3 Ways to Get Your Australian Partner Visa Processed Faster

Posted on: 8 September 2021

Did you know that the average processing time for a partner visa in Australia can take up to two years? When you're eager to begin your new life with your partner as soon as possible, the application can feel like aeons. Thankfully, there are some ways you can speed up the process and get your partner visa quicker. In fact, if you take all the necessary steps, you may even be able to bring that time down to less than one year. Here are three tips for speeding up your application.

1. Submit everything upfront

From criminal record checks to financial records to Q&As about your relationship, there are several documents you'll need to provide to complete your partner visa application. Since there's so much to submit, most couples end up completing and sending off documents over a long period of time. Naturally, this will make your application take a lot longer.

One of the best ways to ensure a faster processing time is to make your application decision-ready. Decision-ready applications are applications that have all the necessary information your officer may need to decide whether to grant the visa.

While the visa office used to process applications in the order they were received, these days, they give priority to decision-ready applications. So, submitting all essential and non-compulsory forms upfront can drastically speed up the process.

2. Submit at the best possible time

Note that even though submitting all your documentation at once is the best way to speed up your application, that doesn't mean you should submit the application as soon as possible. Instead, it's sometimes best to wait a few months to make sure your relationship looks as rock steady as possible to your officer so they have no reason to delay their decision.

For example, if you're a few months shy of an anniversary, consider waiting to apply; being in a relationship for one year looks better to the visa office than being in a relationship for 10 months. On top of this, remember that assets like joint bank accounts, shared leases, and even travelling together can be a big helping hand to prove your relationship to the visa office. If you have a holiday booked or you're thinking of sharing finances in the near future, it's best to get those out of the way before applying for a visa so you can use them as evidence.

3. Take extra care with written statements

While it can be time-consuming to produce evidence documents, filling out parts of the visa form like the finances or personal details sections can be a lot easier than the written statements because there's less margin for error. As such, it's important to take extra care with written statements.

Call in the help of a professional visa expert to help you hit on all the factors you should include in your statements about your relationship. Many factors you may not have even thought of, such as mentioning activities or events you've undertaken together or talking about milestones, can go a long way in proving your relationship to your visa officer.

The same goes for the 888 forms your family and friends need to fill in talking about your relationship; make sure everyone is briefed by a professional on what to include so you can check all the boxes. The more legitimate your relationship looks to the visa officer, the more likely they'll be to give you a quick approval.

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