A prospective marriage visa is for people who intend to marry an Australian Citizen, Australian permanent resident or an eligible New Zealand citizen within 9 months of arriving in Australia.
The process to get permanent residence via a prospective marriage visa is 3 stages. First stage, the prospective marriage visa application is lodged; this can only be done outside Australia. Next you get married, which can be in any country, as long as it occurs after the prospective marriage visa is granted. Second stage, after marriage and arrival in Australia, more paperwork is required to establish that the marriage did occur and to prove the relationship is genuine and continuing. Third, the final stage is consideration of permanent resident status; this is normally done about 2 years later.
- Eligibility for Prospective Marriage Visa
- Advantages of Prospective Marriage Visa
- Disadvantages of Prospective Marriage Visa
- Sponsorship Limitation
- Do Not Marry Early
To be eligible for a prospective marriage visa or fiancé visa a person must convince the Australian Government they:
- Are free to marry
- Intend to marry an Australian
- Have met their Australian fiancé in person and have a relationship with that person
- Their intention to marry is genuine
- They intend to live together as spouses for an unlimited period of time
- Are sponsored by the Australian fiancé
- The Australian fiancé must not be barred from being a Sponsor and there must not be any legal bar to the marriage under Australian Law
- Simplest relationship visa to apply for
- Less documents required
- Permission to visit your fiancé in Australia can often be obtained while awaiting grant of Prospective Marriage visa
- Get unlimited travel rights for the life of the visa
- Arrive in Australia with full work rights
- Get access to Australia’s free health care system (Medicare) as soon as you lodge your stage 2 visa application in Australia
- Must be outside Australia to apply
- Must be outside Australia for visa grant
- Part of a unique 3 stage process to permanent residence (while there is extra bureaucracy, the result is the same)
- Only available to heterosexual couples (no same-sex option)
There are limits on sponsorships. Australians can sponsor a maximum of 2 people in their life to be their fiancé or partner. If they have sponsored someone previously, at least 5 years must pass before they are eligible to sponsor another person. If the Australian originally migrated to Australia because they were sponsored as a fiancé or spouse, they are not eligible to sponsor someone else as their new fiancé or partner until 5 years pass. Exceptions can be made in appropriately compelling circumstances.
To remain eligible must not marry until after the Prospective Marriage Visa is granted. If you marry before the Prospective Marriage Visa is granted your application will be converted, by operation of law, into an application for partner migration. The rules for partner migration are different and much more evidence is required to meet all the criteria.