Top 5 Frequently Asked Questions From Our Clients

5 Frequently asked questions that we at Freedom Migration hear from our Clients

Question #1:  Do I need to get married to lodge a Partner Visa?

No. You don’t need to get married for the purposes of applying for a partner visa and it’s certainly not romantic to have to get married for the purpose of a partner visa. It would depend on your relationship as to how long have you been together for example if you’ve been together for 12 months or more before lodging an application, you are likely to be in a position to meet the de facto requirements.

If you haven’t been in a relationship for 12 months or more but you wanted to lodge a partner visa, it all comes down to, first, the evidence and also whether or not you’ve register for civil partnership. Registering your relationship or ‘civil partnership’ as it’s referred to in Queensland removes the requirement for couples to have lived together for 12 months before applying. In summary though with partner visas there is never a ‘one size fits all’ solution, advice changes on a case-by-case basis. At Freedom Migration we never encourage the families we look after to get married for the purposes of getting a partner visa.

Question#2: How long does it take for a partner visa to be granted?

It takes an average from 9-12 months. It also depends on the post meaning where you are lodging the application. For example if your lodging you’re application in Ottawa in the past we have noticed this post can be quite slow. If you’re lodging the application in Dubai it could take 6 months now. We’ve seen some great results in Brisbane with applications taking 5-6 months. Overall on average 9-12 months is the standard, any less is going to be a bonus for you.

Question#3: How much does it cost ?

AUD$6,850. Immigration doesn’t offer any kind of payment plan either and that is just for the primary applicant. So that is your wife or your husband, girlfriend or boyfriend, or you (if you’re the partner visa applicant) have children to be included in the application it’s going to cost you more. If there’s a child to be added in the application it starts at $1700+ depending on the age of the child. So… If you fallen inlove with an Australian it’s fair to say you have very expensive taste because Australians are officially the most expensive people in the world to fall in love with.

Question#4: How do I lodge my Partner visa application?

You have two options:

1. You can lodge your application via the internet which is our preferred method at Freedom Migration or,
2. You can lodge a paper application. For this you need to find out where the nearest processing center is and make sure that you lodge a complete application including forms and all of the evidence to that processing center. (An update: Last 18 November 2017, The Department of Immigration has announced that they’re going paperless. Read more here).

Question#5: If I lodge my partner visa can I stop studying?

This is usually for cases of International Students who have fallen in love with an Australian locally and they would like to lodge a partner visa to allow them to remain in Australia long term.

The answer is NO.

You have to continue studying until your student expires or until your partner Visa is granted whichever comes first. It’s really important that you lodge that partner visa before the student visa expires.

IMPORTANT: Please note, this does not constitute Immigration advice. Always seek advice from a Registered Migration Agent before applying for an Australian Visa. Migration Law is constantly changing. This information is accurate only at the time of publication.