Partner Visas - 2021
There has been an anxious wait for good news for partner visa applicants in 2021, and there have been a few substantial developments worth noting:
Onshore Grants for offshore lodged partner visas
A comical situation arose this year for many people in Australia, who had applied for an ‘offshore’ partner visas (for which they needed to be outside Australia when their visa is granted). Many were visiting their Australian partner but became stuck in Australia as they could not return home. But, while they could apply for another Visitor visa onshore, they could not get their Partner visa granted!
Sadly, this is a legacy of old legislation. Most newer legislated visas can allow you to be either on or offshore for lodgement, and on or offshore at the time of visa grant and even your family members can even be in different places at the time and it still works. But the old Partner, Parent, and Child visas, have a separate subclass for onshore and for offshore applications – so there is no mixing it up.
Now under normal circumstances this is inconvenient, but during a global pandemic it is just crazy to expect people to leave the country (at great difficulty and cost) for a visa grant; only to return and have to endure two weeks of costly quarantine. Not to mention the risk people face by entering another country that may be experiencing outbreaks of COVID.
Fortunately the Government announced that offshore partner visa applicants who are currently in Australia can have their visa granted while they are lawfully in Australia. The changes are commenced in February 2021, and are expected to stay in force for some time.
At this stage the announcement does not extend to Prospective Marriage Visa applicants; however there is much lobbying taking place to try to extend the new arrangements.
Priority in Designated Regional Areas
Good news is on the horizon for people residing in designated regional areas!
The Australian Government recently announced that they would introducing priority processing for onshore partner visa applicants where the relevant sponsor resides in a designated regional area for the 2020-2021 migration program. So, if you are currently living in a designated regional area in Australia and were planning to start the onshore partner visa process soon, then this is great news for you. Basically this change will ensure that your application will be prioritised and you will be placed in front of the queue!
Sponsorship Changes
The long-anticipated split of partner visa applications into separate applications for the sponsor and applicant may be coming soon. Once implemented sponsors will need to have their sponsorship approved before the applicant can lodge their corresponding visa application. This falls in line with the current family sponsorship framework which mandates character checks, the sharing of personal information with the applicant and subjects the sponsor to enforceable sponsorship obligations. These changes will complement existing family violence provisions within the Partner visa program. That said, there is there has been no definite date set as to when this new legislation will be implemented.
New English Language Requirement
In the 2020 budget, the Federal Government announced that they will be introducing new English language requirements for Partner visa applicants and their permanent resident sponsors. These changes are not designed to disadvantage applicants, rather they will help support English language fluency and enhance social cohesion and economic participation outcomes.
There has been a few clarifying statements made by the Prime Minister and the Acting Immigration Minister, since the budget was handed down, about the partner visa English language requirement. It appears at this stage, that provisional visa holders will be required to have at least functional English or to have completed 500 hours of an English language program, prior to the grant of their permanent visa.
COVID-19 Related Visa Application Refunds
Unfortunately Prospective Marriage (subclass 300) visa holders are still not exempt from Australia’s travel ban and as such, Prospective marriage visa (Subclass 300) holders will be able to access a VAC refund, as the Department is not extending the entry date for 300 visa holders and are moving to cancel the visas of those offshore.
How can you be proactive?
We suggest that you consider lodging your onshore Partner Visa application before new sponsorship legislation becomes active. The new process will require sponsorship approval before applicants are able to lodge their visa applications. We have yet to be advised as to how long the processing of sponsorship applications will take or if they will leave visa applicants with no options to stay onshore.
Similarly, if your partner’s English language skills are low, it may be wise for them to commence an English language course to ensure that this requirement can be met. It is not clear whether it will be a time of application or time of decision criteria, hence it is better to be safe than sorry.