Top 10 tips for building your partner visa application

The partner visa application process is fraught with complexity and confusion. 

For Rachael Cusick, applying for a partner visa was costly and time-consuming—document collection alone took a whopping 50+ hours. From the lack of support offered by registered migration agents to the stress of knowing which documents to include, Cusick’s frustration is something many can relate to. 

From processing times and managing expectations to deciding whether or not to work with a registered migration agent, these top tips will ensure you build a strong partner visa application. 

In this guide, we’ll cover our top 10 tips for building your partner visa application, including:

1. Figure out what visa type is relevant for you 
2. Learn how to sort the good from the bad when comparing registered migration agents
3. Start collecting evidence ASAP
4. Don’t go overboard providing too many documents 
5. Under where there is “room for error”
6. Learn what makes a strong partner visa application
7. Tackle tasks in the right order
8. Get clear on the formatting requirements for support documents 
9. Check your usual visa processing times
10. Manage your expectations about the partner visa process

Tip 1. Figure out which visa type is relevant for you 

Before you compare your partner visa options, it’s important to check if you’re eligible for a partner visa. In our ultimate guide to partner visas, we dive deep into the eligibility requirements for partners to help you assess your eligibility.

Plus, it’s important to check if you’re eligible to skip straight to a permanent partner visa (rather than waiting two years on a short-term visa first). 

If you’re in a long-term relationship (meaning you’ve been in a de facto relationship or marriage for at least three years, or more than two years if you share a dependent child), you will receive your permanent partner visa at the same time you receive your short-term partner visa.

There are multiple partner visa subclasses available to applicants, each with its own eligibility requirements and considerations. 

By comparing your options early, you can ensure you’re setting your application up for success and focusing your efforts on the partner visa subclass that best suits your unique circumstances.

In Australia, there are three types of partner visas you can apply for:

• Onshore partner visas (subclass 820/801): designed for applicants who are applying while in Australia.
  
  
• Offshore partner visas (subclass (309/100): designed for applicants who are applying while outside Australia.
  
  
• Prospective marriage visa (subclass 300): designed for international fiancés who are engaged and want to enter Australia before marrying their partner. 

Tip 2. Learn how to sort the good from the bad when comparing registered migration agents (RMA)

Unfortunately, not all migration agents are created equal. That means many charge inflated fees for a poor level of service, don’t offer hands-on support, and may leave you in the dark during important stages of your partner visa application. 

Bad agents will often use predatory tactics to pressure you to sign up for their services, even when they know you’re likely ineligible for a visa—without offering the option of a refund for their agency fees. Plus, agents operating overseas may be unregistered, meaning they don’t have the same qualifications, insurance or requirements to keep up to date with migration law like registered agents in Australia.

 “My migration agent just sent me a checklist and left me on my own, I still had to spend 100 hours doing all the heavy lifting when preparing my application.” Past partner visa applicant. 

Another common experience shared with the Matilda team is a feeling of being ghosted or waiting weeks to book a consult. After submitting their partner visa application, one applicant shared, “I have no idea about where it’s at from an approval perspective and am not sure how much I should be checking in.”

Ultimately, you want to find a migration agent who offers support both during the application and throughout the processing time. Explore your options and look out for unverified credentials—a quick search of the agent’s unique Migration Agent Registration Number MARN) on the OMARA register can confirm if there are any outstanding complaints or investigations into misconduct.

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Most importantly, pay attention to their responsiveness. Visa applications are often time-sensitive, and you want an agent who is organised and ready to get your application sorted and submitted as soon as possible. 

👀 Keep Reading: Discover what to look for in the best partner visa agents in Australia for a detailed checklist on what to look for when comparing registered migration agents.

Tip 3. Start collecting evidence ASAP

The most time-consuming aspect of preparing a partner visa application will be gathering, formatting and organising your supporting documents. 

From creating timelines of your relationship to gathering social, financial and household evidence to back up that you’re in a genuine relationship, this paperwork can take hours to collate. Plus, many of these documents will require the assistance of others—from waiting 28 days (or more) to receive a relationship certificate or following up with friends to provide witness statements. 

Keep in mind that you might not currently have all of the evidence required to submit a strong partner visa application. For example, if you don’t currently have a shared bank account or joint lease with your partner, getting this evidence collection process started early allows you to get this documentation in place and ready for you to leverage when applying in the next six to 12 months.

The sooner you start this process, the fewer delays there will be in your application journey. 

By working with a reputable registered migration agent, you can cut down the time and effort it takes to prepare your supporting documents. We’ll be able to help you narrow down exactly what evidence you need to provide and can even format it on your behalf.

Tip 4. Don’t go overboard providing too many documents 

For partner visa applications, supporting documents need to provide evidence that your relationship is genuine. This includes evidence of shared finances, social photos, living arrangements, and an ongoing commitment to each other.  Plus, you’ll need to provide identity documentation, evidence that you’re of good character (such as police checks) and government forms (like Form 47SP and Form 40SP). 

Free Resource: Download our supporting document checklist, which is your guide to all the documents you’ll likely need to provide to support your partner visa application. 

Since most applicants don’t know which documents are relevant to their personal circumstances, most take the “throw the kitchen sink” approach and provide every possible document they can.

The fact is that submitting too many documents can increase the risk of complications and longer processing times. Keep in mind that MyImmi caps uploads at 100 documents per applicant. This means you’ll likely need to create “evidence albums” for similar documents to meet the limit and make it easier for Home Affairs officers to review your application.

There are several long, complex forms that the Australian government may request from you, which can take hours to complete—but this tends to be the exception rather than the rule. That’s why it’s important to understand what forms are relevant to your personal circumstances to avoid tackling tedious, unnecessary paperwork. 

For example, Form 80 (Personal particulars for assessment including character assessment) is a comprehensive questionnaire used by the Department of Home Affairs to gain deeper insights into your employment history, education, travel history and character. But in many cases, you won’t need to provide this form unless requested. 

With most applicants reporting the time-consuming nature of collating documents that can range from 100 to 200+ hours, engaging a migration agent can help you identify a shortlist of documents that are relevant to your personal circumstances. Research shows that working with a traditional migration agent can cut down your workload to 40 to 60 hours, while working with an exceptional migration agent can reduce this to just 15 to 25 hours, as they’ll do the heavy lifting for you. 

Tip 5. Understand where there is “room for error”

While you need to provide as much information to the Department of Home Affairs as possible, there are some areas that will necessitate high accuracy compared to others. 

When applying for a partner visa, you’ll be asked to provide details regarding your travel history for the past ten years, including arrival and departure dates. For those who enjoy travelling, especially if you have frequented Europe, recalling the exact details can be very challenging and anxiety-inducing. 

Generally speaking, you should use all available resources to provide as much detail as possible, such as email records and passport stamps. However, it is common for people to be missing some details. In this instance, there are ways to mitigate this, such as providing an additional statement explaining such missing details, requesting travel records from the Australian government, and more.

On the other hand, preparing your relationship statements requires a high level of accuracy. For example, one area that catches out many applicants out is inaccuracies in key dates between documents. It’s essential that all dates mentioned are consistent across your relationship statement, your partner’s relationship statement and any accompanying government documents.

Your migration agent can explain how best to navigate this and quell any concerns you might have regarding exact travel dates.

Tip 6. Learn what makes a strong partner visa application

Keep in mind that not all documents have equal weight in the eyes of the Department of Home Affairs. That means that a joint bank statement is stronger at showing you share finances than a receipt that shows you bought a couch together.

Plus, it’s important to provide enough detail on the history of each document. For instance, sharing 24 months of transactions from a joint bank account is much more convincing than a joint bank statement for the previous four weeks. 

But, there are limits here: providing bank statements for the past 100 months isn’t going to be much more valuable than sharing the last 24 months (and will likely require a lot more effort than it is worth). 

Tip 7. Tackle tasks in the right order

Ordering tasks correctly helps you avoid wasting time and repeating the same tasks over and over again.

For instance, your Australian police check expires after twelve months, so you need to ensure everything is prepared and your documents are submitted within that timeframe. That’s why most migration agents will advise you to request police clearance just before submitting your application (in most cases) to ensure you don’t waste this 12-month validity. 

For many applicants, understanding which tasks to tackle first can be challenging. Even with the help of traditional migration agents, many applicants we’ve spoken to have reported receiving a checklist with no clarity on what order to complete tasks or what timelines they should work towards.

A good migration agent should guide you through the different phases of the application process, each with its sub-list of tasks. Approaching it in this manner is more efficient as the agent can draw on previous information already completed for later tasks, such as the timeline of key dates. As well as a logical task order, the best migration agent will provide:

• Step-by-step instructions on how to complete each task
• An effort rating so you can see the most time-consuming tasks and those that are easier to tackle
• Examples of successful partner visa applications so you can better understand what a good application looks like

💡 Matilda Tip: One of the first things you should do in your application process is write down a timeline of key dates. Your partner visa application will require you to confirm key dates within your relationship, including when you first met, started dating, moved in together, met each other’s families, went on a holiday together, were apart for a significant period of time, and became engaged or married. 

However, any inconsistencies might see your application met with greater scrutiny from the government and can increase your risk of rejection. To avoid this, write up a timeline for your relationship with your partner so you can ensure consistency across documents and that both of you are aware of the same dates. 

Tip 8. Get clear on the formatting requirements for supporting documents

The Australian government has strict formatting requirements when it comes to supporting documents. As well as considerations like file format, you’ll also need to adhere to their file size and the quantity of documents that can be uploaded as part of your application. 

Some of these requirements include:

• Ensure that identity documents are less than 500KB in size and that other documents are less than 5MB each. 
• Only attach documents once, even if you’re using one document to support multiple parts of your application. 
• Ensure all documents are translated into English. 
• Ensure all scans and photos of documents are clear and legible. 

While most migration agents will ask you to reformat documents on your own, adding more work to what is already a time-consuming process, the best migration agents should do the reformatting on your behalf. 

Tip 9. Check the usual visa processing times 

While partner visa applications are accessed on a case-by-case basis, meaning processing times can vary depending on factors like sponsorship and immigration lawyers, it’s not uncommon for the process to take more than twelve months before you hear back from the Australian government. 

Given that visa processing times can fluctuate over time, it’s important to stay current on the latest news. Be sure to check the Department of Home Affairs’ Processing Times tool and search by your partner visa category to get an estimate of processing times. 

💡 Matilda Tip: It’s important to keep in mind that these visa processing times are averages only. For example, the average processing times for partner visas lodged offshore can be misleading as different international offices have different processing times. While offices in London and Berlin tend to process visas in under 12 months, offices in Dubai can take upwards of 24 months. 

Tip 10. Manage your expectations about the partner visa process

For many applicants, part of the stress surrounding partner visas goes beyond the application process itself. With countless forms to complete and documents to submit, it can feel overwhelming, placing a strain on your relationship, particularly when you feel like you’re nagging your partner to complete tasks.

Much of this can be alleviated by first managing your expectations and understanding the end-to-end application process so you know what you’re getting into. 

You need to communicate to your partner what tasks they’ll need to complete and the timeframe to do so, in that way tackling your partner visa can feel like a team effort rather than a solo voyage. 

‍💡 Matilda Tip: Many sponsors don’t realise that they can create their own Immi account. This simple yet often overlooked step is what allows your sponsor to link to your application and fill out the necessary supporting forms.