To sponsor your de facto partner or spouse for a Partner Visa to Australia, you must meet several partner visa sponsor requirements, including Australian partner visa sponsor financial requirements. Partner visa sponsorship limitations also apply.

The sponsorship aspect of a Partner visa application is designed to ensure that the sponsored visa applicant is supported during their initial settlement in Australia and therefore does not have a need to rely on the Australian community.

Let’s first take a look at the visa options that are available if you are seeking to sponsor your Partner for a Partner Visa to Australia.

What Are The Partner Visa Options?

The Partner Visa category comprises the following two visa subclasses:

  • Subclass 820/801 Partner visa (onshore); and
  • Subclass 309/100 Partner visa (offshore).

Both options provide a pathway to permanent residence.

There is also an option available to applicants who are engaged to be married, via the Subclass 300 Prospective Marriage Visa, which also provides a pathway to permanent residence (although over a longer time-frame than the Partner Visas noted above).

For a summary on all three visa subclasses, we recommend that you refer to our article Overview – Partner Visa Australia.

Australian Partner Visa Sponsorship Requirements

The partner visa sponsorship requirements comprise the following aspects:

  • The prescribed degree of your relationship with the visa applicant (does your relationship satisfy the relevant prescribed definition applicable to your circumstances, i.e. as a de facto or spouse relationship);
  • Your immigration status in Australia (you must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident, or an eligible New Zealand citizen to be approved as a sponsor);
  • Partner visa sponsorship limitation (certain applicants for sponsorship are barred from being approved as sponsors for a partner visa application, although a waiver may apply in certain circumstances); and
  • You must be 18 years of age to be eligible (exceptions may apply in certain circumstances for spouse relationships).

Your Relationship

To be approved as a sponsor for a Partner Visa, your relationship must be characterised as one of the following:

Spouse relationship

You must demonstrate that you and your spouse have a mutual commitment to a shared life as a married couple, to the exclusion of all others, that your relationship is genuine and continuing, and that you are not living separately and apart on a permanent basis. Your marriage must also be legally valid in Australia.

Same-sex marriages are legally recognised in Australia and are therefore also eligible for grant of a partner visa on the basis of marriage

In assessing whether your relationship meets this definition, the Department of Home Affairs (the Department) will examine the financial and social aspects of your relationship, the nature of your household and your commitment to one another, together with the individual circumstances of your relationship.

See our article on What are the requirements for a spouse visa in Australia for more information on applying for a Partner Visa as a married couple.

De facto relationship

You and your sponsoring partner must demonstrate the following:

  • you have a mutual commitment to a shared life to the exclusion of all others;
  • your relationship with your sponsoring partner is genuine and continuing;
  • you must either live together or not live separately and apart on a permanent basis with your sponsoring partner; and
  • you and your sponsoring partner must not be related by family.

As with a spouse relationship, the Department will assess whether your relationship meets the above definition considering the financial and social aspects of your relationship, the nature of your household and your commitment to one another, along with the individual circumstances of your relationship.

De facto relationships are also subject to additional eligibility requirements. You must provide evidence to demonstrate that your de facto relationship has been in existence for at least 12 months immediately before lodgement of your application. This requirement may be waived if there are compelling and compassionate circumstances to grant the visa. This 12-month minimum length of relationship requirement also does not apply if your relationship is registered with an Australian State/Territory Government.

You can find more detailed information on applying for a Partner Visa as a de facto couple in our articles below:

Are you eligible to apply for a de facto partner visa in Australia

A Detailed Guide on De Facto Visa Application

Register your de facto relationship in South Australia

Prospective marriage

For Prospective Marriage visa applicants, you must have met your partner in person and be known to each other personally; there must be no legal impediment to your marriage in Australia; you must genuinely intend to marry within the prescribed 9-month visa period; and you must genuinely intend to live together as spouses.

See our article on the Prospective Marriage Visa for a comprehensive guide on how this visa works and the requirements as they apply to your relationship with your fiancé.

Your Immigration Status In Australia

To satisfy the Australian partner visa sponsor requirements, you must either be an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

Australian Citizenship

Australian citizens are born in Australia or have been issued with an Australian Citizenship Certificate as evidence of having acquired Australian citizenship.

Australian Permanent Residency

An Australian permanent resident is defined as a non-citizen who, being usually resident in Australia, is the holder of a permanent visa.

Case law has established that a person must meet two essential elements to be considered usually resident in a particular place:

  • a physical presence in that place (as indicated by where a person maintains a home, eats and sleeps); and
  • an intention to treat that place as a home for now (not necessarily for an indefinite period).

The types of factors that would indicate that a person is usually resident in a particular place include maintaining a home, going to work, owning property, business or other interests and/or having family and other ties in that place.

Under immigration policy, as sponsor for a Partner Visa you will be deemed to be usually resident in Australia if you:

  • hold a permanent visa; and
  • are residing in or have previously resided in Australia.

Partner Visa Sponsorship Limitation

Limitations or bars apply in certain circumstances to prevent prospective sponsors from being approved by the Department to sponsor an applicant for a Partner or Prospective Marriage Visa.

What are the partner visa sponsorship limitations?

Previous Partner or Prospective Marriage Visa Sponsorships

First, you can sponsor a maximum of two people for a Partner or Prospective Marriage Visa over your lifetime.

If you have previously sponsored another partner or prospective spouse, you must wait at least five years since the date when you lodged your previous sponsorship application, before you can sponsor your current partner.

If your partner has been granted a partner or prospective marriage visa themselves, they can sponsor you only after five years have passed since they lodged their own visa application.

These partner visa sponsorship limitations may be waived if compelling circumstances exist affecting the sponsor.

Prospective Sponsor previously granted a Contributory Parent Visa

The second partner visa sponsorship limitation is designed to prevent people from sponsoring their partner or fiancé for a Partner or Prospective Marriage visa for five years from the date when the prospective sponsor was granted one of the following permanent Contributory Parent visas in certain circumstances (discussed below):

  • Subclass 143 Contributory Parent visa; or
  • Subclass 864 Contributory Aged Parent visa.

The circumstances when this partner visa sponsorship limitation applies are as follows:

  • If the prospective sponsor was granted their permanent Contributory Parent category visa on or after 1 July 2009; and
  • were in a spouse or de facto partner relationship with the prospective visa applicant on or before the date when the permanent Contributory Parent category visa was granted.

This limitation may not apply in compelling circumstances that are not finance-related, that is, where the prospective visa applicant had compelling reasons, other than reasons related to his or her financial circumstances, for not applying for a Contributory Parent visa at the same time as the prospective sponsor applied for his or her Contributory Parent visa.

Prospective Sponsor Charged With Registrable Offence

Third, if the prospective sponsor has been charged with a registrable offence, the Department is required to refuse to approve the sponsorship of all the applicants for the visa unless:

  • none of the applicants are under 18 years of age at the time of the decision on the application for approval of the sponsorship; or
  • the charge has been withdrawn, dismissed, or otherwise disposed of without the recording of a conviction.

Prospective Sponsor Convicted Of Registrable Offence

If the prospective sponsor has been convicted of a registrable offence, the Department will refuse to approve the sponsorship of all the applicants for the visa unless:

  • none of the applicants are under 18 years of age at the time of the decision on the application for approval of the sponsorship; or
  • the conviction has been quashed or otherwise set aside.

Despite the above, the Department may decide to approve the sponsorship if:

  • the prospective sponsor completed the sentence imposed for the registrable offence (including any period of release under recognisance, parole, or licence) more than 5 years before the date of the application for approval of the sponsorship;
  • the prospective sponsor has not been charged with a registrable offence since they completed that sentence; and
  • there are compelling circumstances affecting the sponsor or the applicant.

OR

  • the prospective sponsor completed the sentence imposed for the registrable offence (including any period of release under recognisance, parole, or licence) more than 5 years before the date of the application for approval of the sponsorship;
  • if the prospective sponsor has been charged with a registrable offence since the sponsor completed that sentence, the charge has been withdrawn, dismissed or otherwise disposed of without the recording of a conviction; and
  • there are compelling circumstances affecting the sponsor or the applicant.

To evidence a charge or conviction for a registrable offence, the Department may request the prospective sponsor to provide a police check from Australia, or a country in which they have lived for a total period, of at least 12 months.

The Department may refuse to approve the sponsorship of all applicants for the Partner or Prospective Marriage visa if the prospective sponsor does not provide the police check within a reasonable time from a request being made by the Department.

What Is A Registrable Offence?

An offence is a registrable offence within the meaning of any of the following Acts:

  • Child Protection (Offenders Registration) Act 2000 (NSW);
  • Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004 (Vic);
  • Child Sex Offenders Registration Act 2006 (SA);
  • Crimes (Child Sex Offenders) Act 2005 (ACT);

AND

an offence that is a reportable offence within the meaning of any of the following Acts:

  • Child Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2004 (Qld);
  • Community Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2004 (WA);
  • Community Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2005 (Tas);
  • Child Protection (Offender Reporting and Registration) Act (NT);

Generally, registrable offences primarily comprise:

  • sexual or physical assault of a child;
  • child pornography; and
  • child prostitution.

Prospective Sponsor Has A Significant Criminal Record In Relation To A ‘Relevant Offence’

Finally, the Department will refuse to approve a sponsorship if the prospective sponsor:

  • has been convicted of a relevant offence; and
  • has a significant criminal record in relation to the relevant offence.

Despite this, the Department may decide to approve the sponsorship if it considers it reasonable to do so, having regard to matters including the following:

  • the length of time since the prospective sponsor completed the sentence for the relevant offence;
  • the best interests of:
  • any children of the prospective sponsor;
  • any children of the applicant who is seeking to satisfy the primary criteria for the grant of the visa;
  • the length of the relationship between the sponsor and the applicant who is seeking to satisfy the primary criteria for the grant of the visa concerned.

To determine whether the sponsor has been convicted of a relevant offence, and whether the sponsor has a significant criminal record in relation to a relevant offence, the Department may request the prospective sponsor to provide a police check from Australia, or a country in which they have lived for a total period, of at least 12 months in the last 10 years, or the date the sponsor turned 16 years of age (whichever occurs later).

The Department may refuse to approve the sponsorship of each applicant for the Partner or Prospective Marriage visa if the prospective sponsor does not provide the police check within a reasonable time from a request being made by the Department.

What Is A Relevant Offence?

The following offences committed against a law of the Commonwealth, a State, a Territory or a foreign country, involving any of the following matters:

  • violence against a person, including (without limitation) murder, assault, sexual assault and the threat of violence;
  • harassment, molestation, intimidation or stalking of a person;
  • breach of an apprehended violence order, or a similar order, issued under a law of a State, a Territory or a foreign country;
  • firearms or other dangerous weapons;
  • people smuggling;
  • human trafficking, slavery, or slavery-like practices (including forced marriage), kidnapping or unlawful confinement;
  • attempting to commit an offence involving any of the matters mentioned above or below;
  • aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of an offence involving any of the above.

What Is A Significant Criminal Record?

A prospective sponsor has a significant criminal record in relation to a relevant offence if they have been sentenced to:

  • death;
  • imprisonment for life;
  • a term of imprisonment of 12 months or more; or
  • two or more terms of imprisonment, where the total of those terms is 12 months or more.

Disclosure of Relevant Offence Conviction

The sponsor is required to consent to the disclosure by the Department, to each applicant included in the sponsorship, of any conviction for a relevant offence (on the approved form required to be completed by the sponsor in relation to the visa application).

The conviction of the sponsor for a relevant offence is to be disregarded for this purpose if:

  • the conviction has been quashed or otherwise nullified; or
  • both:
    • the sponsor has been pardoned in relation to the conviction; and
    • the effect of that pardon is that the sponsor is taken never to have been convicted of the offence.

Age Requirement For The Sponsor

You must be 18 years of age to be eligible to be approved as a sponsor for a Partner Visa, however if you are under 18 and you are married to the visa applicant, your parent or guardian might be able to sponsor your partner.

If you are in a de facto relationship, you must be 18 years of age to sponsor your partner for a Partner Visa. The same applies to the Prospective Marriage Visa; you must have turned 18 years of age to qualify as a sponsor for the application.

Sponsorship Undertaking

As a sponsor for a partner visa, you must undertake certain prescribed obligations to the visa applicant for a specified period of time. This includes Australian partner visa sponsor financial requirements.

By agreeing to this undertaking, as sponsor you must assist your partner, to the extent necessary, financially and in relation to accommodation, for the following period:

  • for an onshore Partner Visa– during the two-year period immediately following the grant of the temporary Subclass 820 Partner Visa; and
  • for an offshore Partner Visa – during the two years immediately following your partner’s first entry into Australia after grant of the temporary Subclass 309 Partner Visa.

When assessing a sponsorship in relation to a partner or prospective marriage visa application, the Department will generally accept that as sponsor, you agree to undertake the obligations required of you (as noted above) by lodgement of the Sponsorship application form.  If the Department has doubts about your intention to comply, it can request more information or supporting documents.

Get More Information

For further information on partner visa sponsorship, please see the following articles:

How to be approved as a partner visa sponsor?

Sponsoring a family member might be easier than you think

Partner Visa Sponsorship

You can read about a real-life example of how PAX Migration Australia was able to assist a client to Lift the Sponsorship Bar by appealing a decision to refuse a Partner Visa application by demonstrating that compelling circumstances affecting the sponsor existed.

We have also prepared a series of informative guides on the Partner and Prospective Marriage Visas, which you can find below:

How to bring your wife to Australia on a genuine partner visa

Overview of Onshore Australian Partner Visa Schedule 3

Major Changes Ahead for Partner Visas

Why partner visa applications are so tough

What case officers look for in a partner visa application?

Bridging visas for partner visa applicants

What evidence should I provide?

Can a man get Australian PR if his wife is Australian

Top 5 reasons why partner visas are refused

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