Fixed Fee Partner Visa Lawyers

A fixed fee partner visa lawyer charges an agreed professional fee for each defined stage of a partner visa matter, rather than charging by the hour. The fee for each stage is written into a costs agreement before the work begins. If you are comparing a fixed fee partner visa lawyer with other options, the most important question is not the headline fee. It is what the fixed fee actually covers, stage by stage, and what sits outside it.

That question matters more for partner visas than for most other visa types. A partner visa is a long matter. An onshore Subclass 820 and Subclass 801 application can run for years, with the permanent stage normally assessed at least two years after the application was made. Along the way the Department of Home Affairs may ask for more information, raise adverse information, request health examinations or police certificates, or question the relationship itself. A quote that covers only "preparation and lodgement" can leave a couple paying again at every one of those points.

This article explains what a fixed fee partner visa lawyer should include at each stage, what is normally excluded, how stage billing works, what to check in a costs agreement, how scope creep happens, and what happens to a fixed fee when circumstances change. It does not quote figures. Fees vary with the complexity of the matter, and government charges change. For a general overview of billing across all visa types, see what a fixed-fee immigration lawyer quote should include. This article is specific to partner visas and focuses on scope.

What Is a Fixed Fee Partner Visa Lawyer?

A fixed fee partner visa lawyer is an Australian lawyer who acts on a partner visa matter for an agreed professional fee per stage, set in writing before the work starts, instead of billing time in units. The client knows the professional fee for each stage in advance. The lawyer carries the risk that a stage takes longer than expected.

The fixed fee model suits partner visas because the work follows a recognisable sequence. There is an assessment of eligibility and risk. There is evidence planning. There is drafting of the relationship statement and the Form 888 statements. There is preparation and lodgement of the application. Then there is a processing period during which the Department may make requests, followed by a decision. Each of those stages can be defined, priced and billed separately.

A fixed fee partner visa lawyer is not the same as a "package price" advertised without a written scope. In Australia, lawyers are regulated by the legal profession laws of their state or territory, which govern how costs are disclosed to clients. A properly scoped fixed fee is recorded in a written costs agreement that describes the work, the stages, the fee for each stage and the exclusions. The partner visa lawyers page explains the services offered on partner matters, and the partner visa lawyer guide explains what a lawyer does on a partner application more generally.

The fixed fee partner visa lawyer model applies across the partner visa family. It applies to the onshore Subclass 820 visa, the offshore Subclass 309 visa and the Subclass 300 Prospective Marriage visa. The stages differ slightly between those subclasses, but the principle is the same: each stage is defined and priced in advance. The complete guide to partner visas in Australia explains the pathways themselves.

What Should a Fixed Fee Partner Visa Lawyer Include?

A fixed fee partner visa lawyer should include every stage of work reasonably required to take an ordinary partner visa application from first advice to decision. That means the initial assessment, evidence planning, the relationship statement and Form 888 statements, preparation and lodgement, responses to routine Department requests, and management through to the decision on the application.

In practical terms, a complete fixed fee partner visa lawyer engagement should cover the following stages:

• Initial assessment and strategy: eligibility, validity, risk and the correct subclass.
• Evidence planning: what evidence is needed for each aspect of the relationship, and from whom.
• Relationship statement and Form 888 statements: drafting from the couple's own account and the witnesses' own knowledge.
• Application preparation: the application forms, the sponsorship, the evidence index and the legal submissions where needed.
• Lodgement: lodging a valid application, and confirming the bridging visa position for onshore applicants.
• Processing: responding to requests for further information, section 56 requests, section 57 natural justice letters and requests for health and character checks.
• Decision: managing the matter through to the Subclass 820 decision and, where agreed, the Subclass 801 stage.

Not every firm structures its stages the same way. Some combine stages. Some treat the Subclass 801 permanent stage as a separate engagement because it is decided years later. What matters is that the costs agreement says clearly which stages are included and which are not. If a quote from a fixed fee partner visa lawyer does not tell you what happens after lodgement, ask before you sign.

The sibling article on partner visa lawyer fees and how to choose covers the broader question of selecting a lawyer. This article stays with the narrower question of what a fixed fee should buy at each stage.

Stage by Stage: What a Fixed Fee Partner Visa Lawyer Covers

A fixed fee partner visa lawyer should be able to tell you, for each stage, what work will be done, what the client must provide, and what the stage ends with. The following breakdown reflects the work typically involved in an onshore Subclass 820 and Subclass 801 matter. Offshore matters follow a similar pattern.

Stage 1: Initial assessment and strategy

The first stage of a fixed fee partner visa lawyer engagement is a legal assessment of whether a valid application can be made and what risks it carries. This is where the most expensive mistakes are prevented. It is also the stage most often missing from a low "lodgement only" quote.

A proper assessment covers at least the following questions:

• Which subclass applies. Whether the couple should apply onshore for a Subclass 820, offshore for a Subclass 309, or for a Subclass 300 if they are not yet married.
• Validity. Whether the applicant's current visa carries condition 8503 or another no further stay condition, whether section 48 of the Migration Act 1958 applies because of an earlier refusal or cancellation, and whether the applicant is in Australia but not in immigration clearance.
• Status at lodgement. Whether the applicant holds a substantive visa. If not, Schedule 3 criteria 3001, 3003 and 3004 apply to the Subclass 820 under subparagraph 820.211(2)(d)(ii), unless there are compelling reasons not to apply them.
• The relationship. Whether the couple are married, or meet the de facto requirements, and how the four aspects of the relationship will be shown.
• Sponsorship. Whether there is any issue that affects the sponsor's ability to sponsor.
• Public interest criteria. Whether anything in the applicant's history raises character (section 501 and PIC 4001), health (PIC 4005 or PIC 4007) or integrity (PIC 4020) issues.

The firm obtains the visa history itself through VEVO and Department and Tribunal records where needed. The client should not be asked for documents they cannot realistically have. Couples on a visitor visa should also read tourist visa to partner visa, and those with an earlier refusal should read partner visa after a visa refusal. Where condition 8503 applies, the Subclass 820 and condition 8503 article explains the waiver under subsection 41(2A).

If the assessment identifies a problem such as Schedule 3 or a no further stay condition, the fixed fee partner visa lawyer should say so in writing and explain whether the extra work is inside or outside the agreed fee. That clarity at the start is what makes a fixed fee reliable later.

Stage 2: Evidence planning

Evidence planning is the stage where a fixed fee partner visa lawyer tells the couple exactly what evidence is needed, why, and in what form. It is not the same as handing over a generic checklist. It is a plan built around the couple's own relationship.

Under regulation 1.15A for spouses and regulation 1.09A for de facto partners, the decision maker considers all the circumstances of the relationship, including the financial aspects, the nature of the household, the social aspects and the nature of the commitment. Those are the four aspects of the relationship that the evidence must address. A couple who live in different cities for work, who keep separate finances for cultural reasons, or who have a short period of cohabitation will need a different evidence plan from a couple with ten years of joint accounts.

The evidence plan should identify the strongest available documents for each aspect, any gaps and how to explain them, and any documents that need translation. The partner visa document checklist, the guide to partner visa evidence and the 820 partner visa evidence checklist explain the categories in detail. The guide to preparing evidence of a genuine relationship explains how evidence is organised for the decision maker.

Ask any fixed fee partner visa lawyer whether review of the evidence is included in the fee, and how many rounds of review are included. A common source of later dispute is a fee that covers "document review" without saying whether that means one review or continuing review until the application is ready.

Stage 3: The relationship statement and Form 888 statements

The relationship statement and the Form 888 statements are the core written evidence of a partner visa, and a fixed fee partner visa lawyer should include their preparation in the fee. There is one relationship statement. It tells the history of the relationship and addresses each of the four aspects of the relationship in the couple's own words.

The statement is the couple's own evidence. The lawyer takes instructions, structures the account in the form the law requires, identifies gaps and inconsistencies, and returns drafts for the couple to review and correct. Nothing is added that the couple have not said. The relationship statement guide explains what the statement should cover.

Form 888 statements are made by Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents or eligible New Zealand citizens who know the couple. Each witness speaks only to what they personally know. A fixed fee partner visa lawyer should prepare or review each Form 888 statement so that it is accurate, specific and consistent with the relationship statement. See who can make a Form 888 and what it should say and Form 888 example answers and common mistakes.

Check the costs agreement for the number of Form 888 statements included. Most matters need at least two. If a fixed fee covers only two and the matter needs more, the agreement should say how additional statements are charged.

Stage 4: Preparing the application

Preparing the application is the stage where the fixed fee partner visa lawyer turns the assessment, the evidence and the statements into a complete, decision-ready application. It includes the online application forms, the sponsorship, the personal particulars, the evidence index and any legal submissions.

For an onshore application, the Subclass 820 and Subclass 801 are applied for at the same time and on the same form. The sponsor completes the sponsorship. The applicant may also need to complete Form 80 personal particulars, either at lodgement or when requested. The lawyer lodges a Form 956 appointing the lawyer as representative, so that the Department communicates through the firm. If the couple do not yet have one, the guide to creating an ImmiAccount explains the first step.

Where the matter needs legal submissions, for example on Schedule 3 compelling reasons, a long period apart, or a previous visa history, the costs agreement should say whether submissions are included. The Schedule 3 criteria article and the Schedule 3 waiver service page explain why those submissions take substantial work. A fixed fee partner visa lawyer who knows the matter involves Schedule 3 should price that work at the start rather than add it later.

Stage 5: Lodgement and the bridging visa

Lodgement is the stage where the fixed fee partner visa lawyer lodges a valid application and confirms the applicant's status after lodgement. For an onshore applicant, lodgement is also an application for a bridging visa, and the class of bridging visa depends on the applicant's status at the time of lodgement.

The lawyer should check the acknowledgement, confirm that the application is valid, and confirm the bridging visa class and its conditions on VEVO. An applicant who held a substantive visa at lodgement usually receives a Bridging visa A. An applicant who held no substantive visa usually receives a Bridging visa C or a Bridging visa E. The overview of bridging visas A, B, C and E, the Bridging visa A guide and the Subclass 820 work rights article explain the consequences.

A Bridging visa B application for overseas travel during processing is a separate application with its own charge payable to the Department. Ask whether a fixed fee partner visa lawyer includes it, or charges for it as an additional item. The Bridging visa B guide explains what the application requires.

Responding to Department Requests Under a Fixed Fee

A fixed fee partner visa lawyer should include responses to the routine requests the Department makes during processing, such as requests for further information, updated evidence, health examinations and police certificates. Whether the fee also includes responses to a section 57 natural justice letter, or to a request that reveals a new legal problem, depends on the costs agreement, and you should check it.

Partner visas often stay open for a long time. During that period the Department may ask for more information at any point. The quality of each response can decide the application. This is why a fixed fee partner visa lawyer quote that stops at lodgement leaves the client exposed during the stage that most often goes wrong.

Section 56 requests for further information

Section 56 of the Migration Act 1958 allows the Department to invite an applicant to give additional information. A section 56 request has a deadline. If the information is not provided in time, the decision maker can decide the application without it.

A fixed fee partner visa lawyer should include responding to ordinary section 56 requests in the processing stage of the fee. That includes reviewing the request, explaining what is needed, collecting the material from the couple, and preparing a structured response. The guide to responding to a section 56 request explains how these requests work.

Section 57 natural justice letters

Section 57 of the Act requires the Department, in certain circumstances, to give the applicant particulars of information that would be the reason, or part of the reason, for refusing the visa, and to invite a response. A section 57 letter is a warning that a refusal is being considered. It is one of the most important documents in a partner visa matter.

Some fixed fee partner visa lawyer agreements include the response to a section 57 letter in the processing stage. Others treat it as a separate stage, because the response may involve new evidence, new statements, legal submissions and a substantial amount of work. Neither approach is wrong. What matters is that the client knows in advance. The section 57 natural justice letter article explains how a response is prepared.

Health examinations and police certificates

Requests for health examinations and police certificates are a normal part of processing, and a fixed fee partner visa lawyer should include managing them. The Subclass 820 requires the applicant to satisfy the public interest criteria, including PIC 4001 on character and PIC 4007 on health, under clause 820.223. Clause 820.226 adds PIC 4020, the integrity criterion, and PIC 4021, the passport requirement.

Managing those requests means explaining what is required, checking the police certificates against the countries the applicant has lived in, and following up the health results. The examinations and certificates themselves are paid for by the applicant to the panel clinic or the issuing authority. They are not part of the professional fee.

If a health issue arises, the matter may need submissions about whether the health criterion is met or whether a waiver applies. PIC 4007 is the health criterion that permits a waiver in some circumstances. A health waiver submission is substantial additional work, and a fixed fee partner visa lawyer should tell you in writing whether it is within the agreed scope.

Change of circumstances notifications

An applicant must notify the Department of certain changes in circumstances under section 104 of the Act. Changes of address, passport, relationship status or household are common. A fixed fee partner visa lawyer should include preparing those notifications during processing, usually through Form 1022 change of circumstances.

Notification of a minor change is routine. Notification of a relationship breakdown is not. It changes the legal basis of the application and is discussed further below.

Through to Decision: The Subclass 820 Grant and the Subclass 801 Stage

A fixed fee partner visa lawyer should manage the onshore application through to the Subclass 820 decision, and the costs agreement should state clearly whether the later Subclass 801 permanent stage is included. The two subclasses are applied for together, but they are decided at different times.

Under paragraph 801.221(2)(d) of the Migration Regulations 1994, at least two years must have passed since the application was made before the Subclass 801 can be granted, subject to exceptions. One exception, in subclause 801.221(6A), applies where the couple were in a long-term partner relationship when the application was made. Others apply where the sponsor has died, where family violence by the sponsor has occurred, or where there are custody or access arrangements for a child. The Subclass 820 vs Subclass 801 comparison explains how the two stages fit together.

At the Subclass 801 stage, the Department usually asks for updated evidence that the relationship is continuing. It may also require police certificates for countries where the applicant has lived for a cumulative 12 months or more since the Subclass 820 was granted. That is a second round of evidence work.

Because the Subclass 801 stage can arrive years after the Subclass 820, many firms price it as a separate stage within the same costs agreement, billed when that work begins. A fixed fee partner visa lawyer who includes the permanent stage should say so. One who excludes it should say so too. The Subclass 820 processing time article and the article on how long an 820 onshore application takes explain why the timeline is long.

For the onshore pathway as a whole, see the Subclass 820 partner visa guide, the Subclass 820 visa explainer and the requirements and documents guide.

What a Fixed Fee Partner Visa Lawyer Does Not Normally Include

A fixed fee partner visa lawyer charges for professional legal work. Government charges, third-party costs and separate legal proceedings are normally outside that fee. The costs agreement should list them, so that the client is not surprised later.

Government and third-party costs

The following costs are usually paid by the client directly, in addition to the professional fee:

• The visa application charge. This is payable to the Department of Home Affairs when the application is lodged. It is set by the Migration Regulations 1994 and changes from time to time. It is not a legal fee, and no lawyer can reduce it. The Subclass 820 cost article explains the government charges in more detail.
• Medical examinations. These are paid to the panel clinic that conducts them.
• Police certificates. These are paid to the police service or authority that issues them in each country.
• Translations. Documents not in English generally need translation. The translator is paid directly.
• Other third-party costs. These may include document certification, courier costs, and charges for any additional visa application, such as a Bridging visa B.

A fixed fee partner visa lawyer quote that appears to include the visa application charge should be read carefully. The charge is payable to the Department, not to the lawyer, and the client should be able to see exactly what is a professional fee and what is a government charge.

ART review is a separate engagement

Review of a refusal by the Administrative Review Tribunal is normally a separate engagement with its own costs agreement. It is a different legal proceeding, before a different body, with its own application, its own charge payable to the Tribunal, its own evidence and often a hearing.

The ART replaced the Administrative Appeals Tribunal on 14 October 2024. A refusal of a Subclass 820 is generally reviewable by the ART, but the application must be made within a short deadline that runs from notification of the decision. The deadline is strictly applied and the Tribunal cannot extend it. A review applicant for a Subclass 820 refusal must also be in Australia when the review application is made. The ART review guide, the partner visa refusal appeal options article and the partner visa refusals page explain the process.

A fixed fee partner visa lawyer who has run the application is well placed to act on review, because they know the evidence. But the review is still a new matter. It should be scoped and priced separately, with the deadline in mind.

Judicial review and other proceedings

Judicial review in the courts is a separate engagement again. It deals only with legal error, not with the merits. The judicial review page explains when it may be available. Visa cancellation matters are also separate, and are covered on the visa cancellations page. A fixed fee partner visa lawyer agreement for the application stage would not ordinarily include either.

How a Fixed Fee Partner Visa Lawyer Bills by Stage

A fixed fee partner visa lawyer usually bills each stage when that stage begins or when it is completed, in accordance with a stage schedule in the written costs agreement. The client pays for each stage as the matter progresses, rather than paying the entire fee before any work is done.

A typical stage schedule ties each payment to a defined piece of work. For example, the first stage might cover the assessment, the evidence plan and the advice letter. A later stage might cover the drafting of the relationship statement and the Form 888 statements and the preparation of the application. Another might cover lodgement and processing. A final stage might cover the Subclass 801 permanent stage.

Stage billing has practical advantages for the client:

• Payment follows work. Each stage is billed for work that is actually being done or has been done.
• Clear milestones. Each stage has a defined output, so the client can see progress.
• No surprises. The fee for every stage is known at the start, even if later stages are paid later.
• Flexibility. If the matter ends early, for example because the couple decide not to proceed after the assessment, later stages are not billed.

The costs agreement should state what happens to the fee for a stage if the matter ends part way through it. It should also state whether any part of a stage fee is refundable. A fixed fee partner visa lawyer should be able to explain those terms plainly before the agreement is signed.

Engagement and payment arrangements differ between firms. Some require the full fee in advance. Some bill by stage. Some hold money in a trust account. The immigration lawyer fees guide and the complete guide to immigration lawyer fees and choosing a lawyer explain the common arrangements across all visa types.

What to Check in a Partner Visa Costs Agreement

Before signing with a fixed fee partner visa lawyer, check that the costs agreement states the scope of each stage, the fee for each stage, when each stage is billed, the exclusions, and what happens if circumstances change. If any of those points is missing, ask for it in writing.

The following checklist covers the points that matter most on a partner visa:

• The subclass and the applicants. The agreement should name the subclass and every applicant, including any dependent children. Adding a child later may be extra work.
• The stages. Each stage should be described by what work it includes and what it ends with.
• The fee for each stage. Each stage should have its own fixed fee, and the agreement should say when it is payable.
• The relationship statement and Form 888 statements. The agreement should say whether drafting is included and how many Form 888 statements are covered.
• Processing work. The agreement should say whether responses to section 56 requests, section 57 natural justice letters, and health and character requests are included.
• The Subclass 801 stage. For onshore matters, the agreement should say whether the permanent stage is included.
• Exclusions. The agreement should list government charges, medical examinations, police certificates, translations and other third-party costs as separate.
• Review and other proceedings. The agreement should say that ART review, judicial review and cancellation matters are not included, or say on what terms they would be.
• Change of circumstances. The agreement should say what happens if the relationship ends, if family violence is claimed, if a new legal issue arises, or if the application is refused.
• Termination. The agreement should say what is payable if the client ends the engagement, and what happens to the file.

Ask how the firm communicates. Some firms run engagements by email so that every instruction and every piece of advice is in writing. Others use client portals or meetings. Whatever the method, written instructions are easier to rely on later. Clients who are moving from one lawyer to another should read how to change your immigration lawyer, and clients who lodged themselves should read hiring a lawyer after lodgement.

Scope Creep: When Work Falls Outside the Fixed Fee

Scope creep is work that falls outside the agreed stages of a fixed fee and is charged separately. On a partner visa it usually arises because the facts change or because a legal issue appears that was not identified at the start. A good fixed fee partner visa lawyer reduces scope creep by identifying the issues early and scoping them into the agreement.

The common causes of scope creep on partner matters are:

• Issues missed at assessment. Condition 8503, section 48 or Schedule 3 discovered after the agreement was signed. This is why the first stage matters so much.
• New applicants. A child born or added after lodgement may need to be included, with new evidence and health checks.
• A section 57 letter raising new issues. Adverse information, such as an earlier visa application that recorded a different relationship status, can require a full legal response.
• Health or character issues. A health waiver submission or a character submission is substantial work.
• Relationship breakdown or family violence. These change the legal basis of the application.
• Travel during processing. A Bridging visa B application may be outside the fee.

Scope creep is not always unfair. Some events genuinely cannot be predicted. What is unfair is additional work being billed without warning. A fixed fee partner visa lawyer should tell the client in writing, before doing the additional work, that it falls outside the agreed scope and what it will cost. The client can then decide whether to proceed.

A useful test when comparing quotes is to ask each fixed fee partner visa lawyer: "What would you charge extra for on my matter?" A lawyer who has assessed the matter properly should be able to answer.

What Happens to a Fixed Fee If Circumstances Change?

If the facts of a partner visa matter change significantly, the agreed fixed fee may no longer fit the work, and the costs agreement should say how that is handled. Most changes fall into four categories: a relationship breakdown, a family violence claim, a Schedule 3 or validity issue, and a refusal.

Relationship breakdown

If the relationship ends during processing, the applicant must notify the Department, and the basis of the application changes. In most cases the Subclass 820 can no longer be granted on the ordinary relationship criteria. Whether any pathway remains depends on the facts, including whether there is a child of the relationship or whether family violence has occurred. The Subclass 820 relationship breakdown article explains the options.

For billing, the costs agreement should say whether the remaining stages end and what, if anything, is payable for work already done. Advice on the new position is usually a separate piece of work.

Family violence

If family violence by the sponsor has occurred, the applicant may still be able to be granted the visa under the family violence provisions in Division 1.5 of the Migration Regulations 1994. A family violence claim requires its own evidence and legal submissions, and is a substantial change of scope. A fixed fee partner visa lawyer should scope it as a new stage or a new engagement, and should explain the fee in writing before beginning. The family violence partner visa page explains the provisions.

Schedule 3 and validity issues

If a Schedule 3 or validity issue appears after the agreement is signed, it can add significant work. Schedule 3 submissions require evidence of compelling reasons for not applying criteria 3001, 3003 and 3004, and compelling reasons are assessed at the time of decision. The Schedule 3 partner visa waiver article explains what those submissions involve. Where the issue was apparent at the start, a properly scoped fixed fee should already include it.

Refusal

If the application is refused, the application stage of the engagement usually ends. Review by the ART is a new engagement with its own costs agreement, and the review deadline is short and strictly applied. The visa refusals page, the Subclass 820 refusal reasons article and why partner visas get refused explain the common grounds. A fixed fee partner visa lawyer should give advice on review options promptly when a refusal arrives, because time matters.

Why Review Is Scoped Separately: What Tribunal Decisions Show

Tribunal decisions show why a fixed fee partner visa lawyer treats review as a separate engagement: review often turns on new evidence, oral evidence at a hearing and issues that were not fully dealt with before the Department. In each of the following decisions, the Tribunal set aside the refusal and remitted the matter, which means it sent the application back to the Department to reconsider. A remittal is not a grant. The issues listed are the issues the decisions were reported on:

• Manalo (Migration) [2024] AATA 1927 (Subclass 820): the sponsorship form and other requested material had not been provided to the Department; COVID restrictions and access issues; prehearing, oral and witness evidence; departmental policy.
• Tran (Migration) [2023] AATA 3870 (Subclass 820): genuine and continuing relationship; validly married; financial, household and social aspects of the relationship and the nature of the commitment; limited evidence at the time of application.
• Bateman (Migration) [2019] AATA 394 (Subclass 820): genuine de facto relationship; credible witnesses; the Tribunal had more information available to it than was available to the delegate.
• Rous (Migration) [2020] AATA 1877 (Subclass 820): health criterion; documentation of the specified medical examination provided to the Tribunal.
• Thota (Migration) [2020] AATA 4222 (Subclass 820): Schedule 3 criteria; application lodged outside the relevant timeframe; compelling reasons for waiver; oral evidence of the sponsor's son and daughter-in-law.
• Siyad (Migration) [2025] ARTA 2129 (Subclass 820): relationship ceased; genuine and continuing relationship before family violence; coercive control; joint utility and tenancy accounts.

The decisions other than Siyad were made by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal before the ART commenced. They illustrate the kinds of issues the Tribunal examined in each case. They do not establish that any particular fact will be accepted in a later case. What they show for a client choosing a fixed fee partner visa lawyer is practical. Several of these matters reached review because evidence was missing, limited or not provided at the application stage. A fixed fee that genuinely covers evidence planning and responses to Department requests is the best protection against that outcome. The visa appeal lawyer guide explains how review matters are run.

Why a Fixed Fee Protects the Client

A fixed fee protects the client by giving certainty: the professional fee for each stage is known before the work starts, and it does not rise because the work took longer than expected. For a partner visa, which may take years to decide, that certainty is valuable.

A fixed fee partner visa lawyer arrangement protects the client in several ways:

• Budget certainty. The couple can plan for the cost of each stage, alongside the government charges payable to the Department.
• No penalty for questions. The client does not hesitate to ask a question or send a document because each email might be billed.
• Aligned incentives. The lawyer has an incentive to prepare the application properly the first time, because rework within a stage is not separately charged.
• Clear scope. A written scope makes it easier to see what has been done and what remains.

A fixed fee does not mean a cheaper result, and it does not mean a guaranteed outcome. No lawyer can promise that a partner visa will be granted. What a fixed fee partner visa lawyer offers is transparency about cost, matched to a defined scope of work. For a factual comparison of the services available, see migration agent or lawyer for a partner visa, migration agent vs immigration lawyer and partner visa lawyer vs doing it yourself.

Fixed Fees Compared With Other Billing Methods

Fixed fees, hourly rates and hybrid arrangements are all lawful ways for a lawyer to charge, and each has a place. The difference is where the risk sits. Under a fixed fee, the lawyer carries the risk that a stage takes longer than expected. Under time-based billing, the client pays for the time actually spent, which can be efficient for short or unpredictable work.

Time-based billing can suit work whose extent cannot be predicted, such as urgent advice on an unusual problem. A fixed fee suits work that follows a recognisable sequence, which is why many firms offer fixed fees for partner visa applications. Some firms use a hybrid: a fixed fee for the defined stages and an agreed rate for anything outside them. Whichever model is used, the costs agreement should explain it.

When comparing a fixed fee partner visa lawyer with another provider, compare like with like. A lower fee for "lodgement only" is not comparable with a fee that includes the assessment, the statements, processing and the Subclass 801 stage. The guides on how to choose Australian migration lawyers, how to find and check an Australian migration lawyer, choosing the best partner visa lawyer and when you need an immigration lawyer for a partner visa set out the other factors to weigh. If you already have a lawyer and want the scope checked, a second opinion from an immigration lawyer can help.

How My Migration Lawyers Helps as a Fixed Fee Partner Visa Lawyer

My Migration Lawyers acts as a fixed fee partner visa lawyer on Subclass 820, Subclass 801, Subclass 309 and Subclass 300 matters. The firm charges fixed fees per matter, set out stage by stage in a written costs agreement, and the engagement runs by email with the lawyer so that every instruction and every piece of advice is recorded in writing.

In practice, the firm's approach on a fixed fee partner visa matter follows these steps:

• Consultation and assessment. The firm assesses eligibility, validity, status at lodgement, Schedule 3, section 48, condition 8503 and the public interest criteria, and obtains visa history itself through VEVO and Department records where needed. Consultations are held by video.
• A written scope before any work. The firm issues a written costs agreement that sets out each stage, the fixed fee for each stage and the exclusions, including government charges payable to the Department, medical examinations, police certificates and translations.
• Advice and evidence plan. The firm provides written advice and an evidence plan built around the couple's own relationship and the four aspects of the relationship.
• Statements. The firm prepares the relationship statement and the Form 888 statements from the couple's and the witnesses' own accounts, which they review and correct.
• Preparation and lodgement. The firm prepares and lodges a valid application and confirms the bridging visa position after lodgement.
• Processing. The firm manages Department requests during processing, including section 56 requests and section 57 natural justice letters, within the scope agreed in the costs agreement.
• Change and refusal. If circumstances change, the firm explains in writing what falls outside the agreed scope before doing the work. If a refusal issues, the firm advises on review options immediately, and any ART review is scoped under a separate costs agreement.

My Migration Lawyers acts in many partner visa matters of this exact type, including straightforward applications and complex cases involving Schedule 3, condition 8503, earlier refusals, section 57 letters and changes in circumstances. The firm is capable of handling those matters, and it scopes the complexity into the agreement at the start rather than adding it later. Matters are supervised by Weiwei Zhang, Principal Lawyer. No outcome can be promised in any migration matter, but a fixed fee partner visa lawyer engagement with a clear written scope tells you exactly what you are paying for at each stage.

The firm acts for clients across Australia, including through its partner visa lawyers in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, the Gold Coast, Canberra, Hobart and Parramatta. Because consultations are by video, location is no barrier. You can learn more about My Migration Lawyers, or read what to expect from a consultation.

If you are comparing quotes, preparing to lodge, or unsure what your current agreement covers, speak to a fixed fee partner visa lawyer before you sign or lodge.

Book a consultation with My Migration Lawyers to have your partner visa matter assessed and scoped. You can also call 1300 040 300.