Partner Visa (309 &100) Processing Times
 

Hi All

Just thought I would let people who are potentially considering applying for the partner visa (applying from overseas) know that I recently had my application processed successfully in only 2 months time compared to the potential 22 months that is advised on the website.

I took the time beforehand to gather as much evidence as I could and I tried to provide at least one piece for every topic that they ask for. I was also applying for myself only and not bringing any additional family which may have sped things up.

For those that aren't aware, once the visa is granted, you have a year to turn up in Oz and start it officially. This is dated a year from when the application is completed, so if you are planning to save as much money as possible before you go, then keep in mind that the visa might be approved earlier than you expect (which will shorten the time you have before you head over).

All in all, the process so far has been fairly positive and I was impressed with how quickly things were progressed with all thats going on in the world. If anyone has any questions about this visa in particular then let me know and I will answer what I can.

Cheers

Re: Partner Visa (309 &100) Processing Times
 

That was quick! Do you think it was because you were an unusual case? We have yet to apply, but it is good to know that we might get a quick result once we do.
We will watch for future postings from you.
Good luck with the move.

Re: Partner Visa (309 &100) Processing Times
 

Thanks Miles. I am not sure, however I would says its probably simpler thing to apply as one person rather than a case where I might be bringing children over too.

I just made sure that I had gathered as much evidence as possible and then when they asked for some additional things, I sent them ASAP.

What stage are you at with your application? Let me know if there is any advice I can give.

Their phone helpline is pretty good too. I used my skype account (as its an Oz number) to call it for assistance on answering a few sections.

Re: Partner Visa (309 &100) Processing Times
 

Thanks for sharing. This is interesting. I am stuck outside Australia in SE Asia with my partner who is Canadian. The situation here is just getting worse and we are considering our options.

May I ask which country you are in currently and your nationality?

Re: Partner Visa (309 &100) Processing Times
 

Sorry to hear that, how are things getting worse there?
No problem, I am British and applied from the UK. A potential issue might be if you guys needed to attend an interview at an embassy (however we did not have to do this for our application).

Re: Partner Visa (309 &100) Processing Times
 

Thank you for sharing. Did you provide your police and medical checks when you applied or did you wait for them to be requested?

Re: Partner Visa (309 &100) Processing Times
 

I waited until they requested the Police & Medicals because I anticipated the process taking over a year which could've meant I would have had to get them done again at that point.
I got my request for them approx 1 month after I submitted the application and roughly 1 month after that I had the visa!

Re: Partner Visa (309 &100) Processing Times
 

Our visa took around 12 months to come through. Applying from the UK. A fairly non controversial case, i would have thought.
Our problem now is we have been given a date if Nov that we have to 'activate' the visa, by entering Aus. With everything going on that seems virtually impossible.
Has anyone had any luck in getting an extension on that date?

Re: Partner Visa (309 &100) Processing Times
 

Interesting. If you had preloaded then your decision would’ve come through in just a month.

Re: Partner Visa (309 &100) Processing Times
 

Since my daughter, a Canadian married to an Australian, has been going through this convoluted process of a partner visa while living in Australia for almost 1.5 years. Did your age, occupation, home country, language, income, education qualifications etc. pay any significant role in your speedy acceptance?

Re: Partner Visa (309 &100) Processing Times
 

Sorry I can't really answer that as I have no idea why it was processed so quickly.
All I will say is that I took a lot of time before I submitted the application provide as much evidence and detail as possible. I like to think that I was quite thorough in that respect. Then when they requested that I provide more information, I made sure to gether that and submit it within the time frame which they asked for.
As for income, they didnt ask that in the application so it would not have been taken into account.
Also as I have stated above, I am British so I would not expect that to have an advantage over a Canadian citizen. I also assume your daughter speaks English too which would rule out any advantage there... sorry I can't be of more help.

Edit: I just seen that you also mentioned that she lives in Australia while going through this process. I understand that the time scale to apply from within Australia is generally longer than from abroad. It may be that they do this to discourage people from going there before they get the appropriate visa?

Re: Partner Visa (309 &100) Processing Times
 

I also have this issue now! We were hoping to be able to save a bit more money before we went and potentially avoid the need to quarantine at a hotel when we arrive. However, I am not complaining as I am grateful that it was processed without much bother.
As you (or your spouse) now have PR (but still need to activate it) you are exempt from the travel ban that is currently in place, so the real issue is getting your flight over. I phoned Aus immigration to confirm this was the case for me, albeit this was a few months ago now. I also have family that recently moved to Australia from the US. They had to provide a negative covid test the day before the flight and spent two weeks in a hotel once they arrived.
As for an extention... I have seen something on the Australian immigration site that states that your date of arrival can be extended under certain circumstances. I just had a look there to see if I could find the link but havent had any luck. I will update this post when I find it.

Re: Partner Visa (309 &100) Processing Times
 

Hi,

Just about to start on this journey and it's all pretty overwhelming.

A couple of questions, if you don't mind - appreciate any help!

• Do you have any good links for checklists or examples of what needs to be sent in the application?
  
• They ask for correspondence at the start of the relationship - do you just send screenshots of messages?
  
• What format do you upload documents in - did you compile it all in one document?

Thanks,
Jon

Re: Partner Visa (309 &100) Processing Times
 

Hi Jon

• Checklists: Before I submitted the application, I already had an idea of what kind of evidence we would need to provide. I can't remeber how, but I think the section where you write about your history together and your current living situation gives some clues. Once you have submitted the application, you get the chance to upload all the evidence you need. It is broken down into individual sections so will upload your documents separately. You dont need to comile it into one document. This provides you with a kind of checklist for the items you need and once you upload them, it marks that section as complete so you can see what sections you have still to provide evidence.
• Correspondance: I don't think I included text messages, however I did include some emails between us which I printed as a PDF from my email account.
• Formats: The upload page accepts all sorts of different formats, however mine were all PDFs or JPEGs.

I didn't include evidence for all the sections as they don't all necessarily apply. Here are the things I provided as evidence:

• Emails
• Bank statements showing transfers of money between each other
• Bank statement from our shared savings account
• Rental agreement which we both had our names on
• Travel insurance and car insurance which we both had our names on
• Screenshots from facebook which indicated the start date of our relationship
• Photographs of the two of us on different trips over the years (ones with obvious landmarks probably help e.g. eiffel tower, empire state building)

If you haven't started the application yet then I would just start one to get the ball rolling. You don't need to submit it in one go so you can work through it and add all the information you can. That way it will give you an idea of what kind of things you still need to collect. Pretty sure you dont need to upload documents until you have submitted the application.

Hope that helps and let me know if you have anymore questions.

Cheers
Scott

Re: Partner Visa (309 &100) Processing Times
 

Thanks alot Scott, that's really helpful! I thought once you started it, you have to complete it in one go.

Helpful to know you can do it in stages and do it over a longer period.

Be amazing to know how they manage the backlog and why some take so long. I can imagine it's a plethora of things that we'll never understand!

Hopefully this all goes through in a couple of months like yours!