Document Checklist for Australian Spouse Visa
Are you a spouse, partner or fiancée an Australian Citizen, Permanent resident or Eligible New Zealand Citizen? Are you looking to emigrate to Australia with them? Then you need an Australian Visa.
To apply for the Visa through Partner route, you need to meet various criteria, such as being in a genuine, exclusive and on-going relationship with your Australian partner. You also need to pass health and character assessment and meet all other requirements as specified in the Australian immigration laws.
As a general rule, applicants for the Australian partner visa must show that prior to the application, their relationship has existed for at least 12 months. Time spent as “boyfriend and girlfriend” does not count towards the 12 months. Generally, applicants are expected to have lived together for that period.
Those who are engaged, might consider applying for the Prospective Marriage visa.
As the Australian Migration rules are complex, it is always best to check your Visa eligibility with an Australian Immigration agent.
Checklist for Australian Spouse Visa
When submitting your application, you need to provide relevant documents to support your case. The burden is on the applicant to provide sufficient evidence to prove their relationship.
Make sure the documents you provide are in a required format, are clear and readable. Verify if any documents need certifying and if so, organise certification according to your country of residence laws.
Any documents which are not in English must be translated by accredited English translators.
The Australian Spouse applications are submitted electronically. You need to have access to internet and a good quality scanner to scan your documents. If you have an Australian immigration agent helping you with the application, they will explain and help you with putting documents in the correct format.
What you need to provide:
-identity documents, such as passports, ID cards, birth certificates,
-evidence of you relationship such as marriage certificate, a relationship statement, evidence on how you share financial responsibilities, evidence social aspect of your relationship, nature of commitment and future plans
-supporting statements from friend and family confirming your relationship
- character assessment form ( form 80)
The below list is not exhaustive and depending on your circumstance you might need to provide more documents.
Sponsor documentation
Your Australian Partner will be acting as your sponsor in your visa application for Emigration to Australia. Your sponsors will be required to provide relevant documents such as birth certificate, Australian passport or foreign passport containing evidence of permanent residence. If your sponsor is a New Zealand citizen, he would have to provide evidence of how long they have lived in Australia.
An eligible New Zealand citizen is:
· a New Zealand citizen who is a ‘protected SCV holder’ as described in Section 7 of the Social Security Act 1991
· Protected SCV holders are those who arrived in Australia on a New Zealand passport and were:
o in Australia on 26 February 2001, or
o in Australia for 12 months in the 2 years immediately before this date, or
o otherwise assessed as ‘protected SCV holders’ under the Social Security Act 1991 — in which case they must provide us with written confirmation from Centrelink.
You need to verify any sponsorship limitations, for example whether your Australian partner has sponsored anyone in the past or whether they were sponsored themselves.
If you are not sure about whether your partner can act as your sponsor, contact an Australian immigration lawyer to discuss sponsorship eligibility.
Health and character requirements
As part of your Australian migration application, you need to pass health and character assessment.
You will be required to provide a police certificate from every country where you spent a cumulative total of 12 months or more in the last 10 years.
In certain cases, your Australian sponsor might be required to provide police certificates. This would be certainly the case if you are including children in the application.
How long it would take for my visa to come through?
The Australian Partner visa processing times are published on the Australian Department of Home Affairs. Processing times change from time to time and you are best to hold on with making any irreversible steps until your Visa has come through.
How quickly your visa might be approved will also depend on where you submitted your application and which Immigration processing centre is handling your application.
For detailed information about current processing times, contact the Immigration Department or Australian immigration lawyers as they deal with those applications on a daily basis and will be the best source of up-to-date information.
How to speed up my application?
If you are emigrating to Australia with your Australian partner, you want to make sure your visa process goes smoothly and efficiently.
There is a lot of information on the internet which might help you to prepare the application yourself. However, if you don’t feel confident, instruct an Australian Immigration agent to help you. You will pay a little bit more but you will have a peace of mind your application is properly prepared and lodged in timely manner.
An Australian spouse visa application requires many detailed documents which means a lot to time and effort for you. You will have a lot of questions during the preparation of your application and it might take you time to find answers and you risk they won’t always answer a specific question you have in relation to your unique Australian Spouse visa case.
Using an Australian immigration lawyer to help you with your Australian Spouse visa application is highly recommended. It will save you a lot of time, energy and stress of dealing with Government bodies. Emigrate-to-Australia at Taylor Hampton Solicitors in London, have been successfully handling Australian Spouse visa applications for many years. Our Australian immigration agents are highly skilled and best equipped in taking care of the first step of your emigration to Australia. Contact us for assistance with your Australia Visa application: enquiries@emigrate-to-australia.co.uk
