Do partner visa applicants and sponsors need to have a certain level of income?
Minimum Income required for sponsors and applicants?
I’m often asked if there is a minimum income level that partner visa applicants and their Australian citizen or permanent resident sponsor need to have in order to be approved as the visa applicant or as the sponsor of their partner’s partner visa application.
The good news is that the answer is no, there is not.
Of course it doesn’t hurt if the visa applicant and the sponsor have a good income – applying for a partner visa is not cheap.
However, partner visa applicants who are not working and sponors who may be receiving Australian social security benefits – because, for example, they may be unemployed or have a disablity – can be approved as partner visa applicants and sponsors.
What the partner visa sponsorship applicant agrees to
Some of the declarations the partner visa sponsorship applicant agrees to in their online application form include:
The sponsor agrees:
- To provide information and advice to help the person(s) being sponsored settle in Australia.
- To ensure that adequate accommodation is available to them on arrival in Australia or, if necessary,
to provide accommodation for up to 2 years from arrival in Australia, or the 2 years following grant of
partner’s visa if partner is applying in Australia. - To provide support as required enabling them to attend appropriate English language courses
As you can see, there is no stated requirement that the sponsor provide financial support or assistance (other than ensuring accommodation is available) to the applicant – although of course it is common for the sponsor to provide financial support to their partner. However, immigration don’t require the sponsor to undertake to do so.
What the partner visa applicant agrees to
Some of the declarations the partner visa applicant agrees to in their online application form include:
Understand that, if granted the partner visa:
- There is a two-year wait for social security payments, including unemployment benefits, for most newly arrived migrants
- The applicants will need to have enough money, even if unemployed, to support themselves for the first two years and if they run out of money or fail to get a job in that period, that would not be sufficient reason to make them eligible for social security income support payments
Notwithstanding the above declaration, I have never seen the immigration department request that the partner visa applicant show that they have enough money to support themselves for two years – it could happen, but I’ve never seen it. Note that the wording used is ‘will need to have’ and not ‘must have’.
Some partner visa applicants would have funds to support themselves for two years, but most wouldn’t. At the moment, that’s not necessarily a bar to obtaining a partner visa.
Feel free to contact me for a consultation if you need further information about this. Regards.
Ross McDougall. Solicitor & Registered Migration Agent.
Tel: 08 8528 9187
This information is correct at October 12th, 2019. But, keep in mind that immigration law changes from time to time.
Information (or the lack of it) contained here does not take into account anyone’s individual circumstances and should not be relied upon as immigration assistance or legal advice.
