Family Stream Migration - Partners

The family stream of Australia's migration program enables the reunion of immediate family members such as partners, fiancees, dependent children, stepchildren, and certain other members of extended families such as parents, orphan relatives, carers, aged dependent relatives, and remaining relatives.
This information covers in general terms the migration procedures for partner visa applications, which includes partners and fiancees.

Partners
For the purposes of migration, the term 'partner' means the husband, wife, or de facto partner (opposite or same-sax) of the Australian sponsor. ( 'Partner category' includes Partner and Prospective Marriage visa classes)
People applying in or outside Australia for permanent residence as a partner go through a two-stage process, although only one application is necessary.
They apply on the one application for a temporary visa and a permanent visa.
De facto partners must have been in the relationship and living together for at least 12 months immediately before lodging their application.
At both stages of the process, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) must be satisfied that the parties are in a genuine partner relationship.

Usually the permanent visa cannot be granted less than two years from the date of application. However, in certain limited circumstances, it is possible for a permanent visa to be granted in less than two years, for example, where the relationship is 'long-term' at the time of application. Long-term is defined as five years, or two years if there are dependent children (excluding step-children) of the relationship. Dependent family members of the applicant, such as children or lone-aged relatives, may be included in the application.

Fiancees overseas
A person overseas who wishes to marry their Australian fiancee in Australia may apply for a Prospective Marriage visa.
It is a requirement of a Prospective Marriage visa that the parties have met, and be known to each other in person.
Fiancee who apply successfully for a Prospective Marriage visa receive a temporary visa which is valid for nine months from the date of grant. They must travel to Australia and marry their sponsor, within that period. If they wish to remain permanently in Australia they should then appply for a permanent visa such as a Partner visa
If all legal requirements are met, Partner visa applicants will be granted a temporary Partner visa, followed by a permanent Partner visa if the relationship is still continuing at the end of two years after lodgement of the Partner visa application.

Fiancees in Australia
People already in Australia on temporary visas are unable to extend their stay in Australia by applying for a visa as a fiancee. There is no visa category available to cover this situation.
However, if the marriage takes place during the period of authorised stay, the person may be eligible to apply in Australia for a Partner visa.

Sponsorship
All applicants for partner migration, whether they apply in or outside Australia, must be sponsored by their partner (or by a parent of their partner in certain circumstances).
The sponsor must be a citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, and be 18 years of age or older.

Limitations on sponsorship
There are limits on the number of Partner visa category sponsorships a person may make, and the time frame in which they may be made:
• a limit of two approved sponsorships or nominations can be made with a minimum of five years apart; and
• if the sponsor was sponsored or nominated to Australia as a partner, they must wait five years before sponsoring a partner or fiancee.
*Approved sponsorships or nominations are those which result in the applicant being granted a Partner or Prospective Marriage visa.
The limitations may be waived in compelling circumstances, including:
• if the previous fiancee or partner has died or abandoned the relationship leaving young children, or
• if a new relationship has been formed that is long-standing or involves dependent children of the relationship.

Current and previous contributory parent category visa-holders

If you have been granted a contributory parent category visa on or after 1 July 2009, you are unable to sponsor your partner or fiancee for five years from your visa grant date if you were in a married or defacto relationship with that person on or before the date you were granted the last contributory parent category visa. There are some exceptions to this limitation in compelling circumstances 

Dependent children
Dependent children are usually included in, and processed as part of, their parent's Partner visa application. There are cases where a dependent child is not considered for the temporary (first stage) visa because they are not living with their parent.

Where a dependent child is outside Australia and their parent is in Australia and has been granted a temporary Spouse, Partner or Interdependency visa, the child can apply for a temporary Dependent Child visa.
This visa will enable the child to travel to Australia and apply to be added to their parent's permanent visa application.
To be granted the visa, the child must be under 18 years of age or be financially dependent upon the parent in Australia. It is important to note that the child must apply for this visa before the parent's permanent visa application is decided.
In all cases where a dependent child is under 18 years of age and another parent or any other person has a legal responsibility toward the child, permission for the child to migrate must be obtained from that person, or evidence provided that the partner visa applicant or their sponsor has sole legal right to remove the child from the country. Where an applicant includes a dependent family member under 18 years of age in their application, there is a requirement that there is no compelling reason to believe that the grant of the visa would not be in the best interests of that dependant. In order to assess this requirement, sponsors of children under 18 years of age are required to submit either an Australian National Police Check or foreign police certificate/s, depending on the sponsor's circumstances. If the sponsor has spent a total of 12 months or more in Australia since turning sixteen years of age, the sponsor must provide an Australian National Police Check.  If the sponsor has not spent a total of 12 months or more in Australia since turning sixteen years of age, the sponsor must provide police certificates from each country in which they have spent a total of 12 months or more in the last 10 years since turning sixteen years of age.

Assurance of Support
A person who is an applicant for a Partner or Prospective Marriage visa may be required to obtain an Assurance of Support (AoS) if they are assessed by the DEpartment as at risk of becoming a charge on Australia's social welfare system. Assurances of support are discretionary for such partner category visas and will not be sought by the department in all cases. An AOS is a legal commitment by a person (the assurer) to repay to the Australian government any benefits paid to those covered by the assurance. It is also a committment to provide financial support to the person(s) applying to migrate.
For partner category visas, an AoS is for two years and comes into effect on the day the assuree (the migrant) arrives in Australia, or, if in Australia, on the date the assuree is granted the relevant visa to remain in Australia. After the department has determined that an AoS is required, Centrelink assumes responsibility for providing AoS advice and forms and undertakes AoS processing.

Capping visa classes
A number of visa classes in the Family Stream can be subject to capping. This means that once the number of visas set by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship  has been reached for that program year, no further visas can be granted in that class in that program year. Partner
visas cannot be capped. However, Prospective Marriage visas can be capped.

Limits on further applications
There are specific provisions in migration legislation to limit the potential for unsuccessful applicants in Australia to continually delay their departure from Australia by lodging successive applications. People who are unlawfully in Australia or no longer hold a valid visa, and who have previously been refused a visa or had a visa cancelled, have the opportunity to make an application for a limited range of visas.

Under changes that commenced 14 September 2009, a person may be eligible to apply to remain in Australia as a permanent resident on grounds of being a spouse or defacto partner of an Australian, provided they meet certain specific criteria. They must not have had a visa cancelled or refused on character grounds or have had a Partner visa refused since their last entry to Australia and they must provide with their application:

a form 40SP 'Sponsorship for a partner to migrate to Australia' completed and signed by an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen who declares that they are the spouse or de facto partner of the applicant; and

two statutory declarations from Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents or eligible New Zealand citizens supporting the existence of their relationship with their sponsor

Processing priorities
The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship has issued a General Direction giving guidance to processing officers on the priority order in which Family Stream applications should be processed.
Applications to be given the highest processing priority include dependent children (including children for adoption), partners and fiancés.