This article is general information about Australian Partner Visa documentation. It is not migration advice. For advice on your circumstances, consult a registered migration agent (search MARA).
The subclass 309 Partner (Provisional) visa is the first stage of the offshore Partner Visa pathway. You apply for it together with the permanent subclass 100 Partner (Migrant) visa, but the documents asked for at each stage are not the same.
This working checklist follows the relationship-evidence headings on the current subclass 309 Home Affairs page. It does not replace the checklist in ImmiAccount.
Before the four relationship areas
The subclass 309 page lists identity, relationship, character and family documents. It also sets out how applying and uploading work:
- you apply online, from outside Australia
- your sponsor applies after you give them your transaction reference number (TRN)
- a document with more than one page is saved as one file
- documents are scanned or photographed in colour and are clear enough to read
- each document is attached once and labelled clearly
- up to 100 documents can be attached for each person
Non-English documents are uploaded with an English translation and the original. The page says translators in Australia must be NAATI-accredited; translators outside Australia do not have to be, but it lists the details they must include on each translation.
Relationship history
Home Affairs asks you to tell them, in writing, about:
- how, when and where you first met
- how the relationship developed
- when you moved in together, got engaged or married
- what you do together
- time you spent apart
- significant events in the relationship
- your plans for the future
The relationship-statement prompts guide reproduces the Department's list word for word, with its source, and explains what VisaBinder does with the text you type.
Financial aspects
Under finances, the subclass 309 page says evidence can include:
- joint mortgage or lease documents
- joint loans for major assets
- joint bank account statements
- household bills in both names
Put the date range and document type in each filename, so the upload list can be read without opening every file.
Household arrangements
Under your household, the page says evidence can include:
- a statement about shared housework
- household bills in both names
- mail or email addressed to both partners
- records of joint responsibility for children
- records of living arrangements
Living arrangements sit under this heading on the subclass 309 page. Time spent apart sits under the relationship history instead. How the relationship requirements apply to a particular period is a question for a registered migration agent or legal practitioner.
Social aspects
Home Affairs requires statements from two witnesses who are 18 or older, know both of you and know about the relationship. Form 888 is the published form for those statements. The page says evidence can also include joint invitations, friends in common, travel together and proof you have told government, public or commercial bodies about your relationship.
See the source-checked Form 888 guide and the free pre-fill tool. Each witness writes their own statement.
Commitment to each other
Under commitment, the page asks for evidence that you are committed to a long-term relationship: that you know each other's background and family, have combined your personal matters and stay in touch when apart. It also says the terms of your wills can be provided as evidence.
A WhatsApp chat history is one way to show contact over time. The WhatsApp evidence guide and the browser-based parser demonstration show how to turn a long export into a readable selection instead of uploading the raw chat.
The subclass 100 stage is separate
Home Affairs says you are eligible for consideration of the permanent Partner visa two years after you first applied for the temporary and permanent Partner visas. The subclass 100 page lists limited circumstances in which it might be granted sooner. At that stage, the page asks for your most recent passport pages, explains when a police certificate may be needed, and asks for evidence that you are still in the relationship with the same sponsor and a Commonwealth statutory declaration completed by your sponsor.
The written relationship history above is a subclass 309 document. The subclass 100 page does not repeat that request; it asks your sponsor for a Commonwealth statutory declaration instead. The Stage 2 evidence guide covers the 801 and 100 structure.
Organise before uploading
The free checklist keeps your progress in your browser only. When you are ready to build the files, VisaBinder organises selected evidence into category PDFs and keeps each part under the ImmiAccount file-size limit.
Primary sources
- Home Affairs: Subclass 309 Partner (Provisional) visa
- Home Affairs: Subclass 100 Partner (Migrant) visa
- Home Affairs: Form 888