Over the past several years, the processing times for partner visa applications and prospective marriage visa applications have continued to increase.
Partner visas and prospective marriage visas allow spouses, fiancés and de facto partners of Australian citizens and permanent residents to live in Australia with their Australian partner.
People who apply for these visas must submit extensive proof that their relationship with their Australian partner is genuine and must fulfil Australia’s strict immigration character requirements. The base visa application charge for these visas is $7160. In the 2 April 2019 Budget, the government announced a 5.4% “uplift” to visa application charges from 1 July 2019, which is estimated to increase government revenue by $275 million.
Partner visa processing time service standards
As at 26 April 2019, the Department of Home Affairs is processing:
- 75% of subclass 300 prospective marriage visa applications within 13 months and 90% within 21 months
- 75% of subclass 309 offshore partner visa applications within 15 months and 90% within 20 months
- 75% of subclass 820 onshore partner visa applications within 21 months and 90% within 28 months
- 75% of subclass 100 permanent partner visa applications within 20 months and 90% within 34 months of the eligibility date
- 75% of subclass 801 permanent partner visa applications within 20 months and 90% within 26 months of the eligibility date
In rare cases, partner visa applications can take many years to be processed.
Partner migration program planning levels
As at 30 June 2018, the Department of Home Affairs had 80,539 unprocessed partner visa applications on hand.
The number of unprocessed applications in the partner visa pipeline has likely increased since June 2018.
This is because for the past 2 years, the government has been deliberately processing fewer visa applications.
For several years, the government’s total migration program planning level has been 190,000 visa places and the partner migration planning level has been 47,825 visas.
In the 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 years, 47,825 partner visas were granted, in line with the planning levels.
In the 2017-18 year, only 39,799 partner visas were granted, even though the planning level remained at 47,825.
Details of how many partner visas are being granted in the current 2018-19 year have not yet been released. However, it is expected that the number of partner visas granted will again be around 39,799, over 8000 fewer visas than the 47,825 planning level.
In March 2019, the government announced that they intend to reduce the total migration program planning levels from 190,000 to 160,000 for 4 years from 2019-20 to 2022-23.
They intend to reduce the partner visa planning levels for the 2019-20 year from 47,825 to 39,799.
The human cost of partner visa processing delays
The long processing times for partner and prospective marriage visa applications cause great hardship for many families.
These families are forced to put their plans on hold while they await the outcome of their visa application.
For many families that apply for the offshore subclass 309 partner visa, the visa applicant’s only option is to live overseas and apart from their Australian partner until the visa application has been finalised. In some cases, young children are separated from their Australian parent or step-parent for over a year.
