Sponsorship for a Partner to Migrate to Australia: completing the sponsor section of the 820/801
If you’ve been following along on all my 820/801 Partner Visa application posts, you’ll have already read my lengthy post detailing every single question of the online application. This current post is essentially the same thing for the sponsor’s application, providing you with all the questions and some tips on the application before your partner actually sits down to start typing.
Read my whole series on applying for the 820/801 Australian Partner Visa for more information about preparing your evidence, lodging your application, and the next steps. If you’re just beginning, start with this post to get an overview (and to read about our story). And, as always, please remember that I am not a migration agent or affiliated with Home Affairs in any way, so all the information provided in these posts and in the comments below is based entirely on my own experience and my own understanding of the application process.
How to begin the sponsor application online
By this point, you will have already submitted your 820/801 application, paid the fee, and recorded the Transaction Reference Number (TRN) for your application. You can now give this number to your partner and get them started on their application, Sponsorship for a Partner to Migrate to Australia. They can create their own account to do this, but it’s definitely easier to just complete the application within your existing IMMI Account so you can keep tabs on everything in one place.
From the “My Applications” main page, click the link to begin a “New Application“, select the “Family” tab, and then choose “Sponsorship for a Partner to Migrate to Australia (300, 309/100, 820/801)“. Your parter will agree to T&Cs before getting to the first set of questions.
What questions will your partner be asked
This is an overview of the questions that appear on your partner’s online application, Sponsorship for a Partner to Migrate to Australia. Questions displayed may vary according to personal circumstances (i.e. answers to previous questions), but this should give you a general idea of the information your partner will be asked to provide.
Application Context
This short section just asks your partner to provide information about your visa application. Specifically, the Transaction Reference Number (TRN) for your application (which you can find on the My Applications page of your IMMI Account), your birth date (not your partner’s DOB!), and when you lodged your application.
Sponsor
Your partner is now asked to fill out personal information similar to what you provided on this section of your own application, including full name, DOB, passport details, country of birth, relationship status, and citizenship details.
This is where your partner will need to specify whether you are applying for the Partner Visa as a de-facto, engaged, or married couple and reference the day your relationship began (which needs to be the same date you listed in your application!).
Critical data confirmation
For this page, your partner will be asked to review their personal details (including name and passport information) and confirm that it is correct before proceeding.
Sponsor’s contact details
This section just requires the residential address, mobile number, and email address of your partner.
Applicant
Your partner needs to give your full name, sex, and DOB, presumably to further confirm linkage to your application.
Applicant’s contact details
This section now asks for your residential address, mobile number, and email address.
Reducing violence in the community
The following statement is provided before asking your partner to confirm that they understand the information: The Australian Government is committed to reducing violence in the Australian community, including family and sexual violence. As part of this commitment sponsors are required to disclose criminal convictions they have had and/or charges awaiting legal action. Sponsors must also give the department permission to disclose any or all of the convictions to the visa applicant (s).Sponsors and partners should access more detailed information about Reducing Violence in the community in order to complete this form.
Sponsor’s relationships
After confirming that you and your partner are not related and that you have met in person, your partner needs to provide additional details about your relationship.
Most of these questions are identical to those you already completed on your own application, so you should be able to help them if there is any confusion! Essentially, your sponsor will provide details of when and where you first met, the date a committed de-facto relationship began (or the date of your marriage), and the date you “committed to a shared life together to the exclusion of all others”. This is in addition to the date you began dating, which you supplied earlier. I gave a more detailed explanation of all these dates in a previous post, but just make sure that these dates align with the ones you provided on your own application.
Your partner is also asked Has the applicant lived separately and apart from the sponsor for any periods of time since committing to a shared life together to the exclusion of all others? and will need to provide a brief explanation of this. Again, I talked about this in a previous post, but just make sure your sponsor discloses the same information that you disclosed on your application.
And now, your partner also gets to enjoy the fun bit of putting your entire relationship under the microscope! They are given these instructions and then asked to describe the major aspects of your relationship in the boxes provided (2000 character limit):
In the following questions, details of the relationship between the applicant and sponsor must be provided and should form the basis of the applicant’s claim that their relationship with their sponsor is genuine and continuing. The information provided also needs to be supported by relevant evidence. This evidence may be such things as photographs, receipts, bills, legal documents or anything else to demonstrate the nature of the relationship the applicant has with their sponsor. This evidence can be uploaded after the submission of this application.
- Financial aspects of the relationship: How do you pay for food/bills/rent/mortgage? Do you have joint assets or financial responsibilities? How do you share money? How do you support one another during times of financial hardship?
- Nature of the household: How do you share cooking/cleaning/shopping/house maintenance responsibilities? Do you rent or own a home together? What is your living situation (e.g. housemates, living with family, etc)?
- Social aspects of the relationship: Do you attend social events together or travel together? Do your friends and family have knowledge of your relationship? How have you made your relationship “official” (e.g. marriage, de-facto registration, facebook, etc)?
- Nature of the commitment: How have you provided emotional support to one another? What are your future plans together? How have your lives become intertwined? How have you committed to one another (e.g. will, beneficiary of super, marriage, de-facto registration)?
- Development of the relationship: When did you become committed and how has your relationship progressed?
If your sponsor has already written signed statements to upload as evidence, it’s possible to just write “see XXXX in uploaded evidence” rather than writing the same statement in this very limited box.
Previous relationships
Your sponsor is asked to indicate whether you (the applicant) have been in any previous relationships with anyone other than your sponsor— specifically, this is asking whether you’ve been married or in a de facto relationship with another partner previously.
Sponsor’s previous relationships
As with the previous section, the sponsor now needs to indicate whether they have been in a previous marriage or de facto relationship with anyone other than you, whether they have ever sponsored a previous partner/spouse for this visa, or whether they have ever been sponsored by a previous partner/spouse for this visa. Presumably, there will be follow-up questions if they answer yes to any of these statements.
Source of income
From a dropdown menu, your partner needs to specify their main source of income. This is important because your sponsor becomes legally obligated to support you financially during the course of this visa, so Home Affairs wants to suss out where this support is actually coming from (salary, government benefits, retirement payments, etc).
Migrating members of the family unit
Is your partner also sponsoring your son/mother/etc for migration to Australia on the same application?
Countries resided/visited
Your partner unfortunately has to complete the same ridiculous list of every country they’ve ever visited over the last 10 years with exact dates that you had to complete for your own application. Ugh.
Character declarations
This section is a long series of yes/no questions regarding any criminal convictions/charges that have been brought against your partner.
Sponsor declarations
The final page of the sponsor application is a series of declarations about the honesty of information your partner has included, their understanding of the visa grant process, and their agreement to support you by providing housing for up to 2 years from the grant of this visa.
What’s next?
The next step is to actually upload all of your evidence to your application and then get started on your health and police checks:
- UPLOADING EVIDENCE TO OUR 820/801 AUSTRALIAN PARTNER VISA APPLICATION
- COMPLETING YOUR HEALTH CHECK ASSESSMENT FOR THE 820/801 AUSTRALIAN PARTNER VISA
- COMPLETING AFP NATIONAL POLICE CHECKS (NPC) FOR YOUR 820/801 AUSTRALIAN PARTNER VISA
- FBI POLICE CHECKS FOR AMERICANS APPLYING FOR THE 820/801 AUSTRALIAN PARTNER VISA
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
Kete
Hi Brooke, Thank you very much for your wonderful blog.
My partner has submitted the complete application, and now it is my turn as a sponsor to apply for the sponsorship (right after the application submission).
We have realized that the questions on the sponsorship application are the same as the applicant (such as nature of the household, etc.), and the supporting documents will be the same as the applicant (you also mentioned this part).
I wonder how I should fill out the online application for those questions (i.e., statements) and what type of documents should be attached?
Should we write new statements and attach new evidence? We already attached all the evidence to the applicant’s application.
Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from you!
brooke brisbine
KeteHi Kete,
Ideally you should answer those questions in your own words, providing another perspective on your relationship to add legitimacy to the application. If you’ve already written long statements for the main application, though, you can keep the responses on the sponsor application more brief. I believe it’s important that they “hear from both of you”, so even if you just write 2000 characters on the sponsorship app, I think it helps!
And you do not need to attach any evidence at all under the sponsorship application, so just make sure you have everything uploaded on the main application.
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
Kete
brooke brisbineHi Brooke,
Thank you very much for your reply.
Your blog is a wonderful source of information. It would be great if the most frequently asked questions in the comments were extracted and were published in another blog post.
Thank you and stay safe!
brooke brisbine
KeteHi Kete,
I’ve actually done just that, you can check it out here 🙂
https://brookebeyond.com/820-801-visa-faq-top-10-most-common-questions-about-the-australian-partner-visa-with-full-answers
Soraya Proude
Hey Brooke!
I’m asking about the new changes to the defacto visa (801)
Apparently now we are having to complete the sponsorship application first, get accepted and then do the defacto visa after.
I am wondering how I go about this – I can’t find much as I think the changes were made this month of 2021 (this year.)
I believe it is the 40SP form? But I have seen multiple copies of this which differ from one to the other. I just really want to complete my sponsorship application so we can start on the defacto as my partners third year visa expires Oct 2022
Thanks
brooke brisbine
Soraya ProudeHi Soraya, they’ve been discussing those changes for a long time, so it’s interesting to hear they’ve finally been implemented!
I haven’t looked into it recently, but previous discussions were that the online sponsorship application (described in this post) would need to be completed through IMMI prior to the main application. By all accounts, 40SP is an outdated paper version of the sponsorship application, but most of us still completed & submitted it anyway “just in case”. The fact that it’s so hard to find this form and all the links keep breaking as webpages are deleted is just an indication that it’s being phased out. Complete it if you like, but focus your energy on the online application, that’s the true requirement and asks for all the same info as 40SP.
Carleigh
Hi Brooke,
Thank you so much for sharing your visa experience. It has been a constant resource for my partner and I as we go through our application.
I have a bit of a dumb question. My partner has had his 820 approved and we are now going through the 801 application. As the sponsor, do I need to fill out the Stage 2 – Permanent Partner Visa Assessment (100,801) like my partner did?
Thanks so much for all your help and information.
brooke brisbine
CarleighHi Carleigh, so glad these posts were helpful and congrats to you & your partner on a successful 820! Unfortunately I didn’t apply for the 801 (since my visas were granted simultaneously), so I can’t offer much help, but hoping one of my readers can…
Other applicants, please feel free to comment back & answer this question if you can!
Abigael
Hi Brooke,
Thank you very much for sharing your experiences on applying the partner visa. It is very helpful. I just finished lodging my 820 application and got a VBA right away. I have some questions here i hope you can help me. Firstly, In the financial aspect, we don’t have any shared expenses since im not allowed to work as per my tourist visa condition, my partner is the one who pays for everything. We don’t have joint bank accounts, lease agreements and bills in both of our names. My partner owns a company and the bills and the name of the house is under his company name. Do you think it is alright that i put there I am completely financially dependent to my partner? 2. Where can i get a form 40sp? 3. Does my partner/sponsor need to do his sponsorship application right after I lodge my 820 or just wait for the immigration to tell us? 4. I already had an APF clearance and NBI clearance attached on my character assessment, do i still need to attach an evidence to obtain those clearances on my character assessment? I hope you can help me in some of my questions. I know you’re re not an immigration agent but what you have put on your posts are very helpful. Thank you and more power to you!
brooke brisbine
AbigaelHi Abigael,
1. Yes, be honest and say you are a dependent. That’s not an altogether unusual situation, so just explain what he pays for and how he supports you (ex. provide evidence that you live at the house for free, that he pays for your bills, etc).
2. https://www.vfsglobal.com/Australia/Turkey/pdf/40SP.pdf
3. Sponsorship application should be completed as soon as possible after the initial application (a few weeks is fine)
4. No, only upload “evidence of intention to obtain…” if you haven’t done it; if you have completed them, this can be left blank and just upload directly to the categories.
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Abigael
brooke brisbineHi Brooke!
Just got my temporary visa! Thank you so much for your reply and for sharing your wonderful blogs. They really helped me on my application.
Again, thank you and more power to you!
Regards,
Abigael
brooke brisbine
AbigaelCongratulations, Abigael!! Wishing you all the best in Australia 🙂
Henry
Hi Brooke,
I have applied for a partner visa 820 and on a bridging visa now. My wife and I intend moving from NSW to Queensland by the end of the month. I have informed immigration of my new address in Queensland. Does my wife still need to do that as my sponsor? Thanks.
brooke brisbine
HenryHi Henry,
Just to avoid any confusion, I’d say she also needs to inform immigration that the address she listed on her sponsorship application has changed. Make sure both of your documents match (the same address), or that could cause issues!
Nik
Hello Brooke,
Having trouble with the online partner visa 820 application and wondered if you could help me out.
I have started filling the ‘Sponsorship for a Partner to Migrate to Australia’ online form on behalf of my partner, getting an error on page 4 of her online form and is receiving an error:
“The related application details provided cannot be verified, check the details and amend if necessary. The applicant will not be able to continue and should review the eligibility information on our website.”
I have looked on the common errors webpage on immi and other users who are getting the same error.
Can you please shed some light onto why I am receiving this error and unable to proceed with the application?
Thanks
brooke brisbine
NikHi Nik,
Have you already submitted the initial application and gotten a reference number to use with the sponsorship application?
Immigate
Awesome tips that everyone who plans to migrate can follow through.
Mark
Hi Brooke
I just started my partner visa application (309/100) in immi account but not yet submitted.
At the same time i started sponsorship for partner to migrate Australia. But when i reach its 4th page, i am getting the following error:
“The related application details provided cannot be verified, check the details and amend if necessary. The application will not be able to continue. Further information about revalidation is available on our website”.
Is it because i didn’t submit my partner application yet? I provided TRN number of my partner’s incomplete application but still same error.
I am bit confused do i need to submit sponsorship form first OR do i need to submit and pay for partner visa form first?
Your help in this regards will be appreciated.
Cheers
Mark
brooke brisbine
MarkHi Mark,
I’m sure this reply is too late to help you (very sorry), but for anyone else with a similar question:
Yes, you MUST submit AND pay for the initial application first, before you can use the TRN to link the sponsorship application.
Matic
Hi Brooke,
All I wanted to say is big thank you for sharing your experience. It helped me a lot when I was checking online and in the forms of what goes where. Also our approach is – the more (info for the migration) the better (faster? :)).
mia
hi brooke,
hope you doing fine.
just to confirm about TRN NUMBER.
there will be 2 different TRN NUMBER is it right?
one for applicant and one for sponsor.
in sponsor part,they need to include applicant TRN
am i right?
brooke brisbine
miaHi Mia,
That’s correct, you need to include the applicant TRN when you complete the sponsor application!
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
Jade
Just wondering if you need to put in every country and date visited in the last 10 years (spouses sponsorship question) I’ve had easily over 100 exit/entry to 65 countries and I’m not sure I want to document them all if I don’t have to. I’m an Australian citizen.
I know Brooke you guys travelled a lot, did Callum put down all his visits? Anyone else know?
TÍA
brooke brisbine
JadeHi Jade,
Annoyingly, you do still have to put down every single entry and exit in the last 10 years. It’s quite a task, but there’s not much of a way around it, sadly!
Best of luck to you 🙂
-Brooke
Thanh
Hi Brook,
Thank you so much for your post, it is really helpful.
I have some questions to ask you and hope you help me.
My bf sponsored his ex in Jan 2018, they applied 820, then he withdraws in Jan 2019. He noticed to Immi that the relationship is end,he withdrawed it, his ex moved out of house. Now he wants to sponsor me, and I wonder the question 21 in Applicant form:
Has the sponsor previously sponsored/ nominated a spouse, de facto, prospective spouse or independent partner? I wonder if he answer Yes or No, as what he said he did not sponsor her because he withdrawed, so it means he sponsor no one, he will answer NO. Please help me as I don’t want to make it wrong. And he will write a letter to explain that why he answer No on that question.
Thank you so much,
Thanh
brooke brisbine
ThanhHi Thanh, so sorry for my delayed response!
I don’t know the answer to your specific question, but I’d lean towards answering YES. Whichever you decide, I think the MOST important thing would be writing a letter to explain the circumstances around his previous sponsorship!
Best of luck,
– Brooke
Thanh Nguyen
brooke brisbineThank you Brook.
Thanh.
Anonymous
Well done
Henry A.
Hi Brooke,
Thanks for your response for my last question. It was helpful. Please, i would really need another of your opinion in another issue here. I made a mistake in the STATE of one of my supporting witness due to the computer was mucking up that time. I put NORTHERN TERRITORY instead of QUEENSLAND. Do you think it would be a good idea if i state that in the QUESTION 44 (ARE THERE ANY OTHER DETAILS YOU WOULD LIKE TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION?) in the FORM 1221(ADDITIONAL PERSONAL PARTICULARS INFORMATION) since i haven’t sent that? Please, what do you reckon?
Thanks.
brooke brisbine
Henry A.Hi Henry,
Sorry, was this on Form 888 or Form 80? And was the postcode correct? If so, I think Home Affairs would be able to work that out and I wouldn’t worry about it too much! However, it never hurts to correct the mistake in a quick letter or other section of the application, just to be safe.
-Brooke
Henry A.
brooke brisbineHi Brooke,
Thanks for your reply.I made the mistake on the Online one of which i cannot edit it again because i have already paid and submitted it, but i got every part of the address (even the post code) right, except the STATE OF RESIDENT.
Thanks.
Best regards.
brooke brisbine
Henry A.Hi Henry,
If the postcode is correct AND the state is correct when you have that person complete Form 888 on your behalf, I don’t think it will be a huge deal. Again, you can always write a brief letter explaining the error and upload to your application to be extra cautious, but I wouldn’t stress about it too much!
-Brooke
Henry A.
brooke brisbineHi Brooke,
Thanks for the advice. It was helpful. God bless you. Thanks again.
Henry
Thanks Brooke. So much help. God bless.
brooke brisbine
HenrySo happy to help, Henry! Best of luck with it all 🙂
-Brooke
Henry A.
Hi Brooke,
I am on a Prospective Marriage Visa. My wife and i got married after i arrived in Australia and i am now applying for a Partner visa 820/801. But while filling the Form 40SP, my wife and i became confused at the QUESTION 29 ( Have you previously sponsored/nominated a spouse, de facto partner, prospective spouse (fiance) or interdependent partner?). We are really confused here about whether to choose YES or NO, because my wife sponsored me on the Prospective marriage visa to Come to Australia. Will it affect my partner application if she thick YES, as she is also my sponsor in this Partner visa? Will it be counted against her base on the Sponsorship limitation law? Please, i need your advice here. Thanks.
brooke brisbine
Henry A.Hi Henry,
I think that question is really about a previous (different) partner/spouse, so it likely wouldn’t apply to your PMV. I think you can answer NO here and then there will be opportunities to provide details of your PMV within the application so it’s clear.
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
NAMDEV
HI BROOKE ,
Thank-you so much for information you provided here .I am sponsor for my partner offshore .i try to find some information about limitation 5 year ,if you previously sponsored through partner visa or sponsor your X-partner .I have following question .
1.i Previously sponsored by my partner onshore in last 2013 ,after we had break down i sponsored my partner in 2016 ,my relationship with her did not worked so we end up we separated and divorced but she did not granted her visa 309 offshore yet and i withdrew my sponsorship before immigration give any decision .so now i am about to sponsor my current partner and i am confused that ,if sponsorship limitation apply in my case or am i good ?i did check with someone ,and they said her visa did not get approve so it does not count your sponsorship .
2,I am preparing her documents is that OK to do so ??
brooke brisbine
NAMDEVHi Namdev,
Unfortunately, I don’t have any personal knowledge about the limits of how many times you can sponsor within a given time frame. Possibly another reader will know and comment back on this post; otherwise, I’d recommend calling a lawyer to ask. Often you can ask quick questions like that for a very small fee, and it would be worth it to make sure you’re actually eligible to sponsor someone before you pay the fees.
Best of luck to you!
-Brooke
Rebecca Omondi
HI Brooke
Your Blog is wonderful, thank you 🙂
After waiting two years I am starting to read logs and try to find answers!
1. I am the sponsor and my status says submitted and has not changed in two years, does it ever change or am I over thinking?
2. My partner has been asked today to re -do his medicals and get another police certificate from his country of origin and submit the form 80 even thought he did one originally and uploaded it, do you know if this is automatic or it means we are moving closer to a decisions?
Trying to keep calm and carry on
Rebecca
brooke brisbine
Rebecca OmondiHi Rebecca, so glad you found these posts helpful!
1. I had that same question and called up Home Affairs back when we first submitted– apparently the sponsorship application is ALWAYS marked “submitted” rather than “received”, it’s nothing wrong on your end.
2. I can’t comment on re-doing his medicals and a police certificate since I was never asked to re-do anything, but I certainly imagine it’s an indication that someone has actually opened your application, which is definitely good news! When did you apply? Assuming more than 12 months ago, if he’s re-doing medicals?
Based on comments from other readers, I’d say you’re moving closer to a decision 🙂
-Brooke
Beth
Hi Brooke,
What an amazingly helpful blog this is. Thank you! If you dont mind I just have a question about one of the questions on the application. It is:
Supporting witnesses
Give details of two supporting witnesses of the relationship between the applicant and the sponsor.
Do i list here the details of all those who have completed the Form 888 for the application? Even my parents and friends who have completed it who dont live in Australia?
Thanks, Beth 🙂
brooke brisbine
BethHi Beth,
Yes, this is where you provide details of those who have/will complete your Form 888s. To clarify, though, ONLY Australians are allowed to complete this form on your behalf, as it needs to be signed and witnessed in Australia.
You can absolutely include supporting letters from friends/family outside Australia, but they can’t complete Form 888 and you wouldn’t list their names here. Instead, they can write informal, signed letters (answering similar questions as asked on the Form 888) and you can upload these as additional evidence.
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
juliana
Btw, thank you Brooke. Your blog is really helpful.