If you are an Australian citizen or permanent resident, you can sponsor your spouse to live in Australia with you permanently under the partner provisional and migrant visa subclass 309 visa. To be eligible for the subclass 309 visa, the applicant must have been married to the sponsor for at least 12 months before lodging their application with Immigration, Border Protection, or their respective state or territory department.

If granted, the subclass 309 visa gives permanent residence and a pathway to citizenship through the general eligibility criteria of eight years' permanent residence and meeting health and character requirements.

The Eligibility Criteria of Partner Visa

An Australian Partner Provisional visa is a temporary migration permit that allows you to travel and live in Australia while waiting for your partner's substantive visa application to be processed. It gives the partner of an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible citizen the right to remain in Australia with their spouse. At the same time, the other person's immigration application is assessed by immigration authorities.

1. You're 18 years or older

2. The marriage took place more than two years ago

3. The sponsor holds a Partner Permanent 820 or Interdependency subclass 115 visa

4. Both of you live in Australia as a couple

5. The spouse living abroad has been married to the sponsor for at least two years, and they've lived together outside Australia for one year before returning under this particular visa

Requirements of Subclass 309 Visa

• The Partner Provisional and Migrant visa subclass 309 is for a partner or child of an Australian permanent resident, citizen, or eligible citizen.
• Applicants must be outside Australia but must have lived with the sponsor before they left the country.
• This visa is unavailable if the applicant already has a partner in Australia.
• Applicants must also have at least one year remaining on their partner's residence requirement.
• Other requirements are that the sponsor must hold Australian permanent residency, citizenship, or eligible citizenship and sponsor their partner's stay in Australia.

Documents Required for Partner Visa

You will need to provide the following documents with your Partner Visa Subclass 820 application:

• Letter from your parents confirming sponsorship, consent for the relationship, and eligibility.
• Invitation letter from the sponsor in Australia confirming Australian residence status.
• Passport valid for at least three months after intended arrival in Australia or certified photocopy of passport pages showing applicant's name, date of birth, country/territory of issue, passport number, issue date, and expiry date.
• Birth certificate.
• Proof of any divorce.
• Certificate stating intention to marry (obtainable from a marriage celebrant).
• Evidence of termination if either partner has been previously married (e.g., death certificate or divorce document).
• A criminal history check for each partner must be less than 12 months old.

The time required for processing the Subclass 309 Visa Application.

There are no set periods for processing the Subclass 309 Visa Application because this largely depends on how quickly your relative in Australia responds. Depending on the cases, they may require a medical examination in their country of origin before being granted a partner provisional and migrant visa subclass 309.

It also takes time to enter Australia and resides there for three years before applying for Australian citizenship. But once your relative has been approved, they will be granted a Subclass 309 Visa with unrestricted work rights while residing in Australia.