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Partner & Family Visas
If you have a family member who is an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, or are in a relationship with such a person, you may be eligible for one of the 'family' visas. All family visas require sponsorship by your relative/partner. Some may also require the payment of a 'bond'.
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The key 'family' visas include:
Partner/spouse visas
These are for people who are in a 'genuine and ongoing' relationship with an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. This includes de-facto/common law relationships and same sex relationships. There are onshore and offshore options for this visa. There are lengthy processing delays within this visa category so careful advance planning regarding where you will be when you lodge is very important.
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Fiance visa
These are for individuals who are engaged to an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, and have or will make plans to marry within 9 months of the date of visa grant. This visa must be applied for offshore and you must be offshore when the visa is granted, although visits to Australia on a visitor visa during the processing phase might be a possibility.
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Parent visas
These are for people with one or more children 'settled' in Australia as citizens, permanent residents or eligible New Zealand citizens, where the number of other children living overseas is either equal to or does not exceed the number in Australia, or is less than the greatest number of children residing in any single overseas country (this is called the ‘Balance of Family’ test). There are currently both contributory parent and non-contributory parent visas available - the former does require the payment of very significant fees to the Department of Home Affairs. There are onshore and offshore options with this visa category, and processing times are long, so planning whether you lodge onshore or offshore is important.
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Child visas
These are for children (including step and adopted) of Australian citizens, permanent relatives and eligible New Zealand citizens who are less than 18 years old (with some very limited exceptions to this age limit).
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