Form 888 for Partner Visas: Example Answers and Common Mistakes

What is Form 888 and who can complete it?

Form 888 is a supporting statement about a partner visa relationship, completed by a person aged 18 or over who knows the visa applicant, the partner or fiancé, and the history of the relationship. The current version of the form is not a statutory declaration and does not have to be signed in front of a witness.

The full title of the current form is "Supporting statement in relation to a Partner or Prospective Marriage visa application", with a design date of 08/26. The older version of the same form was called a statutory declaration by a supporting witness, and it required an authorised witness. That is no longer how the form works. A great deal of guidance published online still describes the old form and still tells people to find a Justice of the Peace. That advice is out of date, and following it will not make a statement any stronger.

Instead of a statutory declaration, the current form carries an acknowledgement at question 6. The person signing states that they understand that under section 234(1)(b) of the Migration Act 1958 it is an offence to make a false statement in connection with a visa application, and that they believe the statements in the form are true in every particular. The form itself records that the Migration Act 1958 provides penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment, a fine, or both, for providing false or misleading statements. This is not a formality. A supporting witness who signs a statement drafted by somebody else, containing facts they cannot personally confirm, is taking a real risk.

The person completing the form must also provide documentary evidence of their current name and age, and where applicable, evidence of Australian citizenship or Australian permanent residency. The form gives examples: a copy of a birth certificate, an Australian passport, or a passport containing a permanent visa. The words "where applicable" matter. For an ordinary subclass 820 onshore partner visa application, a supporting witness does not have to be an Australian citizen or permanent resident at all. A long-standing friend on a student visa, or a family member living overseas, can give a statement. The position is completely different for applicants affected by the section 48 bar, which is dealt with further below.

The completed form is attached to the visa application in ImmiAccount by the applicant or their appointed representative. The witness does not lodge it themselves. The form must be completed in English, either typed into the fields using Adobe Acrobat Reader or printed and completed in block letters.

Two further points on the front page of the form are easy to miss. First, the Department may ask for up to three separate statements from the same witness during the processing of the application. Second, the witness may be contacted for further comment, or interviewed, about what they have written. Anyone who signs a Form 888 should be prepared to be asked about it, possibly years later.

What does Form 888 ask, question by question?

Form 888 asks for the witness's own details, then two identification questions, then two substantive questions, then an identity declaration and a signature. The whole form fits on two pages, and almost all of its value sits in questions 3 and 4.

The first block asks for the witness's family name and given names, residential address and postcode, home and mobile telephone numbers, and an email address. It also has fields for the Transaction Reference Number and the File Number of the visa application. Those two fields are how the Department matches the statement to the right file.

Question 1 asks for the visa applicant's family name and given names, and how long the witness has known that person. Question 2 asks the same about the applicant's partner or fiancé. These are not throwaway questions. An answer of "two years" to question 1 in a de facto application that claims a five year relationship invites the obvious follow-up.

Question 3 asks the witness to state how they know the applicant and the applicant's partner or fiancé, and to indicate how often they have been in contact with them.

Question 4 asks the witness to state whether they believe the relationship of the applicant and their partner or fiancé is genuine and continuing, and to give their reasons for that belief. An open field follows, inviting any other matters the witness wishes to add in support of the application.

Question 5 asks whether the witness has attached evidence of their identity, with a yes or no tick box. Question 6 carries the warning and the acknowledgement described above, followed by the signature and date.

The open field after question 4 is the right place for anything that does not fit the two set questions: photographs the witness took of the couple at a named event, a wedding invitation the witness received, or the fact that the witness has cared for the couple's child. It should carry facts, not more adjectives.

The form says that if there is insufficient space for questions 3 and 4, further detail may be attached. Use it. The boxes on the form are small, and a detailed answer on an attached page is worth far more than a cramped answer squeezed into the field.

How many Form 888 statements does a partner visa application need?

At least two. The Department's partner visa application form asks for at least two statements from people who have personal knowledge of the relationship and who support the claim that the relationship is genuine and continuing.

Two is a floor, not a target, and more is not automatically better. Departmental policy on the social aspects of a relationship, under paragraph 1.15A(3)(c) of the Migration Regulations 1994 for married couples and paragraph 1.09A(3)(c) for de facto couples, refers to the opinion of the couple's friends and acquaintances about the nature of the relationship, and gives the example of statements from parents, family members, relatives, friends and other interested parties. What decision makers weigh is the content of those statements, not the number of them.

Two detailed statements from people who have genuinely watched the relationship develop are worth more than six short ones that all say the same thing in the same words. Four to six well chosen witnesses is a sensible range for most applications, and the mix matters. A statement from the sponsor's mother, a statement from a housemate, a statement from a long-standing friend of the applicant and a statement from a colleague who sees the couple socially cover different ground. Four statements from the same friendship group cover the same ground four times.

It is also worth noting what departmental policy says about form. Statements in the form of a statutory declaration are to be encouraged, on the basis that as a legal document they carry more weight. That is a live tactical point, and it is missed almost everywhere. A supporting witness who is willing to make a properly witnessed Commonwealth statutory declaration, rather than signing a Form 888, may produce a stronger document. The Form 888 is the convenient option, not the strongest one.

Choosing the right witnesses is half the work. A useful witness is someone who has seen the couple together, repeatedly, over a period of time, and who can describe what they saw. Someone who has met the couple once at a party cannot help, however senior or respectable they are. Someone who knows the couple only through social media cannot help either. The sponsor does not complete a Form 888, because the sponsor gives their own relationship statement and signs the sponsorship form. Nor should the applicant's lawyer or migration agent complete one. Witnesses who live overseas are perfectly acceptable for an ordinary partner visa application, including for an offshore subclass 309 partner visa, provided they can describe first-hand knowledge rather than what they have been told.

Example answers for Form 888 question 3: how you know the couple

Question 3 must establish three things: when and how the witness came to know each partner, the settings in which the witness has seen them together, and how often. A witness who answers only the first of those three has answered a third of the question.

The examples below are illustrations written as templates. Square brackets mark the details each witness supplies from their own knowledge. Nobody should copy them. They are set out to show the level of detail the question is asking for.

A weak answer to question 3

I have known [Applicant] and [Partner] for several years. We are close friends and I see them often. They are a lovely couple.

That answer fails for four reasons. There are no dates, so the Department cannot place the witness in the relationship timeline. There is no explanation of how the witness came to know either person. "Often" is not a frequency. And it does not distinguish between knowing one partner and knowing them as a couple, which is the whole point of the question.

A stronger answer to question 3

I met [Partner] in February 2019, when we started working together at [employer] in [suburb]. We have remained close friends since then and we speak most weeks.

[Partner] introduced me to [Applicant] in about June 2022, at [Partner]'s birthday dinner at [restaurant, suburb]. I understood at that time that they had been seeing each other for a few months.

Since June 2022 I have seen [Applicant] and [Partner] together roughly two or three times a month. I have had dinner at their home at [suburb] on many occasions, most recently on [date]. We went camping together at [location] in [month, year] and again in [month, year]. I attended their wedding at [venue, suburb] on [date]. I also message [Applicant] directly most weeks about [shared interest].

The difference is not length. The difference is that every sentence in the second answer is a fact a decision maker can test, and every sentence is something the witness could confirm if they were interviewed about it.

Example answers for Form 888 question 4: whether the relationship is genuine and continuing

Question 4 is decided by the reasons, not by the belief. A witness who writes that they are certain the relationship is genuine, and stops there, has told the Department nothing it can use. The words "and give your reasons for your belief" are the operative part of the question.

It helps to know what the reasons are being weighed against. For a married couple, the Department considers the four matters in subregulation 1.15A(3): the financial aspects of the relationship, the nature of the household, the social aspects of the relationship, and the nature of the persons' commitment to each other. For a de facto couple, subregulation 1.09A(3) sets out the same four matters. Form 888 goes primarily to the social aspects, but a witness who has seen the household, the finances or the commitment at first hand should say so.

A weak answer to question 4

I believe that the relationship between [Applicant] and [Partner] is 100 per cent genuine and continuing. They are very much in love and I have no doubt whatsoever that they will be together for life. I fully support their application.

Nothing in that paragraph is evidence. It states a conclusion in the language of the legal test, adds an opinion about the future, and offers no observed fact at all. A statement written in those terms also reads as formulaic, which is exactly the impression a supporting statement should avoid.

A stronger answer to question 4

Yes. I believe the relationship between [Applicant] and [Partner] is genuine and continuing. My reasons are as follows.

They live together. They have shared a home at [suburb] since about [month, year]. I have stayed overnight at their home on several occasions, most recently in [month, year]. Both of their names are on the letterbox, their belongings are mixed through the house, and [Applicant] cooks most evenings while [Partner] does the shopping on the weekend.

They are known as a couple in our social circle. They attended my wedding together in [month, year] and were seated together as a couple. When [Applicant] came alone to my father's funeral in [month, year] because [Partner] was interstate for work, several of our mutual friends asked after [Partner] by name.

They plan their future together. In [year] they spoke to me at length about whether to buy a home in [suburb], and [Applicant] asked my opinion about taking out a loan in both names.

They support each other in difficulty. When [Partner]'s mother was unwell in [month, year], [Applicant] drove her to appointments most weeks. I know this because I collected [Applicant] from [hospital] twice during that period.

I have never seen anything that made me doubt that this is a real relationship.

Note the structure. One short paragraph for each of the four matters the decision maker has to consider, each paragraph anchored to something the witness personally saw, and each anchored in time. A witness who cannot fill one of those paragraphs should leave it out rather than invent it. A shorter honest statement is far better than a longer one that cannot be stood behind in an interview.

Common Form 888 mistakes that weaken a partner visa application

The most damaging Form 888 mistake is uniformity. When several statements arrive in the same phrasing, the same order and the same font, the Department draws the obvious conclusion, and the value of every one of those statements falls away. Individually weak statements are simply ignored. Statements that look coordinated invite questions about the integrity of the whole application.

The mistakes that come up again and again are these.

• Several witnesses submitting near identical wording, because one person drafted all of them.
• Stating a conclusion in the words of the legal test instead of giving observed facts.
• Leaving question 5 at "no", or ticking "yes" and attaching nothing. Identity evidence is part of the form, not an optional extra.
• Attaching a driver licence or a Medicare card as proof of Australian citizenship or permanent residency. Neither is sufficient where that status has to be proved.
• Writing only about one partner, usually the sponsor, because that is the person the witness actually knows well.
• Leaving the Transaction Reference Number and File Number blank, so the statement is harder to match to the file.
• An unsigned or undated form, or an old design of the form downloaded from a third party website.
• Dates that contradict the rest of the application, especially the date the couple began living together, which can cut across the 12 month de facto requirement.
• Statements written in a language other than English, or translated without certification. The form must be completed in English.
• Treating Form 888 as a substitute for the couple's own relationship statements and their documentary evidence. It is neither.
• Using Form 888 where the law requires a statutory declaration. This one does not merely weaken an application. It can destroy it, and it is dealt with next.

There is one further mistake worth naming, because it is the one lawyers see most often in refused partner visa applications. A witness signs a statement that reads beautifully and that they did not write. Months or years later the Department telephones and asks how the couple met. The witness does not know, because the detail was never theirs. That conversation is recorded on the file, and it is very difficult to repair. Every supporting statement should be the witness's own account, in the witness's own words, containing only what the witness can actually confirm.

When Form 888 will not work and a statutory declaration is required

Form 888 does not satisfy a legal requirement for a statutory declaration. The current form is a signed statement carrying an acknowledgement of the offence provision in section 234(1)(b) of the Migration Act 1958. It is not declared before an authorised witness. Where a provision of the Migration Regulations 1994 uses the words "statutory declaration", nothing but a statutory declaration will do, and the correct document is the Commonwealth statutory declaration form published by the Attorney-General's Department.

A Commonwealth statutory declaration must be signed by the person making it and witnessed by a person authorised to witness statutory declarations. Every attachment must be witnessed on each page, and every attachment must be referred to clearly enough that it is obvious which documents form part of the declaration. There are now three ways to make one: on paper before an authorised witness, electronically with an authorised witness observing over a video link, or digitally through myGov using a Digital Identity, which requires no witness at all.

Applicants affected by the section 48 bar

A person to whom section 48 of the Migration Act 1958 applies must lodge two statutory declarations with their partner visa application, and two Form 888 statements will not do. Section 48 applies, broadly, to a person in the migration zone who does not hold a substantive visa and who, after last entering Australia, had a visa application refused or a visa cancelled.

Partner visas remain available to such a person, but subparagraph 1124B(3)(e)(iii) of Schedule 1 to the Migration Regulations 1994 requires that, at the same time and place as making the application, the applicant provide two statutory declarations each of which:

• is made by an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen who is not the partner; and
• declares that the applicant and the partner are in a married relationship or de facto relationship; and
• was declared no more than 6 weeks before the day on which the application for the Partner (Residence) (Class BS) visa was made.

Two related requirements sit alongside it. Under subparagraph 1124B(3)(e)(i) the applicant must not have been refused any of the listed partner, spouse or interdependency visas since last entering Australia. Under subparagraph 1124B(3)(e)(ii) the approved sponsorship form, which is Form 40SP, known online as the Sponsorship for a Partner to Migrate to Australia form, must be completed and signed by the sponsor and provided at the same time and place as the application.

The Department's stated reason for the two declarations is that applicants subject to a section 48 bar are required to meet a higher threshold than other applicants, to help maintain the integrity of the partner visa programme.

Three details cause most of the damage. Evidence of each declarant's status has to be provided, and a driver licence or a Medicare card is not sufficient, so a passport or a birth certificate is needed. The declarants cannot include the sponsoring partner. And the six week clock runs to the day the valid application is made, not the day the file was opened.

Non-judicially determined claims of family violence

A claim of family violence that has not been determined by a court must also be supported by a statutory declaration, not a Form 888. Division 1.5 of the Migration Regulations 1994 requires a non-judicially determined claim to be supported by a statutory declaration in the Commonwealth form. Under regulation 1.24, the applicant must provide a statutory declaration by the alleged victim, or by a person acting on the alleged victim's behalf, that meets the requirements of regulation 1.25, together with at least two prescribed documents of the types set out in the relevant legislative instrument.

Those declarations also have content requirements. The alleged victim must set out the allegation and name the person alleged to have committed the relevant family violence. A general supporting statement from a friend does not meet any of this. The family violence provisions for partner visas are a separate topic with their own evidentiary rules.

The same principle applies whenever the Department writes to an applicant asking for a statutory declaration. If the request uses that phrase, a Form 888 is not a compliant answer.

What happens when the section 48 statutory declarations are missing or out of date

The application is invalid. An application that does not meet item 1124B(3)(e) of Schedule 1 is not a valid application at all, which means it was never made and there is nothing for the Department to decide.

The consequences run wider than most people expect. Because a Subclass 820 application must be made at the same time and place as a Subclass 801 application under paragraph 1214C(3)(a) of Schedule 1, on one combined form, a defect in the Partner (Residence) (Class BS) application takes the temporary application with it. Both fail together. There is no right of merits review of an assessment that an application is invalid, so there is nothing to take to the Administrative Review Tribunal. The application has to be re-lodged from the beginning, with fresh declarations, because the six week window is measured to the day the valid application is made.

Worse, a bridging visa granted in association with a partner visa application depends on there being a valid application. An applicant who was already unlawful when they lodged, and whose application turns out to be invalid, does not get the breathing space they thought they had. That same applicant will usually also have to deal with the Schedule 3 criteria and a waiver request when the application is re-lodged.

Six weeks is a short window, and it is the single most common point of failure. Declarations signed at the start of a document gathering exercise regularly expire before the application is ready to lodge. The declarations must be the last documents prepared, not the first.

How My Migration Lawyers prepares partner visa supporting statements

Supporting statements are only as good as the groundwork behind them, and at My Migration Lawyers that groundwork starts before anybody writes a word. The first question on any onshore partner visa file is whether section 48 applies, because that determines whether the application needs Form 888 statements, Commonwealth statutory declarations, or both, and whether the whole lodgement is on a six week clock.

From there the work is practical. The firm identifies which witnesses actually add something, tells each of them what questions 3 and 4 are asking and what level of detail the Department expects, and checks that the identity evidence attached to each statement proves what it needs to prove. Where the law requires statutory declarations, the firm confirms each declarant's status, keeps the sponsor out of that group, and times the declarations so that they are current on the day of lodgement.

What the firm does not do is write a witness's evidence for them. Each statement is the witness's own account, in the witness's own words, based only on what that witness personally knows. The witness reads it, corrects anything that is not right, and signs it understanding the acknowledgement at question 6. That is both the honest way to run a file and the only way a statement survives a telephone call from the Department two years later.

Partner visa matters at My Migration Lawyers are handled by Principal Lawyer Weiwei Zhang, and consultations are held by video anywhere in Australia. If an application has already been refused, or an application has been assessed as invalid, the options are different again and the timeframes are short, which is covered under partner visa refusals. To have a partner visa application reviewed before it is lodged, request a consultation online.