Form 888s, or witness statements, can be really important for your Partner Visa. They’re provided by your friends and your family members, people that you know, and groups that you belong to in support of your Partner Visa. I’m going to be showing you a Form 888 sample and going through some of the common mistakes I see as well when witnesses complete these forms.
The most recent version of the Form 888 can be found on the Department of Home Affairs website by searching “Form 888” under the Departmental Forms section.
Before we do a walk through of the Form 888 itself, let’s answer some common questions that come up around the Form 888.
Do you really need to provide two Form 888s from an Australian citizen or permanent resident?
This question stumps a lot of couples. Short answer is no.
The Form 888 states that the Form must be completed by a person who:
- Knows the visa applicant and their partner/fiance and the history of their relationship;
- Is at least 18 years of age.
There is no requirement that it must be completed by an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
How many Form 888s should I provide?
I always recommend providing between 4-6 witness statements. Remember that each case is going to look very different, so there might be some cases that would benefit from more than six, and other cases where four is plenty.
When should I ask my witnesses to complete their statements?
During my Evidence Planning Session with a couple, I will always recommend that one of the first tasks they get started with, is reaching out to their witnesses and sending them the Form 888.
Why? Because there are always delays with third parties completing these forms. Your family and friends love you, but at the end of the day, it’s not their visa application that’s at stake and they may not understand the time pressures you’re under to submit your application. So sending them the Form 888 as a first step always helps.
Should I just send the Form 888 straight to my witnesses?
Again, your friends and family love you but sending them the Form 888 with no real instructions on how to complete it, is setting them up for failure. Or setting you up for receiving some pretty short witness statements back.
Be really clear about what you need your witnesses to write about, how much information they need to provide, and the level of detail required.
I’m going to give you a free downloadable sample you can send to your witnesses giving them super instructions and some guided questions. I promise there’s no catch. I don’t need your email address and I won’t spam you with emails. It’s my way of trying to give you the best shot of putting together an awesome application.
Download free Form 888 sample.
It might also be a good idea to send them a copy of this blog post to help guide them.
Is the Form 888 only valid for six weeks after signing?
For some Partner Visas, specifically where the applicant may not be holding a substantive visa at time of lodgement, there are additional requirements to be met. One of those is that when you lodge your Partner Visa, the Form 888s provided are no more than six weeks old.
If you are holding a substantive visa, or you’re applying from outside Australia, then technically your Form 888s can be older than six weeks old. BUT I wouldn’t recommend they be over 12 weeks (by the time you lodge the application). The reason for this is that if you’re lodging an application in May 2026 but your witness completed and signed their statement in January 2026, then it might not be accurately reflecting your relationship at time of lodgement.
General rule of thumb is that you don’t want too much time to pass between your witnesses signing their Form 888s, and you lodging your application.
Form 888 example walkthrough
The form starts off by asking the witness full name. Please make sure the witness includes their full name as it matches the identity documents they’re providing. Similarly, when they’re putting in your names, so the applicant’s name and your partner’s name, please make sure that they are inserting your full legal name as per your identity documents.
Form 888 Question 3: How well does your witness know you and your partner?
It’s really important here that the witness specifies how long they have known both the applicant and sponsor. So often what we see is that the witness will just talk about how they might know the applicant if they’re friendlier with the applicant, and they’ll forget talking about the sponsor.
In our Form 888 example, what we see here is the witness is very clear in terms of explaining how she knows the applicant and how she knows the sponsor, providing as much detail as possible. You want to make sure that your witness is talking about how often they’re in contact with you, and even methods of communication. So are you in contact mainly via phone call or do you catch up in person?
Form 888 Question 4: Why do you believe the relationship is genuine and continuing?
Question four is when we get into the crux of the Form 888. This is where we see witnesses make a lot of mistakes. I see a lot of people in this section just say, “Yes, I believe that Tom and Jill are in a genuine and continuing relationship because they are so affectionate towards one another and I’ve seen them living together. I wish them all the best for their future.” That kind of statement really is not going to hold any weight. You really want to make sure that your witness is providing some type of insight into your relationship.
In our Form 888 example, you can see that our witness is talking about the applicant and sponsor, and confirming that they are in a continuing and genuine de facto relationship, but then she goes on to explain why. So for example, “I have witnessed first-hand the love this couple share for each other and have, over the last five years, been witness to their commitment to each other.”
The statement doesn’t stop there. So then it’s important to go on and explain, well, why do you think this? The example that this witness has given us is that she has gone to the couple’s apartment, she’s witnessed them hosting family and friends. All family members that this couple belong to are aware that they’re in a relationship. This witness is aware that they have plans to marry in the future, that she has witnessed them cleaning up around the house and cooking together. All of these finer details are what is going to help the department gain some insight into your relationship, and that’s really what you want.
So they should go into a lot of detail, and this is why choosing the right witness is also very important.
Form 888 Question 5: Wrapping it all up
This question gives the witness an opportunity to state any other matters they wish to add to the Visa application. Again, it’s an opportunity for your witness to talk about you, not just say, “I think the applicant is going to make a great addition to the Australian community.” Instead, it’s an opportunity to talk about whether you and your partner share the same views and outlooks in life. That’s going to be really important.
How to choose the right witness
Say you’ve got the applicant’s parents, you’ve got mum and dad. Which one is more likely to provide more information? Who’s a better writer? You want to make sure that you’re picking the one who’s going to be writing the most or sharing the most about your relationship.
Warnings
I’ll leave you with three warnings to consider;
- Overcome the temptation of writing your witnesses statement for them. Why? Because the Department can call your witnesses and verify the content of their statement. So if they aren’t actually familiar with what ‘they’ have written and have only signed the Form 888, then you’re going to be putting your application at risk.
- Second, it’s important to acknowledge artificial intelligence (like ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude) and its connection with the Form 888. Although AI can be really helpful for writing a statement, don’t purely rely on it. If your witness uses AI to complete the Form 888 in its entirety, it’s going to be very evident to the decision maker. As a result, it won’t hold much weight.
- And Finally, don’t forget, your witness needs to sign the form and attach a copy of their identity document, it might sound obvious but you would be surprised how often people miss this.
MPORTANT: 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.
