Evidence checklist · Subclass 820/801 · 309/100
Everything you need to gather.
Before anyone audits it.
Partner visa refusals rarely come down to whether a couple is real. They come down to evidence — thick in one category, thin in three others, dates that quietly contradict each other. This is the full list of what to collect and how to prepare it.
Work through it at your own pace. The tick boxes are yours to use — they save in your browser, so you can close this page and come back to it next week.
Prepared by Ieva Vaityte · MARN 1466195 · Registered Migration Agent
01 · The framework
Four pillars. The grid Home Affairs actually scores.
Every piece of relationship evidence you provide falls into one of four categories, set out in Regulation 1.15A(3) of the Migration Regulations 1994. A case officer reads your file against all four. A strong file has real weight in each — a mountain in one and a molehill in the rest is the shape that draws hard questions.
Financial aspects — that you share money and financial responsibility.
1.15A(3)(a)
Nature of the household — that you live together and share the running of a home.
1.15A(3)(b)
Social aspects — that the world around you treats you as a couple.
1.15A(3)(c)
Nature of the commitment — that this is a mutual, ongoing, long-term commitment.
1.15A(3)(d)
Sort your documents into these four groups as you go. It makes any review faster and cheaper — and it forces you to see your own gaps before anyone else does.
02 · Core documents
The paperwork that has to be there.
This is the identity, character and status paperwork the application itself needs. Relationship evidence comes after.
Applicant (visa)
Sponsor (partner)
Health and Form 80 / 1221 come later. They are arranged after lodgement or on request from the Department. You do not need them to prepare your evidence file, so do not hold up your preparation waiting on a medical.
03 · The heart of the file
Relationship evidence, pillar by pillar.
For each pillar: the items to gather, and the difference between evidence that carries weight and evidence that fills space. You do not need every line. You need real coverage across all four, spread across the length of your relationship rather than clustered in the month before you lodge.
Financial aspects
REG 1.15A(3)(A)
Carries weight
A joint account showing 18 months of genuine two-way use — both salaries in, shared bills out.
Carries little
A joint account opened three weeks ago with a single deposit. New accounts read as paperwork rather than partnership.
Nature of the household
REG 1.15A(3)(B)
Carries weight
A lease in both names, plus utilities in both names, plus mail spanning two years at that address. The picture holds together.
Carries little
One envelope addressed to both of you, and nothing else tying you to a shared home.
Social aspects
REG 1.15A(3)(C)
Carries weight
Two detailed Form 888s that tell specific stories — the trip they hosted you on, the Christmas you spent together — plus events, plus a declared relationship on official records.
Carries little
Four hundred undated photos and a stack of Form 888s that all say they are a lovely couple and nothing more. Statutory declarations on their own are rarely enough.
Nature of the commitment
REG 1.15A(3)(D)
Carries weight
Two statements that tell the same story in different voices, dates that match your forms and your evidence, and a clear thread from first meeting to shared future.
Carries little
A generic statement that could describe any couple, with a cohabitation date that contradicts your lease. One contradiction can undo a strong file.
04 · The part most people get wrong
Writing your relationship statement.
Both of you write one, separately, in your own words. This is the spine the rest of the evidence hangs off. A weak statement wastes a strong file. A strong statement makes a case officer read the rest generously.
Do not reach for a template. A case officer has read a thousand of them, and they read as a thousand.
Structure: follow the timeline
Tell it in order, from first contact to today, with real dates. The Department is looking for a story that moves. Hit these beats.
01
How, when and where you met
The actual scene. Who introduced you, or which app, which venue, which mutual friend's kitchen. Specifics anchor everything that follows.
02
How the relationship developed
The move from meeting to dating to serious. The first trip. Meeting each other's families. The moment it stopped being casual, and how you knew.
03
When you committed — married or moved in
The decision to marry or to start living together, and roughly when. If you are de facto, be precise about when you began living together and where.
04
Your life together now
The ordinary, load-bearing detail. How you split the bills. Who does the cooking. How you supported each other through something hard — a job loss, an illness, a family death. This is where the four pillars come alive in your own voice.
05
Any time apart, and how you got through it
If you have been separated by work, visas or family, say when, why, and how you stayed connected. Do not hide gaps. An unexplained gap invites a question; an explained one closes it.
06
Where you are headed
Your plans. Marriage, children, a house, careers built side by side. Concrete beats aspirational — “we have booked the celebrant for March” says more than “we hope to marry someday”.
Write for weight, not warmth
A heartfelt statement is good. A heartfelt statement full of specific, checkable detail is what wins. Compare:
Thin
“We love each other very much and support each other in everything. We are a committed couple and want to spend our lives together.”
Strong
“When I lost my job in August 2023, Priya covered the rent on our Marrickville flat for four months without a word about it. That was when I stopped thinking of it as her money and my money.”
The second one you cannot fake and cannot copy from anyone else. It shows the pillar — shared finances, a shared household — instead of announcing it. Aim for that in every paragraph. Show the kitchen, not the concept.
The consistency rule — the one that sinks files
Your statement, your partner's statement, your Form 47SP, your Form 888s and your evidence all have to agree on the facts. If your statement says you moved in together in March 2023, your lease had better not start in July 2024 with nothing to explain the gap. Before you submit anything, lay the dates side by side and check they line up. Contradictions are the single most common reason a strong-looking file draws a hard question.
05 · Before you go further
Four things that change everything.
These are not box-ticks. Each one can decide whether you can even lodge, or lodge onshore. If any of them is a “maybe”, get advice early — some have fixes if you act before you apply, and none of them improves by being left until the end.
De facto and together under 12 months?
A de facto relationship generally has to have run for at least 12 months immediately before you apply. Two exceptions matter: registering your relationship with your state or territory removes the 12-month requirement, and compelling or compassionate circumstances, such as a child together, can too. If you are close to the line, registering now is often the cleanest fix — but do it before you lodge.
s 5CB Migration Act 1958 · Reg 2.03A
Has your partner sponsored someone before?
There are hard limits on how often, and how recently, a person can sponsor a partner. Previous partner sponsorships, or sponsorships that ended not long ago, can bar or delay a new one. If your sponsor has ever sponsored a partner, prospective marriage or interdependency visa before, the dates matter. This is a knock-out issue rather than a formality.
Reg 1.20J
Applying onshore without a substantive visa?
If you are in Australia and do not currently hold a substantive visa, additional criteria under Schedule 3 may apply to an onshore 820 application. This is assessable and sometimes waivable, and it needs handling deliberately. Read our Schedule 3 guide →
Schedule 3 · Migration Regulations 1994
Had a visa refused or cancelled since you last arrived?
If a visa has been refused or cancelled since you last entered Australia, it can affect whether you are able to apply onshore at all. Do not assume it blocks you and do not assume it does not.
s 48 Migration Act 1958
06 · Getting it upload-ready
How to prepare each file.
Good evidence badly prepared still costs you. Clean files are faster to review and harder to misread.
The checklist tells you what to gather.
It cannot tell you whether you have enough.
The government charge is $11,710 and it is not refunded if you are refused. If you want a registered migration agent to read your evidence against all four pillars before you spend it, that is the Readiness Audit — $550, written report in five business days.
Prepared by Ieva Vaityte, Registered Migration Agent, MARN 1466195 · OMARA registered · Immi Response Pty Ltd, Level 2, 50 Bridge Street, Sydney NSW 2000. This checklist is general guidance to help you prepare and organise your evidence. It is not legal advice on your individual circumstances, and it does not replace a written Readiness Report. Where a section suggests getting advice, please do — those items are assessed individually and can affect your eligibility. Legislative references are to the Migration Act 1958 and the Migration Regulations 1994 as in force at the time of writing.