This visa allows the spouse or de facto partner of an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen to live in Australia.
The applicant must be sponsored and married or in a de facto relationship with:
- an Australian citizen
- an Australian permanent resident
- an eligible New Zealand citizen.
The relationship must be genuine and ongoing. The applicant and the partner must live together, if they do not, any separation must be only temporary and both parties must freely consent to the relationship.
The applicant must also be older than 18 years of age and not be related to the partner by family. This means the applicant cannot be an ancestor or descendant of the partner, or have a parent in common.
The application is processed in two stages, about two years apart. The first stage grants a temporary visa and the second stage grant a permanent visa. However, a single application is lodged for both the temporary and permanent visas, and a single application fee is charged. Based on the location of the applicant there are two types of Partner visas.
- For onshore applicants: Temporary Partner visa (subclass 820) and Permanent Partner visa (subclass 801)
- For offshore applicants: Partner (Provisional) visa (subclass 309) and Partner (Migrant) visa (subclass 100)
