Marrying an Australian Citizen or Permanent Resident - Immigration Aspects

With increasing globalization, it has become easier for people from different parts of the world to come together and fall in love. If you are in a relationship with an Australian citizen or permanent citizen and are thinking of getting married, here are some immigration aspects you need to consider before you can legally move to Australia.

Applying for partner visa

In Australia, all applications for immigration are processed by the DIAC or the Department of Immigration and Customs. if you are planning to move to Australia to be with your partner who is an Australian citizen or permanent resident, you are likely to fall under one of two situations – either you are currently in Australia on a temporary visa that expires soon and wanting to remain in Australia; or you are currently overseas wanting to come to Australia to be with your partner. In either case, the first step towards being with your Australian partner would be applying for a “Partner visa”.

Subclass 300

However even the Partner Visa has different subclasses so you need to start with deciding which one to apply.  It is important that you carefully select the visa that is relevant to your current situation and location. for instance If you are currently outside Australia, and you and your Australian citizen/permanent resident partner are intending to get married in the near future, you are probably eligible for the “Prospective Marriage Visa”1.  This visa must be applied “offshore”, this means you must be outside Australia at the time you lodge your application and you must also be outside Australia at the time the visa is granted.  

Subclass 820/801

Once your “offshore” visa is granted, you will be allowed to come to stay in Australia for nine months.  Within this period, you are required to marry your partner under the Australian law.  Once you married within this time limit – then you apply for Subclass 820/801 while you are in Australia.  This will be an “onshore” application and you will be provided with a bridging visa so that you can continue staying in Australia with your partner while your application is being assessed by DIAC. Once the visa is granted, you will be holding a temporary visa, Subclass 820 visa for approximately two years.  Then DIAC will assess the status of your relationship – whether the relationship is still “genuine and ongoing”.  If DIAC is satisfied, then you will be granted with a permanent residency visa, a Subclass 801 visa.

Time Limit

However it would be wrong to assume that once your “offshore” visa application is granted, you can sit back and forget all about the rest of your immigration processing. For one, nine months is not a very long time when you have to get married in another country. So before you arrive at Australia, ensure that you come prepared with all documents that are necessary for marriage registration formalities. If important documents like your birth certificate or health records are missing, then the time may be woefully short to go back and forth between your home country, particularly if files move slow in those civic departments.  The time limit is the most important factor for further processing of your immigration. If you do not get married within nine months of being granted the “offshore” visa and/or if you do not lodge your Subclass 820/801, then you will have to leave Australia before your prospective marriage visa expires.

A ‘Real’ relationship

Then again, it is important to note that the couples must have “physically” met at least once. If you are having a purely “online relationship” or a “virtual relationship” and have never actually met your partner face to face – then your relationship will not be recognized.  It is perfectly OK if your relationship started out on a dating website and you decided to get married while communicating online, but according to DIAC rules, you must have to have physically met with your partner at least once before you can establish your relationship for the purpose of visa application.

If already married

It is possible that you got married to an Australian citizen / permanent resident according to laws of your home or another country, but even this will not give you immediate access to Australia. But even if you may not have right to enter Australia or you may not have a substantive visa that allows you to remain in Australia, you may still be able to apply for a Subclass 309 / 100 visas from outside Australia. However in this case, you will not be provided with a bridging visa – so you will need to wait outside Australia until DIAC decides on your application.  Once it is granted, the same process as Subclass 820 / 801 visas applies.

If not married

With laws being more accommodating of other forms of relationship, according to DIAC rules, you can apply for immigration to Australia even if you are not legally married to your partner. If you have been co-habiting with an Australian citizen or permanent resident as “de-facto” partners for more the twelve months, then you are eligible for applying for immigration to Australia. Though the process will be similar as the one required for the partner visa for a married couple, in this case though you will have to prove that you and your partner have been living together in a “genuine and ongoing relationship” for at least 12 months.  in order to do this, your visa application will have to be supported by sufficient documentary evidence of your relationship like a statement of your relationship duly signed by each partner, financial papers and receipts proving joint assets or ownership of household stuff, joint living arrangements as well as signature of two witnesses who will attest that you and your partner have a genuine relationship.

Significantly, Evidence for “Genuine and ongoing relationship” is not only required for partners who have been living together, but applies to all Subclasses of partner visas and the prospective marriage visa. In fact it may be a good idea to get into the practice of “keeping records” about your relationship since such evidence will be required even after your temporary part of visa is granted.  DIAC will apply the same criteria in two years time to determine whether your relationship is still “genuine and ongoing” and on the basis of which you have the best chances of getting a permanent visa.

Reference:

1. Australian Government Department of Immigration and Citizenship - Visas, Immigration and Refugees - Prospective Marriage Visa (Subclass 300)