Partner Visa 820/801 Documents + Common Rejection Reasons

The Partner Visa (820 onshore / 801 permanent) is one of Australia's most evidence-intensive visa applications. Unlike many visa types where documents are largely a paperwork exercise, the partner visa requires you to prove the genuineness and ongoing nature of your relationship — which means compiling evidence across multiple aspects of your shared life, not just submitting a marriage certificate. This guide breaks down every document category the Department of Home Affairs expects, in the order most applicants find easiest to work through.

Who this applies to, and 820 vs 801

Subclass 820 is the temporary partner visa, lodged while you're in Australia. Subclass 801 is the permanent partner visa, generally decided 2 years after you apply for the combined temporary and permanent Partner visas, once the Department is satisfied the relationship remains genuine. You lodge one combined application and one combined set of documents covering both — you don't submit a separate document set later for the 801 stage, though you may be asked for updated evidence closer to the permanent-stage decision. If you're applying from outside Australia, the equivalent visa is the Partner Visa 309/100, which follows a very similar document structure — see our separate guide for that pathway.

As of 1 July 2026, the combined 820/801 application charge is from AUD 11,710.00 for most applicants, with lower concessional charges for people transitioning from a Prospective Marriage (Subclass 300) visa — generally AUD 1,955.00 if you applied before your 300 visa expired, or AUD 2,475.00 if you entered as a Subclass 300 holder and no longer hold a substantive visa. A lower cost also applies to eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens who lodge a valid application. Use the Department's Visa Pricing Estimator for a figure specific to your situation — it doesn't include health checks, police certificates, biometrics, or a per-family-member charge.

Identity documents

Both you (the applicant) and your sponsor (your Australian partner) need to provide full identity documents. If you have dependent children included in the application, their identity documents are required too.

• Passport bio-data page — must be valid for the duration of your stay
• Two passport-style photographs
• Birth certificate or national identity document
• Change of name documents, if applicable
• Divorce decree or death certificate, if you or your sponsor were previously married
• Dependent children's passports, if children are included on the application
• Dependent children's birth certificates, if children are included on the application

Proving the relationship itself

How you prove the relationship exists depends on whether you're married or in a de facto relationship.

• Marriage certificate — if you're married
• Evidence of a 12-month de facto relationship — if you're not married (joint lease, cohabitation evidence, and a statutory declaration from each of you covering how the relationship started and progressed)
• A relationship history statement — a written account from both partners covering how you met, key milestones, and your life together
• Two Form 888 statutory declarations — signed by people who know you as a couple (not related to either of you) attesting to the genuineness of your relationship

Relationship evidence — the four aspects

Beyond proving the relationship exists, the Department assesses it across four aspects. You need credible evidence in each — a strong showing in one aspect doesn't compensate for a gap in another, and case officers specifically look for a consistent pattern across all four, not just a folder full of photos.

For strong-versus-weak examples in each of these four aspects, see our deeper guide on what actually counts as relationship evidence.

Financial aspects

• Joint bank account statements (several months of history, showing regular activity, not just an account opened the week before lodgement)
• Shared financial commitments — insurance policies, car registration, subscriptions, joint loans
• Joint ownership of major assets — property, vehicles, or investments held in both names
• Evidence of contributing to shared household expenses even without a joint account (transfer records, split bill receipts)

Social aspects

• Photographs together over time — a spread across different occasions and dates, not all from one trip
• Statements from friends and family who know you as a couple, describing how they know you and what they've observed
• Evidence of attending social events together — invitations, tickets, tagged event photos
• Joint travel bookings or itineraries showing you've travelled together

Nature of your household

• Joint lease, mortgage, or rental agreement showing you live together
• Utility bills in both names at the same address
• Mail addressed to both of you at the same address
• A statement on how you divide household duties day to day

Nature of your commitment

• A statement on your commitment to each other and future plans — written jointly or as two consistent individual statements
• Evidence of long-term plans together: property purchase, having children, shared career or travel decisions
• A record of how you've maintained the relationship through any periods apart — message history, call logs, visit records

Sponsor documents

Your Australian partner (the sponsor) has their own document requirements, separate from the relationship evidence above.

• Proof of identity for the sponsor
• Evidence of Australian citizenship or permanent residency
• Form 40SP — Sponsorship for a partner to migrate to Australia
• An Australian Federal Police check for the sponsor — this is required for every sponsor, not only those who've lived overseas

Character documents

• Australian Federal Police check for the applicant
• Foreign police certificate(s) for any country you've lived in for 12 months or more (cumulatively) in the last 10 years
• Form 80 — Personal Particulars for character assessment
• Form 1221 — Additional Personal Particulars Information

Health documents

A health examination is arranged through the Department's eMedical system once your application is lodged. You don't upload the results yourself — the examining panel physician submits them directly. What you're responsible for is booking the examination promptly once requested, since delays here are one of the more common causes of a stalled application.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Submitting only photos and no evidence for the financial or household aspects — case officers look across all four aspects, not just the social one
• Opening a joint bank account the week before lodging, with no transaction history
• Missing the sponsor's own police check because it seems like 'their' visa, not yours
• Uploading files over the 5 MB ImmiAccount limit without compressing them first
• Skipping Form 80 or Form 1221 because they seem repetitive of information already provided elsewhere in the application
• Providing statutory declarations from people who haven't actually spent time with you as a couple

Common reasons partner visa applications are refused

Most partner visa refusals come down to the evidence, not the paperwork format. Knowing what actually sinks an application helps you build a stronger one:

• The relationship isn't accepted as genuine and continuing — usually because the evidence is thin or concentrated in one aspect (lots of photos, little financial or household evidence)
• Evidence is inconsistent — the applicant's and sponsor's statements don't line up, or dates and claims contradict each other across documents
• A de facto relationship can't be shown to have existed for the required 12 months before lodgement, and it isn't registered with a state or territory
• The sponsor is ineligible, or has an unresolved sponsorship-limit or character issue
• A character or health requirement isn't met, or the applicant delays the health examination and the application stalls
• The application was incomplete when decided — a document the Department expected was never provided, and they decided on what was in front of them

Frequently asked questions

How many documents do I need in total?

There's no fixed number, but most successful applications include at least 10–15 pieces of relationship evidence spread across the four aspects, plus the full set of identity, sponsor, character, and health documents. Quality and consistency across categories matters more than raw volume.

Do I need a migration agent to apply?

No — many applicants successfully prepare and lodge their own partner visa documents. A registered migration agent (MARA) can be worth engaging for complex cases, such as previous visa refusals, character concerns, or a short relationship history, but it isn't a requirement for a straightforward application.

What if we don't have much evidence for one of the four aspects?

Focus on building genuine evidence rather than manufacturing paperwork. A short statement explaining a gap (for example, a joint lease not yet possible due to a rental market issue) alongside strong evidence in the other aspects is more credible than an inconsistent application. Living circumstances vary, and case officers do account for that.