Whether obtaining an Australian Partner Visa (Subclass 820/801 or 309/100) is “hard” depends entirely on your ability to provide verifiable evidence of a shared life. Unlike skilled visas that rely on points tests, the partner visa process is subjective and requires you to satisfy a case officer that your relationship is genuine and continuing. The difficulty is not usually in meeting the basic criteria, but in the administrative burden of documenting years of personal history.
The High Evidentiary Standard for “Genuineness”
The Department of Home Affairs does not take a “tick-the-box” approach to your relationship. You must prove your commitment across four distinct categories. If you lack joint financial records or public recognition of your relationship, the process becomes significantly more difficult, as the onus of proof remains solely on you.
To simplify the assessment process, the Department categorises evidence into four specific pillars. You should ensure your documentation is evenly distributed across these areas:
1. Financial Evidence
You need to show that you and your partner share financial responsibilities. This is often the most difficult part for couples who prefer to keep their finances separate. You should provide joint bank statements showing active use for household expenses, joint utility bills, or evidence of significant shared assets like a car or property.
2. Social Recognition
This category assesses how your relationship is perceived by others. You must provide evidence that you are seen as a couple in social settings. This includes joint invitations to weddings or events, evidence of shared travel (such as boarding passes or hotel bookings), and statutory declarations from Australian citizens (Form 888) who can vouch for your relationship.
3. Nature of the Household
You are required to describe your living arrangements and how you distribute domestic tasks. You should provide evidence that you live together, such as a joint lease agreement or mail addressed to both of you at the same residence. You must also explain how you manage daily life, including caring for children or doing domestic chores.
4. Nature of Your Commitment
This pillar focuses on your long-term intentions. You need to demonstrate that you intend to stay together indefinitely. Evidence includes being listed as each other’s superannuation beneficiaries, having joint wills, or providing a detailed history of your relationship milestones and future plans.
Related Link ⇒ CDR for Australian PR
Technical Challenges and Processing Barriers
Beyond the evidence, the administrative framework of the Australian migration system introduces its own set of hurdles. High application fees and fluctuating processing times can significantly stress the process.
| Visa Subclass | Location at Application | Typical Processing Time |
| 820/801 | Onshore (Inside Australia) | 12 to 24 Months |
| 309/100 | Offshore (Outside Australia) | 15 to 30 Months |
The difficulty often spikes when an applicant has a complex migration history, such as previous visa refusals or health and character issues. These factors require additional legal submissions and can lead to a more scrutinised assessment.
Mitigating the Risk of Visa Refusal
A refusal can lead to a long and expensive appeals process through the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). To avoid this, you should ensure that your personal statements, often called “love stories” by some, though they should be strictly factual narratives, perfectly align with your physical evidence.
Discrepancies in dates or conflicting information in statutory declarations are common reasons for visa delays. By treating the application as a technical project, as one would for a Competency Demonstration Report, you can ensure that the corresponding document supports every claim. This structured approach reduces the subjective “difficulty” and turns a complex migration path into a manageable administrative task.
Australia CDR Help helps you by preparing expert relationship statements and document checklists, so your Australian partner visa application is clear and accurate. Our CDR experts cover the four pillars of financial, social, household, and commitment, making sure your story is professional, convincing, and well-supported by evidence.
Related Blog ⇒ Can Engineers Get PR in Australia?
