A partner visa lets the spouse, de facto partner or fiance of an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen live in Australia.
The visa you apply for depends on two things. Whether you are inside or outside Australia when you lodge, and whether you are married, in a de facto relationship, or intending to marry.
For applicants inside Australia. You apply for both at once. The 820 is the temporary stage, and the 801 permanent stage is assessed later, usually a couple of years on, provided the relationship continues.
The same two stage structure for applicants outside Australia. You apply for both together and the temporary visa is decided first.
For people intending to marry an Australian sponsor. It allows entry to Australia to marry, after which a partner visa application follows. It has time limits attached.
For family members of New Zealand citizens who hold a special category visa in Australia and who are not themselves eligible for a New Zealand passport.
The legislation looks at four aspects of the relationship, and evidence is expected across all of them.
Financial. How you share money, expenses and assets. Joint accounts, shared bills, evidence of pooled resources.
Household. How you run a home together. Leases, utilities, mail, how domestic responsibilities are split.
Social. Whether other people know you as a couple. Photographs across time, evidence you attend things together, statements from people who know you both.
Commitment. How you present the relationship and its future. Time spent together, communication during separations, wills and beneficiary nominations, knowledge of each other’s lives.
A common mistake is to build a very strong case in one of these and leave another almost empty. Evidence spread across all four is worth more than a mountain of it in one.
Documents created at the time, for ordinary reasons, are worth more than documents created for the application. A lease from three years ago is stronger evidence than a statement written last week.
Coverage across time matters more than volume. Evidence that spans the length of the relationship shows continuity. Two hundred photographs from one holiday does not.
Third party evidence helps. Things written by banks, landlords, employers and government bodies are harder to dispute than things written by the couple.
Periods living apart that are not explained. Separations are common and are not fatal. Unexplained separations are a problem.
Thin evidence in the early part of the relationship, which is often when least was documented.
Relationships that do not fit the conventional pattern. Arranged marriages, long distance relationships and couples who keep finances separate can all succeed, but they need to be presented in a way that addresses the assumptions a decision maker may bring.
Sponsorship problems. Sponsorship limits apply, and past sponsorships or certain convictions affect eligibility.
Changes during processing. These applications take a long time, and the department has to be told when things change.
Refusal is not always the end. Review rights usually exist and there are time limits on them that are short and strictly applied. If you have received a refusal, the date on the letter matters. Act on it.
We prepare partner applications from the beginning, which means working out what evidence you already have, what is missing, and how to build the rest before lodgement rather than after a request from the department.
We also act on refusals and reviews.
We cannot promise a grant. What we can do is make sure your relationship is presented properly and completely.
Call 1300 368 933 to talk through your situation with an immigration lawyer.
