Are you thinking about applying for an Australian Partner Visa? Or are you already in the middle of the process and finding it all too overwhelming whilst you’re trying to get your Australia visa? Let’s face it – there’s not a huge amount of information online about applying for the Australia Partner Visa. So, I thought I’d share a huge update about it since I applied.
Turns out more than half of the people applying for the Partner Visa for Australia get refused nowadays (we’ll tell you more about why, later in this post).
If you’re looking for a migration agent you can trust to help you, check out True Blue Migration Services. They will offer you a free visa assessment, just let them know we told you about them.
Should You Use A Migration Agent?
If you’re a bit unsure of migration agents, I get you. No one wants to be paying out more than they need to for an already expensive visa. To be honest, you need to go through a migration agent because they are the only people who have the most up-to-date information other than Australian Immigration. I’m sure you too have been on hold for hours trying to get through Australian Immigration as we were too.
Don’t ruin this life-changing moment over something you wish you should have done, by getting your visa rejected. Honestly, you won’t regret a life of adventure in the sun in Australia!
If you’ve not read our series on Australian visas on this site yet, you’ll begin to notice how we only ever mention True Blue Migration Services when talking about Migration Agents. We know there’s a sea of migration experts in Australia and yet you need someone trustworthy like we did. That’s why we only mention these guys because they are so good at what they do.
Ask True Blue Migration Services any questions or concerns you have and they’ll get back to you for FREE.
That’s right, you don’t have to pay any consultation fees just to ask True Blue Migration Services a question. If you have questions or concerns, simply send them an email and they’ll get back to you at no cost. Honestly, there’s nothing more frustrating than spending a couple of hundred dollars just to get some questions answered!
Australian Partnership Visa Updates You Need To Know!
There are a couple of things you need to know before applying for the partner visa.
The applicant and sponsor will both need to demonstrate that they can speak functional English. If you’re English isn’t great, book some language classes before you apply!
There will also need to be an upfront sponsor approval as well. This means you’ll need to lodge the sponsor application first, before you can lodge the actual Australian Partner Visa application. With this extra step involved, it means there may well be an increase in the visa soon. Personally knowing this information, I wouldn’t wait any longer and apply as soon as you can before these changes are put in place.
If you’re worried about these updates, just pop True Blue Migration Services an email first to check with them.
Watch My Australian Partner Visa Video!
In our Partner Visa Australia video, we go through our entire application literally moments before we sent it off to Australian immigration. When we applied you could either send it via post or online. Just as an FYI – you can only send it via online now. Also, this is the very first video I made for Londoner In Sydney!
Our Partner Visa Australia Story
I came in on a Working Holiday Visa to Australia for one year when I first met Steve (the Australian!). We then left the country after that one year and travelled the world for a year with actually no intention of coming back to Australia.
So we didn’t have any bills or rental agreements to supply when we decided to come back to apply for the partner visa a year later But, we had been together for over a year, in fact two years by this point and we could prove us being together the whole time with for example, airline print outs of our travels around the world.
…And we had Steve’s mum vouch for us as living with her for that year.
When I returned the following year, I came in on a three month tourist visa to Australia and then applied for the defacto partner visa.
Where Applicants Go Wrong
True Blue Migration Services told us recently a lot of the Australian Partner Visa applications apply for the partner visa to Australia BEFORE they’ve been in a relationship for one year. This is how you’ll most certainly get refused so please don’t apply for the spouse visa before you’ve been in a relationship for at least 1 year.
Not To Scare You But…
There are actually two parts you need to apply for the Australian Partner Visa. Yep, I had no idea either. Just to explain it’s split into the following parts:
820 visa which is this one I’m talking about in this post. This is the first one you need to apply for which is your temporary visa.
801 visa which is the second part of this visa (you can read my post about applying for the 801 visa here). You can apply two years after you’ve been granted your 820 visa. This is the permanent visa, aka your PR. Once you’ve got this you can chill. You can then look into citizenship after that but you’ll need to be in Australia for at least four years, with at least 12 months on Australia Permanent Residency.
The good news is, once you pay out the fee for the first visa, it pays mostly for the second half too (bar like $200). With the second half, you’ll need to apply all over again BUT you just need to mainly prove your relationship since you applied for the 820 visa. Basically, keep a folder on your desktop of things you would include and keep adding to it as time goes on.
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Australian Partner Visa Costs
So the Australian visa cost isn’t cheap at all. As it currently stands the partner visa to Australia costs FROM AUD$8,850 if you apply in Australia. I remember paying a good few extra thousand dollars on top of the cost for extras like the medical.
The interesting thing is if you apply for the spouse visa to Australia in your home country, it costs the same as applying in Australia – it used to be a lot less. If you apply for the prospective marriage visa to Australia it costs a lot less.
Find out more about the Australian Partner Visa cost on the Australian Government site.
Australian Partner Visa Processing Time
As it currently stands the Immigration website states that it takes between 22 – 27 months to process. True Blue Migration Services mentioned that it might not take as long and could be up to just 12 months, especially if you’re applying during Covid. If you apply for the partner visa from your home country, you’ll have to wait until it’s approved before you come to Australia.
Start Your Australian Partnership Visa Application ASAP
Make a start on the Australian Partner Visa application as soon as you are sure you are going to apply for the visa. Do not wait until the last minute as it will take you way longer to get all the documents together than you think. It took me three whole months and I wasn’t working at the time because I was on a tourist visa.
Do The Following Straight Away!
Get your relationship certified
Get your relationship certified as that takes a good 4 weeks before you get the certificate. If you’re in NSW you can apply for your relationship to be certified here.
Find your birth certificate
Apply for a birth certificate from your home country because that can take a good 5 weeks for delivery to an Australian address. I got a certified copy of my birth certificate from the UK Government here.
888 Forms
Ask Australian family and friends to fill out the 888 forms here (which they need signed by a JP too) and make sure you get them back in time to submit. I included six, that was four from Steve’s family, one of his family friends and one of my school friends who is now an Australian resident.
Find a JP
Find a JP (Justice Of The Peace) who will happily sign all of your stat decs and any forms you need signing to confirm your identity. This includes; copies of your passport and the passport photos of you. They stamp the copies of the documents and sign it. We found one on the net who lived nearby who I called and they happily came round twice to sign everything for us. You can find your nearest JP here.
Wait Until After You’ve Lodged The Application
There are a couple of time consuming things you can wait to do until after you’ve lodged your application for your visa to Australia which include the following:
• Apply for police clearance in the countries you have lived in as well as Australia, can take a good 4 weeks
• Book your medical. The waiting time isn’t that long so you can wait until after you’ve lodged it.
Now you probably know by now that there isn’t a lot of info out there on how to actually apply for this visa. I’ve decided to list the contents page from my application to at least give you a starting point in getting all your documents together which I’ve updated accordingly to reflect if you’re applying for the defacto partner visa to Australia.
How To Get The Australian Partner Visa Application Ready
The first section (Folder 1 – 4) is dedicated to forms and ID. Most of the contents in these folders need to be signed by a JP.
I actually sent my application off in the post but it’s all done electronically now so just use this as a guide for how to organise and submit your application.
FOLDER 1 – FORMS
FOLDER 2 – STATUTORY DECLARATIONS
FOLDER 3 – PERSONAL DOCUMENTS OF APPLICANT – that’s me
FOLDER 4 – PERSONAL DOCUMENTS OF SPONSOR – that’s Steve, the Aussie
Then there’s the next section dedicated to show how you are in a genuine relationship where you include house bills, photographs, etc below (Folder 5 – 8)
EVIDENCE OF GENUINE & CONTINUING RELATIONSHIP
Folder 5 – Financial Aspects: table of contents and documents
Folder 6 – Nature of the household: table of contents and documents
Folder 7 – Social Context of the Relationship: table of contents and documents
Folder 8 – Nature of Commitment to each other: table of contents and documents
My Personal Contents Page
The application is split into two sections; folders 1 – 4 is basically all about forms. Then from folders 5 – 8 it’s all about proving you’re in a genuine relationship which is where you’ll need to get a bit creative.
Folder 1: Forms
1.1 Subclass 820 Application Document Checklist
Folder 2: Statutory declarations
2.1 888 Form – Statutory Declaration by a supporting witness (x6)
2.2 Statutory Declaration by Applicant on the history of my relationship with Sponsor
2.3 Statutory Declaration by Sponsor on the history of my relationship with Applicant
Folder 3: Personal documents of applicant
3.1 Certified copy of the biographical data page of the passport
3.2 Recent passport size photographs (2x)
3.3 Certified copy of birth certificate
3.4 Certified copy of UK Driver Licence
3.5 Form 80 – Personal particulars for character assessment
3.6 Certified copy of most recent Bank Statement
3.7 Applicant Curriculum Vitae
3.8 Copies of current visa approval letters
Folder 4: Personal documents of sponsor
4.1 Certified copy of the biographical data page of the passport & recent passport size photographs (x2)
4.2 Certified copy of birth certificate
4.3 Certified copy of NSW Driver’s License
4.4 Original letter of employment
Evidence Of Genuine And Continuing Relationship
This is more of the creative section where you need to prove you’re in a genuine relationship.
Folder 5: Financial Aspects
5.1 Joint Statutory Declaration stating a summary of our Financial Aspects.
5.2 Original letters of joint bank accounts
5.3 Relevant purchases made for before/during our trip around the world
5.4 Flights booked for our trip around the world
5.5 Room bookings made for our trip around the world
5.6 Bank statements of applicant showing all purchases made since the relationship started.
5.7 Bank statements of Sponsor showing all purchases made since the relationship started.
Folder 6: Nature of household
1. Joint Statutory Declaration stating a summary of the Nature of our Household.
2. Statutory Declaration from landlord stating rental lease.
3. Confirmation Emails for household purchases.
4. Applicant proof of address living with Sponsor in Australia.
Folder 7: Social aspect of the relationship
1. Joint Statutory Declaration of the Social Aspect of our Relationship
2. Photos of Applicant and Sponsor together & with friends every month and every country visited from****.
3. Joint cards from Applicant & Sponsor’s families
4. Personal cards to and from the Applicant & Sponsor
5. Photos of Applicant & Sponsor with both families.
6. Photo evidence of gifts to and from the Applicant & Sponsor
7. Email confirmation of gifts to and from the Applicant & Sponsor
8. Gig tickets confirmation
9. Joint gym membership
10. Screen shot of mutual friends on Facebook
11.Cards from friends to Applicant
12.Screen shot of website both Applicant & Sponsor built in Malawi, Africa
13. Postcards of Applicant & Sponsor’s trip around the world to Sponsor’s mother
[alert type=red ]AUREC has advised the below is only needed if you haven’t got a strong application[/alert]
14. Personal Emails between Applicant, Sponsor and Sponsor’s mother.
15. Personal Emails between Applicant and Applicant’s Sister re: Sponsor.
Folder 8: Nature of the commitment to each other
1. Joint Statutory Declaration of our Nature of Commitment to each other (this basically means it’s a letter of us detailing our commitment and our future plans for our life in Australia.)
2. Certified certificate of Births, Deaths & Marriages – Relationship certificate.
3. Screenshots of proof that Applicant & Sponsor are each other’s beneficiaries for their Super Funds.
4. Applicant’s Application Form for working for **** company from **** stating Sponsor as the emergency contact (dated ****)
5. Evidence that Applicant’s second year Working Holiday Visa was approved and sent to Sponsor’s email for confirmation.
6. Time spent apart – Leaving cards, emails and postcards sent to each other whilst Applicant went back to UK.
7. Personal cards to each other – Birthday, Valentines, Christmas and Anniversary Cards. (these were photocopied and signed by JP to prove they are real).
8. Facebook status screenshots stating when Applicant and Sponsor made their relationship official on social media.
9. Private Facebook conversations between Sponsor and Applicant.
10. Emotional support emails and cards to each other.
11. Applicant & Sponsor’s joint blog re: their trip around the world.
12. Proof of Applicant & Sponsor’s Will’s. (we just signed up to a cheap will service)
Why You Need To Use True Blue Migration Servics
I would personally use True Blue Migration Services if I was about to submit my Australian Partner Visa Application now.
I’ve shown you what to expect when applying for the partner visa to Australia. Here’s some of the reasons why you really need to strongly think about using them to help you secure this visa.
1. Not only is the cost to apply for the partner visa so high, but you’d also be mad to risk it not getting approved. Like I said before, True Blue Migration Services are widely known as the best migration agents in Australia!
2. I wonder whether my application would get approved now that immigration has become stricter with the applications. We didn’t have proof of financial bills or rental agreements in place back then because we were staying with Steve’s mum or we were travelling the world.
3. You really need to make sure you have been together for over 12 months when you apply for the spouse visa to Australia. If you apply before you’ve been together for 12 months, it will get rejected.
4. You don’t need to get your medical or police check before you apply because they expire after 12 months. Seeing as the current wait time is at least 20 months, you’ll only have to get them done again.
5. Every application is different so you need True Blue Migration Services to help you make sure yours is completely clear and concise. The wording in your application is absolutely crucial and they know exactly what to do to help you get it over the line.
Disclaimer
As I state in the disclaimer below, I can not tell you how to apply for the visa, I am just stating what I did. If you have any questions about applying for the Australian Partner Visa, drop True Blue Migration Services an email and they will do their best to answer it for FREE!
Good Luck!
Disclaimer – I do not work for immigration, I am just someone who has been through the visa process and have written this post to state what I did. If you have any questions, I do advise you to contact True Blue Migration Services. They are the only people who can give you the most up-to-date and correct answers.
Read more of my Australian Visa Guides!
Need more help with your Australian visa process? Check out my guides here.
Australian Partner Visa Guides
- How I Applied for the Australian Partner Visa
- 13 Tips for Writing the Perfect Partner Visa Relationship Statement for Australia
- 8 Crucial Mistakes to Avoid for the Australian Partner Visa
- How I Applied for Part 2 of the Partner Visa to Australia (801 Visa)
- Can I Work on a Bridging Visa in Australia?
Australian Citizenship Guides
- From Applicant to Citizen: My Australian Citizenship Timeline
- My Australian Citizenship Ceremony Experience: A Glimpse Into What It Entails
- Everything I Learned About Applying For Citizenship In Australia
- 13 Tips for The Citizenship Test in Australia (And I Passed!)
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