Over the past few weeks we have talked with lots and lots of prospective partner visa applicants who firmly believe that they must lodge their partner visa application on or before the 10th of June 2019.
It would be a remarkable coincidence if these peoples’ current visas were set to expire on 10th June 2018 …. and, of course, they aren’t …. so where on earth did this date come from?
On 27 November 2018, the Australian parliament passed the Migration Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill, which (amongst other things) altered the sponsorship process for family visas. On 10 December 2018, the bill received the Royal Assent by the Governor-General and it was determined to commence on either:
- On a date fixed by Proclamation (i.e. when the Government says); or
- If the government never got around to it, within 6 months of receiving the Royal Assent
If you add 6 months to 10 December 2018 you arrive at 10th June 2019!
The story gets even more confusing! Earlier this year, the government actually did get around to fixing a Proclamation date – 17 April 2019. This means that the 10th of June 2019 date is technically redundant! And so if the new law has come into effect already, why are so many prospective partner visa applicants panicking? That’s a very good question!
So far, the new law has only been implemented in relation to the new sponsored visitor visa for parents (subclass 870), which will be open to parent applicants from the 1st of July 2019. The Department has not yet implemented the changes for partner visas and the Department has advised the National President of the Migration Institute of Australia (MIA) that they have not set a date for implementing these changes. It seems safe to assume that the changes won’t be implemented before the 10th of June.
The Assistant-Secretary, Skilled and Family Visa Program Branch has indicated indicated that further changes are required to the migration regulations and migration policy instruments before the partner visa processing changes can commence … and goodness knows how long this may take! What could be of interest, however, is that the partner visa fees will increase by a whopping 5.4% on the 1st of July 2019. The base fee will increase from $7,160 to $7,547 … YIKES! If you are already eligible to submit your partner visa application, you might want to submit before 1st July 2019!
GET IN CONTACT WITH US
Please send your email to catherine.hoyle@easivisa.com or call +61 8 9429 8860 if you are considering applying for a Partner Visa.