If you are married or in de-facto relationship to an Australian citizen or permanent resident, or an eligible New Zealand citizen, you may be eligible for the partner visa. All applicants must be sponsored by their partner, who must be at least 18 years of age.
Marriage
To apply for a Partner Visa as a married partner, the marriage must be legal under Australian law.
De facto
To apply for a Partner Visa as a de facto partner, the applicant must demonstrate at least 12 months of cohabitation with their Australian partner in the period immediately prior to lodging the visa application. The definition of a de facto partner extends to opposite and same-sex couples.
This visa either be lodged onshore or from outside Australia. Both the onshore and offshore spouse visa applications consist of a two-stage process. The first step is to lodge a combined application for both a temporary and permanent residence partner visa.
Following is the different number of options under the partner visa program, such as:
- Onshore Partner Visa – Subclass 309/100
- Offshore Partner Visa – Subclass 820/801
- Prospective Marriage (Fiancé) Visa – Subclass 300
Onshore Partner Visa applicants are required to hold a valid substantive visa and be in Australia at the time the visa is granted.
Offshore Partner Visa applicants are required to be outside of Australia at the time the visa is granted.
All Australian visa applicants are required to satisfy health and character requirements.
Unlike other visa applications, the process for a Partner Visa in Australia can take longer. This is because the process first begins with submitting the temporary application. Then there is a two-year wait before you can apply for the permanent Partner Visa.When applying for a partner visa, there are several documents you will need to provide with your application. Document requirements may change depending on the visa subclass you are applying for. These include several documentations such as:
- Identity documents
- Relationship proof documentation for
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- Joint finance
- Joint household
- Social matters
- Commitment
- Previous relationship documentation
- Character documents
- Documents for any dependents
- Passport