Uploading evidence to our 820/801 Australian Partner Visa application
Collecting and organising evidence for your 820/801 Partner Visa is absolutely the most stressful part of the entire application, and this confusion is only magnified by the scarcity of information provided on the Home Affairs site.
If you’re struggling with your evidence, just know that you’re not alone! Callum and I had 5 years of documents and photos to include, and at times it felt like an impossible amount of information to convey to another human being. Still, we managed to find a way to tell our story with this evidence and my application was granted with no requests for additional information (and I went straight onto the 801 permanent visa without waiting on the 820).
It’s important to remember that there is no “one size fits all” document checklist and there is no single “right” way to upload things to this application. I might have filed documents under Evidence of Relationship that you think are better suited to Length of Relationship, and that’s entirely your call to make. This post is just an example of what the upload portal actually looks like and how we organised our documents— I hope it will help you find a way to tell your own unique story!
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.
Some background on us
If you haven’t been following along with all of my partner visa posts, Callum and I first started dating in 2015 after we met at Splendour in the Grass in Byron Bay. I’d already been living as a student in Sydney for nearly 3 years at that point (I’m originally from Seattle, USA), but he was living in Melbourne, which meant quite a lot of long drives and expensive flights during the first few months of our relationship.
When I graduated 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 got a scholarship offer to do my PhD in Sydney, so we packed up and moved back to NSW together.
At the time of submitting our application (December 2018), we’d been together 3.5 years, lived together for 3, travelled to more than 20 countries together, combined our finances, been on overseas holidays with his and my family, and had really intertwined our lives in just about every possible way.
When the application was granted 19 months later (July 2020), I received the permanent 801 visa just 1 minute after the 820 temporary visa, completely bypassing the usual 2-year waiting period. We were never contacted by a CO and there were no requests for additional information, so I can assume our evidence was pretty thorough!
Important things to remember
- You are limited to 100 documents, and even though that sounds like heaps, it will go far quicker than you think! Group similar documents into a single PDF, copy and paste photos into a word document rather than uploading them individually, and make sure you upload the essential stuff first before you get to all the fluff.
- Your documents need to be under 5MB, which means you’ll want to compress large PDFs (SmallPDF only allows you to compress 2 documents an hour, but just clear your cookies to reset the counter) and avoid submitting unnecessarily high resolution images. This might also mean that you have to split PDFs into multiple parts (e.g. “Financial Documents 2015” and “Financial Documents 2016”, etc.).
- Give documents logical names, like “Joint Travel Photos 2015” so it’s easy for the CO to sift through your application (and also easy for you to reference specific documents in your statements).
- Upload documents for both you and your partner to the main application.
- You must submit and pay for your application before uploading any documents.
- You can continue uploading new documents to your application for as long as you want. It’s a good idea to provide ongoing evidence of your relationship (more photos, new lease, recent trips, etc) while you’re waiting to be approved!
Getting to the upload portal
Within your IMMI Account (on the My Applications page), select your partner visa application by clicking “View Details“. Under the “Actions” tab on the left hand side, select “Attach Documents“, which will take you to the upload portal. You’ll now see two different expandable sections, one with your name and one with your partner’s name.
I’ve gotten a lot of questions about this, so it’s probably good to reiterate that you will only be able to upload documents after you’ve submitted the online application and paid! As far as I can tell, there is no official time limit to upload documents, but it’s best to provide a complete application as quickly as possible just to avoid potential delays in processing.
To really give you an idea of the upload process and provide a bit more information about what you might want to submit, I’ve included all the evidence sections that are displayed as “Recommended” (even if I didn’t personally upload anything under that heading and even if they don’t apply to everyone), as well as the description provided by Home Affairs and some notes from me where clarification is necessary. Lastly, I’ve written out a complete list of all the evidence I uploaded to each section of my own application!
Applicant documents
Form 80 Personal Particulars for Character Assessment
Attach a completed and signed Personal particulars for character assessment form (Form 80).
My uploads
- FORM 80 Brooke: Uploaded as a single PDF (find the form here)
Character Assessment, Evidence of Intention to Obtain
Provide evidence of your intention to obtain the relevant character assessments. This may include a receipt for an application for a police check.
Notes from BB: You are required to supply a federal police check from every country you’ve lived in for more than 12 months in the last 10 years. If you have already paid for the checks and are just waiting on results, you can upload a receipt here (more info about the actual checks under “Character, Evidence of”). Read more about completing your AFP police check in this post and your FBI checks in this post.
Citizenship – Not Australian, Evidence of
Provide evidence of your citizenship of any country other than Australia. This may include your passport or proof of citizenship certificate issued by the country. Provide a scanned copy of your original document.
Notes from BB: There’s a little drop-box with options for this section, see the screenshot below.
My uploads
- PASSPORT BROOKE: Don’t worry about certifying this, a colour scan is perfectly acceptable for an online application
Photograph – Passport
Provide a recent passport photograph (45mm x 35mm). This should be of the head and shoulders only, and should show the person facing the camera, against a plain background and must be less than six months old. Print the name of the person on the back of the photograph.
My uploads
- PASSPORT PHOTO BROOKE: For $19, Auspost will send you a digital copy of your passport photo, perfectly sized for upload to your application
Character, Evidence of
If you have lived in Australia for a total of 12 months or more in the last 10 years (these 12 months are calculated cumulatively, not consecutively) you are required to provide an Australian Federal Police (AFP) clearance by completing a National Police Check Online Application Form. You also need to provide a similar police check from every country you’ve lived in for more than 12 months.
Notes from BB: Submitting these police checks at the time of application is referred to as “front loading” or having a “decision-ready application”, but it seems to have fallen out of fashion as wait times have gotten longer and longer. The original idea was that, by giving the CO everything they need to approve your application without any follow-up, you’d get a decision much quicker. Given that police and medical checks are only valid for one year and visa processing times often extend far beyond this, most applicants wait for the CO to request the checks rather than risking expiration (and having to re-do the expensive checks). After giving a lot of thought to this, we decided not “front load” our application and instead wait for some time to pass before completing these checks.
UPDATE: 6-7 months after submitting my application and this initial evidence, I completed police checks and uploaded them to this category. You can read more about completing your AFP police check in this post and your FBI checks in this post.
Registered Relationship, Evidence of
Provide evidence that your relationship is registered under a law of a state or territory prescribed in the Acts Interpretation (Registered Relationships) Regulations 2008 as a kind of relationship prescribed in those regulations.
My uploads
- RELATIONSHIP CERTIFICATE: A colour scan of our NSW Relationship Registration
Contact While Apart, Evidence of
Provide evidence of contact between you both while you were apart from each other.
Notes from BB: There’s a little drop-box with options for this section, see the screenshot below.
My uploads
- STATEMENT OF CONTACT WHILE APART: Just a written statement about me and Callum living together uninterrupted for our entire de facto relationship, providing dates of when we were long distance prior to moving in together and when we travelled separately on a few occasions
- CALENDAR OF VISITS: Print-outs from my iCal showing all the dates Callum and I saw each other before we moved in together as a de facto couple
- MESSAGES WHILE APART: 120 pages of iMessages between me and Callum during the times we travelled separately
Form 956 Advice by a Migration Agent/Exempt Person
Provide a completed and signed Form 956 Advice by a migration agent/exempt person of providing immigration assistance.Access to complete this form online may be available from the ‘Update details’ section in ImmiAccount.
Notes from BB: We chose not to use a migration agent, so we had nothing to include here.
Form 956A Appointment or Withdrawal of an Authorised Recipient
Provide a completed and signed Form 956A Appointment or withdrawal of an authorised recipient. Access to complete this form online may be available from the ‘Update details’ section in ImmiAccount.
Notes from BB: We completed the application on our own, so we did not need to submit this form.
Address – Residential, Evidence of
Provide evidence of your residential address. This may include your driver’s licence or utilities account.
Notes from BB: There’s a little drop-box with options for this section, see the screenshot below.
My uploads
- RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS BROOKE: Our current lease agreement with my name and two bills addressed to me at our address, combined in one PDF
Photograph – Other
Provide a recent photograph of the visa applicant (other than a passport photograph).
My uploads
- RECENT PHOTOS BROOKE
Military Discharge, Evidence of
Provide a certified copy of your military discharge.
Notes from BB: This didn’t apply to me, so I didn’t submit anything under this heading.
National Identity Document (other than Passport)
Provide a certified copy of your national identity card/s (other than your passport). You must provide a copy of both sides of each card.
My uploads
- SOCIAL SECURITY CARD BROOKE
Family Register and Composition Form (if applicable)
Provide evidence of your family composition. You can provide a copy of your family register book (if your country issues one). Applicants applying from China should provide a copy of their family register book (Hukou) and Form 54 Family Composition which can be found on the Department’s website. Applicants applying from Indonesia must provide a copy of their Family Card (Kartu Keluarga).
Notes from BB: It’s not common that people include this information, according to what I’ve read on the forums, so we left this section blank.
Travel Document
Provide evidence of your travel document. This may include a certified copy of the personal particulars/photo (bio-data) page. This is the page of the passport which shows the name and date of birth, passport number, issue and expiry date, and photograph of the holder. If you do not have a passport and are not able to obtain one, please provide a certified copy of your Document for Travel to Australia (DFTTA) or a Titre de Voyage (Convention Travel Document).
Notes from BB: There’s a little drop-box with options for this section, see the screenshot below.
My uploads
- PASSPORT BROOKE
Length of the De Facto Relationship, Evidence of
Provide evidence of the length of the de facto relationship.
Notes from BB: There’s a little drop-box with options for this section, see the screenshot below.
My uploads
- STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF PARTNER VISA: Stat dec from my mum about her staying in our shared apartment in 2015 and 2018, travelling with us over the years, Callum visiting her without me in America, etc
- 6 MONTH RELATIONSHIP UPDATE: About 6 months after submitting the application, I uploaded a PDF document with a cover letter detailing our previous 6 months together, a table of contents, and a bunch of new supporting documents, like photos, invitations, travel bookings, etc
Medical Examination, Evidence of Intention to Undergo
Provide evidence of your intention to undergo a medical examination. This may include a certified copy of your receipt for a medical examination.
Notes from BB: You are required to undergo a health check to make sure that you are not bringing any dangerous communicable diseases into Australia, but as with the police check, this is only valid for a year, so I decided to wait to submit mine.
UPDATE: I completed my health assessment about 6 months after submitting my visa, but BUPA automatically delivered my results to Home Affairs, so I never did upload anything here. To find out more about how to complete your own health check, read this post.
Nature of the Couple’s Household, Evidence of
Provide evidence of the nature of the couple’s household.
Notes from BB: There’s a little drop-box with options for this section, see the screenshot below.
My uploads
- EVIDENCE OF SHARED PET: Vet bills and receipt for the joint purchase of our cat, plus photos of us with our cat over the years
- BILLS AND MAIL ADDRESSED TO SHARED ADDRESSES: 2x pieces of mail addressed to me and 2x addressed to Callum at our shared address during every 6 month period of our relationship (showing consistent cohabitation)
- PHOTOS OF SHARED APARTMENT: Photos of our shared bedroom and other areas of our home on a single page
Form 888 Statutory Declaration by a Supporting Witness in Relation to a Partner Visa Application
Attach a completed and signed Statutory declaration by a supporting witness in relation to a Partner or Prospective Marriage visa application form (Form 888).
Notes from BB: You are required to include the name and details of at least 2 witnesses when completing your online application, but as I mentioned earlier, more is surely not a bad thing, so we uploaded 9 total stat decs from family and friends (find the form here and read more about it in this post)
My uploads
- FORM 888- Callum’s dad
- FORM 888- Callum’s mum
- FORM 888- Callum’s sister
- FORM 888- Our mutual friend
- FORM 888- Callum’s school friend
- FORM 888- Callum’s work colleague
- FORM 888- My friend
- FORM 888- My friend
- FORM 888- My work colleague
Relationship – Spouse, De Facto Partner, Evidence of
Provide evidence of your relationship with your spouse/de facto partner. This may include a certified copy of your marriage certificate, family book, household booklet or family composition evidence.
Notes from BB: There’s a little drop-box with options for this section, see the screenshot below.
My uploads
- APPLICATION COVER LETTER: I wrote a nice letter to our future CO explaining that we were waiting to undergo background and health checks until required and that we were happy to provide additional information as requested
- DEVELOPMENT OF RELATIONSHIP: I wrote about 6 pages on the history of our relationship, from when we met all the way through to our future plans together
- RELATIONSHIP STATEMENT CALLUM: Callum also wrote a similar statement (albeit much shorter) and signed it
- SOCIAL ASPECTS STATEMENT: I wrote about all the events we’ve attended together and the travel we’ve done as a couple over the years, referencing specific dates and photos contained in other attachments
- JOINT PHOTOS 2015: Collection of photos of me and Callum together in 2015, all with captions
- JOINT PHOTOS 2016: Collection of photos of me and Callum together in 2016, all with captions
- JOINT PHOTOS 2017: Collection of photos of me and Callum together in 2017, all with captions
- JOINT PHOTOS 2018: Collection of photos of me and Callum together in 2018, all with captions
- FACEBOOK SCREENSHOTS: Screenshots of statuses where we tagged each other, photos we were both in, posts between Callum and my mum, our relationship status, etc.
- JOINT TRAVEL BOOKINGS: 40 pages of plane tickets, train tickets, and other travel bookings from the 20 countries we’ve visited together
- JOINT EVENTS: A collection of Facebook invites, gig tickets, and invitations to events with both of our names on them
- FINANCIAL STATEMENT BROOKE: Statement from me about our joint accounts and joint savings goals
- FINANCIAL STATEMENT CALLUM: A signed statement from Callum about how we share finances, how he bought me a car, how he is saving for our house deposit
- JOINT EXPENSES: A collection of bills, travel bookings, and other expenses paid for by one of us, showing that we each contribute financially
- CAR: Receipt from the car Callum bought me, insurance policy with both names, receipt from the rego that I paid
Health, Evidence of
You are required to provide additional information as part of the health assessment process for your visa application. For more information about the exact documentation required, click on the Attach document link.
Notes from BB: You are required to undergo a health check to make sure that you are not bringing any dangerous communicable diseases into Australia, but as with the police check, this is only valid for a year, so I decided to wait to submit mine.
UPDATE: I completed my health assessment about 6 months after submitting my visa, but BUPA automatically delivered my results to Home Affairs, so I never did upload anything here. To find out more about how to complete your own health check, read this post.
Divorce/Separation, Evidence of
Provide evidence of your divorce or separation. This may include a certified copy of your divorce decree absolute or court documents.
Notes from BB: This didn’t apply to our situation, so there was nothing for me to upload under this heading.
Identity, Evidence of
Provide evidence of your identity. Provide a scanned copy of your original document.
My uploads
- AUSTRALIAN ID BROOKE: I scanned my Australian Driver Licence, student card, WWCC, and healthcare card onto a single page
Nature of the Couple’s Mutual Commitment to Each Other, Evidence of
Provide evidence of the nature of the couple’s mutual commitment to each other.
My uploads
- COMMITMENT STATEMENT BROOKE: Statement from me about our involvement with one another’s family and our long-terms goals together
- COMMITMENT STATEMENT CALLUM: Signed statement from Callum about our mutual commitment and future plans
- BENEFICIARY: Screenshot from both my Super and Callum’s Super showing the other as full beneficiary
- EMERGENCY CONTACT: Screenshot from my Uni account showing Callum as my emergency contact
- TATTOO PHOTO: Photo of the matching tattoos Callum and I got in Indonesia
- STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF PARTNER VISA: Stat dec from my dad detailing all the time he’s spent with Callum, either when we visited America or when we’ve travelled with him
- STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF PARTNER VISA: Stat dec from my stepmother about how she believes our relationship is genuine and how Callum is considered part of the family
- JOINT FAMILY PHOTOS: Collection of photos of me with Callum’s family and him with my family throughout the years, all with captions
- CHRISTMAS CARDS: Three years of Christmas cards sent out by my parents that have included a photo of me and Callum and have signed his name at the bottom as part of the “Brisbine family”
Change of Name, Evidence of
Provide evidence of any name change. This may include your marriage certificate or change of name certificate. Provide a scanned copy of your original document.
Notes from BB: This didn’t apply to our situation, so there was nothing for me to upload under this heading.
Couple are Living Together, Evidence of
Provide evidence that the couple are living together.
My uploads
- EVIDENCE OF COHABITATION STATEMENT: Details from me about the addresses we’ve lived at together and when we moved in
- BOND RECEIPTS: Official bond receipts with both of our names from all 3 properties we’ve lived at together
- LEASE AGREEMENTS: Signed lease agreements in both names for all 3 properties we’ve lived at together
- REAL ESTATE CORRESPONDENCE: A collection of letters and emails between us and the various agents we have had over the years
- CURRENT ADDRESS: Mail addressed jointly to me and Callum at our current property
Form 1221 Additional Personal Particulars Form
Provide a completed and signed Form 1221 Additional personal particulars information for applicants aged 18 years and over.
My uploads
- FORM 1221 BROOKE: Find the form here
Birth or Age, Evidence of
Provide a certified copy of your full birth certificate. If your country of birth does not issue birth certificates, provide written notification stating this, and provide your country’s equivalent documentation, such as secondary school certificate, family book extracts or family census register.
My uploads
- BIRTH CERTIFICATE BROOKE: Colour scan of my birth certificate
Military Service, Evidence of
Provide a certified copy of your military service record.
Notes from BB: This didn’t apply to me, so I didn’t upload anything under this heading.
Marriage, Evidence of
Provide evidence of marriage.
Notes from BB: This didn’t apply to our situation, so there was nothing for me to upload under this heading.
Sponsor documents
Form 40SP- Sponsorship for a Partner to Migrate to Australia
Attach a completed and signed Sponsorship for a partner to migrate to Australia form (Form 40SP).
Callum’s uploads
- FORM 40SP: Find the form here
Character Assessment, Evidence of Intention to Obtain
Provide evidence of your intention to obtain the relevant character assessments. This may include a receipt for an application for a police check.
Notes from BB: See my notes under this same heading in Applicant documents.
Citizenship – Australian, Evidence of
Provide evidence of Australian citizenship. For more detailed information on when and how you may have acquired Australian citizenship and the documents you will need to support your claim, use Tables A-E. You might be required to provide additional documents to those listed in the tables. Provide a scanned copy of your original document.
Callum’s uploads
- PASSPORT CALLUM: A colour scan is perfectly acceptable for an online application
Australian Permanent Residence, Evidence of
Provide evidence that the person supporting your application is an Australian permanent resident. This may include a certified copy of a Residence Certificate or letter/statement from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP).
Notes from BB: Callum is an Australian citizen by birth, so we didn’t submit anything under this heading.
Eligible New Zealand Citizen, Evidence of
Provide evidence that your sponsor is an eligible New Zealand citizen. This may include a certified copy of your sponsor’s New Zealand passport or proof of citizenship certificate.
Notes from BB: Callum is an Australian citizen by birth, so we didn’t submit anything under this heading.
Character, Evidence of
If you have lived in Australia for a total of 12 months or more in the last 10 years (these 12 months are calculated cumulatively, not consecutively) you are required to provide an Australian Federal Police (AFP) clearance by completing a National Police Check Online Application Form. You also need to provide a similar police check from every country you’ve lived in for more than 12 months.
Notes from BB: See my notes under this same heading in Applicant documents.
Address – Residential, Evidence of
Provide evidence of your residential address. This may include your driver’s licence or utilities account.
Callum’s uploads
- RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS CALLUM: Our current lease agreement with Callum’s name and two bills addressed to him at our address, combined in one PDF
National Identity Document (other than Passport)
Provide a certified copy of your national identity card/s (other than your passport). You must provide a copy of both sides of each card.
Notes from BB: We didn’t upload anything under this category.
Divorce/Separation, Evidence of
Provide evidence of your divorce or separation. This may include a certified copy of your divorce decree absolute or court documents.
Notes from BB: This didn’t apply to our situation, so there was nothing to upload under this heading.
Identity, Evidence of
Provide evidence of your identity. Provide a scanned copy of your original document.
Callum’s uploads
- AUSTRALIAN ID CALLUM: Scanned copy of Callum’s Australian Driver Licence, Medicare card, trade qualification, and credit card showing his name, all on a single page
Change of Name, Evidence of
Provide evidence of any name change. This may include your marriage certificate or change of name certificate. Provide a scanned copy of your original document.
Notes from BB: Callum hasn’t changed his name, so there was nothing to upload under this heading.
Birth or Age, Evidence of
Provide a certified copy of your full birth certificate. If your country of birth does not issue birth certificates, provide written notification stating this, and provide your country’s equivalent documentation, such as secondary school certificate, family book extracts or family census register.
Callum’s uploads
- BIRTH CERTIFICATE CALLUM: Colour scan of Callum’s Australian birth certificate
What’s next?
Your application is now complete (for the moment), so take a break and celebrate! As you wait for your application to be processed over the next year or two, though, you will need to upload additional documents. Specifically:
- COMPLETING YOUR HEALTH CHECK ASSESSMENT: 6 months after submitting my application, I completed my health assessment (BUPA automatically uploads the results to your application)
- COMPLETING AFP NATIONAL POLICE CHECKS (NPC): 7-8 months after submitting my application, I completed my AFP (Australian) and FBI (American) police checks and uploaded the results
- Updates on your relationship: 6, 12 & 18 months after submitting my application, I uploaded evidence of our continued relationship as a PDF letter, which included new photos, recent travel details, event invitations, and general updates from our relationship
- Information about changes in circumstance: you need to alert Home Affairs if your contact details change, your relationship ends, etc ASAP. If you and your partner move house together, make sure to update BOTH addresses!
I hope this information has been helpful and I wish you so much luck on your Australian Partner Visa journey! Feel free to ask any questions below and I will do my very best to answer them.
* I am not a migration agent or affiliated with Home Affairs in any way, so all the information provided in these posts and in the comments below is based entirely on my own experience and my own understanding of the application process.
If you found this post helpful and want to contribute to some of the costs associated with running BrookeAroundTown.com, I would be infinitely grateful!
You can use the PayPal button below to donate whatever you feel this information is worth. If you aren’t able, don’t worry— I will always keep my posts free and accessible for everyone!
UPDATE: A MASSIVE THANK YOU to everyone who’s commented to let me know that you found these posts helpful— I can’t tell you how much it means to me to read your success stories! I worked incredibly hard to compile all of this information (while getting my PhD & teaching), but it’s genuinely been worth it to make even a small difference for my fellow immigrants.
More importantly, though, THANK YOU to everyone who has shared their own experience or answered questions for other readers in the comments below! We are building a wonderful & supportive community of Partner Visa applicants here, and every comment and question is a resource for others.
If you felt like these posts helped with your application, I’d encourage you to come back after your visa is granted (or even after various milestones) and let us all know what happened— it might mean the world to someone else struggling with this process! Best wishes to you all xx bb
The Comments
Emily McLennan
Hey Brooke,
I can’t say how much I have appreciated your blog. It’s given me a clear idea of what I need to get together, and some of it I never even thought about. I do have one question that I’m hoping you can help with – you say you had 120 pages of imessage convos in one pdf. How were you able to compress it so small? ATM, I have only been taking screenshots of my messages and putting about 9 messages to a page and my document size is ridiculous. Any suggestions or tips?
Thanks so much!
brooke brisbine
Emily McLennanHi Emily,
That’s so nice to hear, thank you so much for the thoughtful comment!
As for the messages, I actually copied them directly out of iMessage on my computer– do you have a mac? Definitely taking screenshots of each individual message is going to be tedious and quickly exceed 5mb, so it’s best to find a way to actually copy the text instead. There is sometimes an option to export messages to like a Word or Text file? You could also try that!
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
Ella
Thanks so much for your detailed reply above – it all makes total sense! I had no idea the upload screen was as you’ve described – so thank you for the warning! I can now start to collate everything and start the process – you’re a star! I wish you all the best with your future adventures, your blog, and of course with your life in Australia. Sending you all the happiness in the world!
Ella and Kyra x
brooke brisbine
EllaHi Ella & Kyra,
I know it seems totally illogical, it definitely confused me too! I thought I had everything organised until I got to the upload screen and was like “oh, what?”…
Wishing you girls a super swift application process and lots of luck with it all 🙂
-Brooke
Emma
Hi Brooke, thankyou for your help with previous questions- i just have a few more lol!
-For the four main aspects of relationship, we are going to do a written statement for each of our situation- so my question is do we do that as a statutory declaration? which statutory declaration form do we use? and we will both sign it at the bottom? or we just do a normal statement and name and sign?
-I am confused with form 47SP. Is this a requirement if we have lodged our application through Immi in the first place? I have filled out form 40SP as the sponsor but was a little confused with 47SP
Thanks again!
brooke brisbine
EmmaHi Emma,
Since you’re not required to write a statement for each aspect of the relationship (you’re only required to write those 2000 character-responses on the online app), these are extra and therefore there aren’t any official guidelines. Some people do write them as stat decs, others (like me) just wrote and signed letters– it’s up to you! But there is no official form or format.
Further to that question, Home Affairs does recommend that you and your partner write your own statements. We ended up signing a few things together, like the cover letter and update letters, but Home Affairs really wants to hear from each of you, in your own words (that’s why the sponsorship application has the same 2000-character response boxes as the main app). So I’d recommend writing your own statements on financial, social, etc from your own perspective.
You don’t need to do 47SP, and you can read more about why here: https://brookebeyond.com/820-801-visa-faq-top-10-most-common-questions-about-the-australian-partner-visa-with-full-answers#7_%7C_Form_47SP
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
Gabriella
Hi Brooke! Of course, thank you again for this awesome resource.
I am wondering how they go about reaching out to you to ask for the medical test and police reports to be done? I submitted my application about a year ago, and have noticed the last few times I logged on to Immi Accounts that there is a little tab saying that I need to get my medical test and where I can do that. It’s possible it’s been there all along but I’m not sure.
Is THAT my cue to get it done or do I wait for someone to reach out via email or something?
Thank you so much for your input! xx
brooke brisbine
GabriellaHi Gabriella,
It’s definitely possible that the alert on IMMI to do your medical exam has been there for a while. I noticed this alert within a few days of submitting my application and many readers have reported the same thing. I think it’s just an automated message!
It’s up to you whether you want to actually wait for a CO to ask you for those checks or if you want to get your application fully ready to be approved, which might speed things up for you (since you won’t need to go back and forth with the CO or wait to get these checks done). Given that you applied over a year ago, it’s probably reasonable to think your visa will be granted within the next 12 months– meaning a health check and police check would still be valid if you did them now. Up to you, though! I did my checks around the 6-9mo mark because I thought I was within 12mo of approval, but sadly I’m still waiting, so I’ll end up having to redo them..
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Jay
Hi Brooke, extremely helpful post! I was wondering if you printed all of your filled out forms, then scanned them into PDFs again after signing the relevant pages. Currently I’m just printing and scanning only the pages for signatures and reattaching them to the rest of the PDF. I then thought that this may not be ideal as I’m effectively leaving the other pages editable. Do you know what the requirements are in relation to this? Thanks for your help! Jay
brooke brisbine
JayHi Jay,
I personally printed forms, completed them in hard-copy, and then scanned them back onto the computer– but I know a lot of other readers did exactly what you did (just printed the signature page and did the rest online), so I think either is fine!
-Brooke
Ella
Hi Brooke,
Firstly – what an amazing blog. Thank you so much for all this information. My girlfriend and I are starting to gather information on this process ready to submit early next year and we are honestly in awe of all your hard work and the time it must have taken you to create these detailed blogs for everyone – being able to read your experience and guide us through ours honestly means so much to us. You are a human ANGEL. Thank you!
I do however have a couple of questions…
Question 1: You have previously mentioned that when writing the 5 statements, you wrote “please see evidence in document…..”. However, you write and submit your 5 statements before you upload your evidence, so how did you know what the document was going to be called? Were you able to go back to your application to edit the statements or did you have all your evidence and titled PDFs ready before you even submitted the first part of the application?
Question 2: You have said how important it is to collate evidence under the 5 main headings – Finance, Nature of household, Nature of commitment, Social Aspects and Development of relationship. However, in your blog you have written how you had other titles (such as title Contact While Apart) with separate PDFs in it including ‘Statement of contact’, ‘calendar visits’ and ‘messages’. Did you therefore create your own titles similar to the main headings (that’s how you came up with Contact While Apart or did you submit a PDF called ‘Contact While Apart’ under Nature of Commitment etc)? It’s annoying I can’t get to the evidence submission section until after I have submitted and paid for the initial section, as I am unsure what it looks like and if there are set titles to upload my PDFs to or if i make these up by labeling my PDFs with certain names.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much,
Ella
brooke brisbine
EllaHi Ella,
Thank you so much for the lovely comment, all the hard work was truly worthwhile to be able to save other couples the stress and anxiety I experienced around this visa process!
To answer your first question, I personally had all my PDFs ready to go before I submitted the application, but I know this is not the case for many people (nor does it need to be). In that instance, I’d just say make up a logical name for the document and make sure you give your statement that title when you upload. It’s not a huge deal what you want to call it, as long as the CO knows where to find it!
I know it is SO annoying that the partner visa process requires the collation of evidence under 5 categories, which then AREN’T the categories you upload under… The upload screen is organised exactly as described in this post, not necessarily by the 5 aspects of the relationship, so it’s not always straightforward where to submit evidence of social commitment, for instance. This is somewhat at your own discretion. When you are planning out all your evidence, you NEED to make sure you are fulfilling each of the 5 categories (writing specific statements for each will help you think of what to include), but then it’s not as important exactly where you attach it on the upload portal if there isn’t a designated spot– which, as you’ve noticed, there often isn’t.
Contact While Apart, for example, is a specific category on the upload portal, not something I created. All the titles displayed on this post are directly from IMMI, and the lesser titles written as bullet points (eg. MESSAGES) represent discrete documents that I uploaded. You can give your PDF whatever name you want, but you will upload it under a category heading (the big titles in this post) and describe it by selecting an option from a dropdown menu (I screenshoted these and included them in the post, but note that you’ll often have to use “other”).
Does that make sense?? Let me know!
-Brooke
Mariana Mimura
Hi Brooke,
All this information are so helpful. I’ll apply for my visa in a couple of weeks, just wondering when you write the 4 pillar of the relationship, did you write a letter from you and your partner and add the evidences in the same document or made different uploads?\
brooke brisbine
Mariana MimuraHi Mariana,
Thanks for the comment! I uploaded the documents exactly as described in this post, so each bullet point was a separate upload. Sometimes one upload did contain multiple pieces of evidence, but it’s not that I put ALL financial evidence in one upload, if that makes sense?
-Brooke
Matthew
Hi Brooke,
Have you been approved yet ? I think you may have submitted the same time as me or thereabouts I have legit been waiting for about 16 months now! Complements on the exceptional blog, it’s super informative and has been invaluable to me thank you so much!
Best Wishes,
Matthew
brooke brisbine
MatthewHi Matthew,
Sounds like we must have submitted around a similar time– I’ve been waiting 19 months now and NADA. Based on the BVB I was issued at the start of the year (and now can’t use because of COVID), I don’t expect to get my visa before December. Hopefully yours will be quicker!
Thanks so much for the lovely comment 🙂
-Brooke
Emma
Hi Brooke, thankyou for all of the helpful information.
My partner (applicant) has been in Australia permanently with me since applying for the partner visa in November last year. However because he had to travel back home under family circumstances his bridging visa did not come into place until March this year. He is unemployed at the moment as it has been difficult to get a job with COVID.
My question, if i am signing a statutory dec (sponsor) and describing financial commitments, does it matter if he is not contributing to our joint bank account? and if i write this in the stat dec, and he gets a job within the next few months, do i need to complete another stat dec?
Thanks in advance!
Anonymous
EmmaI was also wondering- we are currently filling out forms such as personal particulars for assessment at the moment (and we are writing that he is currently unemployed), if we submit that form and he gets a job soon, do we have to fill out form again.
brooke brisbine
AnonymousHmm, that’s a good question! My employment has also changed since I filled out those forms, but maybe that’s something a CO could ask for if it was an issue?
-Brooke
brooke brisbine
EmmaHi Emma,
There is absolutely no requirement that you be contributing equally to a joint bank account– in fact, if you are supporting your partner through this unemployment, that probably says MORE about your commitment to each other! Write the stat dec describing things exactly as they are, the ways in which you are supporting each other, even if it’s not financially equal at the moment.
If the situation changes and you want to provide the CO with more current info, you can definitely complete another stat dec 3-6 months from now.
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
Emma
Hi Brooke,
Thanks for these great informative posts!
I am a bit confused about the process though. When you initial apply, you said you had to make 2,000 statements about the 5 aspects of the relationship, pay and then later on upload evidence. Did you upload the evidence under each section, or did you actually upload the evidence like the above post describes?
I hope that made sense.
brooke brisbine
EmmaHi Emma,
I actually uploaded evidence as this post describes, not necessarily under the “5 aspects of the relationship”. Annoying, I know, but that’s how it’s organised on IMMI!
Brooke
Alba
Hi Brooke!
Thanks so much for your amazing tips and for taking the time to share this with us.
I do have a question! How did you get so many photos in one PDF that isn’t too big?
I started doing some in pages and was soon up to 23MB.
Then I did export it and tried to make it smaller, also in Adobe Acrobat, but unfortunately the file was still too big.. any tips?
Thanks heaps!
brooke brisbine
AlbaHi Alba,
You definitely need to limit the number of photos in each PDF, because even compressed, it can easily be too large to upload. My best advice is to break photos apart into multiple documents AND seriously limit repetitive photos. For example, maybe you upload Travel Photos 2019 as a single document, and rather than uploading dozens of photos from a single trip, just pick 1-2 from each country or city or weekend away. It doesn’t need to be comprehensive of every second spent together, just an indication that you have been together at that time. You might also have Travel Photos 2018, Photos with Family, Photos with Friends, etc, and these could all be separate PDFs.
I hope that helps!
-Brooke
Tim Langerman
Hi Brooke! Hope you’re well!
Might be a silly questions but with so much information just wanted to confirm – when applying for the Australian Police Clearance certs, do you have to get your fingerprints taken and submit these in addition to the application form, or is it just the simples application with a name search?
brooke brisbine
Tim LangermanHi Tim,
Not a silly question at all, lots of people have asked this 🙂 Thankfully, there’s no need to submit fingerprints for an AFP check. You can read about the requirements here, it’s super simple and all online: https://brookebeyond.com/completing-afp-national-police-checks-npc-for-your-820-801-australian-partner-visa
-Brooke
Sandra Berndt
Dear Brooke,
Did you fill out Form 80 with a pen and signed or on the computer?
Thank you very much.
Regards, Sandra
brooke brisbine
Sandra BerndtHi Sandra,
I personally filled out all the forms with a pen and scanned them onto the computer, but a lot of readers have filled them out completely on the computer and I’m not sure it much matters (as long as you physically sign).
Brooke
Dan
Hey Brooke,
This has been such a useful resource for my partner and I, thanks so much!
I have a few questions about the second part of the process, the 801 application.
Are the documents required all the same? We haven’t been apart since being here so have nothing for that section. Also, do we need to add additional statement when submitting the evidence like before?
Do I need new police and health checks? Do we need to out our registered relationship document in again or will they recognise that from the 820 application?
Finally, does my partner need to do an application like last time or is it just mine this time?
Thanks for your help,
Dan
brooke brisbine
DanHi Dan,
Unfortunately I can’t really answer questions about the 801 since I haven’t done it myself!
Best of luck, and sorry I couldn’t be more helpful.
-Brooke
chris
Hi Brooke ,
its me again and 1 more question
4. regarding orm 80 and 1221?
Are they mandatory or optional ? Do we have to fill out the forms ? or do it later when CO asks?
Chris
brooke brisbine
chrisHi Chris,
I’m going to refer you to this post (#6) for more info on Form 80 and 1221, since it’s not a super straight answer: https://brookebeyond.com/820-801-visa-faq-top-10-most-common-questions-about-the-australian-partner-visa-with-full-answers 🙂
-Brooke
chris
Dear Brooke,
Thanks for all your information and it helped us tremendously whilst working on my partner’s application .
Got a few questions and hoped you can help me with the following :
1. Statutory Declaration Forms. When we submitted the application last year , there are word limits on 4 questions hence i created a word with more details in there in addressing question . Just wanted to confirm if i need to have the word document witnessed or certified, or we can directly update the document to the application
2. Do i as a sponsor need to provide police check as well? i am australian citizen .
3. 888 witness forms . My partner told me that only PR holder or Australian citizens can fill out the forms to witness our relationship , is it correct?
Many thanks
Chris
brooke brisbine
chrisHi Chris,
1. There does not appear to be any official requirement to certify these, so it’s up to you.
2. Usually the sponsor does also need to provide a police check, but it’s very quick and easy to get, so you can always wait to be asked. On the other hand, it’s only ~$40, so it might be worth just doing now.
3. That’s correct, only citizens or PRs can complete Form 888 on your behalf. If you want to submit statements from your partner’s non-Aussie family, they can just write and sign letters as additional evidence (but not as fulfilment of the requirement to submit at least 2x Form 888s).
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Mel
Hi Brooke,
Thanks for all this information!
I was just wondering if you blacked out your credit card details when you submitted your credit card statement as evidence?
Thanks,
Mel 🙂
brooke brisbine
MelHi Mel,
Yes, I redacted any bank details that I didn’t want shared 🙂
Brooke
Saul Brehme
Hi Brooke,
Thank you for writting such a helpful blog. I am currently collecting all my data together so that its much easiar to upload all at once. However regarding double uploads, I notice that under each drop down box more often than not youll see “stat dec” for example its under “social aspects of the relationship” and “Couple living together evidence” and I just wanted to know that we only need to upload our stat decs once. mine and my partners under either heading?
I really dont want to over upload the attachments with doubles of our Stat decs.
I hope that makes sense.
All the best,
Saul Brehme
brooke brisbine
Saul BrehmeHi Saul,
You shouldn’t upload the exact same stat dec multiple times, but it’s likely that you and your partner will have multiple stat decs (or statements that aren’t official stat decs) to upload for various aspects of the relationship. These are just an extension of the online application that asked for you to write about financial, social, etc, and it’s probably best to keep them separated out as such rather than combining into a single document.
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Sandra Berndt
Hi Brooke, your blog is amazing. Beautifully written and very helpful. I have a question about your statements. Did you write your statements in Word with your signature ? Or did you write a proper Statutory Declaration which you can download on the internet? Where it says “I, Sandra Berndt, of (address), in the occupation of (job title) declare that…” and did you upload it under Statutory declaration or Other (Specify). Thank you very much for your help. Sandra
brooke brisbine
Sandra BerndtHi Sandra,
I personally just wrote the statements in Word and signed them, but it’s totally up to you!
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
Sandra Berndt
brooke brisbineHi Brooke,
Great thank you very much. That helped me a lot.
My partner filled out a Stat Dec today and I will write mine as a Word Document and sign them, like you did.
Did you write different dates on your statements or on each statement the same date? We lodged our application already beginning of March and I haven’t uploaded my statements yet. Would you use a date from last month for example or just use todays date? Thank you soooo much for your help.
Sandra
brooke brisbine
Sandra BerndtHi Sandra,
I just wrote the actual date on each statement, so they differed by a couple days from each other– but I don’t think it much matters either way 🙂
Best of luck with the application!
-Brooke
Sandra Berndt
brooke brisbineThank you very very much Brooke. Helped me a lot. Have a lovely day, Sandra
Juan David
Hi Brooke, hope all is well.
Thanks for this amazing blog I am following absolutely everything you said.
I have a question related to the Joint collection photo albums. I am struggling creating the document that is suppose to have all pictures of my partner and I. I know there is a limit of 5MB for each document you upload but there are so many pictures and I dont know how necessary is to put as many as possible.
The questions that come to my mind related to this problem are:
how many pictures are enough (my partner and I have been together for more than 2 years) we have thousands of pictures.
how many pictures per moment. Lets say the same night we went out I took pictures with different friends of my partner.
How good the quality of this pictures need to be. If I reduce the quality of the pictures I will be able to upload more of them in the same document but then our faces are going to be distorted. Is still obvious that is my partner and I but I dont know if the CO will understand that.
Thanks in advance,
brooke brisbine
Juan DavidHi Juan,
Let me start off by saying that you absolutely do not have to get every photo of you and your partner into one single 5mb document. You’ll probably find that uploading about 10 different documents with photos to your application solves a lot of your problems. For instance, I uploaded Travel Photos 2015, Travel Photos 2016, Travel Photos 2017, etc; I also uploaded Photos with Family and Photos with Friends, but you can organise the photos however you see fit.
Secondly, there is no recommended number of photos, so just keep in mind that while you do want to show travel/social events/friends/family etc WITH your partner, you don’t want to make a CO look at 500 photos from every single time you and your partner have EVER done ANYTHING together. It’s just too much. My personal advice would be to choose maybe several dozen photos with friends and family, plus photos of just the two of you together, from each of the last 2+ years of your relationship (i.e. some older, some in the middle, some more recent). Enough to show that you are consistently doing things together and really are a couple, but not so many that Home Affairs is seeing a play-by-play of every dinner date you’ve been on.
As for the compression, don’t compress them to the point where they are unrecognisable. At that point, you need to break the photos up into multiple documents to get a smaller size. Compressing once on the SmallPDF website didn’t distort my photos, so I still think that’s a good option. And p.s. I usually write captions of who is in the photos and when/where it was taken.
I hope that helps a bit!!
-Brooke
MJ
Hi Brooke! Your blog surely helped a lot! Thank you! I just have a quick question, how do I regularly update the application after I lodged it? Do I replace the attachment or just add a new one? For example, for proof of bills, do I replace it with a new file? Thank you Brooke! 🙂
brooke brisbine
MJHi MJ, great to hear you found the blog helpful!
You can’t remove previous uploads, so you can just upload new information throughout the waiting period. I personally uploaded new evidence (like photos, bills, updates) after 6 months and then again after 18 months, but you can do whatever makes the most sense for your relationship 🙂
-Brooke
Charlotte
Hi Brooke, your website is so useful! Thank you.
Im wondering if you uploaded the same thing multiple times or just once? For example I am married and so have provided my marriage certificate as evidence of this but then it’s also asked for evidence of change of name. Should I upload it again here…?
brooke brisbine
CharlotteHi Charlotte,
Usually I would say probably don’t upload duplicate documents (just to save uploads and also not make your CO look at the same thing 5 times), BUT in the situation where there is basically only one document that proves you are married AND had a legal name change, it might be necessary just to put it in both places.
Hope that helps 🙂
-Brooke
Tim Langerman
Hi Brooke!
Thanks for the detailed guide, it was very insightful and helped with a few documents we were missing. I had a quick question if you wouldn’t mind?
I noticed when you were talking about your uploads, in particular in the Relationship – Spice, De Facto.. evidence, you said you uploaded a document that stated your development of the relationship or the social aspects statement, I wanted to know, is this instead of those questions on the required relationship statement document or are these in addition to this?
Thanks for the help in advance!
brooke brisbine
Tim LangermanHi Tim, glad you found this helpful!
Yes, those statements were instead of the questions on the application– since the application limits your response to 2000 characters, I needed to upload additional Word documents to cover everything. You can read a bit more about it in this post: https://brookebeyond.com/820-801-visa-faq-top-10-most-common-questions-about-the-australian-partner-visa-with-full-answers#3_%7C_Formatting_statements_about_your_relationship
Hope that answers your question 🙂
-Brooke
Laura Stokes
Hi Brooke,
What a wonderful and insightful website you have. Full of great information. Just a few questions I had about my process.
– What will happen if you run out of attachment spaces? I see my helpful boyfriend has been doing some upload and has used an entire space just for 1 invite image. Now I’m nervous I will run out of space. Can we get more the 100 attachments?
– I am currently on Visa BVB and will hopefully get onto my 820 on June 2021. Do we get more attachment space then? Does anything major happen when you go from the BVB visa to the 820?
– My partner also has repeatedly used the same document (example: tenancy agreement) in different sections. Is this a massive waste of space and attachments?
Thanks so much if you can help. This is yes, very stressful
brooke brisbine
Laura StokesHi Laura,
So glad the blog was helpful to you! I’ll do my best to answer your questions:
– I don’t think there’s a way to get additional uploads for the application, so try to combine documents wherever possible. If you really get into trouble, I know some people have started uploading things to the sponsor application. I don’t know if this is encouraged, but it’s an option!
– I am STILL sadly waiting for my 820, so I can’t personally comment on what happens after you get the 820. I know you need to upload additional evidence at this stage, but I can’t say for sure if there will be additional spaces to do so.
– It is probably not a great idea to use the same document multiple times. The same CO is looking at everything and they surely know enough about these applications to understand that a tenancy agreement uploaded as evidence of cohabitation might also speak to the length of the relationship, commitment, etc. In future, probably avoid double uploads 🙂
Hope that helps!!
-Brooke
Daniel
Hi Brooke,
My wife has just applied for the partner 820 visa last week and want to say your resources here have been very helpful!
We have paid the fee and received the email saying she is now on Bridging Visa A, and the application has a status of “Received”. However I am expecting a message from Immi saying that the application has been successful and she is now on the “Partner visa (subclass 820)” (allowing her to work, study, etc). Is this correct or can she go ahead and find a job now? If we do need a confirmation from Immi that the 820 visa has been granted before she can work and study, how long does it usually take?
Thank you,
brooke brisbine
DanielHi Daniel,
As soon as your wife received her Bridging Visa A, she was eligible to work and study. She will be waiting 1-3 years for the 820 visa to be granted and then a further 2 years after that for the 801 (some people are eligible for a simultaneous grant of the 820/801, but everyone has to wait for their 820 to be processed). Sadly, there is no way to say how long this will take. I’ve had readers on this site get theirs after 12 months, while I recently heard of someone waiting 34 months– every situation is different.
At any rate, she does NOT have to wait for the 820 to be approved before she can start looking for a job or begin working– BVA comes with work rights 🙂
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Justine
Hi Brooke, thank you so much for taking the time to write such helpful content. It helped me a lot.
My question is: which document HAVE to be certified, except for the form 888.
Many thanks
Justine
brooke brisbine
JustineHi Justine,
Assuming you’re completing the application online, ONLY Form 888 has to be certified. Some people choose to certify their statements, but it isn’t required.
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Gae
Hi Brooke,
Just to clarify, I can submit the application and pay then start uploading all the information?
Did you work on the application online while collecting your evidence or wait until you had everything organized then so the application and upload your evidence.
Thanks,
Gae
brooke brisbine
GaeHi Gae, that’s exactly right: submit the application, pay the fee, then start uploading.
I personally had most stuff organised before I submitted so I could upload my evidence quickly, but I’m not sure it much matters– there’s no deadline to upload evidence, and although sooner is better (to a degree), the CO doesn’t look at it for AGES so it’s not like the difference of a month really matters.
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Michael Bienick
Hey Brooke, I’m a US citizen and just lodged my pertinent visa and have just started to upload my documents. After two dayS my immi account said actions required: health examination. Do I lodge a document stating I will do one when requested or do it now bc it says action required? Thanks so much for your time!!
brooke brisbine
Michael BienickHi Michael, I got the same notification on my IMMI within a couple days of submitting. I personally waited 6 months before doing it because of the 12-month expiry, but it’s up to you if you want to do it right away or wait (less chance of having to do it twice).
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Stephen
Dear Brooke, thanks for the elaborate information. It so explanatory and clear. However I would like to know how these form are signed. For instance form 47sp. I understand it is filled online via immi account, do you do electronic signatures or I print out the forms and pen the signature. I am hope my question is clear. Thank you.
brooke brisbine
StephenHi Stephen,
I personally printed forms, completed them in hard-copy, and then scanned them back onto the computer–but it might also be fine to do them online, I can’t say for sure.
As a side note, I don’t believe 47SP is a required form. Have a look at this post: https://brookebeyond.com/820-801-visa-faq-top-10-most-common-questions-about-the-australian-partner-visa-with-full-answers
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Kate
Dear Brooke, thank you so much for such an informative answer. It definitely makes sense to just include a few bookings because indeed, all of them are under one of our names, never both.
All the best to you, keep up the amazing job you are doing with the blog.
-Kate.
brooke brisbine
KateSo glad that helped, Kate!
Best of luck with everything, and keep well.
-Brooke
Kate
Hi Brooke!
Like everyone else, i want to thank you immensely for all the work you’ve put in to help people. Your guide to uploading evidence is tremendously helpful.
I’ve been putting together all the tickets, hotel bookings and just wondered if you had all the physical tickets at the time of applying since you said it was 40 pages of tickets all together but i already have over 40 pages for just one trip! 🙂 We’ve been putting confirmations from email which sometimes come up as 4 pages per ticket… and the same for booking.com hotel confirmations. I wonder if i should take screenshots from the apps or just get rid of nonessential parts of the ticket (even though it will be not complete then). Many many thanks.
brooke brisbine
KateHi Kate, thank you so much for the lovely comment!
I only included a few tickets from each trip, just to illustrate that we were travelling together. It’s certainly up to you how you’d like to do it, but we’ve done about 25 countries together, so including every ticket would be overwhelming– and 40 pages just for one trip does sound like possibly a bit much… They don’t need to see every single second of the trip, just a few tickets and/or photos to show that you were together.
Again, up to you, but I also don’t necessarily know that including 4 pages of Booking.com confirmations for every single night of a trip is super helpful, unless it shows both of your names to prove you were both travelling together. Otherwise, maybe just including a FEW flights, hotel bookings, tours etc. And absolutely get rid of the non-essential parts of the tickets, Home Affairs probably doesn’t need to see the directions to an Airbnb or the fine print on your flight, just give them proof that you were both travelling and that’s enough 🙂
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Chloe
Dear Brooke,
Thank you so much for putting this blog together. I just finished uploading my evidence and your blog was an excellent point of reference throughout the entire process! Wishing you all the best xx Chloe
brooke brisbine
ChloeHi Chloe,
Thanks for the lovely message, so glad to hear you found this blog helpful 🙂
-Brooke
Floria
Thank you so much for you instruction, you are a true life saver!
brooke brisbine
FloriaYou’re so welcome, Floria!
Morag
Hey Brooke, how were you able to compress your PDFs containing a lot of images into smaller than 5mbs?! I tried using the one that you linked to but it didn’t make it nearly small enough. I am so stuck on this and it is really slowing down my upload process 🙁
I appreciate your blog it has been so helpful! Thank you!
Morag
brooke brisbine
MoragHi Morag,
My first recommendation would be to split the photos across multiple documents. For example, instead of uploading Travel Photos as one PDF, upload Travel Photos 2014, Travel Photos 2015, Travel Photos 2016 etc as separate PDFs. If you can’t get the PDF below 5mb, you probably have too many photos in there.
The second option is to upload the compressed PDF onto SmallPDF and RE-compress the PDF further. It might make photos too blurry to be useful, though, so splitting photos into different documents is a better Plan A.
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Bijay Tamang
MoragHi Morag
You can use Adobe Acrobat DC to compress these files under 5MB. When u download this app it allows you to use it free for 7 days. And then cost you $14 a month. Am pretty sure you would be able to upload all evidences within a month. Then u can unsubscribe the app if u dont want anymore…
And Brooke
Thank you so much for your kind info. all over pages.
I have seen all of your blogs regarding this Partner Visa. Moreover, i have even print it out all of your blog so i don’t have to search on website ever and again..
It really helped me to work out on my application and was able to submit successfully on February.
Thanks Brook……..
And stay safe……..
Bijay , Perth WA
brooke brisbine
Bijay TamangThanks for the comment, Bijay!
Andrew
Hi Brooke,
I must congratulate and commend you on this magnificent website. It is extremely resourceful and provides a lot of valuable insights for applicants.
I am an Australian citizen living overseas with my spouse and our children preparing to submit their 820/801 Australian partner visa application. We will do this online and understand that supporting documents/evidence will need to be submitted later. However, would my spouse and I, as the sponsor, also need to upload completed Forms 80, 1221 and 40SP? Apologies if you have already responded to similar queries in the past. Many thanks
brooke brisbine
AndrewHi Andrew, thank you so much for the thoughtful comment, it’s always nice to hear that people are finding these posts useful!
As for your query about Form 80, 1221, and 40SP– there is some debate. I’d recommend having a look at this post for more information:https://brookebeyond.com/820-801-visa-faq-top-10-most-common-questions-about-the-australian-partner-visa-with-full-answers
In brief, these forms probably aren’t required for an online application. However, most people submit them anyway since they are still listed as “recommended” under the uploads portal, and it’s just easier to do a few extra forms than worry about the completeness of your application.
Hope that answers your question!
-Brooke
IB
Thanks for this resource, it’s really helpful – and reassuring, during what is a stressful process!
My question is: there seems to be a lot of overlap in the questions/categories, and so potentially a lot of places where the same evidence might be uploaded. For example, scans of travel tickets could equally be evidence of the fact that you travel as a couple, but also evidence of the length of the relationship. Did you find yourself reusing elements of the same evidence (maybe rearranged & combined) in multiple places?
Thanks 🙂
brooke brisbine
IBHi IB, thanks for the comment, glad to hear these posts have been helpful!
Yes, there’s certainly a lot of overlap between categories and you could reasonably include one item in any of 3 or 4 other categories sometimes, but I’d discourage you from actually uploading duplicates. You’ll blow through your max uploads very quickly and it’s just not necessary– the CO assessing your application will recognise that things have significance in multiple aspects of the relationship, ESPECIALLY if you draw attention to it in your statements.
I’d recommend trying to find unique evidence for each category wherever possible, and then just refer to things in your statement to really bring it all together. This post talks a bit about that: https://brookebeyond.com/820-801-australian-partner-visa-evidence
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Vivian
HI Brooke, your blog is super helpful for our visa application and I know I’m not alone. This is such a pain and causes a lot of frustrations for me and my partner…… I got one question, as we have paid on July 2019 and right now the processing time is between 14 to 20 months. Does this count from the date of submission which was July 2019 or when the status changed? I get a bit confused as my status right now is still remaining “received” and my partner’s status is “submitted” which nothing has changed. Do you think I can conduct police check and health check soon? Thanks a lot!
brooke brisbine
VivianHi Vivian,
Unfortunately, I have absolutely no idea how long it will take for your application to be approved, I’ve heard vastly differing timeframes from people even in these blog comments, so it’s clear that there is little consistency between cases. I hope it will be quick for you!
However, do not fret that your application says “received” and your partner’s says “submitted”. I had this same question and called Home Affairs to clarify that, for whatever reason, this is just how they are displayed online. Both have been received, don’t worry!
-Brooke
Anonymous
Hello Brooke
I totally admire the detail, substance and coherence of your blog. When there is logical sequencing, it makes life so much easier. I’ve perused multiple blogs and articles-even from migration agents and lawyers – but yours stands out a mile for its quality, detail and sincerity. Many thanks – and multiple blessings for the invaluable help it has and will continue to provide.
I am at stage 2 – Permanent Partner visa (810). Have you any specific advice to offer for this submission? Does the documentation at this stage have to be as multiple, detailed and intense? Details are already on record for when /where we met, personal history etc. Do they look at the past submissions or expect chapter and verse all over again?
I have a deadline for submission and am walking the tightrope. I’d welcome any input from you.
Thanks and regards
Charmaine
brooke brisbine
AnonymousHi Charmaine, thank you so much for the lovely message, that means a lot to hear that you’ve found these posts so helpful!
A big congratulations also on making it to Stage 2! You’re ahead of me (waiting on Stage 1 for 15 months now), so I can’t actually offer any advice from personal experience.
Sorry I can’t be more helpful, but best of luck with your application– so close now!
-Brooke
Yatin. Nagpal
Hi brooke i forgot to ask i also upload my passport photo
Is that a prroblem
brooke brisbine
Yatin. NagpalHi Yatin,
If I understand your question, you forgot to upload your passport photo? You should certainly do this through the upload portal, as it is a requirement.
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Yatin. Nagpal
Hey brooke
When it ask for sponser immidiate family
I mentioned everyone with their first n last naMes
I was going through everything and realised I didn’t enter their middle name
My question is should i fix it or it doesn’t really matter
Thanks
brooke brisbine
Yatin. NagpalHi Yatin, if you are able to update with middle names, probably a good idea just to be safe. I would assume they do want that information.
-Brooke
Serk
Hi Brooke,
This has been great help, thanks for taking the time to detail out your process.
All the best with your application.
brooke brisbine
SerkThank you, Serk, same to you!
-Brooke
Kamila
Hi Brooke
Your blog is helpful, Many thanks for that Brooke 🙂
I was wondering if I have to print (I am the applicant) my name at the back of the photgraph, my application is through immi account.
Thank you in advance 🙂
brooke brisbine
KamilaHi Kamila, you’re very welcome 🙂
The requirement to write your name on the back of the photo only applies for paper applications, so just upload the passport photo online as is.
-Brooke
Kamila
Hi Brooke,
I was wondering how many photos do I need to upload. I have got a 35X45 size photo but not sure if I have to upload two or one.
thank you in advance 🙂
Kamila
brooke brisbine
KamilaHi Kamila,
For the online application, you only need to upload one passport photo. The requirement of two photos is for paper applications.
Hope that helps!
-Brooke
Alex Haigh
This is incredible, thanks so much 🙂
brooke brisbine
Alex HaighYou’re so welcome 🙂
-Brooke
Sam
Hi Brooke,
Thanks so much for your help! This is truly amazing.
Is the Form 1221 mandatory? What is the purpose of this form?
Thanks
Sam
brooke brisbine
SamHi Sam,
Have a look at this post, it should answer your question: https://brookebeyond.com/820-801-visa-faq-top-10-most-common-questions-about-the-australian-partner-visa-with-full-answers
In brief, Form 1221 is to collect personal details from the applicant and it is “recommended”.
-Brooke
Ritchelle N
Hello Brooke, Thanks for this helpful information. I would like to ask if you scanned all the passport pages or just the bio page? Thanks for your reply.
brooke brisbine
Ritchelle NHi Ritchelle,
Just the bio page with photo and personal details.
-Brooke
Abu
Hi Brooke,
First of all thank you very much for sharing your experience. It’s very helpful. I just had one quick question. Now they have two options one for the applicant and one for the sponsor. My question is can you apply first as an applicant and get a bridging visa and then your sponsor can apply? Or your sponsor apply first and that sponsorship gets approved and then you become eligible to apply? I would appreciate a reply.
Kind regards,
Abu
brooke brisbine
AbuHi Abu,
At present, the APPLICANT submits their application first and then the sponsor submits an application, linked to the applicant’s. There has been a lot of talk about having the sponsor apply and get approved prior to the applicant submitting anything, but as of March 2020, this has not gone through.
Hope that makes sense!
-Brooke
William
Hi Brook,
In view of the world’s most expensive (if not the most tedious) partner visa application, your magnificent posts on this topic is certainly a great and timely help to people like us who have a tight budget to bring their partners back to Australia.
I must express my gratitude and deep appreciation for your kindness and hard work in preparing these amazing posts. I am sure many people will benefit greatly from these posts in future.
I rarely post any comments after reading websites but I have to post one here – I am greatly impressed by the skill and efforts you present the subject materials on these posts.
It is always a joyful experience to meet kind and pleasant people in this world !
brooke brisbine
WilliamHi William, thank you so much for the wonderful comment, it is feedback like this that encourages me to write these posts!!
Wishing you and your partner all the best in the visa application process and your life here in Australia.
-Brooke
YATIN NAGPAL
Hi brooke
I have submitted my visa day before yesterday because of your help as i read all comments and replies from your website and it cleared all my doubts
i am still in the process of submitting documents
I just wanna ask is that okay if i submit my docs in a week
and it is received and come up with a flag as i have to do my health examinations ..In your vlog it says they last for a year so you did it later but did the flag came up on your profile staight away or after a while..
Thanks
brooke brisbine
YATIN NAGPALHi Yatin, happy to hear these posts and comments were helpful to you!
There is no deadline for uploading evidence. It’s recommended to do it sooner rather than later, but if it takes a few weeks to organise, that does not necessarily affect the timeline (the visa is lodged as soon as you pay the fee, not when all the evidence is uploaded).
The flag came up on my profile right away for the health exam, but I waited 6 months to do it. I am now concerned I will have to do a second exam, because I have an active BVB with travel rights until December 2020, so I know my visa won’t be granted until after my health exam has expired. It’s up to you when you want to get the exam, though, because plenty of visa applications are granted in 18 months. A couple just today commented on one of my posts saying their visa was granted after 16 months.
-Brooke
Kamila
Hi Brooke,
Your blog is so helpful thank you so much!
brooke brisbine
KamilaHi Kamila, you are so welcome!
Glad I could help 🙂
-Brooke