Completing the 820/801 Australian Partner Visa application online
Last Updated on 23 May 2025
Applying for the 820/801 Australian Partner Visa is a monumental task, but thankfully one whose rewards far outweigh any amount of effort (and lost sleep). This post is an attempt to provide future 820/801 Australian Partner Visa applicants with all the information I wish I had before I sat down to complete the online application!
As I worked my way through the online form, I took copious notes on what each section asked, as well as all the personal questions I had (and clarifications I found) for ambiguously worded instructions. Read on to learn about the entire online application process, from registering an ImmiAccount through to submitting the last question and paying the application fee.
Read my whole series on applying for the 820/801 Australian Partner Visa for more information about preparing your evidence, lodging your application, and the next steps. If you’re just beginning, start with this post to get an overview (and to read about our story). And, as always, please remember that I am not a migration agent or affiliated with Home Affairs in any way, so all the information provided in these posts and in the comments below is based entirely on my own experience and my own understanding of the application process.
How to begin your visa application online
The first thing you’ll need to do in order to start filling out an application for the 820/801 Partner Visa online is to register for an ImmiAccount (if you’ve applied for other Australian visas in the past, you can just log-in to your account here).
It only takes about 2 minutes to create the account, and you’ll be asked to give very basic personal information like your name, mobile, email address, and answers to 3 security questions of your choosing. After verifying the account from an email they will send you, log-in here.
Upon login, you should see a screen that says My applications (although there will be no entires in this section if you have yet to lodge any visa application in Australia). To create a new application for the 820/801 Partner Visa, click on the link that says New application in the upper left corner, select the Family tab, and then click Stage 1 – Partner or Prospective Marriage Visa (301,309/100,820/801).
This should bring you to an “ELodgement Page”, where the first screen contains links to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Statement, asks you to agree to the terms via a tick box, and, most importantly, gives you a Transaction Reference Number (TRN). This is the number you will use to track the progress of your visa or cite your particular application in any communications with Home Affairs (the department that manages immigration).
What questions will you be asked
This is an overview of the questions that appear on the online application for the 820/801 Partner Visa. Questions may vary according to personal circumstances (i.e. your answers to previous questions), but this should give you a general idea of the information you will be asked to provide.
Application Context
This short section just asks a series of yes/no questions that will be used to build the rest of the application:
- Is the applicant currently outside Australia?
- Is the applicant currently holding a substantive visa? (basically any visa other than a bridging visa)
- Did the applicant arrive in Australia on a Prospective Marriage visa?
Primary Applicant
In this section, you will be asked to fill out personal information, including your full name, passport details, place of birth, and relationship status. This is where you will need to specify whether you are applying for the Partner Visa as a de-facto, engaged, or married couple, and reference the day your relationship began.
There is considerable debate over the exact date you should cite here (the day you began dating, the day you because exclusive, the day you moved in together…).
The consensus seems to be that you should provide whatever date makes the most sense for your situation and then include ample context later in the application that will justify your use of this particular date (read more about these dates below).
This section will also ask you to list any previous names (maiden name, etc) by which you have been known, your citizenship and any other passports you may hold, and to provide the details of other national identity documents that have been issued to you. This includes:
- Alien registration number
- Birth certificate
- Drivers licence
- Marriage certificate
- National Identity document
- Social security card
For any of these items, you’ll need to include your name as it appears on the document, the identification number, and country of issue.
Critical data confirmation
For this page, you will be asked to review some of your personal details (including name and passport information) and confirm that it is correct before proceeding.
Contact details
Indicate your “country of usual residence”, the Australian Government Office nearest to your location, residential and postal addresses, mobile, and email.
This question seems to trouble many people, as the wording of “usual residence” is somewhat vague, but a “usual resident” of Australia would be someone who has lived (or expects to live) here for a period of 12 months in a 16 month period. This requires you to have an Australian residential address (and evidence of this), and probably would not include someone who is here on a tourist visa.
Given that I had lived in Australia for 6 years at the time of application and had not been in my home country for a period of more than 3 weeks since I first moved, it seemed a bit ridiculous to call USA my “country of usual residence”, so I specified “Australia”.
Contact details for second stage permanent visa
This section just verifies a postal address and email address.
Authorised recipient
“Does the applicant authorise another person to receive written correspondence on their behalf?” This applies if you have a Migration Agent who will be processing the visa for you.
Migrating members of the family unit
In this section, you will be asked to add personal details for any family members who WILL BE migrating to Australia with you as part of this visa.
Those details include their relationship to you, name and passport information, place of birth, relationship status, citizenship, other national identity documents, and details of their dependency.
Non-migrating members of the family unit
For the purpose of both this question and the last question, a member of your family unit is defined as a partner or a child, but I believe it can also include dependent members of your extended family in some circumstances, as well. This question is asking you to provide all the same details as you provided in the last question for any such family members, this time including those who are NOT migrating with you (e.g. a child that isn’t migrating with you).
This is NOT the question where you need to provide details for your entire nuclear family (parents, siblings), but really only applies for dependent family that may in the future migrate to Australia. In my case, I did not include any family on this, as I have no non-migrating members of my family unit (nor do I have any migrating members).
Applicant’s immediate family members
Now you will need to provide basic information on your nuclear family, including parents, siblings (even half- or step-siblings), and children.
Add members of your family to the list by inputing their full name, DOB, relationship status (including date of marriage), and relationship to you. If the family member is not deceased, also include their country of residence and Australian immigration status (if this person does not hold any visa for Australia, just select “other”).
Sponsor
This section is basically a mirror of the personal information you provided for yourself in the “Primary Applicant” section (see above). The main piece of additional information is about the sponsor’s Australian citizenship: was it by birth, by grant, or are they an eligible NZ citizen?
Sponsor’s contact details
A mirror of the contact details you were asked to supply in the “Contact details” section above.
Sponsor’s immediate family members
Again, a mirror of the information you provided on your own nuclear family in the “Applicant’s immediate family members” section above, just for the sponsor’s family.
Relationship
Now, to the meat of the application! First, you will need to provide details of when and where you first met, the date a committed de-facto relationship began (or the date of your marriage), and the date you “committed to a shared life together to the exclusion of all others”. This is in addition to the date you began dating, which you supplied in the earlier “Primary Applicant” section.
I know these dates may seem incredibly similar (and for some people, the answer across multiple questions could be the same), but there are subtle and important differences in what is being asked. From what I understand, these questions are about the:
- Date you met (not a lot of ambiguity here)
- Date you began dating: this could be when you had your first date or when you started introducing each other as a boyfriend/girlfriend
- Date you committed to a shared life together: this may be when you became de-facto or even before, really when you became “exclusive” or when you would consider yourselves to be in a serious and committed relationship beyond just dating
- Date the de-facto relationship began: this is typically when you moved in together and began living “as a married couple” (regardless of whether you were married)
Every situation is different, and the reasoning that you use to assign dates to each of these milestones is far less important than the actual evidence that you provide to support your claim.
If you believe that you were committed and serious on the same DAY you began dating, for instance, you will need proof of this, which might mean submitting evidence of cohabitation, receipts of shared expenses, travel bookings together, correspondence between you, proof of a relationship with each others’ families, etc. It’s about telling the story of your relationship.
You are also asked Has the applicant lived separately and apart from the sponsor for any periods of time since committing to a shared life together to the exclusion of all others? and will need to provide a brief explanation of this.
Probably many couples will find that they were “serious and committed” before actually moving in together and becoming de-facto, so this is just a justification of why you did not live together in that period if you were indeed “committed”. In our case, I was finishing my Bachelor degree in NSW and so we lived separately for 3 months of the time that I would consider us to be “committed” before I was able to move to VIC and sign a lease with my partner.
I provided this explanation here, but I also included (later in the application) a bulk of evidence during that time to demonstrate the continued “commitment”, including plane tickets he bought for me to visit, emails between us, joint travel bookings, proof of financial support between us, photos of us together, event invites as a couple, and statutory declarations from mutual friends and his parents that we were committed in this time and had plans to live together as soon as I graduated. Basically, you need to provide as much evidence as possible to corroborate any claims you make about your situation.
And now, the fun bit of putting your entire relationship under the microscope! You are given these instructions and then asked to describe the major aspects of your relationship in the boxes provided (2000 character limit):
In the following questions, details of the relationship between the applicant and sponsor must be provided and should form the basis of the applicant’s claim that their relationship with their sponsor is genuine and continuing. The information provided also needs to be supported by relevant evidence. This evidence may be such things as photographs, receipts, bills, legal documents or anything else to demonstrate the nature of the relationship the applicant has with their sponsor. This evidence can be uploaded after the submission of this application.
- Financial aspects of the relationship: How do you pay for food/bills/rent/mortgage? Do you have joint assets or financial responsibilities? How do you share money? How do you support one another during times of financial hardship? Do you have shared assets?
- Nature of the household: How do you share cooking/cleaning/shopping/house maintenance responsibilities? Do you rent or own a home together? What is your living situation (e.g. housemates, living with family, etc)?
- Social aspects of the relationship: Do you attend social events together or travel together? Do your friends and family have knowledge of your relationship? How have you made your relationship “official” (e.g. marriage, de-facto registration, facebook, etc)?
- Nature of the commitment: How have you provided emotional support to one another? What are your future plans together? How have your lives become intertwined? How have you committed to one another (e.g. will, beneficiary of super, marriage, de-facto registration)?
- Development of the relationship: When did you become committed and how has your relationship progressed? What are your future plans together?
Obviously, 2,000 characters isn’t an enormous amount of space to discuss your unique situation, so I would definitely recommend writing longer, more detailed explanations for each of these aspects of your relationship on a stat dec and uploading them as a piece of evidence later. If you want to do this, you can just write “see XXX document for full statement” in the boxes provided on the application to refer the CO to your longer statement.
Supporting witnesses
In this section, you will need to add basic information (name, DOB, occupation, relationship to applicant, years known) and contact details (address, email, mobile) for at least two different supporting witnesses who have a personal knowledge of, and are willing to speak to Home Affairs about the nature of, your relationship.
We actually specified 9 people who later completed Form 888s, since we figured having more friends and family willing to speak on our behalf was nothing but positive! You can attach Form 888 Statutory Declarations from these witnesses in the evidence section.
Previous relationships
You’re asked to indicate whether you’ve been in any previous relationships with anyone other than your sponsor— specifically, this is asking whether you’ve been married or in a de facto relationship with another partner.
If you’ve had a serious girlfriend/boyfriend in the past but never registered the relationship as de facto or listed yourself as “de facto” on a tax form/visa/etc, you can probably just say no to this.
Sponsor’s previous relationships
As with the previous section, you now need to indicate whether the sponsor has been in a previous marriage or de facto relationship with anyone other than you, whether they have ever sponsored a previous partner/spouse for this visa, or whether they have ever been sponsored by a previous partner/spouse for this visa.
Presumably, there will be follow-up questions if you answer yes to any of these statements.
Interpreter services
Tick yes if you require the assistance of an interpreter in any future communications with Home Affairs.
Countries resided/visited
“Have any of the applicants lived in a country for more than 12 months cumulatively in the past 10 years?” Here, just provide details (address and dates) of everywhere you’ve lived for more than a year.
The second section of this question will likely take a bit more time, as you are asked to provide dates of travel for every single country you have visited in the last 10 years. I’d suggest making a table in Word with all of your travel dates so you can easily copy this onto the application and then attach it to Form 80 later (there is super limited space on the form).
Visa history
Just a few quick questions about if you’ve ever had a visa cancelled or been refused entry into Australia for any reason.
Interestingly enough, I do know a couple who successfully got their partner visa even after the guy had been deported from Australia for illegally overstaying his visa, so there are ways to deal with every situation!
Character declarations
This section is a long series of yes/no questions regarding any criminal convictions/charges that have been brought against you, any activities that you’ve been involved in that could possibly be perceived as a threat to Australia (e.g. explosives training, military service), whether you’ve overstayed a visa or been deported from any country, etc.
The questions are all pretty straightforward, but you’ll likely want to speak to a migration agent or lawyer for help with your application if you had to answer “yes” to any of the above.
Partner visa declarations
This page is another series of declarations, mostly just to grant Home Affairs access to your records from other government departments and to consent to the use of this information in assessing your visa.
Declarations
The final page of the online application (!!!) is a series of declarations about the honesty of information you’ve included, your understanding of the visa grant process, and your agreement to the Australian Values statement (you can see the whole Life in Australia booklet here, but basically it just talks about the respect, equality, and freedoms that all Australians are entitled to regardless of gender, religion, race, etc..).
From here, you have the opportunity to review all of your responses on a single page before actually hitting submit, which I would recommend doing yourself and having your partner do, just to make sure there’s nothing you missed.
Paying for your application
Now that you’ve actually submitted your 820/801 Partner Visa application, you are directed to pay the associated fee, which was $7,160AUD as of December 2018.
You can pay the application fee using a credit card, debit card, or PayPal, all of which incur fees of 1-1.32%, but if you have an Australian bank account, I would highly recommend using BPAY instead to save yourself some money (1.32% was $95!!). The BPAY payments might take a day to be processed and linked to your application (mine happened in about 6 hours), so it’s imperative that you submit the payment within 3 days of your application to avoid unnecessary lag and potential cancellation.
They will give you the Biller Code and Biller Reference when you select this option at the end of the application, so it’s quite easy to manage.
What’s next?
The next step is for your partner to complete the Sponsorship for a Partner to Migrate to Australia form, which can also be done in IMMI, and then uploading evidence:
- SPONSORSHIP FOR A PARTNER TO MIGRATE TO AUSTRALIA: COMPLETING THE SPONSOR SECTION OF THE 820/801
- UPLOADING EVIDENCE TO OUR 820/801 AUSTRALIAN PARTNER VISA APPLICATION
I hope this information has been helpful and I wish you so much luck on your Australian Partner Visa journey! Feel free to ask any questions below and I will do my very best to answer them.
* I am not a migration agent or affiliated with Home Affairs in any way, so all the information provided in these posts and in the comments below is based entirely on my own experience and my own understanding of the application process.
If you found this post helpful and want to contribute to some of the costs associated with running the blog, I would be infinitely grateful!
You can use the PayPal button below to donate whatever you feel this information is worth. If you aren’t able, don’t worry— I will always keep my posts free and accessible for everyone!
UPDATE: A MASSIVE THANK YOU to everyone who’s commented to let me know that you found these posts helpful— I can’t tell you how much it means to me to read your success stories! I worked incredibly hard to compile all of this information (while getting my PhD & teaching), but it’s genuinely been worth it to make even a small difference for my fellow immigrants.
More importantly, though, THANK YOU to everyone who has shared their own experience or answered questions for other readers in the comments below! We are building a wonderful & supportive community of Partner Visa applicants here, and every comment and question is a resource for others.
If you felt like these posts helped with your application, I’d encourage you to come back after your visa is granted (or even after various milestones) and let us all know what happened— it might mean the world to someone else struggling with this process! Best wishes to you all xx bb
The Comments
Vinh
Hi Brooke,
Thank you so much for creating this blog and documenting all the steps of the application process—it’s really amazing work!
I’m currently preparing the statements and evidence for the four pillars. From what I can see, it looks like you wrote full statements for each pillar, while Callum kept his responses shorter (within the 2000-character limit). Could I ask how you approached it? Did you write short summaries in the online form text boxes and then attach the full PDF statements with evidence, or did you simply note it in the form and direct the case officer to check the attachments?
Thanks again for your help.
Liam
Omg – what an amazing post – thank you!
So, do you get the bridging visa in your email inbox? Or in the immi account itself? Where does it arrive?
brooke brisbine
LiamHi Liam, it arrives in both, so you definitely won’t miss it!
Vince
Hi Brooke,
This information has been really helpful!
Just letting you know that the steps changed a little bit.
After the ‘declarations’ step you don’t submit your application yet, you are now prompted with the page to upload your evidence for the four pillars, travel documents and police clearances. If you do not upload a document in a certain category, you have to give a short explanation of why you didn’t provide everything they asked for. After you uploaded your evidence you can submit and pay. I have read that migration agents recommend uploading as much evidence as possible before submitting, you can however still upload evidence after submitting.
brooke brisbine
VinceHi Vince, thank you so much for the update!
This will absolutely help clarify the process for people– hoping to update the post soon.
clara
VinceHi Vince, thanks for clarifying this as I was at that stage and got confused whether I missed the payment section. Do you know whether I can also include the ‘statutory declaration’ on the step ‘evidences’ of the processes? I have a separate document of a pdf combining a written statement and evidence for each pillar separately, and will also write a stat dec. Thanks!
Calum H-S
Hey Brooke, this is immensely helpful.
We are just starting our app – do you know at what stage a bridging visa is granted? Main applicant+ payment/sponsor info/full evidence submission?
And is that process automatic?
brooke brisbine
Calum H-SHey Calum, glad you are finding this post helpful! The bridging visa is granted as soon as the main application is submitted and paid for (before all the evidence is uploaded), but note that it doesn’t become ACTIVE until your (or your partner’s) current visa expires.
Hope that makes sense 🙂
xx bb
Samanta
Hello Brooke; very good to have your page open and explaining it so well to all of us .
I am applying with my partner and we are a bit unsure about one part of the application. would love if you could give your tips on this.
1- Just at the final step of lodging ” The Applicant” form; there is a section to upload all evidences within it. And then move forward to ;
2- “The Sponsor” form; — the thing is; The IMMI Page gives us 24 hours to have the second form ” the sponsor” submitted with the payment.
My question is… after this 24hours of the submission of the second form… CAN we go back to “The Applicant” form , or to the ” Sponsor form” to upload more details about our evidences or NOT ?
what do you think if you can help. Thank you
brooke brisbine
SamantaHi Samanta, so glad you found this post helpful!
If I understand your question correctly, yes you can still upload evidence to the main application after submitting the sponsor application 🙂
Best of luck,
xx bb
Ehrin Rivera
Verify that your visa partner meets the eligibility criteria for sponsoring you. This may include being an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen. Some visas may require the sponsoring partner to meet specific income or character requirements. Please visit the migrateway website for further information that will assist you greatly in your migration to Australia.
https://www.migrationways.com.au/
Violaine
Hi Brooke,
I just wanted to thank you!! I have just applied for my partner visa after 4 months of hard work. I had been procrastinating so much before as I had no idea where to start but then I found your life saving guide!!! Hoping they will give us the permanent one straight as we’ve been living together 4.5 years (fingers crossed!!).
Thanks again for all your help!
brooke brisbine
ViolaineHi Violaine,
I’m so happy to hear this information was helpful to you and wishing you a super speedy grant!
xx bb
Rhode
Brooke,
I want to thank you so so much for this AMAZING resource that you provided for us who were applying for this visa sans agent.
I used your posts as a blueprint for my application and it made it so much easier for me.
I’m happy to report that I received the double grant 820/801 yesterday only 4 months after submitting my application. I’m FLOORED as I wasn’t expecting such a fast decision and DEFINITELY wasn’t expecting a double grant! (Extremely shocked about that because our defacto relationship was only technically 2.5 years long when we applied. We did have a lot of evidence of financial/social/commitment dating back to 2018 so maybe that helped push it over the line?)
Anyway, thanks so much – you’ve really helped so many of us out!
brooke brisbine
RhodeAh Rhode, I am so happy to read your comment, that is such a fantastic outcome and I’m stoked I could help in some small way 🙂
Wishing you ALL the best, cheers to life in Australia!
xx bb
Denise
Hi Brooke! Thanks for your super guide!!! I have a doubt… I just got officially married at the registry office, I have the official Marriage Certificate and I am applying for Partner Visa Subclass 820. Do you think I need to fill out the 888 form? It seemed to me that it is more for those who live together and are not actually married
Thanks in advance for your attention and help!
brooke brisbine
DeniseHi Denise, as I’m sure you’ve figured out (SO sorry for the slow reply!), yes you still need to upload Form 888 even if you’re married to the sponsor.
Best of luck with everything!
xx bb
Nicole
Hi, I’m finally ready to lodge my Partner Visa next week. Before it increases to roughly 8500AUD 🙁
Your blog post and another one I found are extremely helpful. The visa is already so expensive and I’m spending all of my savings now, so having a lawyer or agent is basically impossible to afford. You are amazing and thank you for giving us all this extensive Info.
brooke brisbine
NicoleHi Nicole, so so happy you found this information helpful, wishing you all the best on your visa journey!
xx bb
Tom
Hi,
Thanks this is such a useful article!
Quick question on the process around Supporting Witnesses. Did you contacts and get them to complete the form 888 which you then attach (and if so at what point do you attach this?) or does Aus Immi reach out to them after I’ve added their details in the Supporting Witness section of the visa application form?
brooke brisbine
TomHi Tom, as I’m sure you’ve figured out by now (so sorry for the slow reply!), you need to upload completed Form 888s to your evidence section.
xx bb
Stacey
Hey, Brooke –
Your blog has been invaluable in completing my partner application! I have a clarifying question about the way you phrased the BPAY payment – when you said it processed in six hours, does that mean your BVA came through in six hours, or just that your payment was processed and it took additional time to connect the payment to your application? The wording on the Home Affairs site is a little confusing, as it sounds like they take your money and then take an additional day to assign the BVA.
Thank you! As soon as I’m employed again, I’ll definitely be coming back to tip you for all this amazing information.
brooke brisbine
StaceyHi Stacey, I am SO sorry for the long reply, and I’m sure you’ve already figured this out, but the BPAY method takes a few hours to process and then the BVA will be issued after that.
Any news on your application?
Wishing you the best!
xx bb
Hina Amir
Hey Brooke, My husband and I submitted the partner visa application and the sponsorship application from the same account. Is that an issue?
The sponsorship application’s status hasn’t been updated since it was submitted. It shows as submitted. I haven’t received any email about the application being received. Is it supposed to be like that?
Please help me out because it’s almost a year now and we are still waiting.
Thank You for all the hard work you put in this blog.
brooke brisbine
Hina AmirHi Hina, I had the exact same experience and was told it was normal– any updates since you posted this comment??
xx bb
Anonymous
Hi Brooke! I am so glad I found you! You’re a star! I appreciate all the tips you have shared in this post, it’s helpful for our application! take care always! 🙂
Eva Duerkop
Hi Brooke,
thanks so much for your guide – this is so helpful! I have two questions for you:
1. Were you able to talk to a migrant agent for free? I read somewhere that some give advice as volunteers.
2. In the section ‘Applicant’s Immediate Family Members’ I have entered my parents and my brothers details but I don’t understand what to choose for my brother’s relationship status as it only lets me choose: De facto, Divorced, Engaged, Married, Never Married, Seperated, Widowed. One of my brother has a girlfriend and my other brother is single..
Thanks again!
brooke brisbine
Eva DuerkopHi Eva, glad you found it helpfuL!
1. I never spoke to a migration agent nor heard of it being free in 2018 when I was applying, but it’s possible this is a new thing, so I’d say go for it– that’s an excellent way to get current advice!
2. For both of your brothers, you would select “never married”. It’s weird language, but that’s the “single” option (and even though one has a girlfriend, unless they are de facto, it’s still legally considered single).
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
Eva Duerkop
brooke brisbineThanks so much for your help Brooke! 😀
I have a couple of friends who could fill out a supporting witness document in Germany apart from my Australian witness. Since they are not Australian citizens/ permanent residents, do you think they could still use the same form and just attach their german passports/ID’s?
brooke
Eva DuerkopHi Eva,
Just to clarify, only Australians can complete the 888. You can absolutely still include support letters from foreign friends and family, but it won’t count towards your Form 888 requirement– I just had my family write and sign a letter (nothing official, but I think it still helps!).
Hope that makes sense 🙂
xx bb
Cara
Hi Brooke. I would like to say thank you. Your blog has been a lifesaver for us in applying 820 and 801. I finally got my permanent residency (801) granted few days before Christmas. We did DIY application with all the help of your guide. God Bless you.
brooke brisbine
CaraCongratulations, Cara!
And thank you so much for the thoughtful message, I’m so happy to hear this information was helpful!
Maddy
CaraHi Cara,
Congrats on receiving your 801 visa grant! I’ve received my 820 (last February), do I need to submit something else in order for the 801 to be granted?
David
Hi Brooke. I wanted to say a huge thank you for this website!!! It guided me all the way from working out which visa my now-wife should be apply for, all the way to which button to press to upload the evidence documents. The process would have been so much more stressful without this guide.
As an indication for others, we applied onshore in Jun 2021 (after arriving earlier that month on a tourist visa with an exemption), and received the 820 visa 2.5month later.
Thanks again!!!
brooke brisbine
DavidHi David, thanks so much for the lovely comment and congratulations on such a quick outcome!
Wish you both all the best x
Maddy
Hi Brooke ,
I had submitted my application and then uploaded my evidences. However, my partner’s docs and application is under way and will be submitting it now – 4 weeks after my application has been submitted. Will this create an issue ? Also, I had submitted an initial application with evidences supporting it only 2 weeks after my application (took some time to verify everything ).
Cheers,
Maddy
brooke brisbine
MaddyHi Maddy,
To clarify, your partner is submitting their sponsorship application 4 weeks after you submitted your initial application? That should not be an issue. Ideally, your partner needs to submit as soon as possible to avoid delays in processing, but the department is still reviewing the initial application first (for now), so 4 weeks shouldn’t really make a difference.
Best of luck!
Tom
Hi Brooke,
I’ve just arrived in Australia and once i make it through quarantine, ill be moving in with my partner!
I just wanted to message and say a huge thankyou. The information you provided allowed me to get my application together in a short amount of time and in turn allowed me to be here much sooner than I otherwise would!
I can’t wait to get my life here started and you had a massive part to play in that, as you have for countless others.
Not all heroes wear capes!
Thanks again,
Tom
brooke brisbine
TomHi Tom,
Wow, thank you so much for this wonderful comment! It means a lot to know these guides are helping people, it’s worth it for the satisfaction alone.
Wishing you and your partner all the best on your next adventure, together 🙂
Brooke
Filomena Nigro
My visa was just approved, after only 3 months. I cannot put into words the help that your website provided for this process, I will be eternally thankful!
Cheers,
Filomena
Kay
Hey Brooke!
Thank you so much for all the painstakingly gathered information. Absolute legend. Also, if you’re Dr Brooke now, congratulations! If you’re still doing your PhD, hold on to the pain, it goes away immediately the first time you’re officially Dr Brooke.
Before I start, I want to apologise if I’m repeating this question. I read through a majority of comments, but your blog seems pretty popular (unsurprisingly!) and the list of comments is quite long.
So I’m an onshore applicant, haven’t left Australia (even on holiday) since entering in Feb 2018. Met my partner May 2019 and we’ve been living together since Feb 2020. My current visa expires Nov 2022.
Now, I was wondering how long it took from the time you first started the application to submitting the last document? I get that the process continues after you’ve actually submitted the online application, so I’m including that period as well in the above?
I’m only asking to know how long before the expiry of my current visa I should be starting the application. I’m hearing from friends that I should be giving myself a 6-month window, but there are some advising just a month. So it’s all up in the air.
I was also wondering about the ‘long-term relationship’ requirement. I get that there’s a possibility of a Permanent Visa being granted almost immediately if the relationship has existed for 3 years. But does the 3 year timeline include the dating phase or does it begin when we had moved in together?
Thank you so much for all the work you’re putting into this. If you’re PhD is in Law, you could consider becoming a Migration agent, you have got quite the headstart already! 🙂
brooke brisbine
KayHi Kay, thank you so much for the lovely comment! I did made it through my PhD and am now Dr Brooke (yay), so now the pain is just a distant memory 🙂
Truthfully, I took an extremely long time with this application– every time I sat down to start working on it, I’d get overwhelmed and decide to put it off (since I had an active student visa and therefore wasn’t in an actual time crunch). Once I started the application online instead of just researching it, it probably took about 6 months until I submitted the final document (not counting regular updates that I uploaded at 6mo, 12mo and 18mo). If you’re organised, it’s absolutely possible to do it quicker, but don’t underestimate just how much there is to do.. it is no small undertaking, and doing it in a month would be wildly stressful for most people.
As for the long-term exception, it requires that you have been de facto for 3+ years, not just dating– if you considered your relationship de facto prior to moving in together (and have compelling evidence to support that), then it’s possible you’d be eligible, but certainly not a guarantee.
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
Emma
Hi Brooke, as with all the other comments, thank you SO SO much. It has been an enormous headache filling out the application, and at the 11th hour I’ve come across your TREMENDOUS blog, and my blood pressure is decreasing by the minute!
Almost ready to submit the application, and your blog and answers to other comments/qs has helped with almost all aspects, so thank you so much.
There is is one particular question I’d love your opinion on: My partner is Australian and I’m from the UK. Have visited for short tourist visits over the 6 years we’ve been together. I arrived in Feb for another visit, but due to covid, I’ve been here since (on 2 separate tourist visas). So that trip has been (just) under 12 months, and cumulatively, with the other trips to Aus over the past 6 years, it of course adds up to over 12 months. So I technically live here as I’ve been here for nearly a year, but on tourist visas, so I’m confused as to whether I say I’ve lived in another country for over 12 months in the past 10 years… because I’ve been on tourist visas, and technically I’ve been visiting all those times. And technically I’m still visiting now haha! Just a really long Covid holiday…
I’m tempted to write NO to that question, as this particular long 11 month trip doesn’t add up to a year, so I’m tempted to write no to having lived in Aus for 12 months in the 10 year period.
But I’d be keen to hear your opinion on that one.
I hope that makes sense…
You are a true hero to us all. SO much thanks xxxxxxxxx
brooke brisbine
EmmaHi Emma, thank you so much for your thoughtful comment, it means a lot to know that these posts are helping other couples!
Yours is certainly a grey area in terms of whether you’ve been here 12 months, as it’s under a year right now but will surely be 12 months before they assess your application…
With that in mind, I’d probably write ‘yes’ and plan to submit the Aus police check (required if you’ve lived here for more than 12 months), just to be safe. You can explain the circumstances in a letter that you attach to your application, but I can’t imagine there’s any issue with answering ‘yes’ if it’s technically not a full year YET, while answering ‘no’ might delay your application if they ask you to do the police check later on.
Hope that helps, best of luck with it all!
-Brooke
Charmaine
Hi Brooke.
Wow. You’re incredibly generous in writing this blog and replying to all the Qs. I wonder if you have any advice for us… My wife and I live in the UK (I’m Australian, she is British). We’ve been married here 13 years and I now have UK citizenship too. We’ve decided that want to move back to Australia this year – do you think there is anything wrong with us moving back on a tourist visa and lodging an onshore application when we get there? Would we be ok to be honest about that? or do we need to lodge offshore and wait for the year or two that it takes to get the visa before we move there?
Thanks!!
brooke brisbine
CharmaineHi Charmaine, so wonderful to hear that you’ve found these posts helpful!
Technically speaking, you aren’t meant to enter Aus on a tourist visa if the intent is to stay permanently, BUT I know heaps of people do it with no issue. In fact, there are definitely readers on here who’ve done that very thing. I’m not sure if they disclosed the intent to apply for PR when coming through immigration on the tourist visa, though– hoping someone else reading this comment might be able to share their experience???
Josiah
Hi Brooke
This blog has been SO helpful for us as we are walking through our application. I did have one question that I am trying to find the answer for. I am Canadian and live right on the Canada/US border. For the past few years we usually travel from Canada to the US once a week (for gas or visiting family / friends). I am trying to figure out if I am going to need to document every single trip to the states on the page that asks me to document trips visiting other countries. Any chance you have insight on this?
Thanks so much
brooke brisbine
JosiahHi Josiah,
Technically yes, they want you to document every single time you’ve visited another country– that seems insanely tedious in your case, so you might be able to write a letter explaining the circumstances, but I’d imagine the CO will still say it needs to be recorded. Ugh!
Best of luck 🙂
-Brooke
Peace Perth
Hi Brooke,
Thankyou so much for your amazing work here, it really make easy to lodge our visa and heaps of congratulations on your visa grant
My partner applied for 801/820 combined on September 2020 and got Bridging Visa straight away. He didn’t submit health check yet since it will be too quick and application is showing wait time is 21 to 28 months
My question is, when will temporary partner visa granted? Is this wait time is actually for temp visa?
Your information will be so helpful, do we need to do health check straight away after lodging application?
Thankyou so much
Peace
brooke brisbine
Peace PerthHi Peace, thank you so much for the lovely comment, so happy to hear these posts have been helpful!
Unfortunately, it’s pretty impossible to guess when the 820 visa will be granted– it varies widely based on personal circumstances. I have readers who’ve had it granted around 6 months and others who’ve waited 3 years, so it’s hardly consistent. That estimated wait time (21-28 months) is for 75% of visas to be finalised, meaning there are still some that take longer, as well as ones that are processed much quicker.
I personally waited 6 months to do my health check since the chances of having the visa approved without having to do a second check (since it’s only valid for 12 months) was pretty good at that stage. Up to you, though, as some visas are not granted within 18 months and you’ll usually end up repeating the check in that instance.
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
Daniela
brooke brisbineHi Brooke,
This information has been so useful! If I consider to do my health check after 6 months of lodging the visa application. Do you mark no in the question ” Have you, or any other person included in this application, undertaken a health examination for an Australian visa in the last 12 months?”?
brooke brisbine
DanielaHi Daniela, as I’m sure you’ve figured out (SO sorry for the slow reply!), yes you can mark “no” for that question.
Best of luck with everything!
xx bb
Tyler Middleton
Hi Brooke,
My wife and I are now emabrking on the partner visa journey! We have a baby on the way and hoping to get through the visa which will be massively helped by your site. So much info and makes the appplication seem less daunting. 1 quick question for now ( im sure there will be more in the near future!), at what stage can my wife apply for medicare? From what i can gather we do the first part of the application (nearly finished), Pay for the application, upload supporting documents and then she can aply for medicare?
Really appreciate everything you have put of your site, we would all be lost without it!
– Ty
brooke brisbine
Tyler MiddletonHi Tyler,
That’s correct, as soon as you’ve submitted and paid for the application, she will be eligible to apply for Medicare! I have some very basic instructions in this post: https://brookebeyond.com/australian-permanent-residency-through-820-801-partner-visa
Hope that helps, and best of luck with the application!
-Brooke
Vincent
Hi Brooke,
Your posts and this site are really fantastic! I was feeling a bit lost when researching the application process and this is the light at the end of the tunnel. I really appreciate your sharing and advice to all of us.
In fact, I had been together with my partner since 2014 when we were both overseas. Unfortunately, we do not really have any solid proof of living together for that period before 2018. After that, we moved to Sydney and lived together since Apr 2018. We are now planning to apply for this 820/801 visa since my partner’s 485 visa is expiring Jun 2021. I just came out with this question when reading your comments on the loophole “to getting around the standard 2-year wait is either being de facto with your partner 3+ years at the time of application”.
So did you actually submit both stage 1 & stage 2 applications at the same time, with the condition that after spending 3 years together with your partner? In this case, you actually got both 801/820 granted? So come back to our scenario, it is better to submit our applications for both stage 1 & 2 next Apr (fulfilling 3 years together requirement)?
Appreciate your advice.
Thank you very much.
Best Regards
Vincent
brooke brisbine
VincentHi Vincent,
So glad to hear you found these posts helpful! I did have both my 820 and 801 granted simultaneously, but you don’t have to complete multiple applications for this if you meet the 3+ year exemption (which you do). You just apply for the 820/801 as every single other applicant does, but instead of having to submit additional information at the 2 year mark, your 801 should just be granted at the same time as your 820.
I hope this makes sense… basically, there is no “stage 1 application” and “stage 2 application”, just a single 820/801 application that everyone completes and then some additional steps specifically for the 801 at the 2-year mark that SOME applicants have to do while others (me, you) will avoid.
-Brooke
Vincent
brooke brisbineDear Brooke,
Thanks so much for your fast response. Really appreciated.
I have this question is mainly due to the visa category listed on the Immi website. When I log in to start a new application & choose the type of visa, there are two different types to choose from under the “Family” tab. One type is listed as “Stage 1 – Partner or Prospective Marriage Visa (300,309/100,820/801)”; another one is “Stage 2 – Permanent Partner Visa Assessment (100,801)”. So how did you manage this?
Appreciate your advice.
Thank you very much.
Vincent
brooke brisbine
VincentHi Vincent,
Those who meet the long-term exemption NEVER have to complete anything for Stage 2, including this application. You ONLY have to complete Stage 1 and then you should have both visas granted simultaneously!
Best of luck 🙂
-Brooke
Maeve
brooke brisbineHi Brooke,
Your blog has been a life saver to me and my friends, thanks!
I applied for my partner vis Oct 2019 ( still waiting)
However I applied for the visa through my partners immi account, should I try to rectify this?
Thanks
Maeve
brooke brisbine
MaeveHi Maeve,
I think it’s fine at this stage to keep your application where it is– I don’t know how you’d fix that without completely redoing the application and it’s been over a year, so probably just leave it. As long as everything has been completed correctly (sponsorship application, etc), I can’t imagine it will be a major issue!
-Brooke
JENALYN OXNAM
Hi Brooke,
Currently stuck in “Have any of the applicants lived in a country for more than 12 months…?”question. I have never lived in another country other than where I am right now. Should I tick YES?
Aside from that, I have used the 5 boxes for the details of the relationship and it did not exceed more than 2000 characters each box, would that be okay? A little bit worried that it may be looking so brief.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Regards,
Jen
brooke brisbine
JENALYN OXNAMHi Jen,
Wherever you’re currently living, it sounds like it’s been longer than 12 months, so definitely answer YES to that question. As for the relationship details, I’d probably be a little concerned about being so brief, but if your evidence is strong without needing a lot of written explanation, technically you’ve still met the requirements for the application (i.e. there’s no official minimum word limit on those statements).
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
Joana Cerejo
Hi Brooke,
hope you’re good! As you’ve hear many times before, this website is absolutely incredible and I am really grateful to you to put it all together for us! I’ll be sure to contribute to it, because your work is truly remarkable for a lot of people.
Anyway, me and my partner are putting together our statements and at the moment we have:
– Financial statement
– Household statement
– Social statement
– Nature of commitment statement
These ones we wrote together as one document for each category so we’re thinking we would both sign them. Is this okay or do we need one each?
Regarding the development of the relationship statement is this the famous “Relationship timeline” that we both individually have to write? This was my understanding so I was thinking of having 2 separate documents on this box and just 1 on the other boxes. Is this possible? Or is the “Relationship timeline” something different that will be asked later in the application? (Can’t move forward so it is difficult to see what comes next)
We’ve been putting together documents for a long time but just logged in yesterday and seeing how IMMI organizes the application is a bit different.
Again, thanks a lot for your work! You’re a star!
Joana
brooke brisbine
Joana CerejoHi Joana,
So sorry it took me this long to get back to you, but thank you for the lovely comment 🙂
I was under the impression that you each needed to write your own statements, but I’ve heard from readers on this blog that they did exactly what you’ve done and it was fine, so it sounds like a matter of personal preference! Both signing would be a good idea, though.
The development of your relationship is just the entire story of your lives together/your relationship timeline, so if you’re writing this as a separate statement (which I’d recommend), you can just refer the CO to that document rather than writing the whole thing in the box on the application. There is no other spot to write this in the application, but you will obviously upload it to the evidence section after you’ve submitted. I hope that answers your question!
Best of luck with it all xx
-Brooke
Justin
Brooke – you are amazing!!! Many thanks for sharing your journey and for your extremely helpful and detailed step-by-step guide! My partner Gab and I were unsure if we should spend thousands of dollars to hire a Lawyer to help us with our application as the process on the Home Affairs website was a bit unclear. However, after finding your guide online, it provided us with confidence to do the application ourselves. We submitted it in Jan 2020, and my partner just received his 820 VISA today! (under 8 months to process – we are in shock!) Thank you so much!! I’m sure you have running costs to keep this website going, so please reach out if you need any assistance with this. I’m more than happy to contribute to say THANK YOU for your great work. Much love, Justin and Gab xo
brooke brisbine
JustinHi Justin & Gab,
A huge CONGRATULATIONS, that is so incredibly exciting!!
Thank you so much for coming back to share the good news, it means a lot to me to hear that these posts are helping people– and of course it’s also an enormous reassurance to other readers who are concerned about the current wait time or their ability to submit without an expensive lawyer. 8 months is a fantastic outcome, you must be absolutely thrilled!
You’re so sweet to offer to contribute to the running costs of the site, that’s always incredibly appreciated! I have a little PayPal donation link at the bottom of every Partner Visa post for those who can/want to support my site 🙂
Best wishes to you both, I hope you found a great way to celebrate– one step closer to being a permanent Aussie!
-Brooke
Evelyn
Hi Brooke! A huge thank to you for compiling this series. You’re a champion!
I just submitted my 820 application and paid for it today. I have followed everything you shared in the last 3 weeks to prepare for my online application and will keep coming back here during the process of uploading evidence. I took notes from your blog to have a quick reference whenever I needed to look for something. I’m doing my masters while working part-time it’s honestly too many things to wrap my head around. I don’t think I could have started the application with confidence had it not been for your sharing.
I also shared your blog posts to an acquaintance who just started the process and she found it very helpful. Can’t thank you enough honestly!
Hope you are staying safe in Melbourne.
Cheers!
Evelyn
brooke brisbine
EvelynHi Evelyn, SO happy to hear these posts have been helpful!
I can certainly relate to the stress of applying for this visa while doing postgrad AND working– it feels like the application alone should be a full-time job, right?! Hopefully you’re getting through it ok now and you’ll soon be on the road to PR 🙂 It’s all worth it in the end!
-Brooke
Bettie
Hey Brooke! Guess what, I got my 820 today!! Yeehaw!!!! I am so happy, it feels like a weight has come off my shoulders! I have been having the worst luck this entire year, and this just turned my frown upside down! Hey quick question, you got your 820 and 801 simultaneously but as I finish my application only for 801, it says I cannot finish it until it has been 2 years of lodgement….how did you get around this? Or will they just decide my 801 within my intial application? Thanks!! Here’s the link to the page that says I have to wait the 2 years https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-text/eplus/Pages/elp-h0940.aspx
Cheers!
brooke brisbine
BettieHi Bettie,
CONGRATULATIONS, what incredible news!!! I am so happy to hear that– and I so relate to the feeling of having an enormous weight off your chest 🙂
The loophole to getting around the standard 2-year wait is either being de facto with your partner 3+ years at the time of application or 2+ years if you have a child together. If that is your situation, I suggest writing to your CO/Home Affairs ASAP to request consideration for the 801 grant; otherwise, you will have to wait the 2 years.
Wishing you and your partner well! Celebrate as best you can– it’s been a wild year, but this is some truly wonderful news!!
-Brooke
Rosie
Hi Brooke,
I hope this finds you well 🙂
May I please ask for the question asking the countries visited in the past 10 years, does going back to your home country counts as ‘country visited’ as well? I have officially moved to Australia sine 2016 and not sure if going back to visit my home country has to be on the list as well.
Before 2016 I have always been living in Taiwan in my whole life, so those times I visited Australia is on the list as well. However I got confused by how to fill in the list after I moved to Australia.
I hope this question make sense. Thank you so much!
Kind regards,
Rosie
brooke brisbine
RosieHi Rosie,
That’s a great question, and one I don’t totally know the answer to. I personally included visits back to my home country, just to be thorough, so I’d probably recommend doing the same!
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
Rosie
brooke brisbineHi Brooke,
Thank you so much for your advice! I will do the same 🙂
Also if you don’t mind me asking for the country resided, I guess I ought to list Australia on it. However it ask for the address for it and I have been moving around since I moved here. I only have one address (current address) is more than 12 months and it is still continuing. How should I complete this question and the date from/date to? Or do I answer no to the question as I am still living here so it does not count as ‘resided’ because its still continuing?
I have included all the timeframes being in Australia in the country visited list. Although there’s also one time I stayed more than 12 months before I travel again. Should I take that one out from the visited list and move it to resided list?
I am so sorry for all the question. Thank you so so much!
Rosie
RosieOops sorry I got it wrong for the second part of my question! That stay was not over 12 months haha. Just wanted to let you know please ignore the moving from visited list to resided list part in my previous comment x
brooke brisbine
RosieHi Rosie,
Yes, include Australia on the list from the original date you moved here until today’s date, and then just write your current/most recent address.
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
Bettie
Oh my! Congrats to you my friend, that is huge! Please go celebrate!! I will have a glass of wine for you tonight as i sit in my quarantine bubble 😁😁😁👍👍👍🍾
brooke brisbine
BettieThanks so much for that, Bettie! Difficult to have a proper celebration during this Melbourne lockdown, but I did my best 🙂
You’re next!!
-Brooke
Bettie
Hey Brooke,
I was just browsing blogs for people that have gone thru the hell I went thru in applying for partner visa and came across yours 🙂 You are so great to offer all this advice for current and future applicants. I will be adding a link to your website on my own personal blog. I am currently waiting for my approval on my application and it looks like you and me applied around the same time…November 2018? I am from Washington too 🙂 the sunny side, Spokane. Anyway, my most recent email (and I don’t get many) stated that my application was ‘in progress’. I am really curious to know if this means I am still waiting another 4 months or if I am finally in the home stretch and looking at maybe a few weeks?! Any clues? Lol, hope you hear from your soon!
brooke brisbine
BettieHi Bettie,
I so appreciate your comment (and, of course, a link from your site!), it’s always lovely to hear these posts are helping people 🙂 I applied in December 2018, so very close to you– and just TODAY I had my 820 and 801 granted simultaneously! Hopefully that means your application is coming through the pipeline incredibly soon and you’ll have some good news in the next few months 🙂
-Brooke
Anyssa
Hi there,
I have a quick question regarding the countries that we have been to. My partner doesn’t remember all of them therefore he needs to get it filled out through the government and that might take a few weeks and my visa expires in a month and a half. We have filled out the whole application and have the money, however, I am just wondering if we can add some of the information that we know and then complete it at a later date when we receive the information?
Let me know x
brooke brisbine
AnyssaHi Anyssa,
You’re not able to edit the actual application after submission, but your partner could potentially make an educated guess on the countries he’s been to, submit the visa, and then submit a correction form once he knows the exact dates. Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Conor
Hey Brooke!
I’m sponsoring an application and was wondering how to go about answering the question “Has the sponsor lived in any country for more than 12 months cumulatively in the past 10 years?”
I’ve only lived in Australia, and I can’t put ‘current’ as an option in the ‘Date to’ box, so what should I do? If I put today’s date then tomorrow this information is incorrect because I’m still here…
My partner only put her overseas addresses in this section so we’re hoping we haven’t screwed up!
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
brooke brisbine
ConorHi Conor,
I agree that’s super confusing. I think putting today’s date would be fine, the CO will be able to see where you live based on your “current address” provided elsewhere on the app.
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
JEN
Hi Brooke!
Thank you so much for supplying this information, I have been using it on a regular basis since I started my application in March, I am really grateful for all your work.
I have wound myself into a state of over thinking and confusion brought on by different answers in forums, could I please ask you for your opinion on the following, I’m sorry its so long!;
1. The only “stat decs” my partner and I have supplied are the Form 888’s. Is this ok? I have seen some people say it is completely necessary to have all of your pillar statements in stat dec format and witnessed, and some people say a word doc that you print and sign yourself is fine.
2. Background info: When I filled out the application online, I wrote “please see doc XXX..” in the pillar answer box and my partner (sponsor) did the same on his online form. We then opened up Word and split the task of addressing the pillars, my partner wrote 2 statements and I wrote 3 using “we” language throughout. We titled the documents “Social Aspects written by Applicant” or “Financial Aspects written by Sponsor” and at the end of each statement we wrote “I have read the statement prepared by my partner and I confirm the information to be true and accurate” and signed the one we did not write. Essentially I now have 5 joint statements;
-Should the applicant and the sponsor have different/individual answers to the pillars questions? Should I have 10 statements rather than 5 and only upload the ones I personally wrote to my application and upload the others to my partners side of the application?
– I decided to take the 5 statements we had jointly written and upload them where they applied on the upload portal, i.e. for the “Relationship- Spouse/De Facto evidence of” section I uploaded my Social Aspects, Financial Aspects and Development of the Relationship statements along with all their relevant evidence. Now I don’t know how/where I provide my evidence for the pillars. Can the pillar statements be the exact same as the statements I upload into the slots on the upload portal?
-TLDR: Do I need to write the same story 3 different times- once in the pillars box, once from the sponsors pov and once from the applicants pov?!
HELP! 🙂 🙂
brooke brisbine
JENHi Jen, so glad this information has been helpful to you!
1. Like other people have said, there’s a lot of debate about how to submit additional statements. I personally wrote and signed letters (not stat decs), but it’s up to you– it’s never going to be a negative if you do a stat dec when it’s not totally necessary, so go with what you’re comfortable with 🙂
2. It’s my understand that you need separate answers for those 5 pillars. If you want to just write small statements for some of them in the text boxes (under 2000 characters) and leave your partner to write longer statements for those, that could be an option. But you do need to BOTH at least *address* the 5 aspects in your own words, since it’s part of the app.
– you don’t need to write the same story 3 times– for starters, the statements should be unique from you and your partner, because you will have different writing styles and naturally focus on different elements of the relationship in your statements. They should reflect YOUR perspective, so they won’t be the same, even if some of the main content is similar. As for the boxes on the app, I usually just wrote “see statement XXX uploaded under section XXX”.
I hope that helps!!
-Brooke
Carolina
Hello Brooke,
Thanks for your detailed website. I’m currently applying for the offshore partner visa for my husband of 11 years but we are stuck on the format or way to answer the 5 questions under relationship details ¨the 2000 word ones¨. What I mean is that, should I write in a story format with romantic details such as ¨George and I met one night at a party and we started seeing each other but it didn’t become official until 3 months later the 3oth of june¨ or with bullet points and just basic information eg: we met 2009, have two kids, own 2 cars, have a joint account, coz I can’t find any examples of this on the internet and we are stuck 🙁
Your help will be much appreciated,
Carolina.
brooke brisbine
CarolinaHi Carolina,
I think a lot of people get hung up on that formatting, but there’s no “right” way to do it according to the Home Affairs website, so just do whatever makes you feel the most comfortable! Naturally, your partner might right his statements a little differently than yours and I think that’s also a positive– my statements were a lot longer and heavily peppered with dates and names, while my partner’s were more bullet points with general ways in which we support each other and have committed to each other. It just reflects our different styles and personalities, and it’s very genuine that way!
I hope that helps! Just start writing and remember it’s not an English essay, so you can express your love and commitment in whatever way you choose 🙂
-Brooke
Ladene
Hi Brooke thank you so much for all the information on your page it has been a huge help.
My partner and I are applying for an onshore Visa in the next few days.
I have a question regarding the applicants online application:
– Have any of the applicants visited any countries for less than 12 months in the past 10 years?
I’ve been to Phuket twice and Visited Australia 3 times, I’ve included all of this.
I am however, currently on a Visitor Visa in Australia and unsure if I should add my current visit as well which started in March 2020? Because I can put in a “Date From” but not a ‘Date to”
Please if you have any advice I would really appreciate it.
Kind Regards
Ladene
brooke brisbine
LadeneHi Ladene,
I think in situations like this, you could safely include your current visit to Australia OR leave it off, and either would be fine. You’re applying onshore so they know you are in Australia (and there should be other places on the application where you can include the date you arrived), but if you want to include it on your travel list, you could also put today’s date as “date to” and then make sure to explain somewhere else on the app.
Sorry it’s not a direct answer, but I hope that helps! Your application certainly isn’t going to be delayed by something that minor.
-Brooke
Sam
As i have already filled up all information from my account, what do you reckon is that ok to use sponsors account?
thanks
brooke brisbine
SamHi Sam,
I believe some other readers said they did that– I don’t know for sure, but I can’t see why not!
Brooke
Sam
Hi, your blog is really helpful. It clear lots of doubt.
Actually, I am a sponsor and almost completed Stage1 for applicants detail from my immi account. So, my question is for the next step that is, for Sponsorship for a Partner to Migrate to Australia, do I need to fill using another immi account ( applicant’s immi account).
Thanks in advance.
brooke brisbine
SamHi Sam,
For the sponsorship application, you can use either the applicant’s IMMI account OR create your own. I personally think it’s easier to just use your partner’s so everything is in one location 🙂
https://brookebeyond.com/sponsorship-for-a-partner-to-migrate-to-australia-820-visa
-Brooke
Mel
Omg, my partner just had his subclass 801 visa granted!! We only submitted it 2 weeks ago! I can’t believe it was so quick given the 820 visa took 18 months to be granted. Thank you Brooke for taking the time to write all the visa information. I hope you are granted the 820 visa soon, and if there’s anything I can do to help with your 801 visa application please contact me! Mel 🙂
brooke brisbine
MelAmazing news, Mel, that is SO exciting!! What a relief, I’m sure. Hopefully you two are celebrating 🙂
And thank you so much for the offer to answer questions about the 801, I will certainly reach out when I get to that stage!
-Brooke
Tori
Hi Brooke,
I am just filling out our application now, I think I have compiled most of the documents and information. My question is quite unique and I am hoping you or other readers may be able to help: How essential is my birth certificate to the application? (as the UK applicant)
I recently requested a new certificate, which does not include my father’s name. Will this be an issue? We are estranged now so I am wondering if it is easier to not include him on my application at all or whether to include him and not include my birth certificate. I have read that my birth certificate needs to include both parents. Any help on this would be great.
brooke brisbine
ToriHi Tori,
I’ll be honest, I’m not sure if it’s catastrophic not to include both parents on your birth certificate, but my advice would be to upload what you have and explain the situation in a letter or statement– if your CO wants more information, they will ask you for it. Best to be as upfront and forthcoming as possible about any “irregularities”, but Home Affairs will always let you know if something is missing or if they have questions.
I hope that helps a little bit!
-Brooke
Ashma Ghimire
Hi Brooke,
I was in the process of filling the form in immi account. The information and guidelines that you have provided is really helpful. Thank you so much! I am apply for an off shore visa. I reside in Nepal and my partner is in Australia. It has been like 3 years since my husband moved to Australia. In the travel history section do I need to mention my husband’s history as well? If yes, do I consider Australia as the place of primary residence? This thing is really confusing for me.
Could you please help me to figure this out?
Best Regards
brooke brisbine
Ashma GhimireHi Ashma,
You only need to describe your own travel history in the 820/801 online application, not your husband’s. However, you might want to mention his travel history to/with you when you write statements about your mutual commitment/relationship history.
Hope that helps a little!
-Brooke
Eli
Hi Brooke,
First of all, thank you so much! This is the most comprehensive information I’ve found on internet about the partner visa.
I am applying next weeks for a visa, but my “best” witnesses aren’t Australians (family, best friends). I know I can upload more than two declarations from witnesses, but I was wondering, is there a problem if none of them are Aussie? Or, is there such a thing as “bad” witness? e.g. people that don’t know us for a long time.
Many thanks!
brooke brisbine
EliHi Eli, thanks for your comment!
Unfortunately, only Australians can complete Form 888 on your behalf (and you need at least 2), but that doesn’t mean you can’t ALSO include informal letters and statements from foreign friends and family. We submitted 9x Form 888s from my Aussie friends and my partner’s family, for instance, and then 3x letters from my American family. You can read more about those in this post: https://brookebeyond.com/820-801-visa-faq-top-10-most-common-questions-about-the-australian-partner-visa-with-full-answers
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
Jack
Hi Brooke
Your blog has been really helpful and Im close to lodging my application. I just had a few questions before i did.
How many forms did you include in your application e.g 40sp, Stat decs etc and how can i find them online?
Did you get police checks and health checks done prior to applying for the application or once you had submitted and had them requested?
Did you need to provide copies of any documents e.g Birth certificates, Passports etc?
Thanks again for the helpful information any further info would be greatly appreciated
Jack
brooke brisbine
JackHi Jack, great to hear that these posts have been helpful to you!
I’ll direct you to this post with regards to which forms you need to upload: https://brookebeyond.com/820-801-visa-faq-top-10-most-common-questions-about-the-australian-partner-visa-with-full-answers Basically, Form 888 (at least 2x, but I submitted 9x) is required, while Form 80, 1221, and 40SP are listed as “recommended” on IMMI, but in actual fact are probably not needed. I included them anyway to be safe, but many people don’t.
Definitely wait to get your police and health checks done until at least some time has passed, they will expire within the year and it is pretty unheard of for an application to be approved that quickly. Check out these posts:
– https://brookebeyond.com/completing-your-health-assessment-examination-for-the-820-801-australian-partner-visa
– https://brookebeyond.com/completing-afp-national-police-checks-npc-for-your-820-801-australian-partner-visa
You definitely need copies of your passport and other documents, which you can read about in this post: https://brookebeyond.com/uploading-evidence-to-our-820-801-australian-partner-visa-application
I hope this helps!
-Brooke
Aimee
Hi Brooke,
Thank you so much for your comprehensive and supportive blog post. I am so amazed to see that you are answering people’s individual questions as well. You truly are a kind person!
For a bit of background on us – I am a UK citizen and my husband is an Australian citizen. We met in the US, where we got married and still live. I am applying for my visa from outside Australia.
I was wondering if you could please answer a few questions I have:
1. Are only Australian citizens allowed to complete form 888 “Statutory declaration by a supporting witness in relation to a Partner or Prospective Marriage visa application”?
2. With regards to the question: “Have you had a health examination for an Australian visa carried out in the last 12 months?”, my answer is no. But how do I go about receiving that? Is there a special form I need for my doctor in America?
3. I am still in the process of completing my application form: “Stage 1 – Partner or Prospective Marriage Visa (300,309/100,820/801)”. Once I have submitted this, will I be prompted to a payment screen?
4. Once I have paid for my stage 1 application, am I immediately able to start uploading evidence in support of my application? When I upload each piece of evidence, will the website help me clearly identify what category it is related to in the application form?
5. Is the next step for my husband to complete the form: “Sponsorship for a partner to migrate to Australia (300,309/100,820/801)”? Does he use my immi account or create his own to complete this form? Will my husband be required to upload evidence with this form?
6. As I will be applying from the US, is it correct that I cannot enter Australia while my temporary partner visa is being processed? How long do you think this will take to be approved?
7. Is there a wait time after my temporary partner visa has been granted before I can proceed to the next application: “Stage 2 – Permanent Partner Visa Assessment (100,801)”? Do I need to upload any further information for this? How long does the permanent partner visa usually take to be approved?
Sorry for so many questions, however I cannot find the answers on the government website and I have been really impressed by your knowledge and the answers you have given to others. I would really appreciate some guidance from someone like yourself who has first hand experience. Thank you so much for the time you take to help others. It is greatly appreciated!
brooke brisbine
AimeeHi Aimee, so happy to hear that you’ve found these posts helpful! I’ll do my best to answer your questions 🙂
1. Yes, Form 888 is only to be completed by Australian citizens or PRs. If you want to read more about how non-Aussie friends and family can provide support for your application, I’d direct you to this post, section 4: https://brookebeyond.com/820-801-visa-faq-top-10-most-common-questions-about-the-australian-partner-visa-with-full-answers
2. You can complete your health exam after submitting your application. A notification will appear on your IMMI account with all the details.
3. Correct, you pay for the application after you’ve submitted it, and only then is it complete.
4. Yes, you can upload documents as soon as you’ve paid for your application. This post might be helpful for what to expect when uploading evidence: https://brookebeyond.com/uploading-evidence-to-our-820-801-australian-partner-visa-application
5. Your husband does need to complete the sponsor application online, and this post should walk you through everything you need to know: https://brookebeyond.com/sponsorship-for-a-partner-to-migrate-to-australia-820-visa
6. When you apply offshore, you need to be offshore when the visa is granted. It’s absolutely impossible to say how long it will take, it’s incredibly variable, but I can say that offshore applications seem to be processed considerably faster than onshore.
7. Yes, there is a 2 year wait period between 820 and 801, but this can be waived if you’ve been with your husband for more than 3 years.
I hope that answered most of your questions! I’d also recommend referring to this post for sort of a step-by-step to the whole process: https://brookebeyond.com/australian-permanent-residency-through-820-801-partner-visa
-Brooke
Ella
Hello Brooke,
Your blog has been so very helpful. Thank you for putting this together. My partner and I are currently trying to organise everything so we can submit our application by next week.
A couple of questions, if you don’t mind.
In the section of the application that is 2000 characters minimum did you actually write about your financials, house hold ect or did you simply write “please refer to partner statement”. Additionally, I have written a partner statement onto one document which is 5 pages long, this includes all the pillars, but do you think it’s more helpful to write a seperate document for each pillar?
My partner (sponsor) has also written a statement, does hers need to include all of these pillars, she has written it similar to mine – you mentioned your partner wrote a shorter statement, could you just clarify what the sponsor statement included?
brooke brisbine
EllaHi Ella,
If writing statements longer than 2000 characters, it’s really up to you whether you want to do a quick summary or truncate the full statement in the text boxes on the application, or even just write “see XXX document in uploads for full statement”. There isn’t really one “right” way to do it, so do whatever seems most logical to you as long as the CO will know where to find the full statement when assessing your application. Just don’t leave the box blank!
It’s also up to you whether you want to do one statement with all 5 aspects or separate statements. There’s definitely a lot of crossover, but I personally think it might be better to do separate statements, since that’s what the application is actually asking for (by giving you separate text boxes).
The sponsor’s statements are also meant to address the same 5 categories, and there are the same text boxes (and 2000 character limit) on the sponsor application. My partner wrote shorter statements than me because it felt unnecessary that we should both go into incredible detail on the same information, so his statements mostly fit into the text boxes (whereas mine definitely did not). He did have a longer statement about the history of our relationship which kind of covered all aspects fluidly, and I uploaded that to my application.
Does that help??
Best of luck with everything!
-Brooke
Henry
Hi Brooke,
I am currently on a 482 visa and have started lodging my partner visa. I met my partner in October 2018 and become exclusive in November 2018, relationship is registered with NSW Gov. We now live together and have ample proof of our relationship.
I was on a 457 visa and was in a previous defacto relationship (i was the sponsor) that relationship broke down around August 2018, however I forget to advise immigration until the March 2019. I never received acknowledgment from Immi that he had been removed. That visa has now expired and I have gone on the the 482 alone.
I’ve been told by a few agents that this shouldn’t be an issue as long as I am honest with the dates. Will they question why I forgot to inform them months after the breakdown of the relationship? Where do i explain this?
Thanks 🙂
brooke brisbine
HenryHi Henry,
It’s hard for me to say exactly how Home Affairs will handle this situation, but I think the advice you’ve already received is good: be honest about the situation and provide as much evidence as you possibly can that you were with your current partner during the apparent overlap (Nov 2018- March 2019). I would also definitely write a stat dec explaining this situation and upload to the application wherever you feel appropriate. Whatever you can do to openly address it!
Hope that helps, and good luck with everything 🙂
-Brooke
Yong
Hi Brooke!
First of all thanks so much for this – so helpful!
Just one question about the 5 aspects of relationship – with the longer-than-2000-characters statements, I understand that you uploaded each of the 5 as separate attached statements. But what did you write in the boxes in the IMMI online application? Did you leave them blank or did you write maybe the few lines of each statement, then continue in the attachments?
Thank you!
brooke brisbine
YongHi Yong, happy to hear you found it helpful!
Definitely do not leave the boxes blank in the application– either write “see xxx document under uploads for a full statement on social aspects of the relationship” or you can write a small summary of the statement and then say “continued in xxx document…”.
-Brooke
Tom Wilson
Brooke you superstar, thank you for such vital information on the way!
I am just curious, is the bridging visa granted as soon as you have submitted the online form and then paid, or do you have to upload all your evidence before you receive the visa?
thanks so much!
brooke brisbine
Tom WilsonHi Tom, you’ll need to upload the evidence right away and then it will be approved 🙂
-Brooke
Agustina Ceballos
hi Brooke,
First of all THANK YOU SOO MUCH for all the information you have collated in this blog! it has been really helpful to read about your experience and follow the steps you have taken in our own process.
I have a quick question: does the sponsor need to fill in Form 40 or Form 40sp? I have found it in another blog but the only form 40 I found is for parent, aged dependent relative, remaining relative, carer sponsorships. Did you guys submit anything like this?
Thanks again,
Agustina
brooke brisbine
Agustina CeballosHi Agustina, you are so welcome, and thank you for the lovely message!!
Apologies for the bad link in my post, heaps of people have picked up on this recently! The links to the 40SP form keep breaking and I’m constantly updating them, which makes me think that Home Affairs might be phasing 40SP out completely. I still completed one anyway, just to be safe. I’ll update the links in this post, and here’s the right form: http://www.fenfeivisa.net/Upload/40SP.pdf
-Brooke
Danny
Second question:
The countries resided in question. It asks to list all the countries you’ve resided in for more than 12 months in the past 10 years. It asks for the last address in the country, and then dates…. i assume we put the last resided address, even if only for 3 months, but the actual ‘dates’ requested would be the total time you’ve lived in that particular country? Not at that specific address?? This seems to make sence to me, but im seeing a lot of confusion about this over the internet…
brooke brisbine
DannyHi Danny, that makes sense to me, too. I just went back and looked at my application, and this is how I answered the question– my last address (however long I was there for) and the TOTAL dates I lived in the country for. Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Danny
Hi Brooke, really great blog, thank you for sharing with all of us. Quick question, back to discussions on attaching additional info beyond the 2000 word limits. Do you think an official stat dec is required here? With witness signatures and wording such as ‘i declare the info to be true….’ Or ok to just write something like: ‘Additional detail on relationship progression’ and maybe sign the end of it?
Many Thanks, Danny
brooke brisbine
DannyHi Danny,
Everyone does something different here, so it’s your call– there’s not really any guidance about it on the Home Affairs site. I personally just wrote and signed a letter, but it wouldn’t hurt to do an official stat dec if you had the time. Up to you!
-Brooke
Jim
Hi – just found this blog. Amazing. And the comments too!
Question around dates. A few times it asks for exact dates for stuff that I have no record of.
As sponsor. Exact date of first arrival in Australia. This was when I was 4, about 35 years ago. I dont have any old passport that would have this on.
As applicant: Exact dates for travel over last 10 years. Again, same issue. My partner doesnt have an older passport, and some of the older travel is before things were booked on email.
What is the risk of missing something or including a date which is a guess?
brooke brisbine
JimHi Jim,
I think in both instances a rough guess would have to suffice, especially in terms of travel. Obviously it would be good if you could find your date of arrival, but considering how long ago it was, I can’t imagine they will make a big deal out of the EXACT date (although that’s just my opinion).
I totally understand that travel dates can be tricky in the last 10 years, so again, I think a reasonable estimate is fair. You might include a note to the CO in your application that some dates are approximate due to a lack of records. Surely they get this all the time, it is HARD to remember all the times you have ever left the country if you travel frequently.
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Kaytlynn
Hello Brooke,
I’ve just been granted my 820 Visa after being on my bridging visa beforehand but what i’m curious is what do i do next? i applied for my partner visa (very first one) last August which would mean it’d be only a year for me to be granted my 820 Visa, but their website is saying i need to wait 2 years before i can do my 801 visa? This whole situation is a tad bit confusing.
brooke brisbine
KaytlynnHi Kaytlynn, a big congratulations on getting your visa!
I can’t personally comment on this, as I haven’t done my 801 yet, but I believe there is a 2 year wait between getting the 820 and the 801. They advise you to keep gathering evidence during this time and then submit on your eligibility date.
Sorry I can’t be more helpful, but how exciting!
-Brooke
Nafsika
Hello Brooke. All the information you provided was really helpful to me and my boyfriend while we were applying for the visa and made a successful application. The application was made mid August ( payment included) the next day we instantly got with BV. What I’m worried about is we haven’t heard from anyone through email or calls and I don’t know if that’s normal. Is anyone going to contact us? Like a case manager. And how long it might take? I know it might vary on the case I’m just worried. Thank you
brooke brisbine
NafsikaHi Nafsika, so glad these posts were helpful to you!
Don’t be worried that you haven’t heard from anyone, I submitted my application last December and I still haven’t gotten a single email from a Case Officer. This seems to be really common. You might not hear from your CO until the application is approved or you might hear from them after 1-1.5 years asking for more info, it does vary– but I think it would be VERY rare for someone to hear from a CO in just 3 months! Sadly it’s just lots of waiting now!
Best of luck,
-Brooke
Sam
Hi Brooke,
Sam again!, thank you for previously replying to my questions! I’m slowing making progress since and less over thinking things.
I’ve come across the question about where it asks about ‘previous partner’…
Just wondering if you could give me a little bit of help/guidance around this question as I’m not sure if I should answer yes or no.
My situation is that of course I’ve had a previous partner before my current partner. In my previous relationship I met my previous partner in the UK where I am from (British) and my ex partner was Australian. I would class this relationship as girlfriend/girlfriend and not so much de facto. We lived together in London UK for a while then she moved back to Australia because she wanted to go home. We were on and off for a while so it wasn’t exactly the most stablest relationship. I came to Australia on a holiday/visitor visa and stayed with her family and her for 1 month over christmas then returned to the UK. I then went back to Australia after 2 months on my 1st year working holiday visa, we lived together for just over 1 month on a joint lease and then split up.
Sorry if that is a bit hard to understand by the way I’ve explained it, but my question is would I answer yes and give details of my ex partner or No and continue with the application.
I’m just a little concerned as I know theres questions about previous address’s and one of them address’s was when I was living with my ex partner for just over 1 month!
Thank you for your help Brooke your blog has been so much help for me throughout this process so far!
brooke brisbine
SamHi Sam, so happy I could help!
The question only applies to previous marriages or de facto partnerships and, hearing about this particular previous relationship, I probably wouldn’t consider it de facto, in which case you could leave it off the application. Now, that’s just what I would do, I can’t actually tell you what is “correct” in this situation since I’m not a migration agent! But as long as you never registered that relationship as de facto and you didn’t list her as a partner on your Working Holiday Visa application, I think you’d be fine not to mention it.
Good luck with everything 🙂
-Brooke
Cara
Hello Brooke,
I am so thankful that I came across with your blog as I find it very helpful. I wonder if I could ask you a few questions about a Partner Visa.
My partner and I are planning to get married in March of 2020 outside Australia. Though I am still outside Australia but we are planning to lodge the partner Visa once I arrive in Australia this November as a tourist and later apply for BVB.
My question is this we have planned everything already, sorted out the dates of the wedding and even bought tickets already for our wedding. Do you reckon we be in trouble that we planned of lodging the partner visa before coming to Australia and even sorted tickets dated in advance for our wedding before even coming to Australia.
Your inputs would be highly appreciated.
Thank you Beautiful.
brooke brisbine
CaraHi Cara, I am so happy to hear that you’ve found the blog helpful!
Have you looking into the PMV 300? It is specifically designed for couples who are planning to get married in the immediate future. I don’t know heaps about it, but it might be a better route for you guys, so definitely have a look at the Home Affairs site.
Aside from that, heaps of people come in on tourist visas specifically to lodge their partner visa application onshore, so there definitely seems to be a way to do it. A friend of mine actually just did this, but it’s worth noting that she had the help of a migration lawyer.
I hope that helps a little bit!
-Brooke
Ash
Hi Brooke,
Amazing work with this post. You are a big help for couples like me and my partner applying for this Visa.
I was born in India and but been an Australian Citizen for a decade. My wife who is an Indian is applying in the offshore category. I have couple of question for you.
1) My wife is applying online and reached the part where you enter details about the relationship. Question is, does she write everything in this part from her point of view? Or should it be like a joint statement kind of story from the perspective of both of us? Or she writes it all from her perspective and than I can write the same from my perspective and upload it as separate document?
2) My wife has a valid multiple entry tourist visa and as soon as she had lodged the application by next week, she is coming to Australia next month. How do you notify the department to advise about her visit? I am assuming it can be done through her MyImmi account via some link so would appreciate if you are able to shed some light on this.
Thanks heaps,
Ash
brooke brisbine
AshHi Ash, thank you so much for the lovely comment!
1) Yes, your wife should complete her application from her point of view. You will have the opportunity to describe the relationship from your point of view on the sponsor application (which you will complete on IMMI after she submits her application).
2) Unfortunately, I actually don’t know how to go about notifying Home Affairs of your intended arrival– perhaps there is someone else reading these comments who might be able to answer?? Otherwise, I would recommend giving Home Affairs a call and they can explain the procedure.
Best of luck to the both of you!
-Brooke
Ash
brooke brisbineThanks for the reply Brooke.
For Q1) You are correct, I am now in the process of lodging sponsorship application through my wife’s Immi account and I have been asked the same questions about our relationship.
For the Q2) I had asked this question in a different forum and I was advised I could use the ‘Update details’ link in MyImmi account and use update address or update change in circumstances form to notify.
Further to the above, may I seek your advise about a reasonable time period within which I should be lodging my sponsorship form? Wife’s main application was lodged and received on 24th earlier this month and we have uploaded a lot of evidence in her main application but yet to upload everything so what would be a reasonable time period to get everything uploaded?
Plus, in my relationship statements, I am using wife’s response as sort of a template as we are telling the same story for most aspects but of course from my point of view and I was wondering if CO will look at it as a copy paste job or maybe they might be more realistic and understanding that same story is being told so will have similar time-lines and details etc. What is your opinion on this?
brooke brisbine
AshHi Ash, thank you so much for sharing your experience, I’m sure it will be really helpful to other readers going through a similar situation!
As for your question about the “reasonable timeframe”, there is no official time limit imposed by Home Affairs (at least not that they’ve shared with us publicly), which can make it a bit tricky to know when you REALLY have to have things in… Realistically, no one touches your application for a few months, and that’s best case scenario! Still, it’s always better to get a complete application together as soon as possible, just in case. Considering it’s been just 4 days for you, I wouldn’t be too worried about uploading statements and documents over the next week, but I would probably say get your sponsor application in sooner rather than later. There have been rumblings for a long time about Home Affairs changing the procedure for visa assessment (assessing the sponsor before the application), and while I don’t believe these have been imposed as of yet, you just never know when it’s going to happen!
As for your statement, of course there is going to be overlap in the details because, as you say, it’s the same story. Just don’t feel like you need to use the same words or even the same format, because I don’t think the CO would be terribly impressed to read 2 identical documents. You might also talk about things she skimmed over or vice versa. For instance, mine was a lot more dates and facts-oriented than my partner’s, because I have all of my planners from the years we were together and know exactly when we were where, but his relationship statement was a lot more about why and how he committed to the relationship. It doesn’t need to be a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, so just write your own statement in your own words 🙂
-Brooke
Sam
Hey Brooke!
Can I just say how much of a massive help and reassurance all this information you have given has been for me. I’m currently in the early process of filling out the 820 PV application form and I’m at the Relationship part. Theres questions I have if you are able to answer them I would really really appreciate it.
1. Baring in mind that everyones relationship and circumstances are different…, Is there a certain way you would recommend on how to write the evidence for each factor? (I think I maybe over thinking or just purely stressing myself out over this but I don’t want to write my statements the wrong way.) Would you suggest on writing it like a story or like bullet points etc…?
2. With the 2000 character limit we all know this is barely enough haha. I’ve seen that you’ve mentioned about the stat dec…, is this the 888 form? and if so would the whole form need to be completed for each factor or can I put all this information into 1 stat dec for each factor?
Sorry if these seem like stupid questions! I’m just super stuck and my brain feels frazzled already haha!
Thanks again!
Sam
brooke brisbine
SamHi Sam, thank you so much for all the kind words!
1. I hate to say it, but I think you are definitely over-thinking things 🙂 There is no set format for writing these statements and, therefore, no right or wrong way to do it. If you want to write a formal document in third person or if you prefer to write a bunch of dates and facts in informal bullet points, it really doesn’t matter as long as you can get all the information across. I know that isn’t super helpful when you’re looking for somewhere to start, but just sit down at the computer, look at the prompts Home Affairs gives for each section (also on my blog), and then just type whatever comes out. This is your story, so it’s completely up to you!
2. Yes, 2000 characters is peanuts, so I wrote longer letters for each section and attached them. I only signed and dated these statements rather than doing official stat decs (and Form 888 is something different entirely), but you can do stat decs if you want, it certainly won’t hurt. I’d recommend a separate statement for each of the 5 categories, this will make uploading much easier.
I really hope this helps, but let me know if you have other questions and I will do my very best to answer them 🙂
-Brooke
CB
Hi Brooke,
First off I want to say what a great job you’ve done here! Thank you so much. A wealth of information that’s incredibly helpful.
I’m at the start of the 820 journey now and have a simple question please if you have time…
Once we have accumulated all the necessary dates and info to complete the online Immi application is there anything stopping us from actually applying and paying before we have all the upload evidence available? For example we’ve got witnesses lined up for form 888 but don’t have the forms back yet. And we won’t apply for police checks yet etc etc.
So is it OK to apply with a sort of skeleton application and then fill it out as the meat starts to come in? So to speak!
Thanks
CB
brooke brisbine
CBHi CB, thank you for the kind words, I’m so happy to hear this post has been helpful!
There is nothing to stop you from submitting and paying before you’re ready to upload evidence. Obviously it’s beneficial to have a complete application (with all the documents) as soon as possible, but there’s no official time limit that I’m aware of! You can (and should) keep adding things as you go.
Hope this helps 🙂
-Brooke
Danny
Hi Brook
Your blog helps me a lot
My partner and I are in the middle of this process
I have paid through BPAY and my application status is still awaiting for payment
Do i have to wait until the status changes to start the sponsor application, or i can just do it straight away?
Thank you
brooke brisbine
DannyHi Danny,
You need to wait for the payment to be processed before you can start the sponsor application, since you will need a reference number off the main application.
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Geeta
Hi Brooke,
Thank you for this incredible guide to Australian Partner Visa!
Just wondering if the stat decs from witnesses are to be uploaded straight away after the application or can be uploaded a little later? My partner has a tourist visa and expires this November so we’re trying to lodge the application this week however our witnesses need more time to prepare the stat decs. Our main concern is whether or not after lodging the application, he would be granted the 820 visa without witness statements or is there another visa that we should look into before his tourist visa expires?
Thanks a ton!
brooke brisbine
GeetaHi Geeta, many apologies for my late response– I’ve been travelling for the last 3 months and haven’t been on the computer much!
I’m sure you’ve already answered this question yourself, but you can continue uploading evidence indefinitely after submitting the application. Obviously don’t wait a year to get all the required forms uploaded, but it doesn’t need to be straight away either– realistically, no one is going to look at it for quite while (sadly).
Wishing you lots of luck with your visa!
-Brooke
Cheyenne
Hello Brooke,
Thank you so much for all of this valuable information!
I am currently filling out the application for the partnership visa and am just wondering if you could give some insight as to what format to use in answering the questions about the relationship. Should it be answered in first person or third person? I also feel myself wanting to make it sound more formal, seeing as it is a legal document, but I’m wondering if it needs to be more personal to get across the authenticity of our relationship. Do you have any thoughts/advice on this?
brooke brisbine
CheyenneHi Cheyenne, really sorry for the late response– I’ve been travelling for the last 3 months and haven’t been on the computer much!
I think this one is entirely up to you– there is no specified format for these statements, so just write in a way that feels comfortable! The most important thing is to be honest and tell your story 🙂
Best of luck with your visa!
-Brooke
Cheyenne
brooke brisbineHello again Brooke,
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you- I’ve been busy getting all this visa stuff together. Ive submitted my application and have almost finished all my uploads. I wanted to thank you for all your help and guidance through this process! I know how time consuming all of this must have been and I’m so grateful you took the time to compile this resource for so many people going through this complicated process. Thank you so much!
brooke brisbine
CheyenneHi Cheyenne, thank you SO much for the lovely message! It was certainly a big project to get this resource together, but it’s worth it to be able to take some of the stress out of the process for other people 🙂
Wishing you a swift and smooth visa process!
-Brooke
manuel
Hello Brooke,
Just want to saythis is a very helpful site, just have a small questionif you would have any advise, we want to apply for a partner visa outside of australia (europe ) but already want to go to austalia while waiting for the process , cand my partner enter on a visitor visa. or would it be safer to try and apply in australia ??’ thankyou for any info . all the best
brooke brisbine
manuelHi Manuel, so sorry for my late response– I’ve been travelling for the last 3 months and haven’t been on the computer much!
I’m sure you’ve already answered this question yourself, but if you apply offshore, you need to be out of Australia when the visa is granted. It would be possible to visit Australia for a short time while you are waiting, but you would need to be careful not to do it around the time of the possible visa grant. A better option might be applying onshore, although it seems like the wait time is longer, so that’s something to consider!
Best of luck with everything!
-Brooke
Madeleine
manuelHi Brooke I hope you don’t mind me sharing with Manuel my experience here:
Hi Manuel:
After reading your post I thought I need to share the answer with you of what happened to people who are applying offshore.
If you are overseas, you HAVE to apply offshore. Once you have submitted your application, all you need to do is each time you leave for Australia, let the Officer know. They will let you know whether it is OK for you to leave or they will ask you to stay back until the visa is granted (if nearing completion). If you do not let them know, (even it may be a year wait) they will bar your application to travel to Australia. This happened to a friend of ours! He got his visa after 10 months wait . Though 10 months is considered quick but he was worried sick as he could not travel to Australia in the meantime while waiting for his partner visa and not knowing the reason why and he couldn’t visit his Wife in australia for 8 months!
So my advice would be let the officer know about the duration each time you want to got to Australia!
I figured this out and my officer confirmed it too. I got my visa after 4 months 5 days wait.
Hope this helps!
Madeleine
brooke brisbine
MadeleineThank you so much for chiming in on this, Madeleine! This seems to be a popular question, so it’s great to hear from someone who has first-hand experience on the matter.
Verrill
Hi Brooke,
Thanks for sharing your experience for this visa in such a great detail! What you have explained under each heading are really helpful to me to understand what you actually need to provide to DHA.
I am still thinking to go through my application with a migration agent at some stage in the future to just make sure I am doing the right thing for such an expensive visa.
Currently I do have some questions to ask you further, I know you are not an agent but I do want to seek for some advice from you when gathering all the evidence.
Regarding to ‘Financial aspects of the relationship’, I have been living in my partner’s unit which is under his name, and so is the mortgage, and we do have a joint account where we put money in together – I do contribute bit more to help on the mortgage in some bank statements, but before we have a joint account everything was in cash or done in our own account so it is bit hard to prove. We do not have many joint assets apart from some furniture, cooking woks. We mainly use the joint account for eating out, and I do transfer money in (the share bill) but just for future use. – my partner has had everything set with direct debit under his credit card (my name does appear on these bills).
We have been living together since Nov last year till June this year I got a job in a rural area (110km away from our home), so i had to rent another place near my work (because of extra rent I needed to pay I cannot share much bill so our joint account is now for mainly eating out and shopping). – but my nature of work is casual, I do travel back every week to spend few days together (up to 3 days) then I need to travel back to work. This seems to make the application harder as it becomes hard to prove we are living together. – However, we do have proof of me coming back, eating out and hanging out, also messages we sent to each other while I was away for work days, – we did make long phone calls on a daily basis.
So I would like to know your thoughts on this… (and surely I will confirm with my agent in the future later when I have one).
Many thanks!
brooke brisbine
VerrillHi Verrill, really sorry for the late response– I’ve been travelling for the last 3 months and haven’t been on the computer much!
I think there are plenty of people in a similar situation, so I wouldn’t worry too much (although I do think it’s still a good idea to chat to a migration agent). Your idea of including messages, receipts of joint meals, anything you can to show that you were visiting regularly is great. Signing stat decs to that effect could also be helpful. The best advice I can give is to provide all of this detail in your application– explain why you have to live away, dates that you travel back, your future plans to live together, how you contribute to the mortgage, etc. The more information, the better!
I hope you guys are able to chat to a lawyer and get some more concrete advice, but I think you’ll be able to figure something out 🙂
-Brooke
Vamsee
Hi Brooke,
Thanks for the blog. It helps greatly to everyone who are looking for answers about the partner visa.
Just wanted to check about one question where it asks to mention all the countries you have visited in last 10years.
I am currently living in Australia.Do I need mention the details of Australia under visited along with the others or not necessary ?
brooke brisbine
VamseeHi Vamsee, so sorry for my late response– I’ve been travelling for the last 3 months and haven’t been on the computer much!
I didn’t mention Australia on my list of visited countries, but I’m not totally sure what the “right” response is in this situation. I’m sure either way is fine as long as you have provided the dates you moved to Australia elsewhere in the application.
Best of luck with everything!
-Brooke
Kat
Brooke
just wanting to message and say i have followed your blog to the T, i am about to submit my de facto relationship and you have seriously been a gods send! I do have a quick question do all supporting witness’ have to be Aussie? We have plenty but my fiends back home have known my partner since we started dating which would be better as its 3 years ago, but we do have 8 people here in Australia vouching for us…would it be over kill?
TIA
brooke brisbine
KatHi Kat, so sorry for my late response– I’ve been travelling for the last 3 months and haven’t been on the computer much!
I’m sure you’ve already answered this question yourself, but all of the Form 888s need to be completed by Aussies. However, you can absolutely have your foreign friends and family write and sign letters about your relationship. It won’t satisfy the Form 888 requirement, but it is useful as additional evidence!
Good luck with the visa!
-Brooke
Dee Walker
Really appreciate the post and tips thanks Brooke. We are almost ready to submit the 309 visa application (the off-shore version of the 820 visa). Your clarification tips/tricks have been very useful. Many thanks.
brooke brisbine
Dee WalkerYou are so welcome, Dee, I’m happy to hear that these posts have been helpful!
Best of luck with everything 🙂
-Brooke
Luis
Hi Brooke
Thank you so much for all the helpful information. In the section where it mentions countries i have visited in the past 10 years. Do i include the countries where i was in transit as well? In other words, do i include all the countries i have a stamp on my passport for the last 10 years?
The other question i have is: I have lived in different places while in Australia. Do i have to include every single one since the date i arrived in the country or would the most recent one be enough?
Thank you so much for your help
brooke brisbine
LuisHi Luis,
You are so welcome, I’m glad I was able to help you with your application!
Yes, you need to include all the countries you actually entered (and have stamped in your passport). If you didn’t leave the airport, obviously you don’t need to include it on your list.
There are questions asking for your current address (where you live now in Australia), but one of the forms you’ll complete also asks you to list every address you’ve had in the last 10yrs, so for that you can include a longer list of addresses.
I hope this answers your questions, best of luck!
-Brooke
Joohyeong
Hi Brooke, So much grateful for your amazing help.
I have no doubt that you have given huge help to loads of people.
Can I also ask about something?
I suspect that My partner and I don’t have enough evidence that we have lived together over 1 year.
Because we have been living in my partner’s dad’s sub house, we don’t have any bill on our both name. We just have paid her dad paying our rent together mostly just by transferring money to her dad, sometimes by cash.
all the evidence we have is a statement from her dad saying he allowed us to live together in his house paying rent to him from 24th July, 2018.
Apart from this, we have some photos of us taken at home, and a couple of mails on our address.
I wanna listen to your opinion.
thank you.
brooke brisbine
JoohyeongHi Joohyeong,
It’s hard for me to tell you if this is or isn’t enough evidence, since I am not a migration agent, but I CAN tell you that many other people have been in a similar situation and a signed stat dec is what they have provided, same as you. The photos of your room and of you at the house together will surely help, too. Do you both use that address for all your mail, for your bank, for work/uni, for the ATO, etc? Perhaps you can scan some documents showing that you both receive “official” mail to that address (such as a bank statement addressed to your partner and a bill addressed to you). I did this for me and my partner even though we were both on the lease, just to show that we were both residing at the same address and receiving mail there. It might help you!
-Brooke
Joohyeong
I appreciate your enormously huge work Brooke. You are a legend. Can’t say thank you enough seriously. So lucky to find you. Thank you for again your huge help.
Well, as an applicant, I have a couple of more questions for you.
if you give a little more help, I would be so much grateful again.
1. Could I upload extra documents or evidences to add up later even after you complete submitting application and paying the applying fee?(In case I forget to attach something or I want to add up extra evidence)
2. About the statement about the relationship history and everything), is there any specific form to write it on? and does it necessarily have to be handwriting like other forms such as 888 witness form?
3. Once you apply this visa, will I automatically get my bridging visa as my current on is expired?
I’m a little worried because the visa I’m holding atm will be expired soon. We will still have like 2 weeks of time before we submit our visa though.
Thank you again Brooke.
brooke brisbine
JoohyeongHi Joohyeong,
Thank you so much for the lovely message, I’m just happy I could help!
1. You won’t be able to upload any evidence until AFTER you submit the online application and pay the fee. Once Home Affairs confirms the receipt of your payment, then you will be able to upload your documents, and you can do this up until the day your visa is granted. Obviously it is best to get all of the required evidence uploaded quickly, but you can keep adding new documents and providing updates while you are waiting.
2. There is no specific form to use for your relationship history, so everyone’s will look a little different. The most common format seems to be a letter (you write one and your partner writes one) describing how you met, the progression of your relationship, your future plans together, etc. There is no requirement for it to be handwritten.
3. I can’t say if everyone gets their Bridging Visa *immediately*, but I personally did. The same day that I submitted my application, I got an email from Home Affairs confirming that they received it and a separate visa grant notification for my BVA. Whatever you do, DO NOT let your current visa expire before you get your BVA, though–it will make things infinitely more challenging for you if you are “illegally” in Australia when you submit your application. Either submit quickly or see if there’s another visa you can apply for in the meantime.
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
Anonymous
Thanks a lot Brooke.
Jade
Hi Brooke,
Thank you so much for all you information! Literally saved our lives!
Can I ask, when you put information into the ‘boxes’ describing the relationship, is it 5 separate boxes (financial, social, household, commitment & development) that are each 2000 characters each? Or is it 2000 characters for the entire response?
Is it definitely 2000 characters not words?
A million thank yous!
brooke brisbine
JadeHi Jade, I am so happy to hear that 🙂
Yes, there are 5 separate boxes, each with a 2000 character limit. This is obviously not a lot of space to provide extensive detail about your relationship, so we (and most people I’ve spoken to) uploaded additional statements about financial, social, household etc.
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Madeleine
Hi Brooke:
Sure will keep you posted of what they are going to ask us.
I suspect it is also because our girl is going to university soon (2020) – she is in year 12 now and that was why we are asked to provide all the documents that quickly.
Yes I think I can answer anything they are going to ask me. The longer you are married the more documentary evidence that I have to produce! You can imagine the amount of photographs on our traveling and the dates we were traveling.
You take care and will keep you posted. We are enjoying the Australia weather now – enjoyed reef in the winter in Cairns last week and now the cold in Adelaide.
Take care.
Madeleine
brooke brisbine
MadeleineHi Madeleine,
You’re probably correct that your circumstances warranted a quicker request of documents, and hopefully that also means the visa process will be quicker for you! Wishing you and your family the best of luck with permanent residency (and good luck to your daughter as she prepares to go to uni, how exciting!). Sounds like you’re having a wonderful time in Australia.
I look forward to hearing about your interview, I’m sure it will all go smoothly!
-Brooke
Madeleine
brooke brisbineWe have been granted my partner permanent visa off shore after 4 months and 5 days wait! We got it on 8/10/2019.
Thank you for your site as it was helpful while I was compiling my documents. I used them to cross-check.
We will leave soon for my girl’s tertiary education in Feb 2020 and I am in the process of securing a job in Australia.
Thank you.
Please let me know when yours is granted.
Take care
Madeleine
brooke brisbine
MadeleineHi Madeleine,
That is such wonderful news, congratulations to you and your family! And what an amazing turn-around, you must all be incredibly relieved to finally have the visa. I’m truly happy I could help!
Best of luck to your daughter, hopefully she enjoys uni in Australia and hopefully you all settle in nicely Down Under 🙂
-Brooke
Madeleine
brooke brisbineYou PLAYED an important part in our preparation as I used your input to cross checked.
Not sure how to thank you enough.
We certainly hope our path can cross again one of these days …
We look forward to start a new chapter in our lives in Australia. Challenging but we look forward to these unknown challenges.
Take care. Let us know when you hear from the immigration.
Madeleine
brooke brisbine
MadeleineYou are so welcome, Madeleine! Honestly, it was a lot of work to put these posts together, so hearing that they’ve helped you is really wonderful and certainly makes all the effort worthwhile.
I will definitely keep you updated on my own progress, hopefully I’ll have good news to share soon 🙂
-Brooke
Aazzyy
Hi Brooke:
I need small information from you.
I’ve just realized I have made a mistake in my application and submitted. I am married and planning to go alone to Australia as of now.
But, I have not added non-migrating family members unit information.
What can be done in this situation? Please assist.
Thank you.
Aazzyy
brooke brisbine
AazzyyHi Aazzyy,
You need to notify Home Affairs ASAP if you’ve provided any incorrect (or incomplete) information on your application. You can do this in your ImmiAccount online, just click “View Details” below your partner visa (on the home page) and then select “Update Details” in the lefthand menu. There’s a link here for “Notification of incorrect answers”. Hope this helps!
-Brooke
Madeleine
Hi Brooke:
Have you got an interview with your officer?
Thank you.
Madeleine
brooke brisbine
MadeleineHi Madeleine,
I haven’t had an interview, but from what I’ve heard, it’s very uncommon these days for Home Affairs to request one. Did your Case Officer ask for an interview? It would be interesting to hear what the process is like!
-Brooke
Madeleine
brooke brisbineYes Brooke I am not sure whether it is uncommon or not but not sure what they want from us.
Maybe because we have been married for 20 years and 6 months and have yet to go to Australia.
We also had to produce our medical and biometrics within 2 weeks. And also been given 28 days to comply with all the necessary documents. Did you have to do all that within such a short period of time?
Thankfully we had all documents prepared before we made the payment.
We are waiting for Australian NPC for my husband. With that we would have complied with every single documents they asked.
Anyway, I will update you of the situation.
Madeleine.
brooke brisbine
MadeleineHi Madeleine,
I’m surprised you’ve been asked for an interview after 20 years of marriage, but at least it should be very easy for you to answer any questions about each other and your relationship! I also wasn’t given such a short time to provide health checks and biometrics, so I wonder if these are both more common requirements with an offshore partner visa (since I applied onshore). If you find time, it would be absolutely amazing if you let me know what your interview is like so I can update this post for anyone who is in a similar situation!
Best of luck with everything, but it sounds like you’ll be totally fine 🙂
-Brooke
Madeleine Hevera
brooke brisbineHi Brooke,
We have been granted my partner permanent visa off shore after 4 months and 5 days wait! We got it on 8/10/2019.
Thank you for your site as it was helpful while I was compiling my documents. I uses them to crossed check.
We will leave soon for my girl’s tertiary education in Feb 2020 and I am in the process of securing a job in Australia.
Thank you.
Please let me know when yours is granted.
Take care
Madeleine