Subclass 820/801 is a two-stage visa application that are designed to allow a foreign partner of an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, currently in Australia, to continue to live in Australia, indefinitely.
To be approved as a partner visa sponsor, the sponsor must be:
In addition to the above, the Department may also bar the Australian Partner from sponsoring you if:
Unless compelling and compassionate circumstances apply.
To be eligible for a Subclass 820/801 application, you must:
If you are in a de-facto relationship, your relationship must have existed for at least 12 months immediately before you apply for the visa. This criterion will not apply if you:
To be eligible for an 801 visa, you must:
There are 4 main aspects of the relationship that the Department of Home Affairs will consider when assessing any partner visa application:
Ideally, we recommend that you apply for an Onshore Partner Visa. However, you may not always be eligible for this. This could be due to many factors, including:
If the above circumstances apply to you, we recommend that you apply for Subclass 309/100 or a Prospective Marriage Visa, if you meet the eligibility criteria.
Partner Visa may seem easy, but we’ve seen many applications refused, due to issues that they weren’t aware of!
Apply for a Subclass 820 Visa
To begin your permanent residency journey, you begin with by applying for a Subclass 820 Temporary Partner Visa.
Apply and be granted a Subclass 820
Once you have applied for Subclass 820, wait for the Department to respond with any documents that they require to process your application. Once the Department is satisfied that you have met all the criteria, they will grant the Subclass 820 Visa.
Alternatively, if you have been in a long-term relationship before you lodge your 820 (temporary) application, the permanent Partner (Migrant) visa (subclass 801) may be granted immediately along with the temporary Partner (Provisional) visa (subclass 820).
Apply for Permanent Partner Visa
You are eligible to apply for the Permanent Partner (Migrant) visa (subclass 801) two years from the date of lodgement of your Subclass 820 visa. Once this is granted, you will become a permanent resident in Australia.
We have summarised a cost estimate for a Partner Visa application as below. When you apply for a partner visa, you are taken to have applied for both the temporary and the permanent partner visas together.
Therefore, you are not required to pay any additional visa fees when lodging your permanent partner visa application. However, you will need to make a separate application for the permanent partner visa application.
75% of applications are processed in: 21 months
90% of applications are processed in: 33 months
75% of applications are processed in: 12 months
90% of applications are processed in: 21 months
PARTNER VISA NOT SUBJECTED TO VISA CAPPING
From 2022-23, Partner visas will be granted on a demand-driven basis. This means that Partner visas will not be:
As part of the Federal Budget, the Government announced that it will implement reforms to strengthen the integration outcomes of the Partner program soon. These include:
ENGLISH REQUIREMENT
The English language requirement may be met by demonstrating that the person has made a ‘reasonable effort’ to learn English, or demonstrating an existing level of English, for example Functional English.
THE NEW SPONSORSHIP FRAMEWORK
The new sponsorship framework will separate the sponsorship and visa application into two separate processes. The sponsorship application will be assessed separately and will need to be approved before a valid Partner visa application can be lodged.
In addition to the above, The Department can also:
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