This may be a bit of an strange question, but we come across this question from time to time. For many personal, political, cultural or even financial, reasons some partners are separated but are not divorced. What does this mean for your spouse/partner visas and what limitations do you face?
Let’s break this down by the two types of partner visas:
Prospective Marriage Visa (300):
- The premise of this visa is that you’re coming to Australia to get married. Therefore you need to be divorced, but only by the time the application is assessed by the visa processing officer. Please see here for the current processing times. You don’t need to be divorced at the time of application lodgement. The logic for this is that some people may still be going through divorce proceedings which can take a long time.
Partner Visa (820/801, 309/100)
- Differing to the Prospective Marriage Visa, the premise of Partner Visas is to reunite partners. Marriage is not compulsory in order to be in a genuine relationship. You will need strong evidence to show that you are permanently separated from your former partners. However, you do not technically have to be divorced from your former partner. This may be a challenging concept for many, but as mentioned at the start of this blog, there can be many reasons why a person does not want to or cannot be divorced.
Here at Skylark Migration, we are experts in partner visas! We’ve had 100% success rate for every partner visa we have ever lodged. We’ve had many complex cases, including non-divorces due to political reasons, be granted. Book in a free consultation to discuss your situation with our principal migration agent and former-Immigration Officer today!
