Partner Visa Sponsor Applying for Citizenship at the Same Time

A partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship is running two applications with the same Department at the same time, and the Department can read both. That is the single most important fact for any partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship. The partner visa does not need to wait for citizenship. A permanent resident can sponsor now. But every answer the sponsor gives in the sponsorship, the citizenship application and the relationship evidence must tell the same story.

This guide is written for the Australian permanent resident who is a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship in the same period. It explains which application to lodge first, why there is usually no reason to delay the partner visa, how to keep relationship details, addresses, travel history, children and character disclosures consistent, how overseas travel to be with a partner can affect the citizenship residence requirement, and what happens to the sponsorship if citizenship is refused, delayed or granted part way through processing. It also sets out what published Tribunal decisions record about inconsistent information and sponsor credibility.

If you are not sure you can sponsor at all, start with our guide to who can sponsor a partner visa and our article on when a sponsor cannot sponsor a partner visa in Australia. My Migration Lawyers acts as partner visa lawyers for sponsors and applicants across Australia.

Can a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship sponsor before the ceremony?

Yes. A partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship can sponsor a partner before the citizenship ceremony, because Australian permanent residence is already enough to sponsor. The partner visa rules allow sponsorship by an Australian citizen, an Australian permanent resident or an eligible New Zealand citizen. Citizenship is not an extra requirement, and an Australian permanent resident who is usually resident in Australia does not become a stronger sponsor by waiting.

This surprises many people. A common belief is that a sponsor must be a citizen, or that the Department prefers citizen sponsors. Neither is correct. The law treats a citizen, a permanent resident and an eligible New Zealand citizen as eligible sponsors. The difference between a citizen and a permanent resident matters in other ways, for example on residence and travel, but not on the basic right to sponsor.

For the Subclass 820, the requirement that the applicant is the spouse or de facto partner of an eligible sponsor is assessed at the time of application under clause 820.211(2). The sponsorship itself must be approved and still in force at the time of decision under clause 820.221(4). For the Subclass 309, the equivalent rules are in clauses 309.211, 309.213 and 309.222(1). Our guides to the Subclass 820 partner visa, the Subclass 309 partner visa and the Subclass 300 prospective marriage visa explain each pathway.

Why permanent residence is enough

Regulation 1.03 of the Migration Regulations 1994 defines an Australian permanent resident as a non-citizen usually resident in Australia whose continued presence in Australia is not subject to any limitation as to time imposed by law. A permanent visa holder living in Australia meets that definition. That person can be a partner visa sponsor today. Applying for citizenship does not change the position while the application is pending. Until the pledge is made at the ceremony, the person remains a permanent resident and sponsors as a permanent resident.

The words "usually resident" matter. An Australian citizen does not need to be usually resident in Australia to sponsor. A permanent resident does. For most people who are a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship, this is not a problem, because they are living in Australia and building up the residence they need for citizenship. It becomes a problem only if the sponsor spends long periods overseas, which is discussed below. Our guide on whether an Australian living overseas can sponsor a partner visa covers the overseas sponsor in more detail.

Who cannot sponsor yet

A person on a temporary visa cannot sponsor, even if a citizenship or permanent visa application is planned. That includes students, temporary skilled workers, graduates, bridging visa holders and people who hold a Subclass 820 or Subclass 309 visa themselves. A person whose own permanent visa application is still pending is not yet a permanent resident and cannot sponsor. See our answer on whether a temporary visa holder can sponsor a partner visa. New Zealand citizens are a separate category, explained in our guide to whether a New Zealand citizen can sponsor a partner visa.

So the starting point for a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship is simple. If you already hold permanent residence and live in Australia, you are an eligible sponsor now. The questions that matter are about timing, consistency and travel.

Which should a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship lodge first?

In most cases, a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship should not delay the partner visa while waiting for citizenship. The partner visa can be lodged as soon as the relationship meets the legal requirements and the evidence is ready. The citizenship application can be lodged as soon as the sponsor meets the residence and other citizenship requirements. The two applications are independent. Neither needs to be finished before the other starts.

There are several reasons why delaying the partner visa is usually a mistake:

• The partner's own visa position. If the partner is in Australia on a temporary visa, the partner visa application often needs to be made before that visa expires. Applying after it expires can bring in the Schedule 3 criteria. Our guide to applying for a partner visa before your visa expires explains why the date matters.
• Citizenship timing is uncertain. The time from a citizenship application to the ceremony varies, and the sponsor does not control it. A couple who wait for a ceremony date can lose months.
• Citizenship gives no advantage on the basic sponsorship. A citizen sponsor and a permanent resident sponsor who lives in Australia are both eligible sponsors.
• Charges change. The Department's charges usually change each 1 July, so waiting can cost more. Our guide to partner visa cost sets out the components.
• Citizenship does not cure other sponsor problems. The sponsorship limitations in regulation 1.20J and the sponsor character rules apply to citizen sponsors in the same way.

When the order needs more thought

There are some situations where a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship should take advice before lodging either application. One is where the sponsor plans to live overseas with the partner for a long period. A permanent resident who is not usually resident in Australia may not be able to sponsor, while a citizen does not face that requirement. In that case the timing of the move, the ceremony and the visa application must be planned together. Our answer on whether a sponsor can live overseas while the Subclass 820 is processed explains the risk.

Another is where the sponsor's own history raises questions. If the sponsor was sponsored as a partner, the five-year rule in regulation 1.20J(1)(c) can apply. If the sponsor declared their relationship differently in an earlier application, that must be dealt with before either application is lodged. If the sponsor has a criminal record or pending charges, both applications are affected. In these cases the order is less important than getting the disclosures right.

A sensible order of steps

For most couples, the practical order is:

• Confirm the sponsor's status. Check that the sponsor holds a permanent visa, is usually resident in Australia and is not caught by a sponsorship limitation.
• Prepare one master record of the sponsor's facts. This covers relationship dates, addresses, travel, children, previous relationships and character matters. Both applications are completed from this one record.
• Lodge the partner visa. The visa applicant lodges, then the sponsor completes the sponsorship form online in ImmiAccount using the reference the applicant provides.
• Lodge the citizenship application when eligible. The sponsor applies once the residence requirement is met, using the same master record.
• Keep both cases updated. Changes of address, travel and relationship changes are reported where the rules require it.

For the partner visa steps themselves, see our guide on how to apply for a partner visa and our partner visa document checklist. For the documents a sponsor provides, see what documents a sponsor needs to provide.

The sponsorship form does not usually hold up lodgement

The sponsorship form, Form 40SP, is not a validity requirement for a Subclass 820 or Subclass 309 application. The visa applicant can lodge first, and the sponsor then completes the sponsorship online. The exception is an applicant in Australia who is subject to section 48, who must provide the sponsorship form and supporting declarations at the time of lodgement under item 1124B(3)(e). That is another reason why a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship should have the sponsor's information settled before the partner applies, because the sponsor's answers will follow soon after.

Why the Department compares both applications

The Department of Home Affairs decides partner visa applications and citizenship applications, and it holds the sponsor's full immigration history. When a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship gives information in one application, a case officer in the other can see it, along with the sponsor's earlier visa applications, the sponsor's own permanent visa application and the sponsor's movement records. An answer that does not match is not treated as a simple typing error by default. It is treated as a question about credibility.

This is why the practical risk for a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship is not usually eligibility. It is inconsistency. The same person is describing the same life twice, often months apart, often in different online forms with different questions. Without a single source of facts, small differences creep in. A relationship start date is given as one month in the sponsorship and another in the relationship statement. A previous address is left off one form. A short overseas trip appears in one travel list and not the other.

Each difference may have an innocent explanation. But the Department may put the difference to the couple in a letter inviting comment, which in partner visa matters is usually done under section 57. Our guides to responding to a section 57 adverse information letter and partner visa conflicting statements explain what happens next.

What false or misleading information can do

Public interest criterion 4020 allows a partner visa to be refused where false or misleading information, or a bogus document, has been given in relation to the application. A refusal on that basis can also affect later applications for a period. Information that comes from the sponsor forms part of the partner visa application, so a careless answer by the sponsor can become a problem for the visa applicant. Our guides to PIC 4020 in partner visa matters, partner visa false information refusals and the difference between an honest mistake and PIC 4020 explain the test.

The citizenship application carries its own consequences for false or misleading statements. A partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship should treat every answer in both applications as a formal statement to the Commonwealth, because that is what it is.

Relationship status and start date

The relationship status and relationship start date a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship gives must match across the sponsorship, the visa application, the relationship statements and any other application the sponsor has made since the relationship began. This is the area where inconsistencies cause the most trouble, because the relationship is the foundation of the partner visa.

Common points of conflict include:

• Marital status. If the couple are married, the sponsor should not describe themselves as single or never married in another application made after the marriage. If the couple are in a de facto relationship, the sponsor should check how earlier forms recorded their status, and be ready to explain how the relationship developed.
• The start date. Couples often give different dates for when they met, when the relationship became exclusive, when they moved in together and when they married. Each date has a different legal meaning. The answers should be the same each time they are given. Our guide to when the 12-month de facto period starts and our article on building a partner visa relationship timeline explain why precision matters.
• Previous relationships. A previous marriage or de facto relationship must be disclosed accurately and consistently, including when it ended. See our guide to partner visa previous relationships and to an undeclared relationship in an earlier application.
• Other government records. Records held by other agencies, such as a declared status with Centrelink, can also be relevant. Our guide to partner visas and Centrelink explains the overlap.

For a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship, the safe approach is to fix the dates once, write them into the master record, and use them in every form. If an earlier form contains a wrong date, the correct course is to identify it and explain it, not to repeat it to look consistent. Our answer on how to correct a mistake in a partner visa application explains the process, and our guide to writing a partner visa relationship statement covers how the couple's own account should be prepared.

Addresses and residential history

The residential addresses a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship lists should match the addresses in the partner visa application, the sponsorship and the household evidence. In a partner visa, the couple's address history is also relationship evidence. It shows when they lived together, where and for how long. If the sponsor gives a different address history in the citizenship application, the difference may be read as evidence that the couple did not live together when they said they did.

Address inconsistencies often arise for ordinary reasons. A sponsor may have kept a lease in their own name while living with the partner, used a parent's address for mail, or moved several times in a short period. None of these is a problem in itself. The problem arises when one application shows one version and the other shows another without explanation. A partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship who has moved often should list every address with dates before completing either form. Our guides to partner visa household evidence, partner visa informal living arrangements and partner visas where a couple live with parents explain how these situations are usually documented.

When the couple move during processing, the change should be reported. Our guide to a partner visa change of address and our article on Form 1022 for partner visas explain the visa applicant's duty to notify changes under section 104.

Travel history and movement records

Travel history is where a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship is most likely to give two different answers without meaning to. The citizenship residence requirement is assessed on time in Australia, so the citizenship application requires an accurate account of absences. The partner visa often relies on trips the sponsor made to see the partner, to meet family or to marry. The Department holds the sponsor's movement records and can compare both accounts against them.

A sponsor who tells the citizenship case officer they were in Australia during a period, while the partner visa evidence shows the sponsor visiting the partner overseas in that same period, has created a conflict that the Department may notice. The reverse is also a risk. A sponsor who overstates time spent with the partner overseas to strengthen the relationship evidence may undermine their own citizenship residence calculation.

The safest approach is to obtain the sponsor's movement records and use them as the reference for both applications. Our guides to partner visa travel evidence and whether travelling together counts as evidence explain how travel is used in the relationship evidence. If records are needed from the Department, our guide to a partner visa FOI request explains how to obtain them.

Children

Children must be described consistently by a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship. That includes children of the relationship, children from earlier relationships, stepchildren and children who live overseas. A child who appears in the sponsor's citizenship application but not in the sponsorship, or the reverse, raises questions about the relationship history and about the sponsor's own earlier declarations.

For a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship, children also matter for a separate reason. Where children are included in the partner visa application, the sponsor character rules that protect children can apply, and the sponsor may need to provide police certificates. Our guides to including children in a partner visa, adding children to a partner visa, stepchildren in partner visa applications and non-migrating children explain the rules. If a child was born in Australia, our answer on whether a baby is automatically an Australian citizen explains the position.

Character disclosures

Character disclosures must be complete and identical in both applications. Citizenship by conferral requires an applicant aged 18 or over to be of good character. A partner visa sponsor is also subject to character checks. Under regulations 1.20KB and 1.20KC, a sponsorship can be refused where the sponsor has been convicted of a relevant offence, such as a violent or sexual offence, or has a significant criminal record, unless it is reasonable to approve the sponsorship. The sponsor may be asked for police certificates.

For a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship, the practical point is that the same conviction, charge or police record will be examined twice. If the sponsor discloses an offence in one application and leaves it out of the other, the omission may be treated as more serious than the offence itself. This applies to old matters, matters dealt with overseas and matters the sponsor believes are spent. Our guides to partner visa spent convictions, partner visa undisclosed convictions and disclosing charges without a conviction explain how these are treated in the partner visa.

When the sponsor has a record or pending charges

Where the sponsor has a criminal record, the partner visa sponsorship assessment and the citizenship good character assessment should be considered together before either application is lodged. Pending charges deserve particular care, because they can affect timing in both applications. Our guides on whether a partner visa can be granted if the sponsor has a criminal record, how a lawyer can help where the sponsor has a criminal record and partner visa pending charges explain the issues. If family violence is involved, the firm's family violence partner visa lawyers act in those matters.

Earlier declarations the Department already holds

A partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship should check what they said in earlier applications, not only what they are saying now. The sponsor's own permanent visa application, any earlier temporary visa applications and any earlier sponsorship all contain declarations about relationships, addresses and travel. Those records stay on the Department's file.

The most common example is the sponsor's own permanent visa application. If the sponsor declared that they had no partner at the time, and the partner visa now claims a relationship that began earlier, the Department will ask why. There may be a good answer, such as the relationship not yet meeting the legal test at that time. But the answer must be given carefully and consistently in the partner visa and in the citizenship application. Our answer on disclosing a previous visa refusal and our guide to partner visa application mistakes cover related disclosure issues.

Names, dates of birth and documents

Identity details should also match for a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship. A sponsor who uses a married name in one application and a birth name in another, or whose documents show different spellings, should explain the difference with documents. Our answers on different names and dates across documents and a name change after marriage, and our guide to completing Form 80 without errors, explain how to handle these.

Keeping one master record

The most effective safeguard for a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship is a single master record of the sponsor's facts, completed once and used for every form. It does not need to be complicated. It needs to be accurate and checked against documents.

The master record should cover:

• Relationship dates. When the couple met, began the relationship, moved in together, registered the relationship or married, and any periods apart.
• Address history. Every residential address with dates, matched to leases, bills and bank statements.
• Travel history. Every departure and return, matched to passport stamps and movement records.
• Children. Every child of the sponsor, with dates of birth, where they live and who has custody.
• Previous relationships. Every previous marriage or de facto relationship, with dates and how it ended.
• Character matters. Every charge, conviction, caution or court order, in Australia and overseas.
• Earlier applications. What was declared in each earlier visa application, sponsorship or citizenship application.

When a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship completes both applications from the same record, the answers match because they come from the same source. When a later change happens, the record is updated first, and then each case is updated from it.

Citizenship residence requirement and travel to be with your partner

The citizenship residence requirement can be affected when a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship travels overseas to be with the partner. Citizenship by conferral generally requires 4 years of lawful residence in Australia immediately before applying, including 12 months as a permanent resident, with absences of no more than 1 year in total in the 4 years and no more than 90 days in the 12 months before applying. Long or frequent trips to visit a partner can push the sponsor over those limits and delay the citizenship application.

This creates a real tension for many couples, and it is often the first practical problem a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship meets. The relationship evidence for the partner visa is often stronger when the couple spend time together. For an offshore Subclass 309 or Subclass 300 application, that usually means the sponsor travelling to the partner's country. Each trip counts against the citizenship residence calculation. A partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship should plan travel with both requirements in mind, rather than discovering the problem when the citizenship application is assessed.

The usually resident question for permanent residents

Long absences also raise a separate partner visa issue. A permanent resident sponsor must be usually resident in Australia. Whether a person is usually resident turns on physical residence and the intention to make Australia home. A temporary absence does not necessarily break it. But a permanent resident who moves overseas to live with the partner for an extended period may no longer be usually resident, and may then not meet the sponsor definition. An Australian citizen does not face that requirement. Our guides to partner visa overseas travel, extended overseas absence during a partner visa and how long you can stay overseas while a partner visa is pending explain related risks.

The travel facility on the sponsor's permanent visa

A permanent visa allows travel to and from Australia for 5 years from grant. After that travel facility expires, a permanent resident who leaves Australia, or who is overseas when it expires, needs a Resident Return visa before returning to Australia as a permanent resident. A partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship whose travel facility is close to expiry should check the date before travelling to see the partner, because becoming a citizen does not happen until the ceremony.

What happens to the sponsorship if citizenship is refused or delayed?

Nothing happens to the sponsorship if citizenship is refused or delayed, because the sponsor's permanent residence is what supports it. A partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship who is refused citizenship, or whose application takes longer than expected, remains an Australian permanent resident. The partner visa continues on that basis.

This is one of the most common worries a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship raises, and it is misplaced in the ordinary case. The partner visa does not depend on the citizenship application. The citizenship application does not depend on the partner visa. A refusal of one is not a refusal of the other.

When the underlying problem affects both

There is an important qualification. If citizenship is refused because of a character concern, the same concern may be relevant to the sponsorship assessment under regulations 1.20KB and 1.20KC. If the concern is serious enough to put the sponsor's own permanent visa at risk of cancellation, the position changes fundamentally, because a sponsor who loses permanent residence is no longer an eligible sponsor. The firm's visa cancellation lawyers act where a sponsor's own visa is under threat, and our guide to partner visa section 501 character concerns explains the character power.

Equally, if a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship is refused citizenship because the Department doubted something the sponsor said, the partner visa case officer may see the same concern. That is why consistency matters more than speed.

Notifying the partner visa case when citizenship is granted

When a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship becomes a citizen during processing, the partner visa case should be updated with the citizenship certificate. The sponsor's eligibility as a sponsor was already established as a permanent resident, so the grant of citizenship does not change the basis of the application. It does change the sponsor's status from that point, and the Department should have current records.

Citizenship does not remove the sponsorship limitations in regulation 1.20J, the sponsor character checks, the sponsor's undertaking to provide adequate accommodation and financial assistance for the first 2 years, or anything the sponsor declared in earlier applications. Our guide on how to prove a sponsor is an Australian citizen explains the documents usually provided.

The permanent stage

For onshore applicants, the Subclass 801 is assessed later. The Subclass 801 sponsoring partner is the citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen specified in the Subclass 820 application, and there is no separate sponsorship approval at that stage. Our guides to the difference between Subclass 820 and Subclass 801, the partner visa two-stage process and Subclass 801 second-stage documents explain the later stage. The partner's own path to citizenship is covered in our guide to the partner visa citizenship pathway and our answer on when you can apply for citizenship after a partner visa.

Costs and review rights

The Department's partner visa application charge is AUD 11,710 for most applicants, as checked on the Home Affairs website in October 2026. Charges usually change each 1 July. The charge is not refunded if the application is refused or withdrawn, which is another reason why a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship should make sure the sponsor's information is right before lodgement.

If a partner visa is refused, an application for review by the Administrative Review Tribunal must be made, and the fee paid, within 28 days after notification of the decision, or 7 days if the applicant is in immigration detention, under section 347(3) of the Migration Act 1958. That time limit cannot be extended. The Tribunal fee is AUD 3,727 from 1 July 2026. A 50% reduction is available for financial hardship, and 50% is refunded if the decision is set aside or remitted. For a Subclass 820 refusal, the applicant applies for review. For a Subclass 300 refusal, the sponsor applies. Our guides to the partner visa appeal deadline and partner visa ART fees explain the detail, and the firm's partner visa refusal lawyers act in these reviews.

What Tribunal decisions show about consistency and sponsor credibility

Published Tribunal decisions show that inconsistent information and sponsor credibility are recurring issues in partner visa refusals, and that some refusals on these grounds have been set aside and remitted to the Department. The decisions below are drawn from reported remittals. They are described only by the issues recorded in the published headnote. In each case the matter was remitted. No outcome in one case predicts the outcome in another.

• Le (Migration) [2025] ARTA 2423. A Subclass 820 matter in which the headnote records a genuine and continuing relationship, incorrect residential information in the visa application, a joint bank account and shared education expenses.
• Burns (Migration) [2022] AATA 1657. A Subclass 309 matter in which the headnote records incorrect information in the visa application about countries of previous residence, compelling or compassionate circumstances, and children born of the relationship.
• Lu (Migration) [2019] AATA 374. A Subclass 820 matter in which the headnote records a genuine married relationship, credibility issues, movement records and a valid marriage registration in China.
• Nguyen (Migration) [2023] AATA 3868. A Subclass 309 matter in which the headnote records a genuine spousal relationship, the sponsor's migration history and credibility concerns, the sponsor's marital history and financial aspects.
• SHAHIN (Migration) [2021] AATA 2611. A Subclass 820 matter in which the headnote records the sponsor's residence status, a genuine spousal relationship, financial aspects and the nature of the household.
• Nguyen (Migration) [2018] AATA 5304. A Subclass 820 matter in which the headnote records a genuine spousal relationship, marital status with Centrelink, inconsistencies between the applicant and the sponsor at the hearing, and a 19-year age difference.

The pattern is relevant to any partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship, and it explains why this article focuses on consistency rather than eligibility. Residential information, previous residence, movement records, the sponsor's own migration and marital history, the sponsor's residence status and records held by other agencies all appear in these headnotes. These are the same categories of information a sponsor gives in a citizenship application. Each of these matters needed a review to resolve. Consistent information from the start avoids the question being raised at all. Our guides to what to expect from ART review and partner visa interview inconsistencies explain how credibility issues are dealt with.

Common mistakes by a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship

The most common mistakes are avoidable, and most come from treating the two applications as unrelated. A partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship should watch for the following:

• Waiting for citizenship before lodging the partner visa. Permanent residence is already enough to sponsor, and waiting can cost the partner their visa position.
• Completing each form from memory. Dates and addresses drift when they are recalled rather than copied from a checked record.
• Leaving out short trips. A short absence omitted from one travel list but shown in movement records creates an inconsistency.
• Describing relationship status differently. Single in one form, de facto in another, married in a third, without an explanation of the timeline.
• Disclosing an offence in one application only. The omission can do more damage than the offence.
• Assuming citizenship will cure a sponsor problem. It does not remove the sponsorship limitations, the character checks or earlier declarations.
• Travelling without checking the residence calculation. Visits to the partner can delay citizenship and, for long absences, raise the usually resident question.

If you have already lodged one or both applications and see an error, act promptly. Our guides on partner visa incorrect answers and Form 1022 change of circumstances explain how to correct the record.

How My Migration Lawyers helps a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship

My Migration Lawyers helps a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship by checking the sponsor's eligibility, reconciling the sponsor's history across every application the Department holds, and sequencing the partner visa so that it is not delayed by the citizenship process. The firm deals with complex sponsor matters, including sponsors with earlier relationship declarations, extended overseas travel, children from earlier relationships, character records and sponsorship limitations. The firm acts in many matters of this exact type and is capable of handling them.

Our work on these matters follows clear steps:

• Sponsor eligibility check. We confirm the sponsor's permanent visa, whether the sponsor is usually resident in Australia, the travel facility date, and whether regulation 1.20J, regulation 1.20KA or the sponsor character rules apply.
• History reconciliation. We review the sponsor's earlier visa applications, the sponsor's own permanent visa application, movement records and, where needed, records obtained under freedom of information, and identify every point where the history could conflict.
• Master record. We prepare a single record of relationship dates, addresses, travel, children, previous relationships and character matters, checked against documents.
• Disclosure advice. Where an earlier answer was wrong or incomplete, we advise how it should be addressed openly in the partner visa and how the same facts should be presented consistently.
• Lodgement sequencing. We advise on when to lodge the partner visa, how the sponsorship form fits in, and how planned travel affects both the citizenship residence requirement and the sponsor's usual residence.
• Evidence review. We review the couple's own relationship statements, Form 888 statements and household, financial and travel evidence so that they match the forms.
• Updates during processing. We help the couple report changes of address, travel and status, including the grant of citizenship, in the form the rules require.
• Department and Tribunal. If the Department raises an inconsistency, we prepare the response. If the visa is refused, we advise on review and act before the Tribunal.

The firm is led by Weiwei Zhang, Principal Lawyer. You can read more about My Migration Lawyers, browse our partner visa questions and answers, and read our guides on complex partner visa applications and when you need an immigration lawyer for a partner visa. Our answer on how a lawyer can help an Australian citizen sponsor a partner explains what the firm does for sponsors who have already become citizens. For a time-critical matter, the firm's urgent immigration lawyers can assist, and the firm also acts as visa refusal lawyers more broadly.

My Migration Lawyers acts for sponsors and couples across Australia by video consultation, including clients of our partner visa lawyers in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, the Gold Coast, Canberra, Hobart and Parramatta. The firm also acts as immigration lawyers in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, the Gold Coast, Canberra, Hobart and Parramatta.

No lawyer can promise the outcome of a partner visa or a citizenship application. What My Migration Lawyers can do is make sure that, as a partner visa sponsor applying for citizenship, you lodge in the right order, give the Department one consistent account of your history, and understand the risks before you travel or sign any form.

Book a consultation with My Migration Lawyers to have your sponsorship and citizenship timing reviewed together. You can also call us on 1300 040 300.