There are no shortages of negative news during the COVID-19 pandemic. At Work Visa Lawyers, we aim to take a positive approach. Below are six visa options that you may be eligible to apply for during these uncertain times.  

Principal Chris Johnston walks you through how to put together a quality Partner Visa Application

to give yourselves the best chance for a sucessful and speedy visa processing time.

This Article was last updated on Monday April 6, 2020.

As we write this update, we have a very many people worried for the future and concerns for loved ones abroad and in Australia due to the disruption the Coronavirus crisis is causing as the number of confirmed cases rise globally by the hour.

At this point in time, many plans for the future have been disrupted as a result of the lockdown or shutdown of airports and countries to foreigners.

Our thoughts are with anyone who finds themselves in this position. As specialist in the area of partner and family migration we have been considering how the Coronavirus crisis may be affecting you and created

the following Questions and Answers below:

In 2018, one quarter of all Australian marriages were between a local and foreign born person.
That’s 28,452 marriages in Australia and potential spouse visas. (Source: https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/home-is-where-the-heart-is-or-is-it-20191223-p53mgt.html)

Partner visa processing times have steadily increased over the past two years.

We have previously written about the processing times here: https://www.workvisalawyers.com.au/news/all/australia-partner-visa-processing-times-update-march-2017

The current processing times are such that for a Temporary Partner (subclass 820) visa (onshore) 22 to 29 months on the Home Affairs website (https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/partner-onshore/temporary-820)

And for a Partner Provisional (subclass 309) visa (offshore) 17 to 20 months on the Home Affairs website (https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/partner-offshore)

The Department is receiving more applications in a migration program year (same as the financial year, from 1 July to 30 June) than it will be able to process in that year, which is affecting your ability to get the visa granted.

Since this post was published the Department of Home Affairs has advised that these new sponsorship requirements will not be commencing from 17 April 2019 as was previously communicated. At this stage there is no timeframe for the introduction of these sponsorship changes.

In November 2018 we posted about new legislation that would significantly impact the process for lodging family visas. The new requirement that sponsors for family visas be approved before a visa application can be lodged will take effect on a yet to be dermined date. It will apply to all Prospective Marriage Visa,  Partner Visa or Parent Visa applications lodged from this date.