Changes to Australian Partner Visas in November 2021

Australia’s Migration Program has allocated 72,300 places for Partner visas for the period 2021-2022. This means more Partner visas will be granted to enable Australians to reunite with their spouses and partners, including those from overseas.

However, the Australian Government announced last year that changes will be made in the Partner Visa Program starting November 2021. To date, no confirmation or guidelines on the changes have yet to be released by the Department of Home Affairs but these can be expected anytime soon.

What are the changes?

First, an approved sponsorship will be required prior to lodging a partner visa application.  This can be crucial to onshore applicants who want to lodge their partner visa applications prior to the expiration of their current visas.  The new rule may also result to delay in the whole visa process.  Under the current rules, partner visa application is lodged first and can immediately be followed by the sponsorship application. These applications are processed at the same time.

Second, evidence of at least functional English will be required from both the visa applicant and a permanent resident sponsor. Alternatively, they can demonstrate that they have made reasonable efforts to learn English at the time of the permanent partner visa stage. Reasonable efforts include the completion of 500 hours of free English language classes through the Adult Migration English Program (AMEP). Exempt from this requirement are passport holders from Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom and United States of America.