Partner Visa Perth Guide: Eligibility, Documents & Timeline

A Partner Visa is the beginning of the dream of establishing a life together in Australia, and it is the case with many couples. Perth boasts of breathtaking sunsets, booming economy and relaxed Mediterranean living and this has made it a top destination when it comes to international couples settling down. Nonetheless, whereas the Australian migration policy is founded on strict legal practices and evidentiary high standards, the motivation underpinning the Australian migration policy is founded on love and companionship.

Application of Partner Visa is one of the greatest emotional and financial investments that a couple would have made. The procedure is known to be an excruciatingly complicated one and a very painstaking one in order to demonstrate that a relationship is indeed real and persistent. This guide is a detailed fact sheet of these eligibility requirements, the required documentation and the approximate period within which applications are done or relocation made to the Perth region.

Understanding the Partner Visa Subclasses

The Australian government groups partner visas into two broad groups depending on the location of the applicant during the application.

• Onshore Partner Visa (Subclasses 820 and 801): This is applicable in the case of couples when the applicant is already present in Australia with some other valid visa (a student visa or a work visa). Subclass 820 is a temporary visa and the 801 is a permanent stage. The major benefit of using onshore in Perth is that the applicant typically gets given a Bridging Visa, which enables them to be in the country and work, and they will await their application to take place.
• Offshore Partner Visa (Subclasses 309 and 100): This is to applicants who are already out of Australia. The stage 309 is the temporary, and the 100 is the permanent stage as with the onshore version.
• Prospective Marriage Visa (Subclass 300): Commonly referred to as the fiance visa, which permits an applicant to visit Australia to get married to his or her partner within the coming 9 months. After being married, then the couple applies onshore partner visa.

Eligibility Criteria

In order to ensure that the applicant and the sponsor satisfy the basic legal requirements, collecting photos and bank statements, before you start, is essential.

The Sponsor

The sponsor has to be an Australian citizen, permanent resident or a qualified New Zealand citizen. They should also have the age of at least 18 years. It is worth mentioning that an individual is only allowed to sponsor two life partners and in most cases, this requires that there be a gap of five years between sponsorships.

The Relationship

There are two categories of relationships that are acknowledged by Australia to obtain a visa:

• Married Couples: The union should be legalized in the Australian law.
• De Facto Partners: You should prove that you lived together and established a relationship of at least 12 months just before you could apply.

Critical Notice to Perth Residents: Western Australia does not, as in other states such as New South Wales or Victoria, have a centralized relationship register upon which couples may waiver the 12-month de facto period as a condition to migration purposes. This implies that in case you live in Perth and are not married, the 12-month cohabitation limit is very much put in place unless there are some strong or sympathetic reasons like having a child together.

Health and Character

The candidate is to succeed a medical check-up and submit police clearances of all the countries they have resided longer than 12 months during the past decade.

The Four Pillars of Evidence

The Department of Home Affairs does not believe that you are in love when you say so. They need objective and third party evidence that is divided into that which the migration professionals refer to as the Four Pillars. Being successful in the competitive migration environment in Perth, it is important that your application is strong in all of the four areas.

1. Financial Aspects
You have to demonstrate that you have financial shared responsibilities. This includes:

• Billing of joint bank accounts indicating normal expenditure on domestic needs.
• Shareholding of large assets (such as a car or a house in Perth suburb).
• Shared mortgage payments or joint rental.
• Leaving a list of each other as beneficiaries in superannuation policies or life insurance policies.

2. Nature of the Household
This pillar is concerned with the way you run your day-to-day lives in unity. Evidence includes:

• The utility bills (electricity, gas, water or the internet) that you both receive at your respective places in Perth.
• Letters to the two at the same address.
• Instructions on how you share the household tasks.
• Shared responsibility where there are children.

3. Social Aspects
The Department would like to know that the community has accepted you as a couple.

• Combined invitations to weddings, parties or local Perth events.
• Pieces of evidence of joint traveling: flight tickets or hotel reservations to the Margaret River or abroad.
• Pictures of the couple along with family and friends at different stages of the relationship.
• Form 888: Statutory declarations by Australian citizens or permanent residents testifying to the authenticity of your relationship.

4. Nature of Commitment
This entails demonstrating a long-term commitment to remain together.

• History of relationship statement - a comprehensive story written by the applicant and the sponsor.
• Testimony of staying in touch at times of separation.

The Application Timeline

The partner visa is a long, not short process on the way to permanent residence. This is divided into two phases.

Stage 1: The Combined Application (Temporary Visa)
The average processing time of temporary Subclass 820 or 309 may take between 6 to 30 months now.

Stage 2: The Permanent Visa
We will be calling on you two years after you filed your application, to give you refresh evidence. Together with the permanent visa (Subclass 801 or 100), the Department will award the permanent residency.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

• Inconsistent Dates: Make sure meeting and moving-in dates are the same throughout all documents.
• Absence of New Content: Upload evidence continuously until the time of submission.
• Social Media Lies: Case officers occasionally visit social media profiles. If you are married on forms but single on Facebook, you will have an issue.

The Price of a Professional Help

Partner Visa stakes are exceptionally high. The government application charges are currently over $9,000 AUD. A rejection implies losing this money and potentially facing a Section 48 bar.

Conclusion

Not a permit but a ticket to your future in Western Australia a Partner Visa. Although the way is full of documentations and waiting time, the end justifies the means of having permanent stability in Perth. To save your investment and make sure that your life is going to be fine, it is strongly advised that you should find a professional to assist you. You will always have the strategic guidance and the peace of mind to transform your partnership into permanent Australian life when you are prepared to take this life-changing move by consulting with a specialized migration agent Perth.