If you’re living in Sydney and want your partner to join you from overseas, then a partner visa is essential. However, the application process can be taxing, as it involves plenty of paperwork, and the way your assessment is processed is fairly opaque. This often leaves applicants with lots of questions, and this article deals with some of the most frequent ones related to the visa processing timeline.
The Two Process Stages
As applicants already in Australia will know, relationship visas fall into two categories: temporary and permanent. If you are based outside Australia, the first stage of your application will grant you the right to temporarily live in the country if it is successful. This means you can stay there while you complete the second stage of the process to gain your permanent visa.
The reason Australia offers to let you stay in the country while you apply for a permanent visa is that the application can take as long as two years, and sometimes more. This also gives you time to find a partner visa lawyer in Sydney, or an immigration agent who can assist with your application. For the temporary visa stage, eight months to around a year and a half are typical waiting times.
Is Two Years Too Long?
The two years required for the permanent visa start from when you apply, and at first glance, it does seem like a very long time. However, this isn’t due to understaffing or a backlog. It’s this long by design. It gives the authorities a clearer picture of whether your love is real because you can supply them with updated evidence that your relationship is still together as time passes.
Other Factors That Influence Waiting Times
The biggest factor that impacts the processing time for a partner visa is the completeness of your application. If you submit it with missing documents and incomplete forms, your assessment will be delayed while officials reach out to you to gather more information. If there are too many errors, they may ask that you reapply, which may also mean you need a new temporary visa.
There may also be delays that are not your fault. There are occasionally periods where the authorities receive an overwhelming number of applications, and changes to immigration policies or the technology used during the application can cause processing times to swell.
Can You Speed Up the Process?
Partner visa applicants often have many questions, and this is one of the most common. However, there isn’t really much you can do to speed up your application. The best thing, really, is not to slow it down. To ensure your partner visa process goes smoothly and quickly, make sure all your documents and evidence are present and correct when you submit them. If you are required to provide more information, do so without delay.
Conclusion
The Australian partner visa process does seem long, especially when the outcome is uncertain. But for many couples, it actually flies by. With a temporary visa, you still get to stay together in the country while applying. And if you are confident that your application meets all the requirements, it doesn’t take up too much of your time.