Partner Visa Sponsor Who Holds a Skilled or Employer Sponsored PR

A partner visa sponsor skilled visa holder is a person who became an Australian permanent resident through a skilled or employer sponsored visa and now wants to sponsor a spouse or de facto partner. Every partner visa sponsor skilled visa holder faces one question the Department is likely to ask: why was the partner not included in the sponsor's own permanent visa application?

The answer decides how simple or how risky the partner application will be. If the relationship began after the sponsor's skilled application was decided, the answer is straightforward, but the dates still need proof. If the relationship already existed when the sponsor applied and it was not declared, the partner application may face serious credibility problems, and the sponsor's own visa may be exposed. This guide explains both situations, how the Department compares the sponsor's earlier declarations with the partner application, and how an earlier undisclosed relationship should be handled honestly. For the wider picture, read our complete guide to partner visas in Australia. For advice on your own facts, our partner visa lawyers review the sponsor's history before anything is lodged.

Can a skilled visa holder sponsor a partner visa?

Yes. An Australian permanent resident can sponsor a spouse or de facto partner for a partner visa, and it does not matter whether that permanent residence came through a skilled, employer sponsored, family or other permanent visa. The sponsor must be 18 or over and an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. Our answer to who can sponsor a partner visa sets out the basic rule.

For a partner visa sponsor, skilled visa holder status is therefore not a barrier in itself. The problems arise from the history behind that status. A person who holds a temporary skilled visa cannot sponsor at all, as our answer on whether a temporary visa holder can sponsor a partner visa explains. A person who holds a permanent skilled or employer sponsored visa can sponsor, but brings with them a full record of what they told the Department when they applied.

The usual sponsorship limitations still apply. These limit how many partners a person can sponsor and how soon after an earlier sponsorship, and they also apply to a person who was themselves sponsored as a partner. A sponsor who obtained permanent residence as the primary applicant for a skilled visa was not sponsored as a partner, so that particular limitation does not usually arise. Our page on partner visa sponsorship limitations and our guide on when a sponsor cannot sponsor a partner visa explain those rules in full.

Partner visa sponsor, skilled visa holder: why the earlier application matters

The earlier application matters because the partner could usually have been included in it. Skilled and employer sponsored permanent visas allow the primary applicant to include a spouse or de facto partner as a secondary applicant, as a member of the family unit. When a partner visa sponsor skilled visa holder later sponsors that same partner separately, the Department will want to know why that did not happen.

There are only a few honest answers. The relationship did not exist yet. The relationship existed but had not reached the point of being a marriage or a de facto relationship. The couple chose not to include the partner for a genuine reason, and the relationship was disclosed in the forms. Or the relationship existed, met the legal definition, and was not disclosed. The first three answers can usually be explained and proved. The fourth is the integrity problem this guide is mainly about.

For the partner visa sponsor, skilled visa holder records are not private history. They sit in the Department's systems alongside the new partner application. The Department's own policy on the integrity criterion lists, as a trigger for further investigation, claims that are inconsistent with claims made previously by the applicant or their sponsor about their immigration history. That is exactly the comparison a case officer can make here.

Which skilled and employer sponsored visas does this cover?

This guide covers any sponsor who became a permanent resident through a skilled or employer sponsored pathway. For a partner visa sponsor, skilled visa holder pathways vary, and the earlier forms differ between them. The common examples are:

• the Subclass 189 Skilled Independent visa;
• the Subclass 190 Skilled Nominated visa;
• the Subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme visa;
• the Subclass 187 Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme visa, for people who obtained it while it was open;
• the Subclass 191 Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa, usually reached after holding a Subclass 491 or Subclass 494 provisional visa; and
• older permanent skilled visas, such as Subclass 887.

The same analysis applies whether the partner is now applying onshore for the Subclass 820 visa or offshore for the Subclass 309 visa. It also applies to the Subclass 300 prospective marriage visa where the sponsor declared no fiancé or engagement when they applied for their own visa. Where the sponsor held a provisional regional visa first, there may be two or more earlier applications to check, not one. Each one is part of the partner visa sponsor skilled visa holder record.

Scenario one: the relationship began after the sponsor's own application

Where the relationship began after the sponsor's skilled application was decided, the partner visa sponsor skilled visa holder has a simple answer: the partner was not included because the relationship did not exist. That is a complete and lawful explanation. The work is in proving it. For this kind of partner visa sponsor, skilled visa holder records usually help rather than hurt, because they confirm that the sponsor was single when they said so.

The partner application asks when the couple first met, when they committed to a shared life together, and when they married or began living as de facto partners. Those dates must be accurate, and they must sit after the dates on which the sponsor applied for and was granted their own visa. If the sponsor's own forms said "never married or been in a de facto relationship", and the couple's first meeting was a year after grant, there is no conflict.

Evidence that the relationship started later

A short, accurate relationship timeline is the starting point. Supporting records may include early messages, the first trip together, photographs that show when the couple met, a lease or shared address that began after the sponsor's grant, and statements from people who saw the relationship begin. Our guide on how far back partner visa evidence should go explains how to choose the period.

The relationship statement should state the sequence plainly: when the sponsor applied, when they were granted, and when the relationship began. It is better to state the timeline than to leave a case officer to work it out from passport stamps and departmental records. A partner visa sponsor (skilled visa holder) who sets out the dates first removes the main question before it is asked.

When the relationship became serious between lodgement and grant

A harder version of scenario one arises where the couple met before the sponsor's visa was granted, but after the sponsor lodged. Skilled visa processing can take a long time. A relationship can begin, become de facto, or lead to marriage while the application is still being processed.

Section 104 of the Migration Act 1958 requires a visa applicant to tell the Department in writing, as soon as practicable, if circumstances change so that an answer in their application becomes incorrect. For an applicant in Australia, that duty covers changes before the visa is granted. For an applicant outside Australia, it covers changes after the application and before immigration clearance. A sponsor who married, or entered a de facto relationship, during that window and did not notify the Department may have a problem even though the original answers were true when given. The Department's Form 1022 change of circumstances is the usual way such changes are reported, as our guide on Form 1022 for partner visas explains.

A dating relationship that had not become a marriage, an engagement or a de facto relationship before grant usually did not change any answer. This distinction is critical and is dealt with later in this guide. A partner visa sponsor, skilled visa holder or otherwise, should not assume that every relationship before grant had to be declared.

Scenario two: the relationship existed but was not declared

Scenario two is the serious one. The relationship already existed when the sponsor applied, it was a marriage, an engagement or a de facto relationship, and the sponsor told the Department they were single, never married, or did not list the partner as a family member.

For the partner visa sponsor, skilled visa holder history of this kind creates two separate risks. The first is to the partner application. If the couple now say they have been together for five years, and the sponsor's own forms three years ago said "never married or been in a de facto relationship", one of those accounts is wrong. The case officer may doubt the length of the relationship, the start date, or the genuineness of the relationship as a whole.

The second risk is to the sponsor. The Migration Act requires a visa applicant to answer every question on their application and not to give incorrect answers. Where an answer was incorrect, the visa may become liable to cancellation, even years after grant. A sponsor whose permanent visa is cancelled is no longer a permanent resident and can no longer sponsor. That is why a partner visa sponsor skilled visa holder in scenario two must get advice before either partner says anything new to the Department.

There are many reasons people give for an undeclared relationship. Some sponsors were told by someone else that including a partner would cost more or slow the application. Some did not understand that a de facto relationship counts even without marriage. Some had a relationship their family did not know about. Some simply made a mistake. For the partner visa sponsor, skilled visa holder advice at this point is about the order of steps, not only the partner application. None of these reasons removes the risk, but the reason matters to how the issue is presented and to any discretion the Department may exercise. Our guide on a partner visa undeclared relationship deals with the related question of relationships left out of a partner application itself.

How the Department compares the sponsor's earlier declarations with the partner application

The Department compares the sponsor's earlier declarations with the partner application by reading its own records of the sponsor's previous applications alongside the new forms and evidence. Departmental policy on sponsorship directs officers to have regard to the information the sponsor gives and to departmental records. For a partner visa sponsor, skilled visa holder history is part of those records. The case officer does not need the sponsor to supply old forms in order to read them.

Relationship status

Most visa forms ask for the applicant's relationship status, using categories such as married, engaged, de facto, separated, divorced, widowed, or never married or been in a de facto relationship. Form 80, which many skilled applicants complete, also asks for relationship status and partner details. Our Form 80 guide and our answer on whether Form 80 is needed for a partner visa explain what that form covers.

The partner application then asks the applicant when the relationship began, when the couple first met, and when they committed to a shared life together. The paper version of the partner application form also asks about the sponsor's previous marriages, de facto relationships and engagements, and whether the sponsor obtained permanent residence through certain family or humanitarian pathways. A partner visa sponsor skilled visa holder should expect a case officer to place those dates next to the relationship status the sponsor declared in their own skilled application.

Family members listed in the skilled application

Skilled and employer sponsored applications ask about family members, including people who are not migrating. If the partner, or a child of the relationship, was not listed, that is a second point of comparison. A child born to the couple before the sponsor's own grant, and not declared, is often the clearest evidence that a relationship existed earlier than the sponsor's forms suggest. Our guide on how to include children in a partner visa explains how children are treated in the new application.

Addresses, travel and employment

Addresses are another frequent source of conflict. The partner application may say the couple have lived together at a particular address since a particular year. The sponsor's earlier forms may show a different address, or a shared address with flatmates, for the same period. Travel records may show the sponsor visiting the partner's country repeatedly before their skilled visa was granted. None of these is a problem where the account is true and consistent. For the partner visa sponsor, skilled visa holder address history is often the detail that is overlooked. Each is a problem where the accounts do not match. Le (Migration) [2025] ARTA 2423, discussed below, is an example of a matter in which incorrect residential information in the visa application was an issue.

The partner's own visa history

The partner's own earlier applications matter too. If the partner previously applied for a visitor or student visa and said they were single, or gave a different relationship history, that is compared as well. Our article on partner visa previous relationship history and our guide for applicants with visa history problems explain how earlier applications are read. In a partner visa sponsor skilled visa holder matter, both sets of history need to be checked together.

My Migration Lawyers does not ask clients to find old grant letters or old application forms they do not keep. The firm obtains visa history itself through VEVO and Department records where needed, and uses that record to check the timeline before lodgement.

What is at risk for the partner application?

The main risk for the partner application is a finding that the relationship is not genuine and continuing, or that the evidence about it cannot be believed. A partner visa requires the applicant to be the spouse or de facto partner of the sponsor, and the Department assesses the financial aspects, the nature of the household, the social aspects and the nature of the commitment. Our guide to the genuine and continuing relationship test explains how those aspects are weighed.

Where the partner visa sponsor, skilled visa holder declarations conflict with the new account, the case officer may conclude that the couple have overstated the length of the relationship, or that the relationship began later than claimed. That can affect the de facto requirements, the weight given to older evidence, and the couple's credibility on every other point. A finding that the evidence cannot be believed often leads to a non-genuine relationship refusal.

The integrity criterion

Most partner visas also require the applicant to satisfy public interest criterion 4020, the integrity criterion. In broad terms, it requires that the applicant has not given a bogus document, or information that is false or misleading in a material particular, in relation to the current application or a visa held in the 12 months before the application. Our guides on PIC 4020 for partner visas and on a partner visa false information refusal explain the criterion and its consequences.

PIC 4020 is assessed against the applicant, not the sponsor's old skilled application. But it becomes a direct risk if the couple try to make the new partner application fit the sponsor's old answers. Changing a start date, removing a child from a timeline or describing a marriage as more recent than it was would be giving false or misleading information in the current application. That is why the answer to an old non-disclosure is never a new one. Our answer on how PIC 4020 affects a partner visa gives a short summary, and our answer on telling an honest mistake from a PIC 4020 issue explains the difference.

Sponsorship approval

Sponsorship approval for a partner visa is part of the visa decision itself, not a separate decision. If the sponsorship is not approved, the visa must be refused. The sponsor must also remain eligible at the time of decision. That is why a problem with the sponsor's own status flows directly into the partner application, as our answer on what happens if a partner's sponsorship is refused explains.

What is at risk for the sponsor's own visa?

The sponsor's own permanent visa can be at risk where it was granted on the basis of incorrect answers. This is the risk most couples do not see coming, and it is the reason a partner visa sponsor skilled visa holder in scenario two needs advice before lodging anything.

Sections 101 to 105 of the Migration Act set out a visa applicant's obligations. Section 101 requires an applicant to answer all questions on the application form and not to give incorrect answers. Section 104 requires changes in circumstances to be notified. Section 105 requires an applicant who becomes aware that an earlier answer was incorrect to notify the Department of the incorrectness and the correct answer, and that obligation continues even after the visa is granted.

Where the Department believes there has been non-compliance, it can give the visa holder a notice under section 107 inviting a response. It may then consider cancelling the visa under section 109. Cancellation under section 109 is not automatic. The visa holder is given an opportunity to respond, and the Department must consider the circumstances before deciding. Section 116 also contains a separate power to cancel a visa where incorrect information was given and was taken into account in granting a visa, and family members who hold visas only because of the cancelled visa holder can be affected by consequential cancellation. For a partner visa sponsor, skilled visa holder cancellation would remove the permanent residence on which the sponsorship depends. Our page on visa cancellations and our guides on a cancellation notice and cancellation review explain the process and the response deadlines.

Not every incorrect answer leads to cancellation, and many matters are resolved without it. But the risk is real enough that a partner visa sponsor skilled visa holder should never lodge a partner application that reveals an earlier undisclosed relationship without first understanding how the Department may respond. Where the sponsor has since become an Australian citizen, the analysis is different, because a citizen does not hold a visa. Citizenship raises its own separate questions, which need individual advice.

The de facto 12-month requirement and earlier declarations

The de facto 12-month requirement often brings the conflict into the open. A couple who are not married usually need to show that their de facto relationship existed for at least 12 months before the partner application, unless an exception applies. Our guides on the de facto partner visa and the 12-month rule and on whether you really need 12 months of de facto relationship explain the rule.

Here is the trap. To meet the 12 months, the couple may want to rely on a period in which the sponsor's skilled application was still being processed, or in which the sponsor's own forms said they were not in a de facto relationship. For a partner visa sponsor, skilled visa holder declarations made during that period may directly contradict the claim. The couple cannot rely on a de facto period for the partner visa and also maintain that the sponsor was correctly declared as single for the same period. One of the two statements must give way, and the advice needed is about which one is true and how to deal with the consequences. This is the point at which many partner visa sponsor skilled visa holder applications go wrong.

Could the partner have been included as a secondary applicant?

Usually, yes. Skilled and employer sponsored permanent visas allow a primary applicant to include a spouse or de facto partner who is a member of their family unit. Where a partner was eligible to be included and was not, the case officer may ask why the couple chose a separate and slower pathway.

There can be legitimate reasons. The partner may have been studying or working in another country and did not wish to migrate at that time. The partner may have had family obligations. The couple may have been engaged but not yet married. Where the relationship was properly declared in the skilled application and the partner was listed as a non-migrating family member, the later partner application usually presents no integrity issue at all. In many permanent visa subclasses, family members who are not applicants may still need to meet health or character requirements, so a declared non-migrating partner may already have been considered. In that case, the partner visa sponsor (skilled visa holder) simply points to the earlier declaration.

Where the relationship was not declared, the question becomes whether the partner was left out to avoid an assessment of the partner, to avoid charges, or because the sponsor did not understand the rules. Our answer on whether you can include a de facto partner in your visa application explains the general rule.

Did the sponsor have to declare a dating relationship?

No. A visa form that asks for relationship status asks about legal or recognised relationships: marriage, engagement and de facto relationships. A person who was dating someone, but who was not married, engaged or in a de facto relationship, was not required to describe that person as a partner. Answering "never married or been in a de facto relationship" in that situation was correct.

This point resolves many worried enquiries. A partner visa sponsor, skilled visa holder or not, often confuses "in a relationship" with "in a de facto relationship". A de facto relationship is a legal concept. It requires a mutual commitment to a shared life to the exclusion of all others, a genuine and continuing relationship, and living together or not living separately and apart on a permanent basis. A relationship conducted between two countries with occasional visits may not have met that definition at the time of the sponsor's skilled application, even though it later developed into a marriage.

The difficulty is that the couple's partner application must then tell the same story. If the couple say in the partner application that their de facto relationship began on a date when the sponsor was declaring "never in a de facto relationship", the conflict returns. The relationship statement must describe the stages of the relationship accurately: when the couple met, when they began dating, when they committed to a shared life, and when they began living together or married. Our guide to the partner visa relationship statement explains how to set out those stages, and our answer on whether you should write separate relationship statements covers the practical question of two accounts.

How to deal with an earlier undisclosed relationship honestly

An earlier undisclosed relationship should be dealt with by getting legal advice on the sponsor's own visa first, then presenting a true and consistent account, never by adjusting dates to match old forms. For the partner visa sponsor, skilled visa holder history is fixed. The only choice is how it is explained.

Do not hide it

The Department may already hold the evidence. A child's birth certificate, a marriage registered overseas, travel movements, earlier visitor visa applications for the partner, or the partner's own forms may all show that the relationship existed earlier. A partner application that hides the earlier relationship risks being refused for credibility reasons, and it risks a PIC 4020 finding against the applicant for false or misleading information in the current application. A partner visa sponsor, skilled visa holder or citizen, who hides an earlier relationship usually makes the position worse. Our article on partner visa incorrect answers found by the Department explains how these issues tend to surface.

Get advice before lodging

The order of steps matters. A partner visa sponsor skilled visa holder in scenario two should have the sponsor's own exposure assessed before the partner application is lodged, because the partner application will itself put the earlier relationship before the Department. The advice should cover what was asked in the sponsor's earlier forms, what was answered, when the relationship met the legal definition, whether any change of circumstances should have been notified before grant, and what discretionary factors exist. Our guide to partner visa application mistakes lists other errors that are easier to fix before lodgement than after. For a partner visa sponsor, skilled visa holder advice and partner visa advice should come from the same review of the file.

Correcting the record

Section 105 requires a person who becomes aware that an earlier answer was incorrect to notify the Department. The Department's Form 1023 is used to notify incorrect answers, and the form itself warns that a visa may be liable to cancellation and that the information will be taken into account. Our guide to Form 1023 for a partner visa and our answer on how to correct a mistake after submitting a partner visa application explain the mechanics. Whether, when and how a correction is made in a particular case is a matter for legal advice, because the timing and content of the notification can affect the outcome.

Explaining it in the partner application

Once the approach is settled, the partner application should explain the history plainly. The relationship statement should state when the relationship began, what the sponsor declared in their own application and why, and what the sponsor has since done about it. An explanation that is honest, specific and consistent with the documents is far more persuasive than one that is vague. The partner visa sponsor (skilled visa holder) should also confirm the account personally, because it is the sponsor's earlier declaration that is being explained. Our guide to writing a relationship statement and our article on relationship statement mistakes to avoid explain how to present it.

Evidence that proves the relationship timeline

The evidence should prove the timeline the couple actually lived, across the four aspects of the relationship. For a partner visa sponsor, skilled visa holder history means the timeline evidence is checked more closely than usual, so precision matters more than volume. A partner visa sponsor skilled visa holder application with fewer, well chosen documents and exact dates is stronger than one with hundreds of unexplained files.

Useful evidence includes:

• early communication records that show when the couple met and how the relationship developed, as our guide to partner visa chat evidence explains;
• evidence of when the couple began living together, such as a lease, utility accounts or mail at a shared address, covered in our guide to household evidence;
• evidence of shared finances, explained in our guide to the financial aspects of the relationship;
• evidence of how family and friends know the couple, set out in our guide to the social aspects of the relationship;
• evidence of long-term commitment, explained in our guide to commitment evidence; and
• Form 888 statements from people who can describe when the relationship began.

Every date must be checked against passports, the sponsor's visa history and the partner's visa history before the application is lodged. The partner visa document checklist and our answer on what documents a sponsor needs to provide list what is usually required.

If the Department raises the issue

If the Department identifies a conflict between the sponsor's earlier declarations and the partner application, it will usually ask for information or invite comment before deciding. A request for more information may come under section 56, and adverse information may be put to the applicant under section 57. Our guides on responding to a section 56 request, the section 57 natural justice letter and common adverse information examples explain how to respond.

A response for a partner visa sponsor, skilled visa holder conflict should deal with the conflict directly. It should identify what the sponsor declared, when, and why, and it should explain how the evidence supports the true timeline. It should not repeat the application or ignore the point raised. Where the partner visa sponsor, skilled visa holder history involves a possible incorrect answer, the response should be settled with the sponsor's own exposure in mind. The Department may also invite the couple to an interview, where they may be asked separately when they met and when the relationship began. Our guides on partner visa interview questions and interview inconsistencies explain how to prepare.

Refusal and review

If the partner visa is refused, the refusal can usually be reviewed by the Administrative Review Tribunal, which replaced the Administrative Appeals Tribunal on 14 October 2024. The application for review must be made within 28 days after notification of the decision, or 7 working days for a person in immigration detention, and that time limit cannot be extended. At the time of writing, the migration review application fee is AUD 3,727, with a 50 per cent reduction available in cases of severe financial hardship. For an offshore Subclass 309 refusal, the Australian sponsor has traditionally been the person who applies for review.

Review is a fresh decision on the merits, so new evidence and a better explanation can be presented. For a partner visa sponsor, skilled visa holder issues that were not explained to the Department can be explained properly to the Tribunal. Our page on partner visa refusals, our guide to the partner visa appeal deadline, our guide to the ART review process and our article on partner visa refused appeal options explain what happens next. Where the Tribunal itself makes a legal error, judicial review may be available, but it does not reconsider the facts.

What Tribunal decisions show

Published Tribunal decisions show that sponsor history and earlier undisclosed information can be dealt with on review, but each turns on its own evidence. The decisions below were remitted, which means the Tribunal sent the matter back to the Department for reconsideration. A remittal is not a visa grant.

• 2107016 (Migration) [2022] AATA 2250. A Subclass 820 matter in which the reported issues were that the parties provided false or misleading information, the applicants failed to disclose details of a previous relationship and a Subclass 300 visa application, and the sponsor's mental health.
• Le (Migration) [2025] ARTA 2423. A Subclass 820 matter involving the genuine and continuing relationship, incorrect residential information in the visa application, a joint bank account and shared education expenses.
• Huynh (Migration) [2023] AATA 92. A Subclass 820 matter in which the delegate was not satisfied about the genuine relationship, the sponsor had been in a previous relationship, and the Tribunal was satisfied about the genuine relationship at the time of application.
• Nguyen (Migration) [2023] AATA 3868. A Subclass 309 matter involving a genuine spousal relationship, the sponsor's migration history and credibility concerns, the sponsor's marital history and financial aspects.
• Vispo (Migration) [2023] AATA 694. A Subclass 820 matter in which the sponsor's permanent visa was cancelled, and a differently constituted Tribunal set aside the cancellation of the sponsor's visa.
• Faba-an (Migration) [2020] AATA 4250. A Subclass 820 matter involving the spouse of an Australian permanent resident, an intention to live permanently in Australia, and a sponsor's visa that was cancelled but restored.

The last two decisions show the link between the sponsor's own visa and the partner application. Where a sponsor's permanent visa is cancelled, the partner application is directly affected, and the sponsor's own cancellation matter may need to be dealt with first.

Common mistakes in partner visa sponsor skilled visa holder matters

The same mistakes appear repeatedly in partner visa sponsor skilled visa holder matters. The first is assuming the sponsor's old forms will not be read. The second is shortening the relationship history in the partner application to match the sponsor's old answers, which turns an old problem into a new one. The third is the opposite: lengthening the relationship to meet the de facto 12 months, without noticing that the sponsor's own declarations contradict it.

A fourth mistake is lodging first and seeking advice only after a section 57 letter arrives. A fifth is the sponsor sending a correction to the Department without advice, in a form that admits more than the facts support or that misdescribes a dating relationship as a de facto one. A sixth is overlooking the partner's own earlier visa applications. A seventh is treating the partner visa sponsor (skilled visa holder) as a bystander, when the sponsor's own declarations are often the centre of the case. Our articles on why partner visas get refused and on the main partner visa refusal reasons cover the wider picture.

How My Migration Lawyers helps a partner visa sponsor skilled visa holder

My Migration Lawyers acts for couples where the sponsor became a permanent resident through a skilled or employer sponsored visa, including matters where the relationship began during the sponsor's own processing and matters where an earlier relationship was not declared. The firm deals with complex partner visa cases that involve the sponsor's history as well as the relationship itself, and it is capable of handling a partner visa sponsor skilled visa holder matter from the first review of the sponsor's file through to grant, or to review if a refusal has already been made.

The work in these matters usually includes:

• Reviewing the sponsor's history first. The firm obtains the sponsor's visa history itself and identifies what the sponsor was asked and what was declared about relationship status and family members in each earlier application.
• Fixing the true timeline. Taking instructions from both partners on when they met, when the relationship became committed, and when they married or began living together, and checking each date against the records.
• Assessing the sponsor's exposure. Advising the sponsor on whether any earlier answer was incorrect, whether a change of circumstances should have been notified, and how any correction should be made, before the partner application is lodged.
• Preparing the partner application. Presenting the couple's own account and evidence in the form the law requires, with a relationship statement that explains the history plainly and consistently.
• Responding to the Department. Preparing responses to section 56 requests, section 57 letters and any notice concerning the sponsor's own visa.
• Review. Applying to the Administrative Review Tribunal within time if the visa is refused, and presenting the case at hearing.

The firm is led by Weiwei Zhang, Principal Lawyer. You can read more about My Migration Lawyers, our approach to complex partner visa matters, and what to expect at a partner visa lawyer consultation. If you have already lodged and are worried about the sponsor's earlier forms, a partner visa second opinion or our guide on hiring an immigration lawyer after lodgement explains how the firm can step in. We act for sponsors across Australia, including through our partner visa lawyers in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.

A partner visa sponsor skilled visa holder issue is far easier to manage before the partner application is lodged than after the Department raises it. Book a consultation with My Migration Lawyers online, or call 1300 040 300.