Love is in the air, and sometimes that air is the salty and pleasant ocean breeze from Australia’s Gold Coast or its many wonderful beaches. Australia has visa opportunities for family reunification of all sorts, but one visa category that many may wish to consider applying for is a prospective marriage visa.
What is a prospective marriage visa? Is it worth applying for one and how should you go about doing so? Also, what are some common errors to watch out for?
Prospective Marriage Visas to Australia
Many countries do not recognise the status of a prospective marriage (e.g. being engaged or a “couple” that is not married). Instead, the country’s immigration may only care if you are de facto and de jure married. Australia, however, does offer a Prospective Marriage visa (Subclass 300) that allows you to join a sponsor in Australia whom you intend to marry.
This visa lets you live in Australia with your future spouse for anywhere from 9-15 months as well as work and study in the country in the meantime. This visa can be converted to a Partner visa (Subclass 820/801) after you have married and meet other requirements.
How to Apply for a Prospective Marriage Visa
The general requirements for eligibility to the Prospective Marriage visa scheme are fairly straightforward. Firstly, you must be outside of Australia when you apply and you must be sponsored by an individual that will become your spouse. Your sponsor must be a citizen of Australia or New Zealand or a permanent resident in Australia.
You and your prospective spouse must also be 18 or older at the time of applying and you must meet the character and health criteria as well as some other criteria in order to apply.
What is essential to note is that your sponsor must be a bona fide and genuine future spouse. That is to say, your sponsor must be willing to sponsor you and marry you honestly and in good faith.
Common Pitfalls for the Prospective Marriage Visa
The last point mentioned in the above section is critical for the Prospective Marriage visa. This visa is, all other things held equal, relatively straightforward and simple to apply for so long as you meet the criteria, but it also holds a very strong condition that must be met. You must be planning to marry your sponsor before the visa expires, which can be anywhere from 9-15 months after it has been granted.
We all surely know that anything can happen in that timeframe and perhaps the marriage plans are broken or your situation changes. Some circumstances can be considered by the government, but others cannot.
In recent years, there have been many cases of insincere applications for the Prospective Marriage visa, usually involving a sponsor that is paid (typically a large cash sum) to agree to a marriage simply in order to facilitate immigration to Australia. These cases are not bona fide and the government is more keen on asking for documentation to prove that the relationship is genuine and sincere, so it is highly recommended that you only apply for this visa if your intentions are genuine and in good faith.
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