DIAC changes to onshore partner visa applications

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Created on Thursday, 22 August 2013 15:25

Written by Editorial staff

A few registered migration agents have recently been struggling with a lesser-known change that the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) introduced on July 1, 2013.

On Tuesday (August 20), a member of Migration Alliance wrote a blog post about onshore partner visas, and how the lodgement process for them has been slightly altered.

There are two types of onshore partner visas: the partner temporary visa (subclass 820) and the partner permanent visa (subclass 801).

The subclass 820 visa allows a person to live, work and study in Australia, as well as enrol in Medicare. This is for people who are waiting for a decision to be made about their partner permanent visa.

The subclass 801 visa enables a person to stay permanently in Australia with their partner. It also renders them eligible to lodge a citizenship application.

As of July 1, you can no longer apply for a onshore partner visa in person. Under Schedule 1 of the Migration Regulations Act 1994, it now states that applications must be posted or couriered to the Partner Processing Centre.

According to the DIAC, a client's current location will determine which Partner Processing Centre they are required to post or courier their application to.

Many migration agents believe this is a huge step backwards, and is just making life unnecessarily difficult for migration agents in Australia and their clients alike.

The blog post raises the issue of time-sensitive onshore partner visa applications. Are people lodging them really supposed to hand them over to a courier service and hope they make it to their destination on time?

A number of migration agents have replied to the blog post and shared their sentiments.

Christopher Levingston, who will soon be giving a series of presentations up and down the country as part of the Migration Conferences 2013, has suggested that "eLodgement" is the way to go.

Other migration agents are simply frustrated that they weren't informed of this change, with many only discovering that in-person applications for onshore partner visas are no longer acceptable when trying to submit one.

In the blog post, it was also mentioned that the onshore partner visa application process can now take up to 13 months.

One migration agent said that it now "costs a fortune not to get any service from the 'People Are Our Business' Department".