Information to gather for your 820/801 Australian Partner Visa application online
After weeks of digging through old documents and photos to string together a timeline and gather evidence of a de-facto relationship with my partner Callum, I finally sat down to begin the online application process for my 820/801 Australian Partner Visa.. And then immediately had to go dig through more documents and photos (and send several dozen emails to my family asking for scans of my birth certificate). Use this list to help you collect all the necessary information before the fact, and be a little bit more prepared when you do finally hit Create Application.
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.
Applicant documents
Much of the application is answering fairly generic questions that you’ll automatically know the answer to, but there were a few questions that required me to go digging through my files or ring up mum:
- Passport, birth certificate, driver’s license, social security card, and any other relevant national identity documents (colour scan)
- Personal information for your parents, siblings, and children, including DOB and date of marriage
- Date you met your partner, date you began dating, date you “committed to each other to the exclusion of all others”, and date you became de-facto/were married (This is not necessarily something you can just dig through your files and “find”, but it’s something you should sit down and think about before you start your application, as you’ll shape your evidence around these important dates later. See the overview post for tips on building a relationship timeline, which should really help with this.)
- The travel dates of every country you have visited in the last 10 years (go digging through your passport and old travel itineraries, this one is likely to take a while!)
- Every address you’ve lived at in the last 10 years and every job you’ve held (this is actually for Form 80 and Form 1221 that you will attach to your application).
Sponsor documents
Your partner will complete an application (Sponsorship for a Partner to Migrate to Australia, which you can learn more about in this post) with more of their information after you have submitted your application, so here is what you might want to gather for both parts:
- Australian passport and any relevant citizenship information
- Birth certificate, driver’s license, and any other relevant national identity documents (colour scan)
- Personal information for parents, siblings, and children, including DOB and date of marriage
- The travel dates of every country they have visited in the last 10 years
Witness documents
You’ll also need to include personal information and contact details for at least 2 supporting witnesses who can attest to your relationship (we had 9 people do this for us), including full name, DOB, occupation, address, mobile, email. These are the witnesses who will complete Form 888 (stat dec) for you, so I found it best to ask for the personal details and give information about the stat dec at the same time.
Here is the email I would send after getting confirmation from the friend/family member that they were keen to be involved:
Thank you so much for agreeing to be part of our partner visa application! First things first, we just need some basic information to include on our application so the government knows who you are: DOB, occupation, address, mobile, email (just send this through now and we will add it).
Then, we need you to complete Form 888, which just asks for some general personal details from you and 3 main questions about how you know us, how often you see us, whether you believe our relationship is legit, etc. There are a few good examples on the internet if you’re feeling stuck on what to write, but you can also ask us for help if you’re unsure on specific dates or other information to include!
After you complete the form, you’ll have to take it (along with your physical passport and a colour scan of your passport photo page to be certified!) and sign it in front of an authorised witness (they have a stat dec service free at most libraries and malls, but here is a complete list of authorised witnesses you can also take it to). Once you’re done, we’ll arrange to get the completed form and the certified copy of your passport and attach it to our application; if at all possible, we’d love for this to be by XXX so we can finally hit submit! I know this is a huge amount of effort, so we really can’t thank you enough for helping!
What’s next?
The next step is to actually begin your application and the sponsorship application online. Read all about creating an IMMI Account, all the questions you’ll be asked, and paying the associated fee:
- COMPLETING THE 820/801 AUSTRALIAN PARTNER VISA APPLICATION ONLINE
- 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 BrookeAroundTown.com, 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
Meghan
Hi Brooke!
Your blog has been fantastic and super helpful!
I will be applying for the visa soon and I was wondering how long did it take for you to complete the initial application – everything before you hit submit and pay for the visa. Not counting the time it takes to gather all information. I mean with filling out the form. Just curious on how the time for that.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with the visa!
brooke brisbine
MeghanHi Meghan,
So glad to hear this blog has been helpful to you! It probably took me around 10 hours to complete the application once I’d gathered all the information– the statements still take quite a long time and there’s some very tedious data entry of travel dates, previous addresses, etc.
Best of luck!
-Brooke
Form 1221
[…] 11. Information to gather for your 820/801 Australian Partner Visa … […]
Haitham
Hello Brooke,
Thank you for your blog.
I am really relying on it for my application.
I have some questions for form 888 as below:
1. is it allowable that my dad’s and Mom’s sponsor fill the form?
2. Brother’s sponsor is a doctor which is under the allowed occupation for a witness, thus, can he witness both of these forms?
3. Which documents should be certified, and how you can certify a color page passport?
For example, dad and mom sponsor is an Australian citizen live outside Australia, so how can they certify the passport?
brooke brisbine
HaithamHi Haitham,
1. you can definitely have your parents complete Form 888, as long as they are Australian!
2. yes, a doctor can witness the forms
3. you do need to have the passport scans witnessed for the Form 888, but if your parents live outside Australia, there’s no way to have the form witnessed in the first instance so you will likely need to choose someone else to complete on your behalf– friends in Aus, for example.
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Patricia
Sorry, just thought of another question. I would assume this is common, but maybe not. We don’t know anyone who is an Australian resident or citizen to complete a stat dec, as I’ve only just moved to Australia, my partner and I met in America and lived there for the first 2.5 years of our relationship, before moving here to AU. Any advice?
brooke brisbine
PatriciaHi Patricia,
Unfortunately, I don’t know what advice to give you in this instance.. neither you or your partner know a single Australian? Through work, family, friends? I haven’t spoken to anyone who didn’t know a single person, so I’m not sure how this is typically handled.
I’m very late responding to this question (apologies!!), so hopefully that means you’ve found a solution by now– I’d love to hear what you ended up doing, just in case others have this question in future.
Best of luck!
-Brooke
Meredith
Hi Brooke! This blog is absolutely incredible. Thank you!! I wanted to ask. I married my British partner, and we are starting the process of gathering info for the Australian spousal visa application from the UK. He is the primary applicant. On my part, do I need to change my last name on all documentation before filling in the forms or would keeping my maiden name on my legal documents (i.e. passport) while applying for this visa be okay? Thank you so much!
brooke brisbine
MeredithHi Meredith,
Thank you so much for the lovely comment!
If you have your married name on some documents and your maiden name on others, it might be helpful to change all to your current legal name– however, there are questions on the application about all previous names you’ve ever been known by, so you could specify both married and maiden here for clarity.
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Cara
Hi Brooke,
Congratulations on your visa approval!
I wonder if you have an idea with my situation. I applied for partner visa onshore (820) last year and now we decided to get married here in Australia. Do you think that would affect my visa application? Or do I have to wait for the visa result before we can get married?
I tried to search online but no help at all.
Thank you.
brooke brisbine
CaraHi Cara, thank you so much!
Getting married doesn’t really have an effect on your visa application (and certainly not a negative one)– BUT it can be a great piece of continuing evidence! Document the wedding planning process (and the actual wedding, if you still haven’t received your visa by then) and upload some of this to your application as evidence of commitment/financial aspects of the relationship/social aspects, etc.
If your wedding does happen before your visa is granted, you might need to look at submitting a correction to your visa application to specify that your are now “married” and not “de facto”, but I’m not totally sure about this!
Hope that was slightly helpful!
-Brooke
dakota
Hi Brooke,
I was wondering if my family and friends from the US can fill out a Stat Dec? I know on the form that it says only Australian residents can do it, so how do I include proof from my own family and friends back home?
Cheers,
Dakota
brooke brisbine
dakotaHi Dakota,
Your US friends and family can NOT fill in a stat dec, so you won’t be able to use their statements to meet the minimum Form 888 requirement– however, you can still attach informal statements from them as additional evidence. I had my parents just type and sign a letter; I think there’s more info 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
Malgorzata
Hi Brooke!
Firstly, what a great and useful blog – well done!
Just a quick question, how long from lodging the application do we have to submit the evidence? I have gathered most of mine, however wonder whether this is something I could complete over a course of couple of weeks. I’ve been reading a lot of different resources and I’m a bit confused as whether to lodge the application and then start submitting the evidence slowly, or wait until I’ve got everything and submit it on the day.
brooke brisbine
MalgorzataHi Małgorzata,
So glad you found the blog helpful!
There is no official timeline for submitting evidence, so it’s fine to do it over a few weeks– in all likelihood, it will be over a year before anyone looks at it, but still best to get it done sooner rather than later. You can continue uploading new information while you wait, too.
Hope that answers your question 🙂
-Brooke
Kat
Hello Brooke,
Your blog has been so so helpful – thank you for that. My partner and I are currently working our way through collecting the necessary evidence, trying to be as organised as possible.
My partner and I met whilst I was visiting family overseas in June- Aug 2018 and maintained a long distance relationship since I came back home. I ended up going back to see him during December 2018-Jan 2019, and then due to work commitments he was finally able to come to Melbourne in September 2019. He was granted an extension to his holiday tourist visa until September 2020. Whilst he has been in Melbourne we have been living together (September to current) and collected relevant evidence for the application.
We also registered our relationship in Feb 2020 – I have received mixed messages around whether we can apply for the De-facto partner visa yet since we haven’t been living together for the full 12 months. If we have registered our relationship – do you think it is ok for us to apply for the Visa now?
Kind Regards,
Kat
brooke brisbine
KatHi Kat, so glad to hear these posts have been helpful!
Without knowing all the particulars of your relationship (and also not being a migration agent), it sounds to me like you guys DO meet the requirements and you’d be fine to apply now as long as you can put together a really strong application. The requirement for a partner visa is that you’re in a de facto relationship, and part of the definition of “de facto” is that you’ve lived together for >12 months, BUT this can be waived if you’ve registered your relationship! Direct quote from Home Affairs:
I have a few friends who have applied in a similar situation, e.g. only living together for a few months, but having registered their relationship. One of these friends even completed her application with a lawyer, so it’s definitely possible to apply without meeting 12mo cohabitation. You need to make sure you have a lot of evidence in other categories and that you have a mountain of evidence about your shared household since he moved in September, but you can certainly do it without waiting a full year.
I hope that helps! Good luck with everything 🙂
-Brooke
angie
Hi! I was wondering what you did for bullet point 1 vs point 2-
Point 1: the assessment of the couple’s friends and acquaintances about the nature of the relationship
Point 2: statutory declarations made by the couple’s parents, family members relatives and other friends
The first point did you fill our stat decs or just a paragraph written by friends?
Thank you for writing this blog, SOO helpful!
brooke brisbine
angieHi Angie,
I’m not totally sure where these points are from, but they sound like they are both referring to Form 888, which is a stat dec completed by Australian friends and family about the nature of the couple’s relationship. You need a minimum of 2, but you can upload more if you want! For non-Australian friends and family, there is no requirement to get a statement, but I chose to include some as signed letters.
Does that help??
-Brooke
Tracy
Hi Brook!
Your information on Partner Visa is superb and super detailed! I can just use your blog to go through my application step by step! I rarely write comment on blog but you worth my first comment! You are so nice helping to make my application much easier!
One question I want to ask, may I know if I applied the Bridging Visa B, after I come back to Australia, do I need to apply Bridging visa A again?
Thank you very much, Brook! You are so heart-warming.
Best wishes,
Tracy
brooke brisbine
TracyHi Tracy,
Thank you so much for the thoughtful comment, I really appreciate hearing that these posts are helpful to people!
You do not need to reapply for a BVA after returning to Australia with a BVB– your BVB actually stays active until your Partner Visa is granted, it’s only the travel permission that expires.
The only reason you’d need to apply for another Bridging Visa is if you want to travel again, in which case you will apply for a new BVB with a new travel permission.
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Mel
Hi Brooke, thank you so much for your helpful info! My partner has been granted the temporary part of the partner visa. I’m now in the process of completing stage 2 of the partner visa. How different did you find the process for stage 2 application? Did you provide just as much evidence as stage 1?
We were granted stage one of the visa only in August 2019, and can now apply for stage 2 as it has been 24 months since we submitted the original application. A lot of the questions ask ‘since the stage one visa has been granted…’ so I’m guessing we only answer in relation to the period August 2019 to now?
Thanks so much for your help.
Mel and Fabrizio
brooke brisbine
MelHi Mel and Fabrizio, congratulations on making it to Stage 2!
You’re ahead of me (waiting on Stage 1 for 15 months now), so I can’t actually offer any advice from personal experience. Best of luck with everything, though!
-Brooke
May
Hi Brooke,
This was a great read!
I was wondering if you have come across any websites/blogs that provide such valuable information as yours on the Prospective Marriage visa (subclass 300).
Thank you!
brooke brisbine
MayHi May,
I wish I had somewhere to point you, but I haven’t seen anything for the 300 specifically. Hope you’re able to unearth something helpful out there!
Best of luck with everything 🙂
-Brooke
Christine
Thanks, Brooke. How’s your application going? You already got the result? Best wishes to us! Your blogs helped a lot in getting through each question I had.
brooke brisbine
ChristineHi Christine,
It’s been 13 months for me and, based on the 12-month BVB I just had approved, there’s no chance of me getting a visa until 24 months at the earliest. It was pretty sad news, since I really thought we were close, but at least now I have freedom to keep travelling while I wait!
Best of luck to you and everyone else waiting, too 🙂
-Brooke
Christine
Hi Brooke. It’s Christine. I just wanna ask if is it okay to put my 2 scanned 888 forms altogether in a PDF so I can upload it in one go? What do you think? Thank you! 🙂
brooke brisbine
ChristineHi Christine,
I actually don’t know if it’s better to keep these separate or fine to upload together, but I can’t imagine it would make too much of a difference as long as all the info is there!
Good luck with everything 🙂
-Brooke
Diorella
Hi Brooke!
Thank you so much for all the information you have provided. Me and my partner Daniel have been on edge with organising all the information and requirements we need for the application and your blog saved me from feeling even more anxious about it.
I have a question — I am from the Philippines. I’m not to sure if there is a form or a certain format I should follow to get statements from my family and friends from the Philipppines?
You response would be appreciated. Thank you!
brooke brisbine
DiorellaHi Diorella,
So happy to hear these posts have helped you!
As for the family statements, there is no official format (the Form 888s that Aussie friends and family complete is ONLY for Australians). You can include statements or letters from your foreign family, I think it’s a great idea, it will just be up to you how you want to ask for these documents. My parents wrote and signed letters about our relationship and the time they’ve spent with my partner.
Best of luck!
-Brooke
Jelly
Hello Brooke,
Thank you very much for making this clear to me. We actually contacted the visa hotline and the lady said to tick yes because I am applying both 820 which is temporary visa and the 801 is to be followed. I followed what she said and I actually uploaded it already.
Now I just made a terrible mistake. I can’t remove the attached form 80. Do I have to upload a new one or I’ll just leave it that way. Please let me know your thoughts? I should have had waited for your response before finalising this form. My mistake.
brooke brisbine
JellyHi Jelly, probably best to fix any mistakes and upload a new version of the Form 80 for your application.
-Brooke
Jelly
Hello Brooke.
Thank you by the way for responding my inquiry on your previous post but I still got a few questions, hope you don’t mind.
1.About form 80, question no. 24 Are you applying for a temporary visa? Basically I wanna live or stay in Australia. I am confused if I’m gonna tick yes or no.
2. It also ask for my residential address. I am also confused if I put my current address in Australia or my address back at my home country. thank you
brooke brisbine
JellyHi Jelly,
1. Are you currently in Australia? If so, you don’t need to answer Q24. If not, then you should tick no, because you are not applying for a temp visa.
2. If you are living in Australia, put that address.
-Brooke
Nora
Hi Brooke, first of all thank you for al the useful information, it has really helped me in the process of applying for my partner visa. I am at the point in my application where I have submitted all evidence except from photos. I was wondering how you submitted photos like joint family photos etc? I have tried to upload them on to a word document, but it ends up looking messy, and power point files are to big to submit. Do you know the best way to submit several photos at once?
thanks!
brooke brisbine
NoraHi Nora, wonderful to hear these posts have been helpful!
I uploaded my photos in a word document and included captions beneath each photo. With a bit of time, you can get the formatting looking nice, but do remember that this isn’t a presentation and you aren’t going to be evaluated on the aesthetics of the application, only the merit 🙂
-Brooke
Ana
Hi Brooke!
This blog post is very helpful. I’m actually using it as my guide while working on my application. My partner and I just got married last 18’th of October this year on civil. I live in the Philippines and he is a permanent resident in Australia (he is also a Filipino). We have known each other since 2015 but just had contact and started dating last year around September. Despite the distance, we maintained constant communication and kept on seeing each other (in other Asian countries) almost once a month before I moved here in Australia (using tourist visa). Now, I am applying for my VISA onshore. Do you think there will be a problem on my application in regards to the time of our relationship? Many thanks!
brooke brisbine
AnaHi Ana, so happy to hear you found this post helpful!
It’s hard for me to answer that question since I’m not a migration agent, but I can say that I do know many people who have applied for the onshore visa after living with their partner for only a couple months (prior to which they were doing international long distance, like yourself). It will make it more challenging for you to prove the relationship is genuine, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible! I’d definitely consider seeing a migration lawyer, though– it’s an expensive application and it’s your happiness in the balance, so it’s worth the extra money to make sure you get it right.
Best of luck with everything 🙂
-Brooke
Isabella Townshend
Hi Brooke, my partner and I are currently trying to do this form too! We only uploaded 2 witnesses but have lots of friends willing to write statements. Should we upload more form 888 with these friends? Or just upload the statements as word documents do you think?
We have already submitted application 😵 so I’m hoping there is no issue with not having a lot of witness decs in that section.
I thought you just needed two form 888 and the rest as documents…
Thanks so much! Your article is great!
brooke brisbine
Isabella TownshendHi Isabella,
You are only required to have 2 Form 888s, but it can’t hurt to have more! We uploaded 9 Form 888s from friends and family, plus unofficial letters written from my American family.
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Holly
Hi Brooke, this is probably a bit of a dumb question, do we need to fill in the 80 Form by hand? or is it ok to type it? did you type it in block capitals?
brooke brisbine
HollyHi Holly, 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 yes, it’s totally fine to fill out the form electronically or by hand, as long as it is clear and legible.
Best of luck with everything!
-Brooke
Jayne
Hi broke I wonder those forms are from PDF files especially the form 8888. Do I need to download it and print it and then have the witnessed filled up handwritten and then scan it?
brooke brisbine
JayneHi Jayne,
Yes, you should print Form 888 (or instruct your family/friends to print the form themselves) because they will need to fill it out and have it witnessed by an authorised person. Exactly as you say, you can collect the Form 888s back from people, scan them, and upload them to your application.
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Mandy
Hey Brooke! This has been great help to back up our application since my partner and I have already gathered all our evidence and stat decs before we pay and start the application.
I am just wondering…is it a must for colour scan of copy of passports certified for 888?
brooke brisbine
MandyHi Mandy, so happy this has been helpful for you and your partner!
It is necessary to have a colour scan.. some of our friends/family who completed Form 888 for us had the colour copy of their passport certified, but as a minimum, everyone provided a colour scan. Just get them to take a photo on their phone and email it to you so you can upload it to the application in colour. That being said, the safest option would still be having all of the colour scans witnessed and signed, since that’s technically what the form asks for (but it’s unclear whether that applies to the online application, since colour scans of your own passport don’t need to be witnessed if applying online).. Confusing! But yes, definitely colour scan either way 🙂
Hope that answers your question!
-Brooke
Joel
Hi, Brooke.
Firstly, cheers for all the information on this site.
Home Affairs asks for 2 supporting witnesses to write a stat dec/, which we can provide easily. But we will most likely have way more than just those 2 and we don’t know right at this moment whether the others will be able and willing to do it.
How did you go about this? Did you give two names as required, then just submit as many stat decs from supporting witnesses as you wished, or did you get an “OK” from them first and only then listed them in the application?
Any help much appreciated!
brooke brisbine
JoelHi Joel, really happy to hear that these posts were helpful to you 🙂
That’s exactly what we did– provided two names on the online application and then submitted a number of Form 888s (we had 9 in the end). I did confirm with the two people whose names we put directly on the application that they’d definitely complete it, as I didn’t know if Home Affairs would absolutely require people to submit Form 888 once I put their name down. It’s probably a good idea to choose two people who are very reliable and will definitely complete the form in time (we put my partner’s mum and dad).
Hope that helps, and good luck to you and your partner!
-Brooke
Diego Freitas
Hey,
Very helpful post, thanks for that!
Have you uploaded your document and his documents in a different IMMI account or the same?
Thanks,
brooke brisbine
Diego FreitasHi Diego,
I uploaded all of our documents under my application– there are separate headings for applicant documents and for sponsor documents. My partner also submitted his sponsorship application through my IMMI account instead of creating his own, but we didn’t upload any documents to this, as they were already uploaded under my application. Hopefully that makes sense!
Brooke
Oliver Buschmann
Hi Brooke
I just had a bit of an heart attack. We have created Eliza’s visa application but not submitted yet. At the same time I started the sponsor visa application on her immi account. When I get to the page where I have to confirm my passport details, I have checked all passport details, they seem correct. Then I go next and get the error message that my passport details can not be verified. Please check data , etc.. Any idea why that can be? Do we have to submit the applicants visa and pay first? What should we do?
Oliver
brooke brisbine
Oliver BuschmannHi Oliver, I am not sure why it’s giving you an error for your passport details, but yes— you definitely need to submit Eliza’s application before you can submit your own application to sponsor her. I think Home Affairs auto-verifies that the TRN you write (from her app) is for a submitted application rather than just an application in progress. Hopefully that solves the issue!
Eliza Brandao
Hi Brooke , Eliza here
is it ok to launch another question? Iam a bit confused about the form 80 question 48
“Do you have any other personal contacts in Australia?” Is that meant to list all the witnesses that provided a statutory declaration or , as well, or exclusive all other contacts I have here in Australia. We know a lot of people so we know quite a lot of people that are not close friends but contacts as such.. so that would be a pretty long list…
Do you have any hints maybe?
Thank you
Eliza
brooke brisbine
Eliza BrandaoHi Eliza! I think it’s meant to be people who are writing Form 888 Stat Decs on your behalf, but it doesn’t need to be a complete list since the CO will obviously also read all your Form 888s. We had 9 people fill out stat decs for us, so I definitely didn’t write everyone’s name! I just wrote in my partner’s family. I think that should do it 🙂
Oliver Buschmann
Hi Brooke
ok that’s what we thought !! Thank you again for your advice , really appreciated! Your blog is more than helpful!!!
So far I think we are close to get this all submitted .. We let you know what is happening….
Happy New Year !!
Eliza & Olli
brooke brisbine
Oliver BuschmannHi Oliver & Eliza,
I’m so so happy the blog has helped you! I hope everything comes together for you guys and you finally get to relax knowing that your application is in. Definitely let me know how you go!
Lots and lots of luck,
Brooke
Oliver Buschmann
Thank you Brooke,
in regards to the online section where we need to explain the 5 different aspects of our relationship with evidence. Can we just refer to our attached documents we have created in those sections or do we actually have to write something in the sections? It feels just better if we explain everything in the document instead of a couple of words in the online form and then the rest in the document… What do you think?
As well do the identity documents have to be certified ? The online how to under translations state no documents need to be certified.. confusing..
Eliza and Oliver
brooke brisbine
Oliver BuschmannHi Oliver & Eliza,
If you are uploading longer statements to address each of the 5 sections, I don’t think you actually need to write statements on the online application as well— you could just write in each box “refer to XXX document in the uploads section”. That’s what I did, since I couldn’t fit my statements within the 2000 character limit! You will obviously need to have a statement somewhere, though, I don’t imagine just uploading a series of bills and photos without any explanation would be sufficient. As for the identity documents, no, those do not need to be certified if you’re completing the application online (that’s only for the paper applications). As long as the scan is good quality and in colour, that’s plenty!
-Brooke
Patricia
brooke brisbineHi Brooke, thanks to you my head is only spinning and hasn’t come completely off! I nitidez here you wrote EVERY ADDRESS you’ve ever lived at, but I’ve only seen address requirements for the past ten years on Form 80. Am I missing something? Please say no, I genuinely don’t think I can muster another 27 years of address history, my father was in the US military for the first 8 years of my life, and I had wanderlust in my late teens and early twenties.
brooke brisbine
PatriciaHi Patricia,
You’re right, the requirement is only 10 years of addresses and travel dates– still a headache to assemble, so we can all be relieved it’s not EVERY address 🙂
-Brooke
Oliver Buschmann
Wohooo awesome…
here I go..
– do we have to fill the form 80 separately and attach to the online application?
– we use a pdf editor but whatever we try it is not alligning to the exact lines in the form so it looks a bit dodgy but it is readable.. Would that be an issue you think?
– if a table in form 80 is too short e.g. for employment records , should I just recreate that table in a word document fill it out and mention in section T that there is a exhibit for Question 19 and attach that?
– I cant see to be required to fill out a form for the sponsorship part is that correct?
– do we have to add our initials/signature onto any additional page / document we upload/attach to the online application?
Thank you so much
Oliver & Eliza
brooke brisbine
Oliver BuschmannHello Oliver & Eliza!
– Form 80: Same as with Form 1221, there are people who say it’s not necessary, but I’ve actually heard from several people recently that they didn’t submit it and their CO later contacted them to fill it out. It’s such a big application and so much is on the line, I think it’s best to just do it! It’s also listed under “Recommended” on the upload portal, so make of that what you will.
– PDF alignment: I know exactly what you are talking about and it’s super annoying, but I don’t know what the exact policy on this is. I’d imagine that, as long as it is legible, it will be fine– it’s probably clearer than many people’s handwriting!
– Adding a table: I had to do this with travel dates on Form 80 and it seems many others have had the same issue. I just wrote on the form “See attached table on next page” and I inserted the table as a PDF right into the middle of the form so it was very clear.
– Sponsorship: There is a sponsorship section of the visa that you will need to complete within IMMI after your partner submits her bit (assuming she is the applicant and you are the sponsor). I wrote a post on it: https://brookebeyond.com/sponsorship-for-a-partner-to-migrate-to-australia-820-visa Additionally, there is a PDF form (Form 40SP) to complete. It’s basically the same thing as the online portion, but again, I think it’s safer to just include it rather than risk delays in your application. It’s worth noting that the sponsorship application is WAYYYY shorter and easier, so don’t stress.
– Signatures: I have heard from people who signed every statement they include in their application, but I don’t think it’s needed. The applicant makes a long series of declarations when they submit the application that everything they’ve provided is true/correct/complete/etc, so it seems like these will legally apply to all the attachments. The only exception for us was that I asked my partner to sign the statements he wrote before I uploaded them to my application, since I felt like they might not be legally covered under all the declarations I had to tick in the application (same as how Form 888 is witnessed and signed, since your friends/family didn’t make the declarations). That being said, I’m sure there is no harm in signing things, we just didn’t do it and I know plenty of people who didn’t either.
I hope that has been somewhat helpful!
– Brooke
Oliver Buschmann
Awesome thanks Brooke
Thank you so much !!! I have so many questions its crazy … Can I bother you with a couple of detail questions?
Oliver
brooke brisbine
Oliver BuschmannHi Oliver, I am more than happy to try and answer any questions that you may have! I know exactly how hard this process can be, so anything I can do to help 🙂
Oliver Buschmann
Hi Brooke
this is so awesome thank you!
Was wondering if we need to submit the form Form 1221 as well .. The current website doesn’t mention it I believe.
regards
Oliver
brooke brisbine
Oliver BuschmannHi Oliver, I’m glad you found this post helpful! I agree, it’s completely confusing that Home Affairs doesn’t list Form 1221 on their site, but when you get to the upload portal, it is actually one of the “Recommended” documents. I spoke to a lot of people about this form, some who said they didn’t submit it and some who believed it was totally necessary, but at the end of the day, I think it’s better to just fill out a few extra pieces of paper than to submit an incomplete application and delay your processing time. Most of the questions on the form are repeats of Form 80 anyway, so it’s just a matter of copying information across.
Hope that helps and best of luck with your visa!