Why Are Subclass 820 Partner Visas Refused? The 7 Most Common Reasons

Why subclass 820 partner visas are refused

Partner visas are rarely refused because the Department decided a couple was not in love. They are refused on evidence, on threshold requirements the applicant did not meet, and on matters unconnected to the relationship at all.

That distinction matters, because it changes what you do about it. An applicant who believes their relationship was doubted will respond by providing more proof of the relationship. An applicant who was actually refused on Schedule 3, or on character, or under PIC 4020, will get nowhere doing that.

The seven reasons below account for the overwhelming majority of subclass 820 refusals. Read the refusal letter first and find which one applies to you, because the letter will say. It sets out the criterion that was not satisfied and the findings that led there.

One thing to do before anything else. Find the date on the letter and work out your review deadline. Most partner visa refusals carry 28 calendar days to apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal, and for most migration decisions that deadline cannot be extended. A late application is invalid rather than merely weak. Whatever the reason for the refusal, the deadline is the first problem.

Reason 1: the evidence did not cover all four criteria

The most common reason, by a wide margin.

A subclass 820 application is assessed against four criteria in Migration Regulation 1.15A: financial aspects, the nature of the household, social aspects, and the nature of the commitment. An application that is strong on two and silent on two has not satisfied the regulation, regardless of how genuine the relationship is.

In practice the missing categories are usually financial aspects and the nature of the household, because those are the ones requiring third party documents rather than photographs and statements. A large volume of social evidence does not compensate.

The fix at review is straightforward in principle. The Tribunal decides the application again and accepts evidence the Department never saw, so material that was missing at the Department can be put before the Tribunal. What cannot be fixed is a relationship that genuinely lacks the underlying facts.

Reason 2: gaps and inconsistencies that were never explained

Every relationship has something that looks odd on paper. A short history, a large age difference, separate finances, a period living apart, a relationship formed online, one party's family not knowing.

None of those is a ground for refusal. Leaving them unexplained is.

Where an application presents a fact without context, the case officer supplies their own context, and it is rarely the generous one. Where your statement, your sponsor's statement and your documents give different dates for when you met or moved in together, the inconsistency becomes the finding rather than the underlying facts.

Refusals on this basis often read as findings that the relationship is not genuine, which is why applicants misdiagnose them. The underlying problem was silence, not the facts.

Reason 3: Schedule 3 was not satisfied or waived

If you lodged an onshore partner visa application without holding a substantive visa, Schedule 3 criteria apply. They are a threshold requirement, decided before the relationship is properly assessed.

Satisfying Schedule 3 is difficult, and the waiver is discretionary. A genuine relationship on its own is not a compelling reason for the waiver, which is the single most common misunderstanding among applicants in this position. Nor is the inconvenience of having to apply from overseas.

Refusals here are not refusals about the relationship at all, and responding with more relationship evidence misses the point entirely. What is needed is an argument about compelling reasons for not applying the criteria, supported by evidence.

Our page on Schedule 3 waivers sets out what that involves.

Reason 4: character grounds

Character is assessed separately from the relationship, under the character provisions of the Migration Act.

Substantial criminal records, certain convictions, association with people or organisations involved in criminal conduct, and a risk assessment about future conduct can all lead to refusal. Character refusals can also be discretionary rather than mandatory, which means there is an argument to be made.

What causes more character refusals than criminal history itself is non disclosure. An applicant who declares a conviction and explains it is in a far better position than one whose record is discovered. The Department runs checks, and it treats a failure to disclose as bearing on character in its own right.

Reason 5: PIC 4020, false or misleading information

Public Interest Criterion 4020 deals with false or misleading information and bogus documents provided in connection with a visa application.

This is the most serious of the seven, because it carries a bar. A finding under PIC 4020 can prevent the grant of most visas for a period of years, not just the application in front of the Department, and it can extend to family members included in the application.

It does not require an intention to deceive. An inaccurate statement, an inconsistent date, a document obtained from an agent that turns out to be fabricated, or information provided by someone else on your behalf can all trigger it. Applicants who used an unregistered agent and never saw what was lodged in their name are particularly exposed.

There is a waiver in limited circumstances, and the arguments are narrow and technical. If your refusal mentions PIC 4020, treat it as urgent and get advice immediately.

Reason 6: health, and Reason 7: the sponsorship

Two threshold problems that have nothing to do with the strength of the relationship.

Health. Every applicant must meet the health requirement, assessed on the cost of care and the use of services in short supply rather than on the condition itself. A health waiver is available for the subclass 820, and whether it succeeds depends on the projected cost and the circumstances of the family. A health refusal is not an assessment of your relationship and should not be answered as though it were.

Sponsorship. The sponsor must be eligible and must be approved. Sponsorship can fail because the sponsor has already sponsored two partners, because five years have not passed since a previous sponsorship, because the sponsor was themselves granted a partner visa within the last five years, or because of a relevant criminal record. These sponsorship limitations can be waived where there are compelling circumstances. If the sponsorship is refused, the visa application follows it.

What to do if your subclass 820 is refused

Deal with the deadline first, then the reason.

Find the notification date. The 28 day period runs from the date you are taken to have been notified, which is fixed by law and is often not the date you opened the letter. A decision sent to your ImmiAccount is generally taken to have been received on the day it was sent. Your own letter states the period that applies to you.

Read the letter for the criterion, not the tone. It will name the criterion that was not satisfied. That tells you which of the seven reasons you are dealing with, and therefore what the review is actually about.

Check your visa status. If you held a bridging visa, it generally continues while a review is on foot, provided the review is lodged in time. Missing the deadline does not just end the review. It can end your right to remain.

Understand what the Tribunal does. It is independent of the Department, it decides the application again on all the material before it, and it accepts evidence that did not exist when you applied. An adverse finding by a delegate does not bind it. That is why a refusal based on missing evidence is often the most recoverable of the seven.

Do not lodge a fresh application instead of a review without advice. In some situations a new application is the better path, but in others it is impossible, it restarts the charge, and it forfeits a review right that had a deadline.

One point about what a refusal is not. It is not a finding that you can never hold a partner visa, and with the single exception of a PIC 4020 bar it does not prevent you applying again. The overwhelming majority of the seven reasons are about a specific application at a specific moment, not about you. An application refused because the household evidence was thin is not a verdict on the relationship, and applicants who treat it as one tend to abandon a matter that was recoverable.

If you have a refusal letter, our partner visa lawyers can tell you which reason you are dealing with and whether the review is worth running. You can book a consultation online.