Australian Partner Visas – Can be a problem when the visa sponsor is getting older

I can hear you saying “Hey! I don’t look like that!” (Maybe you do!)

Australian men of any age can find a lady in the Philippines (or Thailand, Vietnam or Cambodia for our clients) and want to spend the rest of his years with her. Not too many people want to grow old alone, and many of us men are like lost lambs when we’re alone. I’m no exception to this rule. Ask my wife!

And this is NOT about older men and younger ladies! We get small age gaps and large age caps. We don’t care! What we hope regardless of age-gaps is that you choose wisely and only marry for love! The issue is that an Australian partner visa requires a sponsor.

We’ve seen a few sad cases over the years where a man has left the Australian partner visa process just a little bit late. What am I talking about? What is “late”? If the Australian sponsor dies before the partner visa application is lodged…..or decided….or in some cases even before it’s finalized? She can be left high and dry, with a visa application that cannot be granted!

And this happens through no fault of her own, and often when the visa WOULD otherwise have been granted.

This article is a dedication to a really fine man, plus a warning to older men!  

Australian Partner Visas Need a Visa Sponsor

For a partner visa to be granted, we need three things (LOTS of things, but three essentials!):

• A genuine committed relationship
• A visa applicant
• A visa sponsor!

If the sponsor is not there (eg. because they’re no longer alive), the application fails.  

IF it gets to the final stage, ie where the first temporary partner visa (Subclass 309 or Subclass 820) has already been granted? And if we can prove that the relationship WAS ongoing and would otherwise have been granted had the visa sponsor lived? They may grant it anyway.

But if it’s either (a) not lodged yet or (b) the Subclass 309 or Subclass 820 partner visa is not granted? There is no hope of a visa grant, sorry to say.

And if this happens at the end of a long relationship, with maybe the visa applicant wife and maybe her dependent children already settled in Australia? It’s a tragedy! Not only having to deal with the loss of a beloved husband, but facing up to having to leave the country and return to her former homeland.  

The Story of a Fine Man

I mentioned a fine man, and without going into too much detail so as to preserve confidentiality, It’s still a bit fresh! we had a client who we first signed up over 5 years ago. He was a NZ Citizen, and the option then was a Subclass 461 New Zealand Citizens Family Relationship Visa. This is the visa option for spouses of NZ Citizens settled in Australia. Only a 5 year temporary visa, which can of course be re-applied for every 5 years.

This gentleman (a true gentleman) I think knew that he wouldn’t live forever. Maybe something was wrong. I don’t know. But when the laws changed and he could apply for Australian Citizenship he jumped at the chance, as he wanted to ensure his wife’s permanency in Australia with an Australian Partner Visa (Subclass 820) which he needed the citizenship in order to be eligible as a sponsor.

Again, he was in a hurry as I suspect he knew something was wrong. Sadly, he died a few weeks ago. And I heard the news from a friend of his, who wanted to know where this left his wife. As the 820 was not yet lodged, it leaves her with no options of permanent residency in Australia.

The reason he was a fine man was that his concerns were not for himself. He wanted to ensure the best and most stable life for her when he passed. Like all good men, he put himself last. And I’m genuinely saddened that his noble last wishes could not be met.

And he’s not the first fine man who’s been in this position amongst our clients. We’ve had a few in the last number of years. The lucky ones are the ones where it happened late enough that their futures were secured. The unlucky ones were where they passed before the first partner visa was granted.

One? Maybe 10 years ago. The couple had been married more than 20 years. He was living with her in the Philippines, and never managed to lodge a partner visa at all. Apparently the couple had no substantial savings or assets, his friends contacted me asking what was she “entitled to”. I had the sad job of telling them absolutely nothing!

I knew of two….no….three others personally where the same things happened. One became a dad (in the Philippines) just weeks after he died. He was a friend of mine too.  

My Warning – Don’t Delay Partner Visa Applications!

I get a lot of clients who try to put off applying for a partner visa.  

Two types:  

One: The man who decides to live in the Philippines and retire

I will always warn them that they will not live forever. I even warn the 40 year olds! Maybe they will live another 30 years? Maybe they get hit by a truck next week too! Either way, one day they will die. Easy for them! A grave is a grave, regardless of the country.

But a wife left without an income……possibly an older lady, or a younger lady maybe with 3 kids! She ls left behind to suddenly have to find a way to survive!

Maybe you wonder about me? I live here, and yes I plan to be carried out in a box one day. This is home for nearly 15 years now. But my wife is an Australian Citizen! She has an Aussie passport. So if she wishes to leave (when I’m not here, of course! Not now!) she may do so.  

Two: The man who sees the cost of the partner visa, and thinks delaying it will make life easier

Had one of those…..no, I think a few more.

One in particular I remember. He had his wife and step-daughter in Australia on a tourist visa. They had been doing the tourist visa thing for a few years, and had started the partner visa application late. He suddenly died of a heart attack while she and daughter were in Australia. They’re now back in the Philippines. They actually emailed me the other day asking if there was ANY way of returning. I had to tell them that regardless of time spent in Australia they were in the same position as any other Filipino. Unless they had skilled jobs with sponsoring employees, that it wasn’t going to happen. I wasn’t crass enough to say “…or if you found another man”, but yes that’s the only other option.

If only they had started earlier! Chances are they would be in Australia now, enjoying the stable life that he had hoped they would have.  

So PLEASE don’t put it off!    

Jeff Harvie is a Registered Migration Agent from Australia, but resident in Philippines since 2010 with his Filipina wife Mila and large extended family. Experienced with the Philippines culture, cross-cultural relationships and bureaucracy as well as Australian visas and Australian Migration Law, he writes with authority and fortunately with enough informality and humour that the average Aussie gets it! Down Under Visa specialises in visas for Australians in relationships with ladies and gents from Philippines, Thailand, China and Vietnam. Read MORE