What Every Applicant Needs to Know About Partner Visa 820 and 801

This guide simplifies all that you need to know regarding eligibility, the requirements of evidence, costs, and the time of processing.

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Understanding the Two-Stage Process

Partner Visa Subclass 820 and 801 are joint applications in which you apply to get both visas at the same time, but they are granted at a later time. It is issued as a temporary visa, Subclass 820, which enables you to live, work, and study in Australia as your application is evaluated to grant you the permanent Subclass 801 visa. This is often a two-year period when you have to wait since you applied.

The Department of Home Affairs keeps an eye on your relationship during this period to determine whether it is real and continuing. The two-stage system is there to make sure that relationships are genuine rather than convenience arrangements. After the waiting period is over and your relationship is confirmed, the permanent 801 visa will be granted, and you are entitled to stay in Australia permanently.

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Eligibility Requirements

In order to be eligible under this visa pathway, applicants should meet a number of requirements:

• You need to be physically present in Australia at the time of lodging your application and at the time of granting of the visa.
• Your sponsoring partner should be an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen aged 18 years and above.
• The relationship should be a marriage or a de facto partnership.
  • In the case of de facto relationships, couples must, as a general rule, have resided together at least 12 months prior to application.
  • The 12-month cohabitation can be waived in case your relationship is registered officially by a state or territory authority.

The Department of Home Affairs in Australia states that the applicants have to prove that their relationship is authentic, continuing, and exclusive during the time of application.

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Gathering Relationship Evidence

Probably the most significant part of your application is having detailed evidence of your real relationship and that it is still going on. The Department has four major areas of evaluation of your relationship:

• Financial aspects. Joint bank accounts, shared assets, joint loans or leases, and proof of financial support for each other.
• Type of household. Shared household, shared responsibility in household chores, and shared property or household items.
• Social identification. Testimonies of relatives and friends, pictures that they have been at different events, and records of travel made as a couple.
• Mutual commitment. Familiarity with each other, future intentions with each other, and the duration of your relationship.

Applicants are to prepare documents of each category to create a balanced image of their partnership. The better your evidence, the stronger your application will be.

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Benefits for Long-Term Relationships

The couples that have a long-term history together may enjoy a faster process:

• When you have been in a relationship of three years or above at the time of application, then you might be allowed to have your permanent 801 visa granted soon after the temporary 820 visa.
• This can also be used as an accelerated route in case your relationship has lasted two years or more, and you have a child together.

This is a provision that acknowledges the fact that the relationship has existed long enough, and there is a lot of shared history that proves that it is not fake. In the case of qualified couples, this would greatly decrease the total waiting time and give assurance earlier.

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Understanding Costs and Processing Times

The cost of a partner visa is high. Applicants should be prepared to incur the following costs:

• Application fee. At present, it is over 9,000 AUD and thus is among the higher-priced visa categories.
• Medical checks.These are obligatory for all applicants and dependents.
• Police clearance certificates. You must provide these certificates for every country you have lived in for at least 12 months.
• Document translations. This is necessary in case of any non-English documents.
• Professional migration advice. Optional but often recommended.

Processing times may vary based on the complexity of your case and the current workload in the department.

• Temporary 820 visa is normally processed in a period of 12 to 24 months.
• Permanent 801 visa is normally added on top of the waiting period that ends, and may require 6 to 18 months.

Delay may be due to incomplete documentation or requesting more information.

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Health and Character Requirements

All applicants and their dependants must meet strict health and character requirements.

• Medical examinations. This should be carried out by panel physicians who are approved to ensure that the applicants do not present a risk to the general health of the people and that the possible expenses of healthcare are within an acceptable range.
• Police clearance certificates. You must provide this certificate in all the countries in which you have spent 12 months and above over the last decade.
• Character assessments. Check that there is no criminal history of the applicants that would render them ineligible for the visa.

The requirements are not limited to the principal applicant but also to any children or other family members to be covered under the application.

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Rights Granted by the 820 Visa

Although you are waiting to get a permanent visa, the temporary 820 visa offers you great advantages:

• Work freely with any employer in Australia without restrictions.
• Study at any educational institution.
• Travel in and out Australia freely.
• The public healthcare system in Australia, known as Access Medicare, provides access to necessary medical services.

These rights guarantee the applicants a normal life in Australia as their permanent residency is being handled. The freedom to work is especially considered an asset, as it will enable the couples to sustain themselves financially until the waiting period ends.

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Preparing a Strong Application

The success of the process in the partner visa is highly determined by thorough preparation. Follow your application by taking the following steps:

• Check that all the documents are filled and certified where required.
• Get the documents translated to English by certified translators in case of need.
• Arrange your evidence in a logical manner in the four categories of relationships.
• Provide a description of your relationship history.
• Respond quickly to any need to provide further information to the Department.

Several applicants prefer to hire a registered migration agent to help them in their application and this may help them to make sure that nothing is left out. Delays in delivering the requested documents may result in long processing times.

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Conclusion

The Partner Visa Subclass 820 and 801 is a real chance to help the couples to create their life in Australia. Although the process is lengthy and costly and requires detailed paperwork, the journey is much easier when one knows what to expect in each step. The key to doing this is in being ready and presenting all the evidence of your relationship, and then you can take this process with confidence and look forward to a future together in Australia.

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About the Author

After putting together your application for Partner Visa 820 & 801 Australia, read these travel guides
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