When it comes to Partner Visas, the number one question on every couple’s mind is ‘when will it be granted?’
The answer depends on a number of factors but one of the most important things that you can do is ensure that you’re front end loading your application. Another term often used is lodging a ‘decision ready application’.
What does Front End Loading Mean?
Front end loading an application means you are providing the decision maker with all the information and documents they need to make a decision on your Partner Visa. This includes all of your evidence, forms, police checks, and completing your medical examination right after lodgement.
What is a Decision Ready Application?
It’s exactly the same as front end loading just a different name, but I think a “decision ready application” is a more accurate description.
Why should I Front End Load my Partner Visa?
I’ve spoken about factors that are both within and outside of your control in one of my previous blogs (Visa Processing Times: 5 Keys to Keep in Mind). Front end loading your application is one of the factors within your control that you can do to try and help your application process as fast as possible.
This is especially important now as we have seen a shift in the processing times for subclass 820 and subclass 309 Partner Visas. The recent trend seems to be that they have slowed down. About 6 months ago, it was quite common for a subclass 820 visa to be finalised within a few months. But in recent months, we are not seeing the same fast decisions come from Home Affairs.
So the last thing you would want is for your application to finally be picked up by a case officer and have a whole heap of documentation missing.
Should I do my Visa Medical Right After I Lodge my Partner Visa?
There’s pros and cons to the front end loading approach. Provided everything else in your application is in tip top shape, then once you complete your medical examination, your application will be ‘decision ready’. The benefit in this is that, once a decision maker picks up the application, they can just make a decision without having to go back and forth with you around providing additional documents or then completing your medical exam.
However, the downside to this is that the results of your medical examination are only valid for 12 months. If your application is still processing after 12 months and you’ve already done the medicals, there’s a good likelihood that you’ll need to re-do them, meaning paying for them again. The cost for the medical examination in Australia is about $400.
So what’s my take on whether you should do medicals now or later? I recommend that medicals are completed shortly after lodgement to give your application a better shot at processing faster, but I will preface that with making sure couples understand they might need to pay again for their medicals if it’s been over 12 months.
Should I do all my Police Checks Before Lodging?
I would recommend you do. The same concept as above applies. If you’re lodging an application that meets all the criteria at time of lodgement, then you’ll have a better shot at the application processing faster.
Remember that police checks are also only valid for 12 months. However, they remain valid over 12 months if you have not returned to the country you obtained the police check from. An example is if an applicant is an Italian Citizen and they lodge an onshore Partner Visa. They will provide an Italian police check that’s going to be valid 12 months. But if the applicant doesn’t return to Italy, they won’t actually need to provide an updated Italian police check.
Remember that depending on which country you need a Police Check from, there might be a significant wait time to obtain the relevant police clearance. So it’s best to be on the front foot with knowing what police checks you need to obtain and get the process started sooner rather than later. Details for completing both medicals and police checks can be found on the Department of Home Affairs website.
What is time of application criteria vs time of decision criteria?
Be really mindful that Partner Visa legislation can get quite complex. There’s something known as ‘Time of Application’ criteria, which essentially means there’s certain criteria that needs to be met at time of lodging the application.
Then there’s ‘Time of Decision’ criteria. This is criteria that must be met by the time a decision is made. Police Checks and medicals falls under ‘time of decision’ criteria, so although by law you don’t need to provide them with the application, I recommend you do (if you want a shot at a faster processing time).
If you’re starting out on your Partner Visa Journey, make sure you’re across time of application vs time of decision criteria. If you’re not, you’re risking a potential refusal. You’re also speeding up the process of one. Time of Application v time of Decision criteria is critical to get right – if you’re not meeting time of application criteria (providing correct documents at time you actually lodge) then sometimes there’s no coming back from that.
What’s an RFI (Request for Further Information) and Why you don’t Want One
An “S56 Request for Further Information” is exactly that – the decision maker needing more information on your Partner Visa before they can make a decision.
If you needed another reason as to why front end loading and providing a decision ready application is beneficial, then avoiding an RFI is one of those.
An RFI can be issued for a number of reasons, most commonly to request the Applicant to complete medicals and for the Applicant and Sponsor to provide their police checks.
There’s some scenarios where you can’t avoid an RFI. But in a lot of cases, you can and you should. There’s also a huge misconception that your case officer will review your application and then tell you what’s missing and request more evidence of your relationship. There’s no legislative basis for them doing this. If you’re lodging a Partner Visa and hoping the decision maker is going to be your friend, then you’re treading some murky waters.
Remember that the Decision Maker is Human Too
There’s not a robot (or AI) on the other end making decisions around Partner Visas… not yet anyway.
So your job is to make the decision maker’s job as easy as possible, this is why we call it a decision ready application. Giving them everything they need, or in other words, front end loading your application is going to make their job easy.
Not only that, but present your evidence in a way that’s easy to understand. Make sure documents are grouped correctly, labelled correctly, you’re using cover letters when required.
This is something we teach you how to do at the Partner Visa Academy and what part of our review process also focuses on. If we can’t understand your documents, then the decision maker will have issues too.
Keep Updating Immigration
So you’ve lodged your application and followed through on front end loading – that’s great! But your work doesn’t stop there. Part of having a well put together application is also about updating your evidence. Be proactive and update your evidence regularly.
Take your Application Seriously
I often see the advice given ‘Just do the basic application now and you can update everything later’. There’s nothing that stresses me out more when I see this!
The worst advice I see usually starts with the phrase “Just do this” when it comes to your Partner Visa. Spoiler alert – don’t “just do” anything!
Take your application seriously, do your research, make sure you understand the requirements in your specific situation (remember they are not all the same), take your time with your application, put effort into it, and understand the legislative basis for what makes a solid Partner Visa!
It’s amazing how many times I’ve seen couples leave their Partner Visas to the last minute and have been under the impression that they will lodge a basic application and then just provide evidence and documents as they go. Not only does that risk receiving annoying RFI’s from unhappy case officers, but you’re seriously risking a visa refusal.
This brings me back to making sure you understand that time of application vs time of decision criteria means when it comes to Partner Visas. If you don’t, I recommend you get help as soon as possible.
Not sure if you’re providing a decision ready application? The only way to really know whether you’ve crossed your t’s and dotted your i’s is having a review of the entire application complete.
Is there a Time When Front End Loading is not recommended?
There are some instances I would not recommend front end loading to couples. Although rare, this is a strategy used in some cases depending on the couple’s circumstances. For instance, if the couple needs more time to accumulate further evidence of their relationship then perhaps they don’t want the application being processed super fast.
But in general and with most cases, we recommend front end loading an application to avoid delays in processing.
How can we help you?
It’s one thing to know that you should be lodging a decision ready application, but it’s another thing to know whether you actually have.
Apart from the obvious forms you need, and police checks, you also need to have your evidence presented in such a way where there are no gaps. An evidence planning session will provide you with clarity around a document checklist unique to your case and a review of your application also gives you the peace of mind that not only are you lodging a decision ready application, but that you’re also giving your application the best chance of success.
IMPORTANT: Please note, this does not constitute Immigration advice. Always seek advice from a Registered Migration Agent before applying for an Australian Visa. Migration Law is constantly changing. This information is accurate only at the time of publication.
