Here is some food for thought for South Africans.
If you are in a relationship with an Australian or a New Zealander, you can qualify for temporary or permanent residence in a number of ways. Migration agent Sam Hopwood, from Sable International, explains the Australian Partner visa category is divided into various subclasses, and classification is dependent on whether the visa is temporary, permanent and where the application is made.
“The Department of Immigration and Border Protection assesses applications under a ‘combined application’, which means that your application will be assessed against the criteria for both temporary and permanent partner visas. You will be issued with the appropriate visa, depending on which criteria you meet,” he said.
Temporary partner visa
The temporary partner visa is valid for 2 years, during which your relationship will be assessed to ensure that you intend to say with your partner. If your relationship passes the test, you will be granted a permanent partner visa.
Permanent partner visa
The permanent partner visa is valid for 5 years. This is a permanent residence visa. After holding this for 4 years, you are able to apply for citizenship.
Criteria
All Australian partner visa applications are assessed on the following criteria:
*The financial aspects of the relationship, which includes how financial responsibilities are shared or pooled
*The nature of the household, which includes how household tasks are divided and shared.
*Social aspects of the relationship, which includes how you are perceived as a couple in public
*Nature of the persons’ commitment to each other, which includes the willingness to move to another country.
Any person submitting an application for a partner visa in subclass 309/100 must be outside at the time of the application and the decision. Usually, you will be free to travel to Australia on another visa while the application is under process. However, you will not be eligible for a bridging visa to allow you to live and work in Australia while your current application is being processed.