Australia Partner Visa FAQ

Australia Partner Visa FAQ

These FAQ’s are for Australia Partner Visa applications for when you’re married to, or you’re in a de facto relationship with an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

Can I come to Australia without a visa if I’m in a relationship with an Australian?

No you cannot. Everybody requires a visa to enter Australia unless you’re an Australian or New Zealand citizen. You automatically get it upon entry but if you’re married or in a de facto relationship with an Australian citizen or permanent resident that doesn’t give you the automatic right to enter Australia. You will require a visa.

Can we get married by email?

No partner visa application has so far been lodged with a marriage by email or Skype although it would be an interesting case. The balance of opinion is that marriage by email or Skype would not satisfy Australian marriage legislation. In this instance a Prospective Marriage Visa would perhaps be more appropriate.

But do remember just getting married alone doesn’t mean you’re automatically going to be able to have that spouse enter Australia because you have married they’ll still be considered a temporary visa holder and you’ll also still have to show all the relevant evidence that you’re living together in a committed married relationship.

What is a de facto relationship?

De facto relationship criteria can be confusing. Many applicants think that because they’re living as boyfriend and girlfriend or same sex couple they are automatically in a de facto relationship and this isn’t the case.

A de facto relationship is one that you are committed in and you live together on a permanent basis and not are separated on a permanent basis. The requirement is exactly the same as a married couple.

So, a de facto couple shares a household, shares financial responsibility and doesn’t just stay at each other’s homes or travel back and forth to one another. And certainly while may be recognized by your family and friends as a couple it may still not be what’s deemed to be a de facto couple.

Partner Visa processing time

I’ve already lodged my own application but I haven’t had a response from the department of Immigration.

Processing times for the Partner Visa are 18 to 24months. However, these time frames can stretch dramatically if you’ve submitted the wrong information, or if the supporting evidence is incomplete. You will not know if there is an issue with your documentation until after the application is allocated to an Immigration Case Officer.

That doesn’t mean they’re going to be working on your application for the next 18 24 months. It means it’s sitting there in a queue and don’t expect to be responded to or given a follow up as to where you are in the queue or a status to your application until a case officer is physically allocated to your application.

You won’t hear a thing and that’s when they will either grant your visa or come with requests for further evidence. They’re not going to contact you until they’re allocated to your application and that may take 12 to 24 months.