If you are in a relationship with an Australian Citizen, Permanent Resident or eligible New Zealand Citizen, you can apply for a partner visa. Whether you are married, de facto, same sex couple or engaged, you can lodge your partner visa application provided that your relationship with your partner is genuine and continuing, and you and your partner are mutually committed to each other to a shared life to the exclusion of all others. You also need to be living together with your partner and not living separately and apart on a permanent basis.
There are different kinds of partner visas:
If you are in Australia:
Partner Visa (Subclass 820/801)
If you are in Australia, you can lodge your onshore partner visa application. In this situation, Subclass 820/801 partner visa is applicable to you. If two years later your relationship with your partner is still genuine and continuing a permanent partner visa may be granted.
Partner Visa (Subclass 309/100)
If you are outside of Australia, you can lodge offshore partner visa application. In this situation, Subclass 309/100 partner visa is applicable to you. If two years later your relationship with your partner is still genuine and continuing, a permanent partner visa may be granted.
Prospective Marriage Visa (Subclass 300)
This is a temporary visa which can only be applied outside Australia. This visa is for people who are already engaged and wish to marry their fiancé. One of the most important conditions of this visa is that you need to show that you have personally met your fiancé in order to get this visa. Once granted you need to marry your fiancé within 9 months of the visa grant. Once you are married you could lodge your partner visa application.
K group Legal Professional Assistance for Partner Visa Application:
There are many situations where lack of appropriate evidentiary documents contributes to the refusal of partner visa application. Since partner visa processing time is already lengthy, any refusal could take a huge toll on the emotional and psychological state of both the visa applicant and the sponsor alike.
Once you make an application for review of your partner visa refusal, the processing time can be another one year or more. This is why it is very important to get appropriate legal advice from an experienced immigration lawyer to support your partner visa application. It is not the number of documents that count, but the quality of the documents and most importantly the professional presentation of the documents to the Department of Immigration that makes a huge difference.
Some situations can be more complex than others. For example, if you are in Australia on a Bridging visa and wish to lodge your partner visa application onshore, you need to satisfy schedule 3 criteria, or you need to demonstrate that there are compelling reasons for which schedule 3 criteria should not be applied in your situations. As every situation is unique consultation with an experienced immigration lawyer is imperative in these circumstances.
If you need professional assistance with your partner visa application, you can contact us on (02) 8379 1811 or email: info@kgrouplegal.com.au
