temporary partnership visa (820) was approved after almost 24 months (15 days before). I’ve realised after 2 months that the stage 2 is not automatic and I needed to apply myself adding again all the information relating to our relationship. I’ve called immigration to ask if some documents I’ve uploaded before are required again and I’ve asked the processing time for the partnership visa 801 and they’ve told me that potentially another 2 years. Is this possible? Not 24-26 months in total?

    Tyra · January 30, 2019 at 11:16 pm

    Hello Peng, I’ve been together with my partner (who is a PR) for 10 years (over 6 years in long distance). We’ve got prospective marriage visa approval in July 2018 and I came Aus, get married in Dec 2018. As I am preparing to lodge Partner visa 820/801,do you think that I am eligible to waive the 820 and go straight to 801? We shared our financial expense all these while, eg travel expense, meals. We have a lot of evidences as well, previously the agent advise us to apply 309 instead of 300. TQ

      Peng Cheng · February 2, 2019 at 8:27 pm

      Hi Tyra,
      It sounds like you should be eligible.
      Please see Contact Us page and in relation to our Consultation Service – feel free to contact us if you need advice in relation to your visa options.
      PC

    Comments are closed.