Hi,

I am an Australian citizen and married for over 3 years. My spouse and myself have been living outside of Australia since we got married so we never applied for her partner visa or PR.

We talked to a lawyer and he said that since we are married for more than 3 years so when we apply for the Partner Visa then there's a chance that she might be granted PR directly instead of the Partner Visa. But that's dependent on the discretion of the visa officer.

So wanted to check if this is correct?

Also which process will be quicker:
a) Applying for her Partner Visa?
OR
b) Applying for her PR independently?

Thanks in advance!!

You don't apply for permanent residency, you apply for a visa. Visa subclasses can be temporary or permanent. A subclass 309/100 Partner visa is a two stage visa; subclass 309 is temporary, 100 is permanent. Normally you will be granted a 309 and then after two years you will be granted a 100. If you have been married for three years (two years with children) then you will be granted both concurrently meaning your wife will be a permanent resident once she goes onshore to activate her visa.

In short, your wife should apply for a subclass 309/100 Partner visa.

Thanks much for the clarification!!

Also instead of filing an offshore application, can we file an onshore application? My wife can travel with me on Tourist visa and then we can file an onshore application. Is this a possibility or is it mandatory that we have to file an offshore application? We are thinking in onshore direction since the process for Partner Visa seems to take at least a year.

A tourist visa is for visiting as a tourist, not arriving with the intention of applying onshore. Just apply for it off shore and get on with it, much easier in the long run.

You can do although offshore processing is currently far quicker than onshore processing and there's no difference in fees anymore.

Thanks much and appreciate your inputs!!