My experience with the Australian Partner Visa: 820 & 801 permanent residency granted simultaneously
After an agonising 19-month wait (and absolutely zero communication from Home Affairs), I finally became an Australian permanent resident this week, receiving my 820 (temporary) and 801 (permanent) Partner Visa grant about 30 seconds apart. I was so surprised that I burst immediately into tears— but now that I’ve calmed down a bit, I wanted to take the opportunity to share more about my personal experience with the visa application process to accompany all of the practical guides on this site!
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, 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.
Some background on us
Those who’ve read all of my Partner Visa posts likely already know our story, but for those who are new to this site, my partner Callum and I first started dating in 2015 after we met on holiday in Byron Bay.
I’d already been living as a student in Wollongong for nearly 3 years at that point (I’m originally from Seattle, USA; read more about why I moved to Australia in this post), but he was living in Melbourne, which meant quite a lot of long drives and expensive flights during the early days of our relationship.
When I graduated from uni a few months later, I eagerly moved down to Melbourne, rented an apartment with Callum in the city, and got a Working Holiday Visa. About 7 months after that, I received a scholarship offer to do my PhD in Sydney, so we packed up and moved back to NSW together. We eventually submitted the Partner Visa application from Sydney, but I finished my PhD and we had moved back to Melbourne (again) by the time it was granted.
Waiting to apply for the Partner Visa
Even though I knew I wanted to live permanently in Australia since I first moved here in 2012, and we also met the de facto criteria after just 12 months, I made a very conscious decision to wait before applying, really for 2 reasons.
Firstly, I never wanted to feel like I was trapped in ANY relationship by my desire to get residency in Australia. Unfortunately, even waiting 3.5 years doesn’t guarantee that there will be no hiccups, and there were definitely times where both Callum and I felt the pressure of the visa hanging over our heads.
Late last year, I quite nearly walked away from the relationship, which would have meant forfeiting my visa and having to leave Australia forever— and this was probably one of the healthiest moments we had as a couple since applying. Me being fully prepared to lose the visa meant that, when I did end up staying, we both knew it wasn’t done so under duress but rather because we wanted to keep trying together.
If more time doesn’t completely erase the presence of doubt in a relationship, I do think it at least made us more equipped to weather challenges and the inevitable pressure induced by this visa. To those wondering when to apply: if you can find another temporary visa (like a student visa, WHV), just enjoy being together without any outside scrutiny for as long as you can. And when you do eventually apply, know that it likely will put some degree of pressure on your relationship— being open and honest about this is the best way to ensure it doesn’t create real problems for you.
The second reason I wanted to wait before applying was to hopefully bypass the usual 2-year waiting period between getting the 820 (temporary) and 801 (permanent) Partner Visa.
The typical progression of an Australian Partner Visa, as shown above, is that you’ll first be granted the 820 (temporary) visa and then wait a fixed period of 2 years before submitting further documentation to move over to the 801 (permanent) visa. BUT, if you’ve been with your de facto partner 3+ years at the time of application (or 2+ years if you have a child together), you can effectively go straight onto the 801, meaning you’ll get your permanent residency without a second round of evidence/application.
Naturally, this sounded very appealing, and since we were already waiting to apply for personal reasons, it wasn’t a stretch to make sure we had at least 3+ years cohabitation as de facto partners before submitting an application.
Spoiler alert: I received the 801 (permanent) visa about 30 seconds after the 820 and never had to submit a second round of documents!!
Applying for the Partner Visa
At the time of submitting our application (December 2018), Callum and I had been together 3.5 years, lived together for just over 3, travelled to more than 20 countries together, combined our finances, been on multiple overseas holidays with his and my family, and had really made a lot of effort to intertwine our lives.
Still, the application process was insanely stressful and at times felt like an impossible task, especially since I did everything myself with extremely little help from Callum ALL while I was completing a very full-on medical science PhD. Parting with $7.5k was also challenging on a student budget, but I’m proud now to say I paid for it myself (bravo to the couples who split this, though).
It took me a LONG time to get everything together and actually apply, and the uncertainty about how to organise things or what to include threatened to send me off the edge. Just know that, if you are struggling with this process, you are SO not alone (and have a look at my visa guides for help!).
Absolutely everyone who comes out the other end will tell you that it’s 1000% worth the effort when you finally receive that visa grant notification. All the years of waiting really do melt away.
After applying for the Partner Visa
After submitting the application and uploading all of our evidence in December 2018, I heard exactly NOTHING from Home Affairs. I expected that for the first year, but after we passed the 12-month mark, I was sure I’d be receiving an email from my CO requesting more evidence or just giving me some idea of what was going on with my application. That email never came.
In the meantime, I did submit my health check (after about 6 months) and my police check (after about 8 months), aiming to have a complete application that would be ready for approval as soon as a CO picked it up. Looking back, I am really thankful I did this rather than waiting for email communication from Home Affairs, which would have been a long wait.
At the start of 2020, I’d applied for a second BVB to travel to New Zealand with Callum for a short road trip, just 2 weeks and then back to work. I was shocked, then, when my BVB came back with a 12-month travel period. Everything I’d ever read about BVBs was that your visa wouldn’t be granted with an active travel period, since you are required to be onshore in Australia when the 820/801 is finally issued— I took this to mean that I wouldn’t be getting my visa until January 2021, at the earliest, and this absolutely crushed me.
All the while, I was hearing from readers who had used my blog to apply for their visa and then had it granted. And as infinitely happy as I was for all of these people (really, I am so happy for you all!!), and especially that I was able to help, it was really hard feeling like my own time would never come.
To anyone experiencing this visa envy, the best advice I can give (knowing full-well that it’s easier said than done) is to not compare your experience too closely to anyone else’s. Every single application is unique, every situation different, and you’ll lose your mind obsessing over other couples’ visa outcomes when it really has NO bearing on your own outcome. Know that it will happen, but stressing about the when can drive you mad.
I couldn’t have been more surprised to sit down at my desk this Friday and see 2 emails with the subject line IMMI Grant Notification. My heart was in my throat, knowing what this must be and yet not wanting to jinx it. One look at the PDF attachment and I burst into tears.
I’ve been on one hell of a journey to get here— after living in Australia for almost 8 years and dreaming about this moment for literally thousands of days, it’s surreal to say now that I am a permanent resident. I am an Australian.
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
Clair
Hi Brooke,
Congratulations! We just came across your website yesterday while we were preparing for 820/801 on our own. Absolutely an amazing gift! Thank you so much for all the reflections and insights and deets you’ve put into all the articles. I was particularly moved when I read about the different household registration requirements for Chinese/Indonesian citizens. So thoughtful and thorough!
And even more impressive that you managed to pull it off while doing a PhD in medical science. Bravo! I’m doing my Master’s thesis now and will apply for PhD next semester. The pressure is already through the roof, since the funding cuts at our university means that it’s ten times more difficult for international students to get a PhD scholarship. My partner works in health and he is quite jaded by the Covid situation. So the application process has added a lot of duress for the both of us. However, your blogs have helped us a lot and given us hope. Thank you heaps!
Best wishes for you and Callum!
brooke brisbine
ClairThank you so much for the lovely message, Clair!
I hope you and your partner were able to submit your application, and perhaps even heard something back? I definitely know how stressful this application is, and we both uniquely understand the added stress of postgrad at the same time, so bravo right back at you for juggling everything at once.
Sending lots of good vibes!
x Brooke
Mark
Hi Brooke, Thought id update we had the 820 visa approved last week so a nice relief and good time & good result. A nice relief too to be able to move forward. Took around 21 months. Hope youre well! Regards
brooke brisbine
MarkA huge congratulations to you, Mark, and thanks for sharing your fantastic news with everyone! It can be slow, but it’s always such a relief when it finally comes through 🙂
-Brooke
Mark
brooke brisbineHi Brooke
Sorry for late reply, Thank you for your wishes. Certainly I enjoyed comming acrross your site when we were early in the application website as it was most informative on the process. Best Regards
Jhordann
Hello Brooke,
Firstly,congratulations on being granted your much awaited 820 & 801. Also, congratulations to others on the platform who have been successful. Right off I would just like to offer up some advice to all who need the advice. Anyone can obtain legal counsel at no cost from an organization called RAILS -(Refugee And Immigration Legal Services). Anyone can Google them to find a contact number I should think. They are MARA registered which means they are approved and recognised by Immigration Australia/Home Affairs. Folk must be careful about this because not all Immigration Lawyers are MARA registered and can give out bad advice – it does happen. Basically, one calls on a Monday morning to make an appointment to speak with an approved Immigration Lawyer. The appointment is made and the Lawyer calls back a few days later on Thursday and you get a one hour phone consultation with the Lawyer, at no cost whatsoever. One can call as many different times as they need to and have as many one hour consultations that may be required and we all know that you can’t get through without that priceless advice.
Navigating the very dark and murky waters of Australian Immigration is absolutely the most stressful thing I have ever gone through and my husband as well. Honestly, I would rather have poked red hot metal sticks through my eyeballs if I had known. The stress and anxiety became so bloody dreadful that my husband had a heart attack in 2018 and we both are on medication for anxiety. We were married in Queensland in December 2014, my husband also is American. STILL NO VISA!!…and it’s 2021!! We have been through the entire process, won at Tribunal in February 2020. The magistrate sent an email through to Home Affaurs with a statementof decision and told them to issue the 820 and 801 at the earliest convenience….still waiting and I’m sure that is just plain wrong!We can’t mve forward with our lives because we have no clue which end is up, so to speak.
We were so elated after our win at Tribunal, we both thought my husband would have his permanent residency in 4 to 8 weeks afterwards. Instead, Home Affairs contacted us 4 weeks later wanting more information, information we’ve already provided…but, we do as we’re told. So this very stressful ping pong has been going on since March 2020. They email us, and within the 28 day specified period, we send back what they ask for. The last communication was March 25 saying that my husband’s AFP check had to be done again because his current check was expiring the next day..wait, what???….I felt like replying ASAP with an email saying, ” His current AFP check is still in date and doesn’t expire until after midnight on the 26th!!…But…don’t want to ‘upset the apple cart’ we said. We paid yet another fee for yet another police check. I think this really is a tactic, they hold up the process and make you pay for official documents all over again. I am really hoping that was it, I sent back that updated AFP check on the 20th of April, haven’t heard back since. We are just really hoping the next communication will be my husband’s permanent visa because we’ve given absolutely everything! There is no way that Home Affairs need any more information because we’ve given it all.My husband is allowed to work but he is depressed mostly all the time, as am I, we both are, along with the anxiety. It’s absolutely the worst thing. It’s like there’s the sword of Damocles hanging over our heads. As I’ve said…’red hot metal rods’.
My husband’s closest sister to him, just one year older than him, passed away very suddenly, back in the US. He was too afraid to leave to go back to see his family and for her funeral for fear that he might not be allowed back in again while the visa process was ongoing.
We truly are a mess. We have a 21 year old son and a 17 year old and my husband is the only Dad they’ve ever known, too young to remember their bio Dad after he died in 2004. My sons were 10 and 14 respectively when my husband, arrived over here. They have seen first hand what it has done to us. We niggle at each other, argue, it’s really awful. All because of the horrid stress. It’s like living in a pressure cooker.
I do apologize for writing a small novel…and this is just a summary! I haven’t even gone in-depth!!
I have decided that I’m going to write a book about the whole experience and that I am going to help others with spousal immmigration because we have run the gauntlet. I am not an Immi Lawyer but I’m not far off it. There’s not much I don’t know so I do offer my service as an Spousal Immigration Consultant. Fees are involved although nothing like the amount the Lawyers charge. I can write the long letters, fill in forms, guude others through what forms to fill in, how to word things etc. because to me, that’s the worst part. I can help others and I want to help others.
Hopefully, my husband’s 829/801 will come tbrough before the end of July because that’s when his Medical expires! The medical isn’t easy for us either. Cost aside, even though we live in a major regional city, we hadto travel an hour abd 10 minutes south to a much smaller town where the Visa Health Panel Clinic is. That’s something I will also be petitioning for as well – A Visa Health Clinic right here in our own city.
I don’t wish to scare anyone, but this is just the tip of the iceberg of our story and I can’t help feeling like we’ve been singled out. I don’t know what to think. It’s a bit fishy when we mailed our initial application off, we were expecting the 2 year wait, we only got 3 months and an email arrived informing us that our application had been refused because they didn’t believe we were a genuine married couple. We sent 300 photographs, the photos of our wedding and letters from friends etc. Yes, that was another thing too, because we got married in our pretty back yard with omly a dizen people and no big fancy cake, no bridesmaids etc. That’s the way we wanted it! So, we had to pay just under $1800 more to lodge an appeal with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
As mentioned, the magistrate found in our favour and just didn’t understand Home Affairs refusal and reason when there was mountains of irrefutable evidence to the contrary, that we were indeed a genuine couple. There’s anither thing you see, single mum of 2 marries an American, has to be a put up job doesn’t it, he paid me to do it because I would have wanted the money they said. It was insulting, disgusting and entirely prejuducial. As well I told them so too.
My husband used to joke to our friends that he was fleeing the USA, land of the free, to escape the insane regime of the dictator Trump!! I mean, seriously,who runs off from the USA to come over here to a country far worse off? We don’t really have a constitution, certainly no bill of rights. We do have democracy to a point. Wr can say what we like, just as long as we don’t say too much.
Anyway, once again, congratulations to you, you and your partner. It’s no easy feat by any means. I just happened to find your blog whilst I was researching something else. It’s been of benefit to me.
Regards,
Jordann
Claire
Hi Brooke,
I’ve just had my 820 granted and wanted to come and say thank you so much for your posts which were absolutely our key resource in getting through this application process.
I definitely understand the pressure that it puts on a relationship to go through this process and your comprehensive and clear posts really helped us to make it through!
Hopefully the 801 will follow soon!
Thanks again
Claire
brooke brisbine
ClaireCongratulations, Claire, and best of luck with the 801!
xx Brooke
Lee
Hi Brooke, I’m late to the party but congratulations on your 801! I’ve been following your blog closely and I’ve recently just been granted my 820 so I’m not sure where to proceed. If you know of anyone who has been through the same situation as I, would you be able to link their page(s)?
Also, are you looking to become a citizen after? If you are, would you be taking us along for the process (updates)?
Mark
Hi Brooke
Thank you for your comment.
I tend to agree with you, pretty sure thats it along with possible country of origin issues.
Take care!
Johnny
Congratulations Brooke! Especially love your insights on your struggles with your partner and how being ready to walk away put everything in perspective for you guys. Very powerful stuff. Very happy for you. I’m in my 12 years in Aus and 40 months since applying, hope you hear good news soon too. Thanks for sharing!
brooke brisbine
JohnnyThanks for the comment, Johnny, wishing you quick success on the visa 🙂
Scott
Applied for partner visa / permanent resident married for more then 6 years have daughter with Australian citizen so my child is a citizen and my husband we did application ourself in 2015 so 6 years ago and I am only on a bridging visa A 010 have lived in Australia for 5 years now with my husband and our daughter who is turning 5 this year and worked for about a year and no matter how much I call immigration no help at all always same answer everything is fine just have to wait can’t tell you anything someone will let you know. Hello just been doing some research and great story well done BROOKE for becoming Australian!!! I am Australian was born here I have a situation that I am overwhelmed with and can’t seem to find any answers at all I was a single father with kids and I met my wife when she came on a holiday to Australia I spent time with her here then when she went back I went over spent time with her twice over a year and then we married after we married my wife came to stay with me and then we applied for partner permanent visa in 2015 no help in 2016 my wife had our daughter and she is turning 5 this year we were very patient and just waited for at least 3 years before we started contacting immigration to see what is happening but no help at all wasn’t until few months ago I really started getting angry and wanted an answer every time I called was 10 -15mins waiting for them to read file and then saying everything is fine will let you know so I started to say I never heard anyone been on first stage bridging visa for that long then someone told me I need to apply for 820 so we tried but again did not let us complete form as we had not been approved or were not eligible as still on bridging 010 so I called again and told would have to wait but should start an immi account and do medical and stuff but again did immi account but was pointless as we handed our application in years ago by post in paper form not online so nothing was on our immi also could not get a HAP id as our immi wouldn’t let us as it was empty anyway could go on all day with the problems but yeah we are very stressed don’t know what to do can’t afford leagal help and believe it’s an easy case as I am Australian and our daughter is Australian and my wife has been married to me for 6 years and lived here in Australia for 5 years but still have to wait for approval??????????? Can’t get any information from immigration other then don’t know but on our files everything is fine and just have to wait ??????? My wife is an amazing woman our daughter is beautiful I feel imbarressed that she is being treated like this we paid a lot of money and did not think was going to be this hard and don’t work for immigration so obviously they should be contacting us and letting us know what is happening my wife can’t travel so she is not free our 5 year old daughter has more rights I don’t have money to pay for legal help and didn’t think was needed as we have an honest relationship and meet all the criteria so should be straight forward case I had no education when young and am very bad with anything to do with office or computers so I am ashamed and not very smart but I love my wife and she deserves to be here she deserves not to be treated like this she suffers every day about what is going to happen we used to not care and always through the we would be approved one day but nothing please can anyone help and sorry for writing so much but I am at boiling point and I want my wife to be free and to be able to live with me and our daughter without being scared of maybe is this the worse case anyone has heard of ?? Scott
brooke brisbine
ScottHi Scott,
I’ve just seen your comment, is there any update with your story?
Imogen
Hi Brooke,
I have commented on several of your other posts, but once again, congrats on getting your visa approved! Such a milestone after all the hard work.
I just had a few questions – am I right in thinking that yours was approved when you had a 12 month BVB? I am going to be applying for a BVB soon but have been waiting 14 months for my visa and had some correspondence from a CO last month asking for one missing piece of evidence (a police check for my partner from when he lived in the UK with me). I have since uploaded that and so now I know that that was the only extra evidence they need, I am hesitant to ask for BVB if it will put a pause on my application which might be very close to being approved…
Also, have you ever heard of anyone contacting their CO and managing to get it approved any sooner? I am looking to go home to the UK for 6 weeks, but with the COVID situation as it is, the whole process would be significantly easier if i had my visa approved when I travel – debating wether to send an email explaining my situation but don’t know if it would make a difference?
Thank you in advance for your advice!!
Imogen
brooke brisbine
ImogenHi Imogen,
That’s incredibly observant, yes, my visa was granted during my BVB travel period. I think because of COVID, however, the government knew I was onshore rather than taking advantage of my travel period, so I don’t think that’s a typical circumstance.
Now that several months have gone by, it would be awesome if you could share your experience! It may be helpful for others xx
Jace
Hi Brooke, I just wanted to tell you how helpful your blog has been. I have checked it over the last year or so many times. Even though I sponsored once before (10 years ago) I was nervous as things have changed quite a lot and the whole process is very confusing and application system clunky.
We heard late last year that the government was going to try to sort through the huge backlog (approx 100k people) and clear it up by the end of this financial year. I doubted this as the whole thing seems too confusing and waiting times on the website were still very long. We were reading some reports recently however that 25% of people were now getting the visa in 9 months. The 50% and 70% percentile hasn’t changed, i.e. extremely long.
But we just got granted 820 today!! So it took just under 7 months. However, even though we are longterm (and expressed this in our application) we only got the temp one and not 801 simultaneously, so will have to contact them. I was relieved though cause I was fully prepared that we might have to wait 2 years. Or that they would contact us over discrepancies. But we never heard from them. It also wasn’t a problem that I had sponsored once before, so I wanted people to know that if they’re in the same situation as me.
For other people waiting I hope you’re lucky and hear something soon. I think that’s everything haha, anyway just wanted to thank you Brooke for all the hard work you’ve put in 🙂
Raj
JaceHi Jace – congratulations on getting the 820!
I’m trying to find information on what is next? I just received the 820 as well, however no further information is provided on what the next steps are?
My application in the IMMI portal says ‘finalised’?
Ivy
I came to re-read this after my 820 visa granted (after 12 months wait) last week. Still feel so happy for you, because I can relate to this happiness so much! When I got the visa grant letter I was speechless for two minutes to a point where my colleagues started to worry about me hahaha. The first thing I did was to go straight to the banks for a credit card – it’s so hard to be on a bridging visa not knowing when it will end & still trying to live your life (banking, mortgage, applying for jobs etc). I’ve questioned myself so many times whether it’s a good idea to give up on skilled migration to do down this path. It’s such a relief that I finally have a visa and don’t have to explain to my employers how bridging visas work. I’m so ready to take a little break and wait for the two years mark to come before I think of the 801 visa again. Thank you for the massive work you put together, not only it has extremely clear and helpful step-by-step information but also made me realize that I’m not the only one who is struggling.
brooke brisbine
IvyI’m so sorry I’m only now reading your comment, Ivy, but thank you so much for coming back to share your experience!
I know it helped me at the time to hear that others were stressed and struggling too (so I didn’t feel like the only fool who couldn’t understand what the application was asking), so I’m sure it helps other readers to hear both about common struggles and the incredible relief when it’s over– everything was worth it!
Best of luck to you and your partner on the adventures ahead
xx Brooke
Mark
Hi Brooke, I hope you are well and enjoying your residency!! Can I ask; in relation to Regan’s great quick time experience.
My Brazilian partner & I lodged our 820 visa application September 19, we had been in a defacto just 10 weeks at the time of application but had registered our civil union 3 weeks prior. We were close freinds in Brazil prior for around 10 months as well.
I uploaded the final docs of Police clearances and required health check at end of Nov 20. So now it has been 16 months since the application
Do you have any idea (im curious) why some 820 apps are very slow and some ive heard of within 6 months or so (usually with longer term de facto or marriage or child)?
I think in our case due to the shortness of defacto time our application might be put into the pile of ” Lets see if the relationship continues over time” etc
Thanks
brooke brisbine
MarkHi Mark,
Although I can’t say for certain (because every case is different), it does seem to me like those who’ve been together longer and/or have a child are given preference in the review process and will often receive a decision quicker.
Best of luck to you!
-Brooke
Regan
Hi Brooke, huge congratulations on your visa!
For what it’s worth I thought I might share my experience with a recent offshore Partner Visa (309/100) application in case it’s helpful for any of your readers. My husband and I came across your blog early in 2020 when we started looking at the application, and although yours was for the onshore 820/801, we found your content really helpful in getting our head around how to approach compiling our evidence. Thank you!
Applicant is my English husband, with me (Australian citizen) his sponsor. At the time of application we had been together 10 years, married for 5 years, moved in together after 9 months so lived together uninterrupted for 95% of our relationship, lots and lots of evidence at our finger tips. Given our circumstances, we did not feel we needed to engage an immigration agent.
After reading your blog, we decided to compile our evidence before submitting the application form. Good thing we did too as we spent 3-4 months solidly working on it! I was not working in 2020 so had time to dedicate to this during the day, then my husband and I would also sit down of an evening to work on it together.
My husband submitted his application form on 25 August 2020, payment was confirmed within a day, and we proceeded to upload all of our pre-prepared files within a week or so. The exception to this was our personal statements. We had put a summary on our application forms, and while we had our individual detailed statements mostly written, for various reasons we just didn’t upload them until 2 January 2021.
We were probably suffering a bit of application fatigue I think, plus we saw the visa processing times were higher than ever so we perhaps lost any sense of urgency. It was when my husband was contacted by Home Affairs at the end of November 2020, instructing him to get his medical done, that we pushed on with finalising our personal statements.
At the time we didn’t know what to read into this contact from Home Affairs after just 3 months. Seems we should have read a lot into it as my husband’s visa was granted yesterday – 19 January 2021 – just 4.5 months after initial application submission! Like you, it was the 309 & 100 granted simultaneously. I think I am still in a bit of shock that it has come through so quickly, but of course we feel extremely fortunate and are very excited. He has one year to enter Australia to activate his visa. Now the fun begins with trying to get flights from the UK!
Sorry, I tried to keep this brief, but I think as with everything in the visa process, nothing is brief! Thank you again for sharing your insights on your blog. I am a ‘details’ person, someone who likes to have a lot of information up front when I do anything, so it has helped me (and therefore also my husband) immensely with determining the best approach to our application.
I wish your readers all the very best with their applications, and wish you every happiness as one of Australia’s newest permanent residents! 🙂
brooke brisbine
ReganHi Reagan, thank you so much for your lovely comment and for sharing your experience with other readers of this blog!
Absolutely fantastic to hear how quickly your husband received his PR– I’m sure the length of your relationship and thoroughness of your application were major factors, and it should give other applicants encouragement that an expedient grant IS possible with a good application.
I’ve definitely heard from many readers that offshore visas tend to get processed quicker, which is wonderful, as some applicants are actually overseas without their partner (largely thanks to covid) and therefore time spent waiting is just more time apart that no one wants! Apart or not, though, 4.5 months is just amazing!
A huge congratulations to you and your husband on having this application behind you and now moving on to the next chapter together in Aus! Best of luck with the move and I wish you both every happiness 🙂
-Brooke
Laura
ReganHi Regan – we just submitted an offshore visa application for my English partner so We can hopefully move. I’ve been told by agents processing times are good for offshore visas at the moment and your story gives me so much hope that we might be able to move within a year. Thank you for shaing.
Maria
Hi Brooke, Congratulations!
I am on my 19th month waiting on 801. I applied together with my son under 445 visa. We rung the immigration and checked if we can travel after lodging our application in April 2019 and the officer says yes (offshore/onshore doesn’t matter). My son traveled overseas to visit his father in May 2019 and was supposed to come back May 2020. Due to the pandemic he was unable to travel back until now. When I ring the immigration in July, they said, my case will be assessed individually from my son. When I ring again a couple of weeks ago an officer told me that since I am the main applicant I have to wait for my son to come back before they can assess my application. It is so frustrating getting different answers every time I call them. I really just hope we can be granted this visa soon. Thanks!
brooke brisbine
MariaHi Maria,
Any updates on your visa? Hoping it comes through soon for you!
Best of luck 🙂
-Brooke
Di
I think 2 year from submission of 820. Immigration page clearly said it is from 2 years from lodgement of 820/801 🙂
BEE & GRANT
Congratulation on your visa approval Brooke, I am going to do this visa by myself as well. Thanks god that I have found your page and it’s very very helpful so much. I will be submit this visa by January next year, hopefully it’ll work as well.
brooke brisbine
BEE & GRANTSo happy to hear you’ve found all this info helpful!
Best of luck to you, Bee & Grant 🙂
-Brooke
Aireen
Hi Brooke! Congrats for the visa grant and thanks very much for putting up this awesome website. Im in quarantine now and plan to proceed with 820 application. Im just wondering do u think i can find an agent that will help with looking into our documents. Most agents charge 3000-4000aud. Im planning to lodge myself but I stumbled upon some questions on page 9 , 11 on the online application page. Plus i want to make sure the supporting documents that I submitted are enough. Thanks in advance for whatever response! Cheers 🙂
brooke brisbine
AireenHi Aireen,
I think you should be able to speak to an agent about some general questions without paying $4000 for full assistance, but unfortunately I can’t make any specific recommendations, as I didn’t use an agent myself.
Possibly the best course of action would be to check out the Australia Forum. There is an immigration section on there and several agents frequently hop on to answer questions. Contact on of these guys and see if you can just pay a few hundred dollars for a short consult! I remember one agent in particular seemed very helpful– Mark N… (can’t remember the last name).
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
sherr
Hi Brooke,
Congrats for the simultaneous 820 and 801 visa approval.You’ve helped so many people with your blog and I am one of them. I would like to share and tell you that me and my partner’s 820 visa application have been granted 5 months and 15 days after we lodge our application.thanks Brooke and more power to your blog.
brooke brisbine
sherrHi Sherr,
Thank you so much for the lovely comment and a HUGE congratulations on receiving your visa so quickly! I’m sure that is wonderful news to both you and anyone reading this blog who’s still waiting for their grant– 5 months would be a dream!
Enjoy your newfound residency 🙂
-Brooke
Jeanne
Hi Brooke, my 820 is just granted like a month ago. Do you think I could apply for a driving license? ( I live in QLD and I don’t have driving license from my home country so it will be my first ever driving license ) and also, if I pass the 2 years wait to 801 do they upgrade my visa to 801 right away or do I need to write letter to them? Thank you 🙂
brooke brisbine
JeanneHi Jeanne,
Congratulations on receiving your 820 visa, how exciting! You are certainly eligible to apply for a driver licence, as you don’t need to be a PR to do so (I’ve had a VIC licence for 7 years).
As for the 801, you need to submit a second application when it gets close to the 2-year mark, it will not be automatically granted.
Hope this helps 🙂
-Brooke
Jayne
brooke brisbinehi brooke do you need to wait from a c.o’s request to submit an application for 801? or you do it straight away? if so, how does that work ? thanks in advance
brooke brisbine
JayneHi Jayne,
Sorry for the delayed reply, did you find the answer to your question? Since I didn’t apply for the 801 (both 820/801 were granted simultaneously), I wouldn’t have been much help anyway!
Diana
Congratulations Brooke! I’m sincerely happy for your successful attainment of Permanent Resident Aus! Aus! Oi! Oi! Oi! and I’m truly proud of you sharing your success stories in detail and with much sincerity. Your sharing motivated me, especially when I was drowned preparing the submission and almost walked away from my relationship. Your story and others’ posts made me feel that I’m not alone and that the process of undergoing this Partner Visa application can be challenging but feasible to overcome it. 🙂
A few days ago, we submitted our application, however I’m unable to upload our video evidence. Hence, I uploaded those videos in my Google Drive and created a link. I’d some doubts about the CO opening that link because I’m unsure will they click on a tiny.url link to access those video files. 🙁
My husband and I do not have any social media account at all as we’re not a fan of it, so to start a FB account now after submitting our application seems strange, in my opinion.
I’m sorry but I really need your opinion or advice from you or anyone who encountered similar experiences in regards to uploading of any video evidence.
I look forward to reading your thoughts to my situation.
Hugs,
Diana
brooke brisbine
DianaHi Diana,
Many apologies for my delayed response, but know that I appreciate your comment SO much! I am truly pleased to have given others some confidence in this process, because as you and I both know, this is HARD on a relationship– but we are also NOT alone in being stressed.
I’ve never heard of uploading video evidence, but I can’t imagine it would be an issue. My advice to you would have been to do exactly what you’ve already done, which is upload externally and then provide some instructions (possibly in a letter uploaded to the application) for the CO.
I’m sure this is too late to be helpful, but hopefully others reading these comments will find it of use!
Best of luck to you 🙂
-Brooke
Tammy King
Hi Brooke,
Thank you for your honesty and yes this was one of the most stressful processes I have ever encountered.
I submitted my application and almost a year to the day I was granted 820 and 801 simultaneously as well. The emails came last night as we were about to have friends for dinner. Needless to say it was quite the celebration!
I submitted on Oct 22 19, was asked for more evidence on Sept 9 20 and granted visas on Oct 15 20.
My husband of 30 years is Kiwi and he first needed permanent residency to sponsor me. His case was quite complicated with missing travel movements and name change so we hired an agent. My application was a breeze compared to his!
Tammy
brooke brisbine
Tammy KingThank you so much for sharing your experience, Tammy, and an enormous congratulations on receiving PR!!
It sounds like you had a wonderful celebration, and how wonderful to finally be done with all the paper work 🙂
Enjoy life in Aus!
-Brooke
marco
hi Brooke, thank you so much sharing your experiences, you helped so many people.
I’m preparing to apply for 820, but I have heard that there is new rule: the sponsor needs to be assessed and approved first, and after i can apply for partner visa, do you know if the new rule already have been applied, thank you so much
brooke brisbine
marcoHi Marco,
There’s been talk about that for a while now, but as far as I know, it hasn’t come in yet. For the time being, the applicant still submits first and then the sponsor must complete their application.
Best of luck!
-Brooke
Mark
Hi Brooke
Thanks to clarify, we are only at 14 months stage so early days
Take care enjoying your new residency!
Mark
Hi Brooke
I did see on another immigration fbook page a few comments from people who waiting for the 820 part 2 years or so for approval and then got the 801 approved same time or just after, not having to wait a further 2 years. Have you come across that?
brooke brisbine
MarkHi Mark,
I have heard that *sometimes* people who exceed the 3-year minimum for a long-term relationship while they are still waiting for the 820 will be granted both visas simultaneously, but it seems to be on a case by case basis rather than as a hard and fast rule. If you’ve waited more than 2 years, it would be worth uploading a letter to your application to specifically request consideration for both visas!
-Brooke
Jennifer
Hey Brooke!
Congratulations on your partner visa approval! I have been following your visa journey trail from last year and it certainly is amazing! Your hard work put in to the application has paid off!
Your guidance to visa absolutely helped me with my paperwork, and your timeframe helped me setting up on what paperwork needs to be prepared thank you again and congratulations!!
I had a question about two years wait period for 801 visa application, after the grant of 820 visa. Would you know if it is 2 years after the lodgement of 820 visa application or 2 years after the grant of 820 visa.
Not a single website explains this more clearly, some says 2 years after the application date, some says after the grant date so was just wondering.
I must say your blog helped me out more than any other migration lawyers with details!
Thank you again xoxox
Jenn
brooke brisbine
JenniferHi Jenn,
Thank you so much for the lovely comment, it certainly was a wonderful feeling to finally get the visa after so much work 🙂 And it’s always so nice to hear that these posts have been helpful!
The 2 year wait is from the grant of the 820 visa– you can apply for the 801 shortly before 2 years, but I don’t believe it will be reviewed until you actually cross that 2 year mark.
Best of luck with your visa!
xx Brooke
Di
brooke brisbineI think 2 year from submission of 820. Immigration page clearly said it is from 2 years from lodgement of 820/801 🙂
Janet Aitchison
Hi Brooke,
Thanks for this blog, it’s been really encouraging. I have a question that I can’t find an answer to anywhere so I’m hoping you, or someone reading this blog, can help. I live in the US and received my partner visa (subclass 100) earlier this year (hurrah!). My (Australian) wife and I are headed to Australia next month (pandemic allowing) and I’m wondering what I need to show at the airport as I leave the US to prove that I have a visa to enter Australia. Is my grant notification letter and visa grant number sufficient, I wonder? Will the airline recognize this as permission to enter the country?
Can you or anyone else shed any light on this?
Thanks a million.
Best
Janet
brooke brisbine
Janet AitchisonHi Janet,
If you have a valid 100 visa, it is automatically linked to your passport, so there should be no need to show anything (although it’s always handy to have a grant notification letter on standby). Airlines flying into Australia usually only verbally ask about a visa, unlike the US where they actually want to sight an ETA or similar.
Now, with covid, this might be different– I just flew to the US last month and things are locked down very tight in Aussie airports, so I think they may be asking for proof of permission to enter and likely information about quarantine (i.e. if you intend to hotel quarantine for 14 days or if you are applying for an exemption). If you are transiting through one Australian city into another state, you may also require a border permit– I needed one for Melb to Sydney.
Hope that helps, and best of luck!
-Brooke
Imogen
Congratulations Brooke!
So glad to hear your visa has been approved. Your guide, as everyone else has echoed, is invaluable to myself and everyone else going through the process!
Just wanted to check , you said you did the health examination 6 months after submitting your application, and your police check 8 months after submitting – for some reason, I thought they both expired after a certain time and so it was best to wait until asked for them, but do you think it’s actually better to just get it done without waiting to be asked? I submitted my application 10 months ago, so guessing I’d be safe to do them now and not have them expire before my visa is granted (fingers crossed!)
Imogen x
brooke brisbine
ImogenHi Imogen, thank you so much for the lovely comment!
Yes, I did my medicals and police check without being asked and I’d recommend this, since it can take a while to actually get the medical appointment or receive results from a police check (NPC is quick, but other countries’ checks are a bit slower, it seems). Waiting for the CO might therefore result in some delays.
Given that it’s been 10 months, you are reasonably safe to complete these checks now– the expiry is 12 months and hopefully your visa will be granted within the next year!
-Brooke
Lauren
brooke brisbineHi Brooke!
I just want to say first, thank you so much for creating this blog and providing so much useful information about partnership visa requirements and your personal journey! You are helping so many people with not only your practical advice, but your success story, by giving couples that much more confidence to push through the tedious process of visa applications.
I am on my second subclass 462 visa (from the US). I met my partner (he’s from NZ on a subclass 444) here in Australia. He and I are looking to apply for a 461 next year (after we marry), which has some similar requirements (federal police checks, character requirements, medical, etc.) and you said that you had gotten your medical done before you submitted your application.. I checked the immigration website and it states, “ My Health Declaration (MHD) is temporarily suspended.
Note: The MHD service enables you to complete your health examinations prior to submitting your visa application. MHD is a free service but you must pay for any health examinations you have.” Is MHD the channel you went through to organize your health exams prior to applying? It seems like I may have to wait until the request for me to complete a health exam in order to receive a HAP ID.
Also, did you bother obtaining a state police check from Washington State in the US, or the federal one from the FBI was sufficient? I read on the website that you need to provide state police checks for every state you have lived in for over 3 months in the past 12 months- as I have been in Australia over a year now, I assume this does not apply to me?
Thanks so much for any feedback/suggestions! Cheers, Lauren
brooke brisbine
LaurenHi Lauren, so lovely to hear that you found these posts helpful!
To clarify, I got my medical check done about 6 months AFTER submitting my application, once the HAP ID was issued. I then followed instructions right on the Immi page (which you can see in this post: https://brookebeyond.com/completing-your-health-assessment-examination-for-the-820-801-australian-partner-visa).
I only completed a federal FBI police check rather than any state check, so I would say the same would be sufficient for you!
Best of luck with the application 🙂
-Brooke
Totoro
Congrats Brooke, on getting your permanent resident simultaneously! I’m currently on 820, just applied for 801.( Still in the process of gathering all new material/evidence together )
Put in my application 3rd OCT 2018. 820 granted JAN 2020. Hope I will be granted 801 soon. 😄
brooke brisbine
TotoroThank you, Totoro!
Good luck with the 801, I’ll cross my fingers it comes through soon for you 🙂
-Brooke
Ciel
Hi Brooke,
I am so happy for you and your relationship,. 😉 I am ciel from philippines, we submitted my partner visa last March 14 and promptly they issued me a HAP ID, but our migration agent message me to wait for another mail from him to where I would go, it took me 5 months of waiting to figure out that the list he is talking about is listed. Anyway , I am so sad for the lost 5 months, going forward I hope my visa will be out soon so our family would be complete.. my husband Is already there since he lives there, me and our twins are waiting here to be with him.
brooke brisbine
CielHi Ciel,
Wishing you lots of luck as you wait for your visa, I hope it will be approved quickly and you’ll get to be with your family in Australia 🙂
-Brooke
Abigail
Congratulations, Brooke! I only got to check on your blog and this post today. I’m so happy for you! Very well-deserved. Thank you for keeping all of us up to date, and thank you to the other people who comment and share their experience with this 820/801 partner visa application.
brooke brisbine
AbigailThank you so much for the lovely comment, Abigail!
Best of luck to you xx
-Brooke
Lisa
Congratulations dear…I just share my story…my husband staying Australia about three years..he went there as a student…I m in another country and preparing myself and my daughter to go Australia…we had a very good relationship…but suddenly 23 july I informed that he is in de facto relationship without knowing anyone…i was shocked…can you please tell me is that possible for him to get residency!! Still he communicate with us.thanks
Lee
Hi Brooke,
I have been following your blog to apply for my 820/801 in Feb this year without using any agent. Today after 6 months applying, I went on your blog again just to see anything about applying for 801 and I saw this post. I am so so happy for you and yes I feel you and everything you had mentioned above. About the pressure for the relationship and as we have been in de fac to relationship for over 3 years when I apply, I was kind of jealous when I saw so many people who havent been together for that long and apply after me had got granted 820. And I am here still have heard anything from immi beside the automatic BVA grant email.
I feel so much better after I read your post and just want to say congratulation!!! You are well deserve the double grant!
XOXO
brooke brisbine
LeeHi Lee,
Thank you so much and I’m incredibly happy to hear that you found this post helpful! It’s such an unbelievably challenging and frustrating process waiting for the visa to come through, and I wanted to share that with other applicants– so you know you’re not alone 🙂
It sounds like you’ll also get the simultaneous grant of both visas based on a long-term relationship, so hopefully that makes the wait a little more bearable. Still, I hope it’s incredibly speedy for you!
-Brooke
Mark Rusconi
Thanks Brooke!
Mark
Hi Brooke
Regarding steph’s question; When my partner did the immi account online application, In each of the five boxes she simply wrote: Due to insufficient space please refer to my Relationship statement etc etc.
Our Relationship Stat Dec is uploaded in other documents and it is here the CO can read up on all of the five questions?boxes. The immi helpline also confirmed that this would be appropriate.
We consulted a migration about this part only who said that is fine and its what he recommends/does for many of his client applications
Does this sound correct to you?
brooke brisbine
MarkThanks so much for the feedback, Mark, I’m sure that will be incredibly helpful to other readers!
Steff
Ah, yes! Of course. I’ve been reading 2000 character this whole time but thinking 2000 words. That’s very helpful, ha. Our upstairs neighbour is a lawyer so I’m planning on getting everything witnessed by her anyways ☺️.
Steff
Hey Brooke, congrats on finally hearing back about your visa! In addition to many other voices, thank you so much for your detailed posts about applying for this visa. I’ve been using your blog and some information from elsewhere over the past 6 weeks as I pull together evidence for our visa.
I have a question about the 2000 word limit, and I haven’t been able to find an answer scouring through your comments. Does each subheading have a 2000 limit, or is it 2000 total for all 5 (financial, social, nature of household, nature of committment, development of relationship)?
My development statement is way over 2000 words, but I’m not sure that each of the others will be more than 2000 words each.
Thanks for any clarifying information.
– Steff
brooke brisbine
SteffHi Steff, thank you so much and glad to hear you’ve found these posts helpful!
Each subheading has a 2000 CHARACTER limit, which is about 400 words. Obviously for most categories, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to fit all of the necessary information into so few words– the typical way around this is to write in the boxes on the application: statement on financial aspects of the relationship provided in uploads as “XXXXXX [document title]”.
You can then address each of the 5 aspects of the relationship within separate statements (which don’t need to be stat decs) and upload as evidence!
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
Malena
I just came across your website and read some articles. Thanks for taking the time to clearly explain how the visa process works and congratulations in getting yours approved.
I applied for the partner visa through a migration agent in Sep 2018 and in Dec 2019 received notification that the 820 was granted and had to wait some months before applying for the 801. Due to current situation, we can’t afford a migration agent again and will need to lodge the 2nd stage of the visa myself. Have you read some comments of people in similar situation? I feel confident we can prepare and submit the required paperwork but I feel anxious my application will not be as strong as the one the migration agent did on our behalf.
brooke brisbine
MalenaHi Malena,
Since I didn’t have to apply for the 801 (because I had the 820/801 granted simultaneously), I don’t have any personal knowledge of this process. Another reader who HAS done this application has graciously agreed to write up a guest post about her experience and hopefully I’ll be able to provide that on the site soon!
All I can say is that many readers have commented about completing the 801 by themselves, so it is absolutely possible to do it on your own. Wishing you all the best, and I’m truly sorry I can’t be more helpful.
-Brooke
Vincent
Hey Brooke
Congratulations! Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oiiiiii! 🙂
It has been great to follow your journey. I am just wondering, when you received the 2 IMMI Notification emails, were those documents also on your IMMI account? Or just via email?
Thanks!
brooke brisbine
VincentHi Vincent, thank you so much 🙂
Yes, I received the grant notifications via email and the same documents were also in my IMMI account, so it would have been impossible to miss (which I was worried about).
Best of luck to you!
-Brooke
Grace
Hey Brooke,
Just wanted to say thank you so much for this post. Firstly, congrats on getting your visa! And secondly, thank you for the honest and reflective account of the process you went through and for talking about the pressure it can put on a relationship and the amount of work you had to put into the application. Your site is wonderfully helpful as a resource for the procedural parts of the application (we just submitted ours a few weeks ago and the whole thing was made way more straightforward because of all your information), but it’s also gratifying to hear about the emotional process, too, and it’s been comforting to read. Thank you again, and congratulations again! That’s huge. Well done 🙂
Cheers,
Grace
brooke brisbine
GraceHi Grace, thank you so much for the lovely comment!
I’m so happy to hear all my practical posts have been helpful to you, and also that you got some value out of reading about my personal experience. It’s one part of the process that no one really talks about, but it’s often YEARS of your life, waiting, stressing, worrying… Hopefully this posts illuminates the reality (or at least my reality) of applying for the visa– not without significant challenges, but ultimately worthwhile 🙂
Wishing you and your partner a super smooth, successful visa process!
-Brooke
Parvez
Hey Brooke ,
Firstly , congratulations on becoming Australian , best country in the world 👍, I would like to ask ,how can I provide evidence when me and my wife are living apart from eachother , I know my wife since 3 years but , we never lived together untill this year as I got married to her !
brooke brisbine
ParvezHi Parvez, thank you for the kind words!
Since you are now married, you really only need to provide evidence that you are living together NOW. It’s definitely still important to include details of how you met and how your relationship evolved over the years prior to your marriage, but it’s not a requirement that you’ve been living together for a minimum amount of time (since you’re applying as a married couple rather than a de facto couple). For example, you may choose to provide evidence that you shared finances, that you had joint assets or responsibilities, that you were involved with each other’s families, that you were committed to each other, etc before getting married.
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Regina
Congratulations Brooke 🎉
It’s great knowing that you’ve finally got your visa 🥳 We are still waiting for ours & I think we need more patience on the waiting (on our 14th month now 😂).
Congratulations again!
brooke brisbine
ReginaThank you so much, Regina!!
Hopefully you guys are very close, I’m crossing my fingers for you 🙂
-Brooke
Regina
brooke brisbineAfter 17 months, so happy we finally got our temporary visa & permanent resident visa 🙏🏻🎉 today! Its has been a long wait and the stress is indeed real but all worth it 🎉
brooke brisbine
ReginaA huge congratulations to you, Regina, you must be absolutely stoked!!
Hopefully you make some time to celebrate!
-Brooke
Mark Rusconi
Forgot to add my name!! haha
Anonymous
Yea I agree. Id say there may be a reason specific to there case or something unseen. Or could be straightforward and will just be approved without questyions or request.
Regards
brooke brisbine
AnonymousLet’s hope for the latter!
Mark Rusconi
Interesting.
I think she said her agent said they need to wait the additional 6-12 months rather than immi but I might be wrong.
In any case yea I guess its a process. immi website currently saying : –
75% of applications: 19 Months
90% of applications: 24 Months
It was a few months ago saying 22 months and 29 repectively.
Perhaps covid might slow it too though ive notice the processing times on the webiste went up and have now come down to the above.
Regards
brooke brisbine
Mark RusconiOh great catch, Mark, you’re right– it was her agent, not a CO. I wonder if the agent is saying that as an educated guess from past experience or specific knowledge about her case?
It is interesting, if the listed wait time is now 19/24 months, that is certainly an improvement over a few months ago. My interpretation of the covid-related delays were that they were giving priority to specific applications based on their need to travel, which might in turn delay other applications, but who knows if that’s what’s at play here.
From all of these comments, the main thing I’ve learned is that there is no way to predict the timeline of an application– I can imagine that’s even more true now than ever.
-Brooke
Anonymous
Hi Brooke
What sort of things do you think might cause such a delay in the above case? 2 years with no contact in the first instance. Im just curious. Would in represent some issue with the application or just admin delays on imm’s part?
Regards
Mark
brooke brisbine
AnonymousHi Mark,
Based on what I’ve heard from other applicants, sometimes it just takes that long– and it might not be from any specific errors in the application (or at least those people weren’t able to trace it back to specific errors). After all, the officially listed time on the Immi website is currently sitting around 23-29 months, so it’s not unheard of for processing to extend well beyond 2 years.
What’s most interesting about this particular case, though, is that Home Affairs notified her that it will be a further 6-12 months. I don’t know that everyone receives that kind of ETA, but at least it’s a reasonably good justification for requisition subsequent grants of the 820/801 visas. If she can bypass the usual 2-year wait period, the long visa process won’t seem so bad!
-Brooke
Ma.Merlita Ramos Arnold
Hi Brooke I am the middle of Partner Visa processing for over 2yrs now and I haven’t any received updates from immi,my agent said I had to wait another 6-12months for the processing.I need to know why, please I need your advice.Thanks Merlie
brooke brisbine
Ma.Merlita Ramos ArnoldHi Merlie,
Unfortunately, every situation is different, so I really can’t comment on why your visa is taking so long.
However, I have heard from other readers that SOMETIMES, if your visa takes ~3 years to be approved, you can request to bypass the 820 visa waiting period and just go straight onto the 801 permanent. There is absolutely no guarantee, as there is nothing about this particular situation on the Home Affairs site, but I’ve heard that it has worked for SOME other couples. You should write a letter specifically requesting this (due to the long visa processing time) and upload it to your application if you wish to be considered.
Best of luck!
-Brooke
cecilia
Congrats!brooke i am happy for you…i hope my visa will be granted soon also…
brooke brisbine
ceciliaThank you so much, Cecilia! I’m sure you’ll be next 🙂
-Brooke
Gae Scott
Wow! Congratulations Brooke! You much be elated. What a rocky journey but you stayed the course. Continue to enjoy your life in Australia, you deserve it.
brooke brisbine
Gae ScottThanks for the lovely comment, Gae, I really appreciate it! It’s certainly been a long journey, so it’s a relief to finally be done with the visa process.
All the best to you 🙂
-Brooke
Mark
Congratulations! It’s gone real well for you! You can chill now
Regards
Mark
brooke brisbine
MarkThanks so much, Mark! It feels nice to finally stop stressing about the visa 🙂
-Brooke
Garry
Hey Brooke,
It’s so good to hear this news. Many congratulations on your visa!! Honestly your posts on this visa has been quite helpful for me. I myself applied last year and did all the paperwork myself with the little help of my partner and it has been 12 months since I applied and after reading your post I think I am not expecting to get answer anytime soon , I will give it another 10 months or so. Thanks a lot once again for all your posts and many many congratulations on becoming Aussie 😊😊
brooke brisbine
GarryHi Garry, thank you so much for the lovely comment!
I don’t think it’s surprising you haven’t heard anything yet, so don’t be discouraged. If you have a complete application with all the health and police checks done, there’s a good change it will be approved in the next 6-12 months, and probably without email communication from the department. I’m crossing my fingers for you 🙂
-Brooke
Anna
brooke brisbineHi Brooke,
Sorry for tagging onto Garry’s question, I couldn’t see how to ask my own. Firstly, as everyone else has said, thank you so much for creating these posts. I was given this link for my application by a friend, who’d been given it by about 3 or 4 friends before. It is the visa bible! I’ve looked on other comments and I can’t see that anyone else has asked this (apologies if they have) but I heard from a friend that the Department often reject scans that have been made using a scanning app, like CamScanner, rather than a flatbed scanner. We’re in lockdown here in Vic and none of my witnesses, or myself, have a scanner to use for their Form 888s. My friend said that their lawyer could tell any time they’d used a scanning app (not sure how) and rejected their documents.
Have you heard this mentioned before? It seems non-sensical to me (but alot of the parts of this process do also to be fair!) so just trying to toss up whether to use the scanning apps for the sake of getting my evidence up sooner, as I’ve already made the payment, or wait until we can get access to scanners once the world/our offices open up.
Thanks so much!
Anna
brooke brisbine
AnnaHi Anna,
I actually hadn’t heard anything about rejecting scans taken from an app rather than a dedicated scanner, so I can’t say for sure, but like you– I find it totally ludicrous that they’d reject an application on the basis of scan quality. With the exception of scanning passports or birth certificates, I can’t see why it would really matter!
I will leave this open for any other readers to comment on, perhaps someone has had first-hand experience?
Best of luck to you xx