One of the questions we are asked frequently concerns the issuing of a Bridging Visa when a partner visa application is lodged onshore – ie when the visa applicant is in Australia.

As a general rule a Bridging Visa – or a BV – is granted when a visa application is lodged while the applicant is physically in Australia.

In other words, if you lodge a partner visa while you are in Australia – you might have become eligible for a partner visa while working on an employer sponsored subclass 457 visa, for example – a Bridging Visa will be granted upon the submission of the partner visa application, and will usually allow you to remain in Australia for the duration of the processing of your partner visa application, following the expiry of your present visa.

There are different types of Bridging Visa, and the type of BV you are granted will depend on what sort of visa you hold when you apply for the partner visa.

If you apply for the partner visa whilst holding what is called a substantive visa you will be granted a Bridging Visa A, or BVA.

Note: A substantive visa is any visa which is not a Bridging Visa, a Criminal Justice visa, or an Enforcement visa.

Importantly, a BVA that is granted to an applicant for a partner visa has no restrictions as to working – in other words you will have full work rights in Australia when the BVA comes into effect.

Note that a BV does not come into effect until the expiry of the visa held when the partner visa application was lodged with the Department of Immigration.

If you hold a subclass 457 visa when lodging a partner visa application, and the 457 visa is cancelled – for example, if you depart the sponsoring employer before the expiry of the 457 visa – and do not find another employer to take over the 457 visa the BVA will be cancelled at the same time.

In such circumstances you will need to seek the issuing of a Bridging Visa E, or BVE, to remain lawfully in Australia.

The BVE does not have full work rights attaching, and an application must then be made to the Department of Immigration for work rights to be granted. This is not automatic, and a case will need to be made for work rights to be made available.

Caution must therefore be exercised if you are the holder of a subclass 457 visa who is applying for a partner visa, you cease a 457 visa sponsored employment, and want to continue working while awaiting a decision on the partner visa application – with partner visa applications taking more than 12 months to be processed to a decision financial difficulties can arise if you depart a sponsored employment without another sponsored employment being available.

The GM Family division of Go Matilda Visas has many years of experience looking after partner visa applications for applicants within Australia and overseas.

If you are considering a partner visa application and would like an initial discussion and a no obligation fixed fee proposal please contact the office that is nearest to you, or complete the enquiry form on this page.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Individuals who are not married are generally required to have been living together for at least 12 months if they are to be considered to be in a de facto relationship (6 months when a partner is being included on a subclass 457 employer sponsored visa application).

More specifically, for migration purposes a person is in a de facto relationship with another person if they:

> Are not married to each other
> Have a mutual commitment to a shared life to the exclusion of all others
> Are in a genuine and continuing relationship
> Live together or do not live separately and apart on a permanent basis
> Are not related by family.

Department of Immigration guidance expands the living together requirement:

“Living together is regarded as a common element in most on-going relationships. It is recognised that, for various reasons, couples may sometimes have to live apart. Provided the separation is temporary and the couple had, at some point since commencement of the relationship lived together, their relationship might still satisfy the requirements of a de facto relationship.

Partners who are currently not living together may be required to provide additional evidence that they are not living separately and apart on a permanent basis in order to satisfy the requirements of a de facto relationship.”

There are exemptions from the 12 month relationship requirement, namely where:

> There are compelling and compassionate circumstances for the grant of the visa, for example, there is a child of the relationship
> The relationship is registered under a law of a state or territory prescribed in the Acts Interpretation (Registered Relationships) Regulations 2008 as a kind of relationship prescribed in those regulations
> Their partner is, or was the holder of a permanent humanitarian visa and, before the humanitarian visa was granted, was in a de facto relationship with the applicant that was declared to the department at the time
> Their partner is an applicant for a permanent humanitarian visa.

Where a relationship has not existed for 12 months and the above exemptions are not available an applicant and his/her partner might consider marrying, as a person who is married to an Australian citizen or permanent resident is immediately able to apply for a partner visa.

In saying this, we hasten to add that we are not suggesting marrying purely for the sake of convenience, or to secure a visa outcome!

In Australia weddings can be carried out by a person called a marriage celebrant – for a wedding in Melbourne or Adelaide we are pleased to invite you to consider Christopher Steele of Simple Weddings.

A marriage celebrant can also provide a Notice of Intention to Marry, which is a required document when lodging a Prospective Marriage visa application.

GM Family is ideally placed to assist with partner visa applications. Our fees are competitive, and can be paid in 6 x interest free monthly instalments to help you manage your cash flow.

If you are considering a partner visa application, and would like an initial discussion and a no obligation fixed fee proposal contact our closest office to you, or complete the enquiry form on this page.

Thinking of lodging a Partner visa application? Move quickly! The Australian Government has announced today a 50% increase in Visa Application Charges for partner and prospective marriage visa applications lodged from the start of 2015.

This is what the VACs are now, and will be from 1st Jan, 2015:

> Offshore (outside Australia) provisional and permanent partner visas: currently $3,085, increasing to $4,630

> Onshore (in Australia) provisional and permanent partner visas – currently: $4,575, increasing to $6,865

> Prospective marriage visas: currently $3,085, increasing to $4,630

Contact your local Go Matilda Visas office or complete the form on this webpage if you want to discuss how we can lodge a partner visa application for you quickly.

The Department of Immigration has confirmed today the imminent withdrawal of certain family visa subclasses, including:

> Aged Dependent Relative visa (subclasses 114 and 838)
> Remaining Relative visa (subclasses 115 and 835)
> Carer visa (subclasses 116 and 836)
> Parent visa (subclass 103)
> Aged Parent visa (subclass 804).

The visas will be closed to new applications before the start of the 2014/15 Migration Program year, commencing on the 1st of July, 2014.

The date of cessation is to be announced shortly.

If you are intending to apply for any of the above visas we recommend that you lodge an application now. The GM Family team can progress such an application quickly – our fees are fixed in amount, and are payable in stages.

Contact your closest GM Family office or complete the enquiry form on this page if you would like to discuss your visa options with an experienced migration advisor.

Don’t delay – it will not be possible to apply for a visa under these subclasses for much longer.

As explained more fully here, the subclass 461 visa is a long term temporary residency visa that is available to non-New Zealand family members of a New Zealand citizen, which allows the 461 visa holder to move to Australia to live and work.

Some will be concerned about what happens if the relationship with the New Zealand citizen comes to an end, and the 461 visa is to be renewed.

Fortunately, a 461 visa can be renewed in the following circumstances:

* You are still a member of the family unit of the New Zealand citizen you named in your application for your first subclass 461 visa, or

* You are in Australia and:
> you hold a subclass 461 visa, or you are not the holder of a substantive visa and the last substantive visa you held was a subclass 461 visa, and
> you are no longer a member of the family unit of a person in relation to whom you were granted a subclass 461 visa, and
> you have not become a member of the family unit of any other person

or

* You are outside Australia and:
> either you have been in Australia as the holder of a subclass 461 visa for at least two years in the past five years, or you have substantial business, cultural, employment or personal ties with Australia that are of benefit to Australia and you have not been absent from Australia for a continuous period of five years before applying for this visa unless there are compelling reasons for the absence, and
> you held a subclass 461 visa when you last left Australia, and
> you are no longer a member of the family unit of the person in relation to whom you were granted a subclass 461 visa, and
> you have not become a member of the family unit of another person.