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Prospective Marriage/Fiancee
Spouse Visa – Marriage
Spouse Visa – Defacto
If you are an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or an eligible New Zealand citizen* and you have a fiancée, husband or wife, or defacto partner from overseas, then the following visa options are available:
1. Prospective Marriage/Fiancee Visa (subclass 300)
This visa is designed for couples who are engaged to be married and who wish to be married in Australia.
Generally, both parties must be aged 18 years or over and be of the opposite sex (same sex couples are not eligible for this visa).
You must have both physically met. It is not sufficient that you have only met on the Internet or as under some traditional customs you are proposing to enter an arranged marriage.
You must show that you have a genuine intention to marry and then to live together as a husband and wife. You will be required to provide evidence as to how you met, how your relationship developed, what time you have spent together, how you have kept in contact if you are living in different countries, and what your intentions are for your future together.
You must undergo medical and x-ray checks, and provide a national police check from your home country and from each country where you have spent a total of 12 months or more in the last 10 years after turning 16 years of age.
In most cases, the Australian sponsor must also provide an assurance of support. This is a bond put in place with Centrelink, and which is held for a period of 2 years. If the visa applicant requires social security support in the first 2 years, then the federal government can reimburse itself from the bond. At the present time, the bond is $3,500 for the primary applicant. An additional bond is payable if there are other adults included in the application.
This visa is an “offshore” visa, meaning that you will apply for it at the Australian Embassy or High Commission in the country where you live.When the visa is granted, you must arrive in Australia and be legally married within 9 months. Once you are married, you must then apply for a spouse visa.
The grant of a subclass 300 visa also allows you to travel to and from Australia before the visa expires, and it allows you to work.
For more details as to the type of documents that you will need to support this visa application, please see -
Fiancee Document Checklist
If you would like further information about this visa and your particular circumstances, please click here for email contact with our office.
(* Eligible New Zealand citizen means a New Zealand citizen who was resident in Australia prior to the 26th February 2001.)
2. Spouse Visa – Marriage (subclasses 309 and 100, and 820 and 801)
The subclass 309 and 100 visas are granted to applicants whose initial visa applications are lodged and processed offshore (outside Australia).
The subclass 820 and 801 visas are granted to visa applicants who make application for their visas while in Australia.
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This visa is designed for couples who are legally married.
If you have been legally married overseas, then generally that marriage will be recognised as valid under Australian law.
It should be noted that being legally married in itself does not qualify you for a partner visa. You will be required to show:
that you have a mutual commitment to a shared life as husband and wife to the exclusion of all others;
that your relationship is genuine and continuing;
that you live together or do not live separately on a permanent basis.
The Department of Immigration will also look at the following factors to assess the parties’ mutual commitment and genuineness:
(a) Financial aspects of the relationship:
combining of financial resources such as bank accounts, mortgages, loans and the like;
joint ownership of property or other assets;
joint commitments to rental costs;
sharing of day to day household expenses;
(b) Nature of the household:
the couple’s living arrangements, particularly if there are periods that the couple have had to live apart;
the sharing of household duties;
the extent of responsibility for the care of children;
(c) Social aspects of the relationship:
recognition by others of the couple being in a married relationship;
whether the couple undertake social activities together;
the views and opinions of family, friends and acquaintances about the relationship;
(d) The couple’s commitment to each other:
considering how long the couple have been in a relationship;
how the couple have kept in contact, if apart;
what long term plans the couple have together.
The Australian partner must act as a sponsor and must provide a written undertaking to provide accommodation and financial support for the applicant for the first 2 years.
It should also be noted that if either the visa applicant or the Australian sponsor have previously applied for partner visas or acted as a sponsor for a partner visa, then they will need to obtain specific advice as to whether they are eligible to apply for a further visa.
If the visa applicant has children under the age of 16 years, then the Australian sponsor will be required to obtain an Australian Federal Police certificate to confirm that he or she has no criminal convictions.
As with the fiancée visa, you must undergo medical and x-ray checks and provide a national police check from your home country.
Visa applications lodged “offshore” usually take around 6 months to complete. Visa applications lodged in Australia usually take 4 to 5 months to complete.
The subclass 309 and 820 visas are granted for a period of 2 years. The grant of the visa gives you full work rights, travel rights and access to Medicare.
After 2 years, the Department of Immigration contacts you and asks you to provide further papers to show that you are continuing to live in a genuine married relationship. Once this information is provided, either a subclass 100 or 801 permanent residence visa is granted.
If the relationship fails in the first 2 years, then the visa will (subject to some exceptions) be cancelled.
For more details as to the type of documents that you will need to support this visa application, please see - Partner Documents Checklist
If you would like further information about this visa and your particular circumstances, please click here for email contact with our office.
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3. Spouse Visa – Defacto (subclasses 309 and 100, and 820 and 801)
These visas are designed for couples who are not legally married, but who have entered into a relationship that is genuine and continuing and who can show that they have a mutual commitment to a shared life together. Same sex couples are usually assessed under this visa class. To qualify for the visa, you will need to show:
That you are 18 years of age or older;
That you have lived in a defacto relationship with your partner for a minimum of 12 months prior to the date of your visa application. Please note however that if you are living in a defacto relationship that is registered in an Australian State or Territory as prescribed by the Act’s Interpretation (registered relationships) Regulations 2008, then the 12 month requirement does not have to be met;
In determining the genuineness of the relationship, the Department of Immigration will consider the following:
(a) Financial aspects of the relationship:
you will be expected to have consolidated your financial affairs to some extent, and to have made joint financial commitments;
(b) The nature of your household – you will be expected to be living together;
(c) Social aspects of the relationship – it will be expected that socially you will present as a couple and that family and friends consider you to be a defacto couple;
(e) The nature of your commitment to each other – this will take into account the length of the relationship, how long you have lived together and the fact that you see the relationship as being for the long term.
The Australian partner must act as a sponsor and must provide a written undertaking to provide accommodation and financial support for the applicant for the first 2 years.
It should also be noted that if either the visa applicant or the Australian sponsor have previously applied for partner visas or acted as a sponsor for a partner visa, then they will need to obtain specific advice as to whether they are eligible to apply for a further visa.
If the visa applicant has children under the age of 16 years, then the Australian sponsor will be required to obtain an Australian Federal Police certificate to confirm that he or she has no criminal convictions.
As with the fiancée and spouse (marriage) visas, you must undergo medical and x-ray checks and provide a national police check from your home country.
The subclass 309 and 820 visas are granted for a period of 2 years. The grant of the visa gives you full work rights, travel rights and access to Medicare.
After 2 years, the Department of Immigration contacts you and asks you to provide further papers to show that you are continuing to live in a genuine defacto relationship. Once this information is provided, either a subclass 100 or 801 permanent residence visa is granted.
If the relationship fails within the first 2 years, the visa will (subject some exceptions) be cancelled.
For more details as to the type of documents that you will need to support this visa application, please see - Partner Documents Checklist
If you would like further information about this visa and your particular circumstances, please click here for email contact with our office.
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