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
juliana
I am an Australian citizen currently residing in the US.
Also, since i am a sponsor for my partner, do I need fingerprint check from Australia or just the national check from AFP?
brooke brisbine
julianaHi Juliana,
I believe even the sponsor needs police checks from any country they’ve resided in for 12+ months, but I’m not 100% sure– I’m sorry!
Hopefully another reader can better answer your question!
-Brooke
Alan Noel
Wow! If I didn’t ask, we wouldn’t know and we will definitely be in trouble. It doesn’t say in the Home Affairs’ website though until I read some articles including yours about this. Thanks for your help, Brooke! 😊
Alan Noel
Hi, Brooke! Is this a totally different application than the Form 40SP which my partner already submitted as part of the requirements as a sponsor? Thank you for the clarification in advance! 😊
brooke brisbine
Alan NoelHi Alan,
Form 40SP is basically the old paper version of the sponsorship application, which some (my sponsor included) choose to do since it is still listed as “recommended”. Regardless of whether you fill out this form, the sponsor MUST complete the online sponsorship application. So your partner needs to do this, as well 🙂
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Emma
Hi Brooke,
I have completed a “Sponsorship for a partner to migrate to Australia form”, scanned it and uploaded it. Do i have to complete it as a ‘new application’ under the same Immi account like i am reading online, or is my scanned copy that i have uploaded enough?
Thanks again!
brooke brisbine
EmmaHi Emma,
You need to complete the online sponsorship application unless you actually want to apply by mail and post in the paper copy. I’d recommend applying online! It will be mostly the same questions you already answered on (I’m assuming) 40SP?
-Brooke
Anonymous
All of your posts on the 820/801 are massively helpful. Thank you so much!
brooke brisbine
AnonymousYou are so incredibly welcome!
Good luck with everything 🙂
-Brooke
Jo Syed
Hi Brooke,
Spot On! Thanks for your detailed reply. It surely has given us much needed confidence to proceed with our application. The visa which we will be applying is offshore partner visa (309/100) since we both live overseas – I am guessing the process and requirements would be more or little the same ?
Could you please clarify on below
1) Will my wife have to wait 1-2.5 years for temporary visa after we lodge our application ?
2) And will she need to exit the country once she has been granted the permanent visa ? and how long does she need to stay out of Australia after the grant ?
3) Can you please also explain on joint declarations to be provided – Does it mean me and my wife have to jointly sign the declarations ?
Appreciate your time and thank you for your valuable inputs.
Regards,
Jo Syed
brooke brisbine
Jo SyedHi Jo,
Apologies that I missed which visa you are actually applying for! But yes, you’re right, the requirements are the same.
1. Offshore applications do seem to be processed quicker, based on all of my reader feedback, so she might only need to wait 6-18 months for the temporary visa (although it is different for everyone!).
2. I’m not sure I totally understand this question. If your wife is applying offshore for the visa, she needs to be offshore when it is granted (the temporary visa). Once you have that, though, you can both come to Australia and there’s no need to leave after the permanent visa is granted.
3. Which joint declarations are you referring to? Typically your statements should be written separately, since the CO wants to hear from both of you.
Hope that helps, but let me know if you have further questions!
-Brooke
Jo Syed
Hi Brooke,
Awesome blog with really helpful tips!
I am also in the process of applying 309/100 for my wife. Not sure with the current COVID situation, PV applications would be accepted or processed and how long would we have to wait for CO to be assigned ?
I am my partner’s sponsor and we both live in Dubai since 2008. We are happily married over 13 years and have a son who is now 9 yrs old. Our son is aus citz by descent. We are now looking to relocate to Australia. I am hoping that our long term and continuing relationship as well as child from our marriage would speed up our application approval process ?
I have a couple of questions and I would be grateful if you could answer them to make my and partner’s lives easier!
1. Financial Aspects : My wife is a homemaker and hence dependent on me for all the expenses we carry out for our house rent, utilities, groceries and every other expense there is for daily living. Therefore I do not have any evidence such as joint tenancy, joint utilities or expenses, however have one joint bank account in India which we rarely used during our vacations. She does have supplementary credit cards in her name. All invoices or bills we have for purchases are under my name. Even the school fees I pay for our son is under my name. Will this cause any issue ?
2. Statuatory declarations : Do I need to attach similar evidence and supporting documents in my sponsorship application as attached in the applicants’ ?
3. How many photos can we attach in both applicants and sponsorship applications.
4. Do we need to get certified copies of our identity documents, marriage certificate, passport copies, birth certificates. Do I need to include our son’s birth certificate, his aus citz by descent cert etc. Or these can be just scanned and uploaded ?
5. Last but not the least, need some examples on how to write nature of commitment /nature of household aspect pf our relationships.
TIA! 🙂
Jo
brooke brisbine
Jo SyedHi Jo, so glad you found these posts helpful!
As far as I know, Home Affairs hasn’t said anything about COVID-related delays, so hopefully things are still moving as normal (which is extremely slow, sadly).
From the sounds of it, you and your partner should have absolutely no issue proving a serious, long-term commitment! This doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll have a CO assigned any quicker– but after you get the 820 temporary visa (1-2.5 years from now), you will be eligible for the “long term” exception, which basically just means your partner will move straight onto the 801 (permanent), without the usual 2 year wait.
To answer your other questions:
1. It’s not an issue that you pay for most of your family and joint expenses, that in and of itself is proof of financial interdependency! If you can show proof that you financially support your wife, you pay for your son’s schooling, you pay for your living expenses, etc, that will be sufficient. You can also explain in your statements that you are the primary earner and you support your wife.
2. Have a look at this post, it will tell you all of the recommended uploads for the applicant AND the sponsor (all of this is uploaded to the main application): https://brookebeyond.com/uploading-evidence-to-our-820-801-australian-partner-visa-application
3. You have a limit of 100 documents in total, so I recommend combining photos into PDFs, such as Family Photos 2015-2018, Travel Photos 2019, etc. You and your partner probably have thousands of photos together, so just choose a couple from each year to show a continuing relationship and major milestones.
4. You don’t need to certify any documents as long as you are applying online and uploading in colour. That includes your passport, birth certificate, etc. NO need to certify, just colour scan and upload,
5. For these specific statements, have a look at this post: https://brookebeyond.com/820-801-australian-partner-visa-evidence
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Matt
Hi Brook my partner has just lodged her partner visa app stage 1. She did not see anywhere to upload the supporting documents and photo evidence that she had prepared. Did we make a mistake or will we be able to upload these things later?
Thanks
Matt
brooke brisbine
MattHi Matt,
After she submits the online application and her payment is processed, the upload portal with become available in IMMI. This post has some more instructions on where to upload documents: https://brookebeyond.com/uploading-evidence-to-our-820-801-australian-partner-visa-application
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
Sarah
Hi Brooke,
Thank you so much for all of this information. It was exactly what I had been looking for as I am preparing to do my application without a migration agent.
I have a brief question regarding my sponsor. He does not have a passport. He was born here and has never lived in another country. Not having seen the application form, I was hoping you would know if it is possible to provide some other form of ID than a passport for him?
Thank you 🙂
brooke brisbine
SarahHi Sarah,
I believe you would be fine to use a birth certificate and Australian driver licence as ID in this instance!
-Brooke
Bradlee
Hi Brooke.
Like everyone else on your page I am so grateful for you taking the time to capture such prescriptive information for us all – particularly while balancing the workload of your PHD. How is your study going by the way?
My question relates to my partners current Student Visa (500). He really does not want to continue in his current study, and wants to instead focus on a course which is not covered under our 500 visa. The current student visa is until February 2021. We are about to commence down the path of our 801/820 application, and my understanding is that only after his previous visa lapses will the bridging visa take effect and allow him to stop his current study/increase working from 20 hours per week, etc.
He is sure that once we apply he can stop his current course and change to his preferred training and work more than 20 hours.
Can you help clarify for us? I would hate for him to walk away from his current course, only to break his current visa arrangements and ruin any chance at our partner visa being approved. My googles are not giving me very clear information.
Any help from you or the community is appreciated. 🙂
brooke brisbine
BradleeHi Bradlee,
Thanks for the lovely comment! I actually finished my thesis last year, and although my graduation ceremony has now been cancelled due to COVID19, I officially got my PhD a couple months ago 🙂
I don’t have a lot of experience with this exact situation, but I can tell you that, exactly as you said, the student visa has to expire before the BVA becomes active. It might be possible to cancel the student visa after applying for the 820, essentially forcing the BVA to come into effect sooner, but you would definitely need to clarify that from someone qualified. I’d suggest calling Home Affairs, hopefully they can provide some clarity.
Best of luck to you and your partner!
-Brooke
Adeba
Hi,
Thank you so much for this!
Does the applicant need to submit their application first and then the sponsor?
I went to do my husbands one, (applicant) and started then realised i dont have all the information on hand, so i stopped and decided to do a new application for me as the sponsor
It said that it could not verify my details? I triple checked and all information was exactly as indicated on the passport.
Could it be because my husbands application has not yet been submitted and paid for
We are going from a PMV 300 to a 820/801.
Thanks in advance
brooke brisbine
AdebaHi Adeba,
Yes, the main applicant must submit first and then the sponsor can use the TRN to link their application– it’s not possible to do this until the main app is submitted.
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Cecilia
hello brooke..thank u very much for this helpful blog it is very big help in my visa application especially i apply in my own….Thank you very much for your advise,Take care always
brooke brisbine
CeciliaYou’re so welcome, Cecilia!
Best of luck 🙂
-Brooke
Bob
Thanks Brooke.
Ashley
Hi Brooke,
Thanks for the detailed guide. Really appreciate it.
Does this sponsorship for a partner application apply to stage 2 of the partner visa application as well? Sorry, i did the first part of the application through an agent and I’m taking over now so I’m slightly confused!
Thank you,
Ashley
brooke brisbine
AshleyHi Ashley, so sorry for the delayed response, I thought I replied to this– oops!
Unfortunately, I haven’t made it to Stage 2 myself (and I’m hoping to bypass it through the Long Term exemption), so I’m probably not the best person to ask about this. It is my understanding, however, that you only need to fill out the Sponsorship Application once during the first stage. Perhaps other readers can comment??
-Brooke
Bob
Hi Brooke,
Thanks for getting back to me.
Actually we have already uploaded all photos under my application as sponsor.
But have referred to those photos in our personal statements of both mine and my wife.
Do you think CO would be okay to check those photos under my name, or better to upload it under my wife name too (she is applicant and I’m the sponsor)
Thanks Brooke.
brooke brisbine
BobHi Bob,
I’m not totally sure in this situation. My understanding was that all of the evidence should be uploaded to the main application, but if you’ve already done it to the sponsor application, maybe it will be fine there.
-Brooke
Shane
Thanks Brooke really appreciate the feedback
Shane
Shane
Hi Brooke
Sorry i got your name wrong in previous post
Shane.
Shane
Hi Bob
Thanks for all the great info
I am in the process of filling in the sponsor section of partner visa. My partner has filled in hers bit not yet submitted. When i get to the verification part it says errror unable to verify. Would this be because my partner has not yet submitted her application and it cant find the trn or crn?
brooke brisbine
ShaneHi Shane,
You’re exactly right, you need to wait for her to fully submit her application before you can submit yours so that they will be correctly linked together.
-Brooke
Bob
Hello Brooke,
Me as Sponsor and my Wife as Applicant has done the personal statements.
We both have referred to lots of photos in the statement, like please refer attached: xyz.jpg etc
But we have uploaded the photos only under my name, will that be fine?
Or it is good to upload under my Wife’s name too?
Any clarification would be very helpful, thank you.
brooke brisbine
BobHi Bob,
Only upload the evidence under the main application, no need to double up.
-Brooke
Bob
Hi Brooke,
Thanks for the reply, I will probably won’t it, will wait till/if CO requests for it.
Thanks again for all your advise Brooke.
Bob
Hello Brooke,
Thanks for getting back.
It says that if I lived for more than 12 months in last 10 years.
Which I haven’t in case of India.
So don’t worry about it or better get one?
What will be your thoughts Brooke?
Thanks.
brooke brisbine
BobHi Bob,
As I mentioned, it is my understanding that you would not need to get a police check if you haven’t lived in India for more than 12 months in the last 10 years. You can check with Home Affairs by calling just to be sure, but the CO can also request it if it is needed (which it doesn’t sound like it is).
-Brooke
Gonzalo
Hey Brooke, I applied yesterday and I already got my bridging visa A 🙂 thanks for all the help provided, I had living in Australia for the last 3 years and I did the application onshore so I am wondering about the procedure where my sponsor uses my TRN to submit their own Sponsorship Form application, it is something we should do too or is only for couples that applied offshore? I just need keep uploading all my documents and my sponsor now, or there is a step is missing? Thanks! 💪🏽🙏🏾
brooke brisbine
GonzaloHi Gonzalo, congratulations on a big first step!
All sponsors need to complete the application as described in this post, including onshore applications. Don’t worry, it’s not nearly as long as the main application 🙂
-Brooke
Bob
Hello Brooke,
Thanks very much for getting back.
I’m from India, but I haven’t spent more than 12 months in India in the last 10 years, so whether do you think it is better for me take a Indian Police Check too or just from Aus would do?
Thanks Brooke.
brooke brisbine
BobHi Bob,
As per the advice provided on Home Affairs, you only have to provide a police check for countries that you’ve lived in the last 10 years. You might call them to confirm that if you are an Indian citizen.
-Brooke
Bob
Hello Brooke,
Can you please let me know whether Sponsors need to complete a Police Check too?
Thanks Brooke.
brooke brisbine
BobHi Bob,
I believe they do, but because it is so quick to get in Australia, you can choose to wait for it to be requested (or just get it now, because it’s inexpensive). Up to you!
-Brooke
Shelly
Hey Brooke
Amazing Blog…
We are in the process of lodging my partner’s partner visa onshore. Just got a question, as both our parents are in India, do we need there statements just on a piece of paper with their signatures or it has to be formal document?
Thanks
SHelly
brooke brisbine
ShellyHi Shelly, thanks for the comment 🙂
Since you won’t be able to use either of your parents’ statements to fulfil the Form 888 requirement (as they need to be Australian residents or citizens) and you also won’t be able to get them to sign a legal statutory declaration (since they are in another country), you probably won’t be able to get a “formal” statement from them. I just had my parents write and sign letters– as long as you have plenty of other people doing Form 888 statements, these are just extra evidence!
-Brooke
Bob
Thank you very much Brooke, I will look into the email and let you know.
Thanks again for all the help and details which you provide here.
Bob
Hello Brooke,
Thanks very much for explaining in detail, really appreciate it.
Still I’m bit confused, in my case it was like 27 page application, finishing and paying, I had a page where there both of our names displayed, and when you click both of our names it was asking for lots of different documents. Do you think I’m on right track here?
Thankfully was no conditions which is good for us.
For all those 5 questions, I have just entered please refer to the attachments, and we are planning to submit a long document explaining about those 5 things which they have asked, do you think that should be fine?
Also Department if they need might contact us for more documents, am I right? They won’t be like straightaway making decision, ?
Thanks again Brooke, sorry for too many questions.
brooke brisbine
BobHi Bob,
Did you follow the directions in this post to begin a new sponsorship application? Not just uploading sponsor documents to the main application, but actually completing the separate sponsor application?
I’m going to email you a screenshot of the application page, which might help you find out if you’re on the right track (I’m unable to post a photo in the comments).
As for the statement, yes, that should be fine. And the Department may contact you for more information, true, but I wouldn’t expect it to be anytime soon. The current wait time on this visa is as about 1.5-2.5 years (onshore), so don’t be surprised if it takes a long time for anyone to look at it and contact you about more information. I applied 14 months ago and haven’t heard a word from Home Affairs. Every situation is different!
-Brooke
Bob
Thanks for getting back Brooke.
I can see in few comments that you have mentioned doing the Sponsor documents as a separate application from different account, but here you have mentioned it is fine to do it altogether, can you please let me know which one is the right way?
She has got her visa, but it is not active as her Visitor visa expires only after 3 weeks. But as of now in BVA under conditions – it says No Conditions, so that should be fine to get working rights?
Also, whether the personal statement from My Wife and Myself is mandatory?
Any advise Brooke, thank you very much.
brooke brisbine
BobHi Bob,
To clarify, there is a separate sponsorship application that you need to complete on IMMI (which is described in this post), and this can be done from the same IMMI account or a different one as your wife’s main application, but it is its OWN application within the account. If you’ve done it correctly, there should be 2 applications displayed when you log into the IMMI account: one with your wife’s name and one with your name.
Then, you can upload relevant evidence and your identity documents to the MAIN application (your wife’s) under the Sponsor tab. You will be given a list of “recommended” documents in IMMI when you go to the upload portal, and I also discuss it in this post under “Sponsor documents” https://brookebeyond.com/uploading-evidence-to-our-820-801-australian-partner-visa-application.
So basically, there are separate applications to complete, but the uploads are all attached to the main application. Hope that makes sense!
Yes, if it says no conditions, she should have full work rights.
As for the personal statement, it is required. However, you only HAVE TO write a statement about your relationship that fits in the relevant text box on the online application. This has a 2000 character limit, so most applicants find that it’s not enough space to write about their relationship and commitment to each other, so they choose to upload a longer statement. That is not necessarily required if you think you’ve included enough detail in the application itself, up to you!
-Brooke
Aliya
Hi Brooke,
Thank you so much for providing us all the details, its very useful.
I have a one question, it will be great if you can help me out here.
My Husband has submitted my stage 1 partner or prospective visa (300, 309/100, 820/801), and today Case Officer has requested us to submit “Sponsorship application form online”, and they have provided us just 3 days to submit it, my question is do we have to pay separate amount for this application ? and how will the Case Officer knows if we have submitted the form?
Kindly respond… Thanks in advance!
brooke brisbine
AliyaHi Aliya, this response is probably too late to be helpful, so I’m really sorry and I hope you were able to figure everything out!
Just to clarify for anyone with a similar question, though, you need to complete a separate sponsorship application online, as described in this post. It can be done from the same IMMI account as the main application, it doesn’t cost anything additional, and you will link it to the main application using the TRN provided after submission. As you can see in this post, it’s not a terribly long application and, if the sponsor has already done the 40SP form, it’s a repeat of most questions. It will take a few hours, but 3 days should be sufficient to get it done.
-Brooke
Bob
Hello Brooke,
Thanks for all the details, it is very useful.
While applying for 820 visa for my Wife, I have added all my (Sponsor) documents in the same application which was lodged for my Wife, do you think that should be fine?
Also I cannot see the visa being active in VEVO yet, what the chances that she will get working rights once BVA kicks in?
Would be very helpful to get some clear advise on this, thank you.
brooke brisbine
BobHi Bob,
Yes, you’re correct that you upload sponsor documents to the main application.
As for the BVA, as soon as payment is processed, the BVA should be issued (although it may not immediately be active depending on her current visa expiration date)– and thankfully most people get working rights, but it’s impossible for me to say. I think it depends somewhat on her previous visa.
Best of luck to you both!
-Brooke
Annie
Hey Brooke, I know there a few questions like this already but it’s got me confused now! Firstly, I am my partner’s sponsor.
I was unaware of the process of the sponsor creating a new application and applying for the ‘Sponsorship for a partner to migrate to Australia.’
I genuinely can’t remember what we did at the beginning of the application, but all my sponsor details are within my partners visa application. By this, I mean that I originally filled out information as the sponsor with details like DOB, passport number, etc. I also have my own section of documents to upload within his visa page.
In saying this, I never made a ‘new application’ for this information. If all this information is already there, there wouldn’t be anything else I need to do, right? I don’t need to create the new application for sponsorship? Did i already do this somehow? Sorry if that’s confusing, I called home affairs and they made it sound confusing so I thought I’d ask you considering you’ve been through the process as well. I hope it makes sense and you understand it better than I do haha
Thanks so much 🙂
brooke brisbine
AnnieHi Annie,
You’re right that a lot of your personal details and all of your documents as the sponsor are uploaded directly to your partner’s main application, but you ALSO need to fill out a separate online Sponsorship application. You can do this in your partner’s IMMI account, but it is independent of that main application– if you’ve done it correctly, the home page in IMMI will show TWO applications!
So if you haven’t specifically followed steps like the one in this post, you’ll need to do that now 🙂
I hope that makes sense!
-Brooke
Katie
Hi Brooke! Thank you so much for all the information, it has helped us so much. Great job!
I have a question on the 2000 character aspects of the relationship.
For instance i have more than 2000 there, should i just sum it up and put the full version in attachments or should i write whatever fits and say to be continued and write the rest in the attachments? How did you do this?
Thank you a lot.
brooke brisbine
KatieHi Katie, you’re so welcome!
It’s really up to you whether you want to do a quick summary or truncate the full statement in those boxes, or even just write “see XXX document in uploads” without any of the statement. There isn’t one right way to do it, so do whatever seems best to you as long as you make it clear where to find the full statement. Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Steve
Hi there can you tell me any thing about. Joint sponsor where the partner pay half the fee and the sponsor pay half my friend is from balai She want to mover to Australia and a friend said he would pay the other half of the ten thousand is that the right amount. That is five thousand each She is over here on a tourist vias And she payed for her own ticket to come here Can you tell me if this is right. Thank you Steve
brooke brisbine
SteveHi Steve,
The visa is just under $8,000 at the moment and obviously the sponsor and applicant can decide how they want to split that expense. You must pay it all in a lump sum to Home Affairs, but it doesn’t matter who is actually paying so long as they receive the money!
Hope that helps.
-Brooke
Dayne
Hi Brooke,
Firstly, thank you so much for the level of detail in all of your articles! It’s all very helpful. My partner and I are currently deciding what our plans will be for the next few years and whether we should go down the 820 or 309 route. You mention in this post about income details for the sponsor. This may be beyond your experience since you applied for the 820, but I’m wondering how this works for 309 applicants.
If both my partner and I were to be living together overseas at the time of application, I (the Australian citizen) would as the sponsor have no means of supporting the applicant in Australia until after we move there. If I stayed in Australia to set myself up financially to support her there, then we would not be living together for her to apply for the 309. Not sure which 309 scenario would look better on the application.
So I’m just wondering to what extent the financial situation of the sponsor is taken into consideration. If you’re not sure about the 309 visa specifically, do you have any more information about this aspect of the sponsorship application in general?
Thanks,
Dayne
brooke brisbine
DayneHi Dayne,
You’re right that I don’t know anything specific about the 309, but I’m sure this is a very common situation– a couple is living together offshore and hoping to move to Australia together. I can’t imagine it would be an issue that you don’t have the means to support your partner IN Australia until you actually move to Australia. I think the purpose of that part of the visa is just you guaranteeing that, whenever you are living in Australia together, your partner is your financial responsibility (in the government’s eyes).
I am sure it would look worse on the application to be living apart, but that being said, many people have applied and been granted visas in this situation, too.
I wouldn’t stress too much about this, I haven’t heard of anyone having drama with this part of the application.
Best of luck!
-Brooke
Dayne
brooke brisbineThanks, Brooke. That was a very reassuring response. I’m glad to hear my hopes for how this works at least make sense to others who have dealt with this system. We’ll of course at the very least be getting some initial consultation with migration agents to double check everything works how we think it does, but it’s nice going into it with some idea of how things may play out. We’re leaning towards me working in Australia, since we can save up for the visa much faster that way. She would then be coming to visit me regularly on visitor visas.
brooke brisbine
DayneNo worries, Dayne!
Perhaps it would be possible for her to get a Working Holiday visa and live in Australia with you for the year? Alternatively, you can sometimes get 6mo or 12mo tourist visas– not sure how it works, but I know people who’ve done it. Obviously she wouldn’t be able to work during this time, so a WHV is more appealing from that angle. But those are both options that would keep you guys together!
lei
Ow sorry ,also on the main applicant application ,we are not using migrant agent .on that part can I still put my name as authorized recipient since Im the one who is here in Australia and my husband is overseas.I am sponsoring him.And I think much better if all the correspondence goes to me instead to him .So it is okay to put my name asa authorize person.Thank you so much .And is it true that the process will takes 19-25 months.Are there any case that applicant got approve quicker.If there is any how many months ?
brooke brisbine
leiHi Lei,
That question is for authorised written correspondence, but any correspondence about the visa is also emailed. I’m not sure if you can put your name here, but I don’t think you’ll need to since your partner will get the emails.
Also, I can’t say how long it’s going to take for the visa to be approved, it’s different for everyone (and I’m not a migration agent)! The stats they give on the Home Affairs website are that 70% of applications are processed within 20 months, which means MOST people will get the visa before this time. SOME will take longer. I wish there was more info, but sadly it’s a bit mysterious.
Good luck!
-Brooke
lei
Hi , i have a question and i hope you can help me too. On the 4 aspect of relationship.Do I have to use all 2000 words to answer each aspect of relationship? Thank you in advance .Also on the sponsorship page which birthdate should I put on the first page is it the applicant or the sponsor birthdate?
brooke brisbine
leiHi Lei,
You don’t have to use all 2000 characters, but if you need MORE space, you can always attach a statement to the application. 2000 characters isn’t a lot!
On the very first page of the sponsor application, it will be the applicant’s DOB:
Hope that helps.
– Brooke
Jel
Hi Brooke,
What an awesome job you have done here. I am so thankful that I have found your blog. I was wondering if I could clarify something about your post:
Is there a button that we can submit some documents on the Sponsorship application? Or are all documents can only be submitted on the main application? Thank u.
brooke brisbine
JelHi Jel, thanks for the lovely comment!
You can upload all of the documents, both for the applicant and sponsor, onto the main application 🙂
-Brooke
Michael o'connell
Hey Brooke,
Just a quick question, under “Sponsor” you mention ‘the day your relationship began’. Is that referring to the date from the de facto certificate, or the date from when we started dating?
Thanks in advance. Excellent information by the way!
Cheers,
Michael
brooke brisbine
Michael o’connellHi Michael,
Here is some information about the dates from one of my other posts, just keep in mind that some of these things are open to interpretation! As long as it’s consistent with the dates your partner wrote and with the evidence you provide, you should be right 🙂
Date you began dating: this could be when you had your first date or when you started introducing each other as a boyfriend/girlfriend
Date you committed to a shared life together: this may be when you became de-facto or even before, really when you became “exclusive” or when you would consider yourselves to be in a serious and committed relationship beyond just dating
Date the de-facto relationship began: this is typically when you moved in together and began living “as a married couple” (regardless of whether you were married) *I’ll just add that we didn’t get our relationship certificate until we’d been living together for over a year, so I listed our de-facto date as when we actually moved in and started “living as a married couple”.
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Vivian Dumergue-Sanchez
Hi Brooke,
Firstly, thank you for putting the time in writing your amazing blog! It’s very detailed and has been super helpful for my partner and I. I’m the sponsor and I’m filling in the fields for the ‘Relationship details’ (covering the major aspects of our relationship in 2000 character limit). As they are the same questions to the applicants’ form, did your partner copy & paste the same answers to yours? My partner wrote his answers in third person hence I can copy paste or should I write new answers (written in my own words)?
Thank you in advance!
brooke brisbine
Vivian Dumergue-SanchezHi Vivian, I love hearing that these posts have been helpful to you and your partner!
You should absolutely write your own answer to these questions. It’s ok for it to be in third person (there really aren’t many guidelines for these statements), but they should still be personal and based on your own perspective of the relationship. I know the reality is that you and your partner probably wrote the statement for his application together, but try to keep your application different– I think Home Affairs really wants to hear from both of you to make sure the relationship is genuine from both sides!
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
Anonymous
brooke brisbineThanks Brooke, you’re a legend! Really appreciate your time and efforts 🙂
brooke brisbine
AnonymousJust happy I could help!
James Martin
Hi Brooke, excellent detailed work it is extremely helpful thank you!
I am just bout to apply for my partner visa, both myself and my sponsor have been working a living in Canada for the past 2 years. will we need to get a police check from Canada, or do home affairs have access to that after we apply?
Thank you.
brooke brisbine
James MartinHi James, great to hear these posts have been helpful to you!
It sounds like you will both need to get a police check specifically from Canada, in addition to the Aus police check that your sponsor will need. Check out this page for more info: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-support/glossary/how-to-get-police-certificate
Best of luck with the application!
-Brooke
Chermaine
Dear Brooke!
Amazing info, thank you! After lodging application, my sponsor will have to complete his (can I do this on my immi account?). I’m slightly confused here… do I need to complete all these forms? Form 888 and form 80 only? Are there any forms that mandatory? I’ve seen a few form 40sp, form 40 so I’m very confused. My partner is only sponsoring me! (:
brooke brisbine
ChermaineHi Chermaine, so sorry for my late response– I’ve been travelling for the last 3 months and haven’t been on the computer much!
I’m sure you’ve already answered this question yourself, but yes, your sponsor needs to fill out an application on Immi after you submit your own application. There’s a bit of debate about whether these forms are required (some people think the online application has made them redundant), but we completed them just to be on the safe side.
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Nafsika
Hi Brooke, really appreciate for your help! I’m so glad that I found your site.
I have a question and would be more happy to hear your advice.
1. My partner(applicant) has just paid the visa fee by BPAY last night, but I(sponsor) can’t progress my application anymore for some reason. Is that because the visa payment hasn’t been approved?(It shows ‘awaiting payment’ on my partner’s application on his IMMI account. Do I have to wait until the payment to be approved to progress my application? how was your case?
2. As far as I knew, applicant is supposed to get Bridging visa(BVS) as soon as he pays the application fee.
But he hasn’t got the BVS grant email from the government yet and we are waiting for the payment to be approved(It’s been only 1 day though..) Will he get it ‘when the payment is approved?’ We are so worried about it because his current visa will be expired within a week… If you know anything about this please let me know. Thank you so much your help.
brooke brisbine
NafsikaHi Nafsika, so sorry for my late response– I’ve been travelling for the last 3 months and haven’t been on the computer much!
I’m sure you’ve already answered this question yourself, but yes, you need to wait for the payment to be approved and a TRN to be issued before the sponsor can submit their portion of the application. Similarly, the BVA will come through as soon as payment is received.
I really hope everything worked out for you guys and there were no dramas with the visa expiring.
-Brooke
Best of luck with everything!
-Brooke
Emily
Hey Brooke,
This has all been so helpful as I am in the process of completing all of my own information for my partner visa! just wondering if you could clarify exactly at what point the application is technically lodged (regarding the online immi process)? Am i correct to assume that the applicant completes 47SP then pays and has it lodged and THEN the sponsor does their 40SP and additional documents are then attached? I basically have everything ready to go but it might take another few days to get form 80 done, but really wanting to lodge asap! Thanks so much for any advice!
Emily
brooke brisbine
EmilyHi Emily, so happy to hear that these posts have been helpful 🙂
Great question— as soon as the applicant completes their online application and pays the fee, it is officially “lodged” with Home Affairs. Of course, to be considered for the Partner Visa, you also need to upload evidence to the online application and have the sponsor complete their online application, but both of these things happen after the main application is technically lodged. So it’s totally fine to submit your app, pay the fee, and take a few days to get all of your documents uploaded if you’re keen to get the ball rolling— and the fee is apparently increasing on 1 July, so it could be really good to get it in now!
I hope that answers your question, good luck with everything!
-Brooke
Jonathon
Hi Brooke,
In slight panic mode, as my partner submitted her stage 1 partner visa (820) 6 months ago, and we just read something claiming that the government has to “approve” of me as a sponsor BEFORE we submitted her stage 1 partner visa (820) application?
But now I’m reading here that the correct order is “she applies for stage 1 820” and THEN I apply for “Sponsorship for a Partner to Migrate to Australia”? Are we doing this right? Or is there a step before any of this where I have to somehow register as a sponsor?
brooke brisbine
JonathonHi Jonathon, no need to panic! These sponsorship application changes are new (I don’t even know if they’ve officially come in yet, although people have been talking about them for many months), so they wouldn’t have affected you 6 months ago. The correct order when you applied was that your partner lodges the main application and then you lodge the sponsorship application, using her reference number. When these changes do come in, Home Affairs will probably change the linking process (ex. the applicant has to put the sponsor’s reference number on their app) and it will become impossible to submit the applications in the wrong order (just like it would have been impossible for you to submit the sponsorship application first 6 months ago, because it requires that reference number from your partner’s app).
I’d be interested in seeing the link where you read that the changes have officially been implemented, I want to keep these posts up-to-date with the most current information!
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
Jonathon
brooke brisbineNow I’ve calmed down a bit, as all the pages that have this information seem to have copy-pasted eachother, referencing legislation that passed late last year but does not seem to have been implemented yet.
Whew.
Time for new questions:
1) With the “Sponsorship for a Partner to Migrate to Australia” – the “relationship details” questions are exactly the same ones that were asked for my partner when she submitted the stage 1 820 application. Do we just copy + paste the answers from that application but change the voice from hers to mine?
2) For all the evidence – do I submit duplicates of all the evidence we submitted for her stage 1 application, or do I only submit new documents that are relevant to me (such as police check)?
brooke brisbine
JonathonHi Jonathon, I’m happy to hear these changes haven’t come in yet– they will have an enormous impact on the already-awful wait times when they do, so the longer it takes to be implemented the better for migrants!
As for your new questions:
1. You should be writing your own responses for the sponsorship application. I know you may have written her answers as a couple, but the idea is that she wrote her own responses from her own perspective and you wrote yours. Obviously the information is going to be the same, but just put it in your own words or add some additional details!
2. You should be able to submit all of the evidence under her app (even things like your passport and police check can be uploaded under a “sponsor” heading on her application).
-Brooke
Jonathon
brooke brisbineNew question! If I’ve submitted the online “Sponsorship for a Partner to Migrate to Australia” – one of the “Recommended” documents to attach is Form 40SP. Do I need to download, fill in, and attach form 40SP? Or is that just the paper version of the online “Sponsorship for a Partner to Migrate to Australia”?
brooke brisbine
JonathonHi Jonathan,
Interesting question, this is actually a topic of great debate on the forums! Some people say that the online sponsorship application has completely replaced 40SP, while other vehemently argue that you need both. I don’t know what the correct answer is, but I can tell you that my partner ended up submitting 40SP in addition to the online app. The whole process of getting a partner visa is already an enormous amount of work, so what’s one extra form? Our attitude was that we’d rather take the time to do it now than risk delaying our application if the CO asked us for it later.
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
Martina
brooke brisbinehello Brooke!!! i was just wondering…. i submitted my application few months ago and i recieved confirmation email about it and than my partner applied for the sponsorship. we used ID application but i didnt receive and confirmation email about this application neither my partner…. On my main application is status received but the other application sponsorship from my partner is still just status submitted…. is it ok or something is wrong there? (we checked all details everything is fine…. also they are saying tht you can use TRF number or Application ID) thank you for your answer
brooke brisbine
MartinaHi Martina,
I had this EXACT same question when we submitted the main application and the sponsorship application, so I actually called Home Affairs about it last year and they assured me that this is normal. For some reason, the sponsorship application only ever says “submitted”, but it’s been received just like the main application!
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
Meharban
Hi Brooke,
I just submitted my stage 1 partner or prospective visa (300, 309/100, 820/801). now as per you post i am starting with “Sponsorship for a Partner to Migrate to Australia (300, 309/100, 820/801)”..but at Critical data confirmation page… it is not letting me get through. it is giving 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.”
can you please help me on this? is it because i just literally submitted stage 1 application 20 mins ago. and i need to wait 1-2 days?
brooke brisbine
MeharbanHi Meharban,
You will need to wait for your payment to be processed before you can start working on the sponsorship application. Depending on how you paid, this could take a day or two!
-Brooke
Georgie
Hi Brooke, that is a relief and good to know! Thanks for the great info and the speedy reply.
Oh awesome! Yeah absolutely, its such a unique place, I loved it also! So keen for the year ahead.
Cheers Brooke,
Thanks for your help!
Georgie
Georgie
Hi Brooke,
Your blog has been so helpful to my partner and I, thank you so much for all the effort and information you have put together!
I am Australian and my partner is South African, we’re applying for an offshore partnership visa.
What depth of detail is requested for the sponsor’s ‘main source of income’ ?
Its a concern for me as we have both spent the last 2 months in SA visiting his family and I am about to return to stay there until our visa is approved. So currently and for the next year or so will be unemployed in Australia.
Thanks,
Georgie
brooke brisbine
GeorgieHi Georgie,
Thanks for the lovely comment, and I’m so happy this information has been useful to you and your partner!
On the sponsorship application, “source of income” is just a drop-down menu and, from memory, there isn’t any option to provide additional info. But thankfully, there aren’t any official requirements about the amount or source of your income when you are sponsoring someone for this visa. You’ll be able to explain everything in greater detail when you write a statement about your shared finances, but I wouldn’t stress about not having employment in Australia– considering you are living with your partner in SA, I’d say that demonstrates a strong commitment and that’s the whole point of the visa, anyway!
Here’s a helpful response to a similar question on an immigration forum that confirms the same:
It used to be that sponsors had to meet income requirements or find someone who did meet the income requirements to sign an Assurance of Support in order to sponsor someone on a partner visa. However, they recently (from 2012, I believe) removed those income requirements along with now allowing people on a bridging visa A to have full work rights (it used to be a case of no work rights on the BVA).
It can be very helpful (if you have a low income, or income from sporadic sources) to show DIBP that your partner is employable and therefore unlikely to need government assistance. You can generally do that by submitting any of her education or vocational qualifications and recent work history. Also, a good grasp of the English language is generally a must in Australia if you wish to obtain work. As part of your sponsorship undertaking, you agree to fully support your partner in obtaining the relevant skills needed to actively participate in Australian society (work etc) and that includes helping her attend English lessons (500 hours free for migrants – which is great) if necessary.
The partner visa is generally about granting a visa to couples who are genuine and who can’t live apart. It’s not a skilled or tourist visa, so therefore there isn’t as much emphasis on income, skills etc.
Hope this helps, and good luck to you both!
-Brooke
ps. I recently spent a month in SA and absolutely loved it, what a beautiful place to spend the next year 🙂
Paul
Hi Brooke,
Thanks for providing this amazing guidance. I noticed that you advised submitting a sponsorship application online. We haven’t done that but we submitted Form 40SP- Sponsorship for a partner to migrate to Australia. How do you think if we need to submit an online sponsor application?
Thanks,
Paul
brooke brisbine
PaulHi Paul, happy this post was helpful for you and your partner!
As I understand it, you need to submit the online application for sponsorship in addition to the 40SP form. They are very similar, so it won’t take long to complete the online bit!
Best of luck to you both,
Brooke
Alix
Hi Brooke – your info is amazing, thanks! I just wondered does the sponsor need to provide their own evidence for attachment when writing their statements about relationship/finance/social etc, and refer to it? Thanks!!
brooke brisbine
AlixHi Alix, awesome to hear that this info was helpful to you and your partner!
You upload all of your documents, including evidence of the relationship and personal identification documents of the applicant and the sponsor, to the applicant’s application. So basically, even though the sponsor completes a separate online application with a bunch of their details— their passport, birth certificate, any signed statements, evidence, etc still go onto the main application. The applications are linked by Home Affairs, so the sponsor can still refer to any attachments in their statement! Hopefully that helps 🙂
Best of luck on your application!!
-Brooke
Zac
Brilliant work, thank you!
brooke brisbine
ZacGlad you found it helpful, Zac! Best of luck to you and your partner!
-Brooke