Migration Point

Partner Visa (Apply Overseas)

Partner visa (Apply Overseas)

Allows the partner or spouse of an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen to live in Australia.

You apply for the temporary and the permanent partner visas together.

 

Partner (Provisional) visa (Subclass 309)

This visa lets the de facto partner or spouse of an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen live in Australia temporarily. Getting this visa is the first step towards a permanent Partner visa (subclass 100).

  • ​​​It is a temporary visa
  • It leads directly to the permanent Partner visa
  • You must be outside Australia when you apply

Stay

Temporarily, until your permanent Partner (Migrant) visa (subclass 100) application is decided or the application is withdrawn

Cost

From AUD7,715

Processing Time

  • 75% of applications: 17 months
  • 90% of applications: 23 months

Partner (Migrant) visa (Subclass 100)

The visa lets the de facto partner or spouse of an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, live in Australia permanently. It is usually granted to people who hold a temporary Partner visa (subclass 309).

  • ​This a permanent visa
  • You must hold a temporary Partner visa (subclass 309)

Stay

Permanently

Cost

You will have paid for this visa when you applied for the combined temporary and permanent partner visas.

Processing Time

  • 75% of applications: 17 months
  • 90% of applications: 22 months

With this visa you can

  • stay in Australia until your permanent Partner (Migrant) visa (subclass 100) is decided or the application is withdrawn
  • work in Australia
  • study in Australia (you will not receive government support)
  • travel to and from Australia as many times as you want
  • attend up to 510 hours of free English language classes provided by the Adult Migrant English Program
  • enrol in Australia’s public health care scheme, Medicare

 

How long you can stay

Stay on the visa until your permanent visa (subclass 100) application is decided or you withdraw the application.

For most applicants, this stay is from 15 to 24 months.

In some circumstances, including where you have been in a long term relationship before you apply, you might not stay on the 309 visa at all. Sometimes you may be granted the permanent visa immediately after the temporary 309 visa is granted.

Include family members

You can include your members of the family unit in your application. You can:

  • include them when you lodge your visa application
  • add a dependent child after you lodge your application but before a decision is taken on your temporary visa.

Family members who apply with you must:

  • meet the health requirement
  • meet the character requirement
  • be outside Australia

You can also add them after the temporary visa is granted.

 

Cost

AUD7,715 for the main applicant. This fee covers both:

  • this temporary visa
  • the permanent Partner (Migrant) visa (subclass 100)

There is also a fee for each family member who applies for the visa with you, unless they hold a Dependent Child visa (subclass 445). There is no fee for subclass 445 visa holders.

This does not take into account other costs you might also have to pay such as those for police certificates, health checks or biometrics.

 

Apply from

You must be outside Australia when you apply for this visa. You must be outside Australia when your temporary visa application is decided. 

 

Processing times

Your application might take longer to process if:

  • you do not fill it in correctly
  • you don’t include all required documents or the department needs more information from you
  • it takes time to verify your information

If you do not pay the correct visa application charge your application will not be processed. You will be notified if this is the case.

 

Your obligations

You and your family members must meet all visa conditions and obey Australian laws.

Note: You must enter Australia before the date specified in your grant letter. The first entry date is generally set at 12 months from the date of visa grant.

 

Travel

You can travel to and from Australia as many times as you want.

Note: You must make your first entry to Australia as the holder of this visa before the date specified in your visa grant letter. The first entry date is generally set at 12 months from the date of visa grant.

Visa label

Your visa will be digitally linked to your passport. You will not get a label in your passport

Identity documents

Provide a birth certificate showing the names of both parents.

If you can’t provide this, provide one of the following:

  • identification pages of a family book showing the names of both parents
  • identification pages of an identification document issued by the government
  • identification pages of a court-issued document that proves your identity
  • identification pages of a family census register

Also provide:

  • the pages of your current passport showing your photo, personal details and passport issue and expiry dates
  • a national identity card, if you have one
  • proof of change of name, if applicable, such as:
    • a marriage or divorce certificate
    • change of name documents from an Australian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, or the relevant overseas authority
    • documents that show other names you have been known by

Your relationship with your partner

If you are married, provide your marriage certificate or other evidence that your marriage is valid in Australia. If you are a de facto partner, provide proof of your de facto relationship.

This proof should show that:

  • you have a mutual commitment with your spouse of de facto partner to the exclusion of all others
  • your relationship is genuine and continuing
  • you either live together or don’t live permanently apart
  • you are not related by family

Tell in writing about:

  • how, when and where you first met
  • how the relationship developed
  • when you moved in together, got engaged or married
  • what you do together
  • time you spent apart
  • significant events in the relationship
  • your plans for the future

Finances

Show how you and your partner share financial matters. You could give:

  • joint mortgage or lease documents
  • joint loan documents for major assets like homes, cars or major appliances
  • joint bank account statements
  • household bills in both names

Your household

Show how you and your partner share domestic matters. You could give:

  • a statement about how you share housework
  • household bills in both names
  • mail or emails addressed to you both
  • documents that show joint responsibility for children
  • documents that prove your living arrangements

Social matters

Show that others know about your relationship. You could give:

  • joint invitations or evidence you go out together
  • proof you have friends in common
  • proof you have told government, public or commercial bodies about your relationship
  • proof you do joint sporting, cultural or social activities together
  • proof you travel together
  • statutory declarations from your partner’s parents, family members, relatives and friends about how they see your relationship. You can use Form 888 Statutory declaration by a supporting witness in relation to a Partner or Prospective Marriage visa application

Commitment

Show how you are committed to a long-term relationship with each other. You could give us:

  • proof you have knowledge of each other’s background, family situation or other personal details. You could tell us this at an interview
  • proof you have combined your personal matters
  • the terms of your wills
  • proof you stay in touch when apart

Additional proof of a de facto relationship

In addition to documents proving your relationship, show us you have been in your de facto relationship for at least 12 months before you applied for this visa.

If you haven’t been in the relationship for 12 months, tell us in writing why the 12-month requirement does not apply. For example:

  • provide evidence you have registered your relationship with an Australian births, ­­deaths and marriages agency, or
  • explain any compelling and compassionate circumstances exist to grant the visa

Other relationships

If you have previously been married, widowed, divorced or permanently separated, provide divorce documents, death certificates, separation documents or statutory declarations.

 

 

Character documents

Provide an Australian police certificate if you have spent a total of 12 months or more in Australia in the last 10 years since you turned 16.

Only complete disclosure National Police Certificates issued by the Australian Federal Police are accepted. The department will not accept standard disclosure certificates or national police certificates issued by Australian state or territory police.

Also provide:

  • an overseas police certificate from every country, including your home country, where you spent a total of 12 months or more in the last 10 years since you turned 16
  • military service records or discharge papers if you served in the armed forces of any country

Complete and provide Form 80 Personal particulars for assessment including character assessment

Dependants under 18 documents

For every dependant under 18 years old who is applying with you provide:

  • identity documents
  • proof of your relationship with your dependant, like a birth or marriage certificate
  • character documents, if the dependant is 16 or 17 years of age
  • adoption papers or parental court orders, if applicable
  • proof of enrolment at school, college or university, if applicable
  • proof of sole custody, if applicable

Parental responsibility documents

You must get consent for any applicant under 18 years of age to migrate to Australia from anyone who:

  • has a legal right to decide where the child lives and
  • is not coming to Australia with the child

They must complete either:

  • Form 1229 Consent form to grant an Australian visa to a child under the age of 18 years
  • a statutory declaration giving their consent for the child to visit Australia on this visa

Alternatively, you can show:

  • an Australian court order that allows your child to migrate to Australia, or
  • that the laws of your home country allow them to migrate

Include:

  • an identity document that shows the signature and photo of the person who completed the form or declaration, such as a passport or driver’s licence
  • adoption papers or other court documents if applicable

Dependants over 18 documents

For every dependant 18 years old or older who is applying with you provide:

  • identity documents
  • documents about their other relationships, if applicable
  • character documents, if applicable
  • adoption papers or parental court orders, if applicable

Proof of dependency

You need to prove that this person is dependent on you. Provide:

  • a completed Form 47a – Details of a child or other dependent family member aged 18 years or over
  • proof of your relationship with the dependant such as a birth certificate or adoption papers

You must also prove this person has been financially dependent on you for at least 12 months before you apply. You could provide:

  • proof they live with you
  • their tax records
  • proof they are currently studying

Translate

Have all non-English documents translated into English.

Translators in Australia must be accredited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters.

Translators outside Australia do not have to be accredited. But on each translation, they must include their:

  • full name
  • address and telephone number
  • qualifications and experience in the language they are translating

These details must be in English.

Note: You do not need to have any documents certified.

Visa outcome

You must be outside Australia when your temporary visa application is decided.

The decision will communicated in writing.

If the visa is granted, the department will tell you:

  • your visa grant number
  • the date your visa starts
  • your visa conditions, if applicable

Keep a copy of the decision.

If the visa is refused, the department will tell you:

  • why the department refused the visa
  • whether you have a right to a review of the decision

If your application is refused the application fee will not be refunded.