ADL LawyersFamily visas are not
won on eligibility. They’re won on evidence.
Almost everyone who applies for a partner or family visa is in a real relationship. The applications that fail are rarely the false ones — they’re the true ones that were documented the way the applicant thought mattered, rather than the way a decision-maker needs to see it. That gap is the whole job.
Who you’re applying for changes everything downstream
Partner, parent and child streams share almost nothing except the sponsor. The evidence, the queues, the cost and the risk of getting it wrong are different in each.
Partner and prospective marriage visas
One application assessed in two stages. Where you lodge decides what you can do while you wait, and the evidence you build in year one is what the permanent decision is made on in year three. Most people underbuild the first stage and can’t retrofit it later.
Who this suits
- Subclass 820 / 801 — lodged onshore, with a bridging visa while it’s processed.
- Subclass 309 / 100 — lodged offshore; the applicant must generally be outside Australia at grant.
- Subclass 300 — prospective marriage, where you intend to marry and aren’t yet de facto.
- Married, de facto or engaged couples with an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen sponsor.
- Applicants whose relationship has broken down but who may still hold a permanent pathway.
What we do on these matters
- Relationship evidence strategy across all four statutory aspects — financial, household, social and commitment.
- Sponsor eligibility checked before lodgement, including past sponsorships and character.
- Onshore versus offshore lodgement modelled against your work rights, travel needs and processing reality.
- Second-stage (801 / 100) evidence planned from day one, not assembled in a panic two years later.
- Refusals taken to the Administrative Review Tribunal, and family violence claims handled confidentially.
Case officers are not counting documents. Two hundred photos and a shoebox of receipts carry less than a coherent account across the four statutory aspects.
The permanent decision is made on evidence spanning the whole period since lodgement. Couples who stop collecting after the temporary grant arrive at the 801 with a two-year gap.
Sponsorship limits, past sponsorships and sponsor character are checked. Discovering a bar after lodgement is expensive and sometimes fatal to the application.
We map what you can actually prove across the four aspects and identify the gaps while there is still time to fill them.
Sponsor eligibility, past sponsorships and character checked before a dollar is spent on lodgement.
Onshore or offshore, with a written submission that tells the decision-maker how the evidence fits together.
A collection plan for the permanent stage, so the 801 or 100 is a formality rather than a scramble.
Parent and sponsored parent visas
Parent visas are a queue problem before they are an eligibility problem. The real decision is whether you are buying speed with a contributory visa, waiting in a non-contributory queue, or bridging the gap with a long-stay temporary visa while a permanent one sits in line.
Who this suits
- Subclass 143 — contributory parent, permanent. Substantially faster processing at substantially higher cost.
- Subclass 103 — parent, permanent. Lower cost, with queue times measured in many years.
- Subclass 864 / 804 — the onshore equivalents for aged parents who meet the residence requirements.
- Subclass 870 — sponsored parent, temporary. Long-stay visits without a permanent outcome.
- Families who need the balance-of-family test assessed before committing to anything.
What we do on these matters
- Balance-of-family test worked out properly, including children who complicate it.
- Contributory versus non-contributory modelled on your actual timeline, age and health, not on the brochure.
- Subclass 870 sponsorship applications, including the income requirement on the sponsor’s side.
- Assurance of Support and health requirement issues identified before they stall a grant.
- Queue management: what to lodge now so the clock starts, and what to run alongside it.
The test counts all children, wherever they live. Families assume they pass and discover at assessment that they don’t — after years in a queue.
Parent applications are where the health requirement most often bites. It is worth an honest assessment early rather than a refusal late.
The sponsored parent visa is temporary by design and does not lead to permanent residence. Used well it buys time; used as a plan it wastes it.
Balance of family, age, sponsor eligibility and health flags reviewed before anything is lodged.
Contributory, non-contributory and 870 compared against your real timeline and budget.
The permanent application lodged to start the clock, with the temporary option run alongside where it helps.
Assurance of Support, health and second-instalment steps handled as the application reaches the front.
Child, carer and remaining relative visas
Smaller streams with narrow criteria and, in several cases, very long queues. They matter enormously to the families in them and are frequently missed by advisers who don’t look past the main programs.
Who this suits
- Subclass 101 / 802 — dependent child, offshore and onshore, with an eligible sponsoring parent.
- Subclass 445 — dependent child joining a parent who holds a provisional partner visa.
- Subclass 835 / 115 — remaining relative, where your only near relatives are in Australia.
- Subclass 116 / 836 — carer, where an Australian relative has a long-term medical care need.
- Adoption and custody matters where consent and court orders affect the application.
What we do on these matters
- Dependency evidence built to the standard the criteria actually require, not the standard families assume.
- Custody, consent and court order issues resolved before lodgement rather than during assessment.
- Remaining relative and carer eligibility assessed honestly, including the queue you would be joining.
- Medical evidence for carer applications framed against the statutory test, with the right assessments obtained.
- Refusals in these streams taken to the Tribunal, where narrow criteria are often narrowly misapplied.
Financial and practical dependency has to be documented over time. A statement that a child is dependent is not evidence that they are.
Where the other parent has not consented, or a court order is required, the application stalls. This is solvable early and painful late.
Some of these streams have queue times that change the decision entirely. Knowing that before you lodge is part of the advice.
We confirm which stream you actually fit, and whether the queue makes it worth lodging.
Dependency, care need or relative status documented against the statutory test.
Custody, consent and any court orders sorted before lodgement.
Application lodged, with review rights preserved if the decision goes the wrong way.
Bring what you have. Thirty minutes will tell you whether you’re ready to lodge or six months from ready — and that answer is worth having before you pay a lodgement fee.
Awrangajeb Habib Raj
Awrangajeb practises exclusively in immigration law, with partner, parent and family matters a core part of that work — including the tribunal appeals that follow a refusal. Family matters are handled directly and confidentially, from first call to decision.
Partner and family clients
They took my partner visa on after another agent had already lodged it badly. Explained exactly what was missing and rebuilt the evidence. Approved four months later.
We were told our parent application had no chance because of the balance of family test. They actually worked it out properly and we were fine.
The second stage caught us completely off guard until they explained what we needed to be collecting. That conversation two years early saved the application.
Partner and family questions we answer most
Can't see your question? A 30-minute consultation costs less than a wrong lodgement.
Book a consultationWhat evidence actually carries weight in a partner application?
Should I lodge onshore or offshore?
What happens to my visa if the relationship breaks down?
How long do parent visas actually take?
Can I sponsor a partner if I’ve sponsored someone before?
Do we have to be married?
Other matters we handle
Skilled & Student Visas
Points-tested permanent residence, state and regional nomination, student visas and post-study work rights.
Employer & Protection Visas
Sponsored work visas, permanent employer nomination, and protection visa applications and claims.
Appeals & Judicial Review
Tribunal review of partner and family refusals, Ministerial Intervention and judicial review.
Bring what you have. We’ll tell you what’s missing
Consultations run 30 minutes, in person in Sydney, by phone or over video. Bring your relationship evidence, your sponsor’s details and — if there has been a previous refusal or sponsorship — the paperwork that came with it.
- You speak with the principal lawyer, not an intake team
- You leave knowing your deadline and your options
- Fixed-fee quote before any work begins
- Bengali, Hindi and Urdu spoken
Live availability, timezone detection and automatic confirmation emails — handled by your existing GHL booking calendar.
<iframe src="link.gohighlevel.com/widget/booking/…">