Offshore Partner Visa – 309/100 Subclass Visa

Offshore Partner Visas

This offshore Partner visa – subclass 309/100 is for applicants who are outside Australia.

There are 2 applications involved in the offshore Partner visa

1. Subclass 309 is a provisional visa.

2. Subclass 100 is a permanent visa

The main requirement for the Offshore Partner Visa:

You lodge both the provisional and permanent visa as one application and pay one visa application fee.

Your application is processed in two stages, about two years apart. You are required to provide supporting documents and meet the visa requirements for both stages.

You must remain outside at the time of application and also when the provisional Partner visa subclass 309 is granted. However, you can be in or outside Australia when the permanent Partner visa subclass 100 is granted.

If you wish to lodge an onshore Partner Visa, please read Partner Visa – Subclass 820/801.

You may be eligible for the Prospective Marriage Visa Subclass 300 if you do not meet the Partner visa requirements.

Let Us Contact You

What Is The Application Process?

There are 2 main applications to the Partner Visa

Stage 1: Partner Visa Sponsorship Application

All applicants for a partner category visa must have a sponsor. The sponsor must be prepared to sponsor the visa applicant and any members of the family unit who are also included in the application and who are also migrating with the applicant. The sponsor is usually the person with whom the visa applicant has the fiancé, marital, or de factor partner relationship.

Be an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen
No criminal record involving violence towards children and women
Be 18 years or over (if 16 or 17 and wish to sponsor someone above 18, the parent or guardian must be the sponsor)

Previously sponsored a partner or been sponsored as a partner
- Previously sponsored 2 or more persons as a fiancé for migration, or
- Sponsored another fiancé or partner within last 5 years
- Were sponsored as a fiancé or partner within the last 5 years
- Unless compelling circumstances exist warranting a waiver
Not be the holder of a Woman at Risk (subclass 204) visa that has been granted in the past 5 years and currently wishing to sponsor their former partner/ partner that they had at time of visa grant
Currently or previously a contributory parent category visa holder.
- If you have been granted a permanent contributory parent category visa on or after 1 July 2009, you are unable to sponsor a person for a partner category visa for 5 years from your visa grant date if you were in a married or de facto relationship with that person on or before the date you were granted the contributory parent category visa.
- Exceptions exist e.g. compelling reasons

To provide adequate accommodation and financial assistance as required to meet your partner’s reasonable living needs
If applying for a partner visa outside Australia, you will need to cover this for the first 2 years.
If applying from within Australia then the partner would need to cover the 2 years following the grant of the temporary partner visa.

Stage 2: Partner Visa Application

All visa applicants must:

Outside of Australia

Meet health and character requirements

Meet Public Interest Criteria, such as no debt to Commonwealth, holding a valid passport, etc

Be sponsored by either a fiance, spouse, or de facto partner who is an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or an eligible New Zealand citizen

if the relationship broke down after being granted the subclass 309, you may still get the permanent visa if you can show either family violence has occurred or you have access to a child related to the Sponsor

Have a mutual commitment (the applicant and the sponsor) to a shared life as a couple to the exclusion of all others, where the relationship between them is genuine and continuing.

Live together or must not live separately and apart on a permanent basis.

Have a written consent prepared by the non-migrating parent or court order for an under 18 year old child accompanying the application.

What Do We Like About This Visa?

This visa subclass provides an opportunity for employers to access skilled and semi-skilled talents for a temporary period. It is designed to stimulate the economy of Australia and support Australian businesses.

In 2018, we saw an offshore Partner Visa get approved in less than 1 month.

Love & Sex is not a requirement for this visa.

Costs can be saved through converting or lodging another subclass within the same Partner Visa program.

The law provides loopholes within the discretion of the Department of Immigration to overcome limitations, eg. the Applicant can directly obtain PR, Sponsor has sponsored more than 2 people in the past, etc.

There are ways to add dependents even after subclass 309 has been granted.

What Mistakes Do People Usually Make?

Our recent observation of visa refusal trends usually stem from a lack of understanding of the legal framework:

Providing pictures of holidays and messages between Sponsor and Visa Applicant. This does not meet any legal criterion.

A subclass 309 visa holder expires once the accompanying subclass 100 is refused.

A person is barred from applying for any other visas in Australia if their Partner Visa was refused.

Any mistake (including honest human error), leads to 3 years ban. Non-migrating dependents are also affected.

Failing to meet Schedule 1 legal requirements = invalid application. Therefore, legal checks must be performed on all visa applications.

Failing to meet ‘time of application’ legal criteria = incurable mistake (cannot be won on appeal). Therefore, legal checks must be performed on all visa applications.

What Questions Do Migration Agents Ask Our Accredited Specialists?

1. What visa can my client get if their subclass 100 was refused?
2. My client lodged a subclass 309/100 and is now physically in Australia, how can they remain in Australia for the grant of the Partner Visa?
3. Can an Australian sponsor their good friend under the Partner Visa program? There is no love, no sex, and they don’t live with each other.
4. My client was refused a Partner Visa, he now wishes to reapply for another Partner Visa, I can’t find any part of the law that prevents them from re-lodging again. Where can I find this law?

Depending on your circumstances, there are a number of visas you may consider. Click on the following types of Partner Visas to find out more information.

Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.

Agape Henry Crux. ABN: 98 611 605 200