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I can more or less confirm what the others have said. The 820/801 route is what you want if you are aiming to get the visa through your Partner Onshore in Australia. Your bridging visa is only valid after the expiry of the initial tourist visa. This was the case with my partner. The bridging visa was granted easily, but it is only in force after the tourist visa expires (i.e. 3 months after she arrived). So my partner is unable to work for these 3 months. Then after that, she is able to work, but there could be difficulties if employers don't understand the bridging visa category. So it will probably be temp work while we wait for the partner visa to be granted. 12 months is a long time to wait, but perhaps your circumstances enable it to work on a single salary. Good luck! It might be faster to apply out of country, but that's tough for a family to be split like that. However, I have seen 5 month application times offshore on this forum. While the Onshore people seem to be waiting at least 12 months, if not more. Also, don't mean to be a bringer of bad news, but there is a lot of talk about the visa rules changing 1 July. So it may be worth getting your application in before then, although thats going to be a rush.

Yes, ours was decision ready. Could be a mistake, but too late now! We just wanted it all out of the way without having any loose ends hanging over us. We might end up having to pay more in the end, but we didn't use an agent and we submitted before the fee increase, so I'll take that as a saving to make myself feel better.

Don't know the answer for @AMIT1990, but @Muttley when my partner and I submitted our parts of the online visa application, we received the bridging visa shortly after I submitted the sponsor piece.

Good luck @Muttley Fingers crossed we get processed quickly.

@Naomi86 Yes, it's the first stage. Yes, we decided to upload medical and police clearance upfront, against most recommendations that we've read. We wanted to get it all out of the way as we feel our case is straight-forward and we come from a low-risk country (UK). Consider us the guinea-pig. It is an expensive theory to test if we've got it wrong, however 12 months for the medicals is a long time and one would hope that they would be able to get to our application within 12 months. This doesn't seem to be what we are seeing in the public average processing times though. The UK police clearance didn't cost that much and it didn't take that long if we need to do it again. The medicals in Aus were more expensive (about 350 AUD), so it will be painful to pay for that again, but compared to the price of the Visa, the medicals look like a bargain! We will keep this forum post updated with our progress. There don't appear to be many 820 applicants, but hopefully it helps somebody.

Update to this. All our documents are now uploaded and medicals have been processed (hopefully not a waste of money). So now we wait and see if front loading the documents helps at all or not. Still no case officer, but we weren't expecting one for at least a month or 2 anyway.

@Naomi86 There have been some stories floating around of a change in rules in July. I heard 1 July the rules are going to change. This doesn't surprise me since the 457 visa was overhauled recently. Now, it might be nothing to worry about and the Partner visa rule changes might be minor or not a problem for your circumstances. However, typically, these changes worry people who are about to apply. This is why my partner and I applied before July. I would recommend you do the same if at all possible, or consider applying out of country where processing times are shorter anyway. Saying all that, your circumstances might not enable that. For my partner and I, it wasn't really feasible for us to apply out of country, since we were on a sabbatical and constantly travelling around before our arrival in Australia to apply for our visa. Don't worry about getting documents stamped and certified and certainly not outside of Australia. You can get that all done when you arrive in Australia fairly easily. There are JP services everywhere. You don't really need anything certified or witnessed apart from the Form 888 Statutory Declarations from your 2 Australian Citizens/Residents. The Case Officer can of course ask for certified copies of originals at a later stage if they deem it necessary. As the others have stated, be a little careful with bringing documents etc with you. If you are entering as a tourist, you are meant to be a tourist, not applying for jobs or visas. Basically, don't do anything to raise suspicion. Of course, if this advice makes you nervous and act strangely and more suspicious, then it's not very helpful either. For what it's worth, we brought a small file with a few documents on us and had no problems, of course, if you can, give the documents to the Australian resident. You can save some digital documents in the cloud and you can always post yourself some documents later if needed. We actually didn't need that many physical documents. A lot of bills and bank statements etc are online these days. Good luck!

Good idea! Done.

I thought that I would start a thread for the few crazy people who submit for Onshore Partner visas this month. Submitted: 18 May (Online) Relationship: Defacto Police Clearance: Front loaded Medicals: Will attend next week Current status: Awaiting Case Officer

Got it! Thanks! That makes sense.

Hi Lodging an in-country partner visa. We need to supply 2 Stat Decs from Australian citizens/residents. We have to get these witnessed by a JP of course. Once this is done, what do we upload? Just a copy of the witnessed Form 888? Or do we have to upload copies of passports and residence permits too? Thanks!

Thanks @MaggieMay24

We are in the process of applying for an 820 partner visa. On the application, there is a section that covers the '4 pillars' of a relationship. Financial, social, household and nature of commitment. Space for 2000 character letter answers. It was our understanding that we had to cover these areas in our Statutory declarations. So what is the best way to approach this? Should we focus more on the questions in the application form? Or should we focus more on the statutory declarations? Or should we fill in the same information in both? Any tips appreciated.

We've decided to speak to a Migration Agent to hear what they think about our case. Thanks to everybody for answering all my questions. On the one hand, it is tempting to apply offshore for all of the very good reasons already mentioned, but we've been a bit spooked by the long processing times, how strict they can be about defacto evidence and the risk of missing the window for me to enter Aus so I can accrue enough time to stay on with a RRV towards citizenship/PR. On the other hand, it is tempting to apply onshore because it gives us more time to build solid evidence simply as time goes on by living together and having shared bills and lives together. It also gives us a known date when we can enter Australia with enough time to secure my RRV. The obvious downside being the work restrictions on my Partner while waiting for the visa and obviously bridging visas aren't ideal.

The trouble comes with the fact that I've not been resident long enough in Australia to qualify for RRV. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that I need to show 2 years of residence in Australia to qualify for an RRV? My circumstances are very different. I applied and was lucky enough to receive a 189 Visa, but then life happened and I only spent about 1 or 2 months in Australia. Then I met my girl and stayed in the UK with her. Now the time on my 189 Visa is running out, but we'd both like to go across and make our life there.

Thanks @katemav26 Luckily we've not lived apart (which seems to be a BIG deal) and we've been collecting hard evidence so we feel that we have a pretty straight-forward case. Of course, it is still stressful and that's why we are tempted to wait even longer before applying. We might consult with a migration agent, since I agree, it isnt the most obvious of cases like a marriage for 10+ years.

Thanks! We will consider our options and play out both scenarios. The danger is that if we apply in Oct - Nov and it takes 10-14 months, then we are looking at initial entry of Aug 2017 at the earliest and Dec 2017 at the latest. Of course, that assumes worst case processing times. The Pros are that my partner wouldn't need any kind of bridging visa. You've got a point that my partner could come over with me in May 2017 and by the time the 3 month tourist visa runs out, it would work out more or the less the same thing as any bridging visa would kick in in August anyway. So in summary it basically depends on the amount of risk we decide to handle on the processing times of the Visa. Offshore with application date of Nov 2016: Cons: * Less hard evidence of our life together * Visa may only be approved in Dec 2017 at worst case. * Partner may be forced to remain offshore without me and maintain 2 places to live etc since she can't continuously stay on tourist visas. Pros: * Visa could be approved Aug 2017 or sooner, which means my Partner could start working right away in Aus. * No bridging Visa. Onshore with application date of May 2017: Cons: * Partner will have to wait 3 months until tourist visa expires before Bridging visa starts * Requires bridging visa which can be difficult to find work on Pros: * Even more time and hard evidence of our life together which means a stronger case * No risk that Partner and I will be separated if visa processing is delayed * No need to maintain 2 residences since we can move to Aus and not maintain a residence in the UK.

Ok, thanks @snifter! Looks like it will have to be onshore then since we can't run the risk that it takes 10-14 months since then I miss out the window to extend my 189 visa so I can stay on as PR (Residents Return Visa). Yes, my partner would come over on a tourist visa, then apply onshore.

Hi All, Some time has now passed since I first posted this Thread. My Partner and I are still very much looking into our options about how to move to Australia with my 189 Visa and a new Partner Visa for my partner. (If there is somebody that could update the title to reflect my question a bit better that would be great. 'Options for defacto Partner Visa with my 189 Visa). We decided to stay in the UK for a bit to build up more evidence of our lives together. Longer time on our join account, bought a flat together etc. We now have about 12 months hard evidence, but the more evidence and time we have together, the better our case would be I imagine. Now the thing is we are to decide if we should apply offshore or onshore before I no longer have enough time on 189 to extend it / move to Residents Return Visa to stay in Aus. Is the situation still the same that we could apply onshore and wait for the 820? What are the waiting times for onshore vs offshore? Still the same? Right now, we are thinking of building more evidence and moving to Aus at the end of May 2017 when I would have 2 years remaining on my 189 so I can extend it. Does this seem like it could work?

True. I guess it doesn't make sense, sine the defacto stuff is required either way. Thanks.

I've just had another thought about this. What are the options for re-applying for a 189 (assuming I still qualify with enough points of course), but this time including the partner on the visa? Of course we will still have to do the defacto application, but perhaps it will be a better option for us. Any thoughts appreciated.

Yes, I guess it's true. I guess if I can show I have the greatest intention to move to Australia once the visa is granted, then we should be fine. I guess the fact we've visited Australia a number of times and I've opened a bank account here would be a good start.

Thanks. I was worried about this part in the guidance notes. Particularly the last sentence. If you wish to sponsor the visa applicant as your fiancé(e) or partner, you must: • be an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen; but • not be the holder of a Woman at Risk visa (subclass 204) that has been granted in the past 5 years and now wishes to sponsor their partner or former partner that they had at the time of visa grant; and • not be subject to any of the sponsorship limitations described on the following page. If you are an Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, you are required to be usually resident in Australia.

Any input on this? Or would it be better to start another thread?

Great! Thanks again. Is it not an issue to apply offshore, since I won't be 'resident in Australia'? I've got and activated the 189 visa, but I still need to be resident to keep it going so I can extend it later or apply for citizenship later.