For this visa type you must demonstrate to the Department of Home Affairs that you and your partner are committed to a shared life together, to the exclusion of all others. Evidence must be provided to support this and is closely scrutinised.
The Department of Home Affairs requires evidence that covers the financial and social aspects of your relationship AND evidence to demonstrate the nature of your commitment to each other and the nature of your household.
A successful application depends on the quality and quantity of evidence provided to support the genuine and ongoing nature of your relationship.
Am I eligible for a Partner Visa?
- I am in a relationship with an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen
- I am over the age of 18 years of age
- I am legally married, or I have a de-facto partner
- I meet the health and character requirements
- My Australian partner also meets the character requirements
Once this visa is granted, the holder is allowed to remain in Australia with full work, study and travel rights and access to Medicare. 2 years after the initial Partner visa application is lodged, the Department of Home Affairs will begin the process to grant permanent residency. At this stage, applicants are required to provide evidence that they remain in their relationship.
In certain circumstances, a waiver can be applied for so the 2-year period before applying for permanent residence is not required. You may be eligible for a waiver if:
- you have been in a married or de-facto relationship with your partner for 3 years or more at the time of application; OR
- you have been in a married or de-facto relationship for 2 years AND you have dependent children of the relationship; OR
- your partner was granted a permanent visa under the humanitarian program or was granted a protection visa and was in the relationship with you before the visa was granted and this relationship was declared to the Department of Home Affairs at the time.
What does this visa allow me to do?
- Reside in Australia until a decision is made about my permanent Partner visa application
- Travel in and out of Australia
- Work and study in Australia
- Enrol in Medicare, Australia’s scheme for health-related care and expenses
- Apply for Australian citizenship (once I am eligible) by completing the residence requirements in Australia
- Sponsor eligible relatives who are eligible to meet a family visa (for example, partner, parent, child etc) or certain skilled regional visas (subclass 491).
We chose Immigration Downunder for our spouse visa application as Joe had already had a great experience with them before with a work visa. From the beginning to the end of our visa application Ben and Kelly demonstrated their expertise in this area and they made us feel confident in our application. We also felt they went above and beyond our expectations, by helping us to lodge our initial application in a short time frame to assist us in starting the process on-shore before Joe needed to travel again for work. We are pleased to say we were successful with our application and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Immigration Downunder to others.