Partner Visa Processing: What Happens After You Lodge Your Application?

An onshore applicant applies for the:

• subclass 820 Partner (Temporary) visa, and
• subclass 801 Partner (Permanent) visa

An offshore applicant applies for the:

• subclass 309 Partner (Provisional) visa, and
• subclass 100 Partner (Migrant) visa

You pay for the combined Partner application at the initial application
stage.

The permanent stage is assessed later if the applicable requirements are
met.

Your application information can include an Application ID and
Transaction Reference Number (TRN).

These details are important because the sponsor needs the applicant's
application information to lodge the separate online Partner
sponsorship.

Important Home Affairs correspondence should be monitored through
ImmiAccount and the contact details connected to the application.

Home Affairs advises sponsors to lodge the sponsorship as soon as
possible after the applicant submits the Partner visa application.

The sponsor may need to provide:

• identity and status evidence
• police certificates
• sponsorship history
• character information
• relationship information
• other supporting documents

The visa application and sponsorship are connected but separately
assessed.

Home Affairs allows additional information and documents to be attached
through ImmiAccount while the application is being processed.

This can be important where:

• a requested document was not available at lodgement
• a police certificate becomes available
• Home Affairs asks for further information
• circumstances change
• continuing relationship evidence becomes relevant

Do not repeatedly upload large volumes of irrelevant material merely
because the application is waiting.

Documents should have a clear purpose.

Home Affairs may request additional information or documents needed to
assess the application.

A request can relate to matters such as:

• identity
• relationship evidence
• sponsor information
• police certificates
• health examinations
• character
• family composition
• previous relationships
• other visa criteria

The request will normally specify what is needed and a timeframe.

Respond to the actual request and meet the deadline where possible.

Do not simply ignore the request.

Use the available process to explain the situation and provide what is
available.

Whether additional time is available depends on the circumstances and
applicable process.

Where appropriate, updated evidence can help show that the relationship
remains genuine and continuing during processing.

Examples can include newer evidence of:

• shared residence
• finances
• household arrangements
• travel
• family events
• social activities
• significant joint decisions
• continuing commitment

The aim is not to manufacture a monthly evidence bundle. It is to
maintain a credible record of the relationship as it develops.

Depending on the circumstances, this can include changes to:

• address
• contact details
• passport
• family composition
• relationship status
• sponsor circumstances
• birth of a child
• other information relevant to the application

A Partner visa application should not remain based on information that
has become materially inaccurate.

If a Bridging Visa A is granted in association with the Partner
application, Home Affairs explains that a BVA generally allows the
applicant to remain lawfully in Australia after the current
substantive visa ceases while the new substantive visa application is
being processed.

Applicants should check VEVO and the bridging visa grant notice rather
than assuming when the bridging visa becomes active or what conditions
apply.

Work rights are not something to assume merely from the fact that a
Partner application has been lodged.

Check the actual BVA grant notice and VEVO.

If the bridging visa has work restrictions, separate rules can apply to
requests for a different BVA in appropriate circumstances.

If your current substantive visa still permits travel and return, its
conditions and validity need to be checked.

If you are relying on an in-effect Bridging Visa A, Home Affairs states
that the BVA ceases if you leave Australia.

To leave and return while the substantive visa application is being
processed, an eligible applicant generally needs to obtain a Bridging
Visa B before departure.

Do not book international travel on the assumption that a BVA allows
re-entry.

The BVB needs to be granted before departure.

Home Affairs states that if the travel facility expires while you are
outside Australia, the BVB ceases and cannot be used to return.

Travel plans should therefore be checked against the actual BVB travel
period.

The subclass 820 is the temporary onshore Partner visa.

The subclass 309 is the provisional offshore Partner visa.

Grant of the 820 or 309 allows the applicant to remain in, or progress
through, the Partner pathway while the permanent 801 or 100 application
remains to be finalised.

The permanent stage is not a new unrelated migration pathway.

It is the later stage of the combined Partner application.

For the standard pathway, the two-year period is generally measured from
the date the original Partner visa application was made.

Home Affairs currently tells subclass 309 and 820 holders that once
two years have passed since they first applied for their Partner
visas, they can submit information for the permanent stage.

The Migration Regulations likewise frame the standard subclass 100
criterion around at least two years having passed since the application
was made.

It is not generally a fresh two-year waiting period beginning on the
date the 309 or 820 visa is granted.

Reaching the two-year point generally makes the applicant eligible for
permanent-stage assessment under the standard pathway.

Home Affairs still needs to assess the permanent visa criteria.

The applicant may need to provide updated information and evidence.

The relationship normally needs to continue to satisfy the applicable
requirements unless a statutory continuation provision applies.

Applicants can submit the required information and documents through the
relevant Partner visa process in ImmiAccount.

Updated evidence can address matters such as:

• current relationship
• address and household
• finances
• sponsor circumstances
• family composition
• police or character information
• other matters requested by Home Affairs

Do not assume the evidence submitted years earlier is automatically
sufficient for the permanent-stage assessment.

This can include specified long-term relationship circumstances and
other statutory provisions.

The exact requirements are technical and depend on the visa pathway and
facts.

Applicants should not assume that being in a long relationship
automatically guarantees simultaneous or early permanent visa grant.

Relationship breakdown does not always produce an automatic refusal
because Partner visa law contains specified provisions involving
circumstances such as:

• family violence
• death of the sponsoring partner
• certain circumstances involving a child of the relationship

These have their own legal and evidence requirements.

Do not continue describing the relationship as genuine and continuing if
it has ended.

Home Affairs makes the visa decision.

Depending on the applicant's circumstances, statutory provisions may
still be relevant even after sponsorship withdrawal.

Privacy restrictions can also affect what Home Affairs later tells the
former sponsor about the application.

Partner visa processing times vary.

Home Affairs publishes a processing-time guide based on recently decided
applications, but it is a guide rather than a prediction for an
individual case.

Applications are also processed according to the applicable family visa
processing priorities.

The purpose of this article is therefore to explain the process rather
than promise a particular decision date.

• monitor ImmiAccount and email
• make sure contact details remain current
• complete the sponsor application
• provide requested police and health information
• respond to Home Affairs requests
• maintain accurate relationship evidence
• report material changes
• check visa and bridging-visa conditions in VEVO
• obtain appropriate travel permission before leaving Australia if
  relying on bridging status
• prepare for the permanent stage when the eligibility point
  approaches

A Partner application should be actively maintained rather than lodged
and forgotten.

• acknowledgement received
• Application ID and TRN recorded
• sponsorship lodged
• applicant documents uploaded
• sponsor police checks provided
• health requirements completed when required
• character documents provided
• current visa status checked
• bridging visa grant and conditions checked for onshore applicants
• travel plans checked before departure
• changes reported
• continuing relationship evidence retained
• two-year permanent-stage eligibility date calculated from the
  original Partner application
• permanent-stage information prepared when eligible

The exact process can differ depending on the visa pathway and
individual circumstances.