A person is your “family unit” if the person is:

• Your spouse or de facto partner;
• Your dependent child or step-child;
• Dependent child or step-child of your spouse or de facto partner; or

The important consideration in determining whether a child is dependent on you is whether he or she:

• Has not turned 18 years of age;
• Is still financially dependent on you after 18 years but before 23 years of age; or
• Is still dependent on you in broader aspects of life due to his or her mental or physical incapacitation, if after 23 years of age.

Holders of subclass 820 or 309 partner visas, pending their permanent visas, may not have included their children in their application for various reasons. Regardless of the reasons, once you are granted the provisional 820 or 309 visa, you may still have your partner to sponsor your child on a Subclass 445 Dependent Child visa which must be applied prior to the permanent Subclass 801 or 100 visa being granted.

Yes, you can. Partner visas apply to married and de facto relationships. Depending the nature of your relationship, you will have to produce different documents as evidence, but if you can prove that your relationship is genuine, that you live together, have joint finances and attend social activities together, you may successfully apply for a partner visa.

You may be scheduled to have an interview with a delegate of the Department, but only if there is a suspicion that your relationship is not genuine. These interviews are much less common these days. If you have a robust application, it is very unlikely that you will have to attend an interview.

You can, but only if you have “compelling reasons”. The term, ‘compelling’, refers to the circumstances so powerful that they lead the decision-maker to make a positive finding that the provision should be waived.

If you are in this situation, we strongly recommend that you speak to our specialized lawyers immediately.