Requests from the Department - when you should worry about your partner visa application

Requests from the Department are not unusual and not always something to be overly concerned about. Although other times you should be. Requests occur when a case officer has been assigned to your partner visa application and is in the process of assessing whether you qualify for the grant of the visa. There are a number of different types of requests that partner visa applicants commonly receive, I touch on a few of them below.

Section 56 - Request for more information

This is by far the most common request partner visa applicants receive. While a case officer is not legally obliged to send you a request for more information, in practice they will send you one if there is more information or evidence that they need in order to grant you a partner visa. You will have 28 days to provide the evidence or information requested, it is important that you comply with this deadline as a case officer might refuse your partner visa application without further notice. If you cannot comply with the deadline for some reason, you can ask for an extension of time using the contact details in the request.

Some requests are simple, merely asking for a police clearance, health tests or updated relationship evidence. Where you should start to worry is if the request asks for something like Evidence of your relationship with your spouse (or de facto partner) and then list off the 4 types of relationship evidence (financial, household, social and commitment). This sort of request means the case officer has looked at all the evidence you have provided to date and is not satisfied you are in a spouse or de facto relationship. In other words, the case officer considers your partner visa application to be wholly deficient.

Section 57 - Invitation to comment

If you receive one of these you should be worried. Case officer’s only issue this sort of request when they have adverse information before them which would be the reason, or part of the reason, for refusing to grant you a partner visa. You should always fully and frankly respond to such a request, addressing the adverse information in detail and providing evidence supporting your explanation. Again, you will have 28 days to respond and you should comply with that deadline strictly or seek an extension of time if you have some good reason why you cannot.

Section 57 invitations are often issued where the case officer has identified information in your partner visa application which may be false or misleading, where someone (rightly or wrongly) has tipped off the Department that you are in a sham relationship in order to secure a partner visa and where there is a reason to doubt your identity.

There are severe consequences to failing to address a section 57 invitation properly, not doing so will almost always lead to your partner visa application being refused. The best case scenario after that happens is you spend a lot of money going to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and successfully argue your case. The worst case scenario is having to leave Australia and being excluded from Australia for 3 years (or some other period depending on exactly what happened).

Notice of intention to consider refusal under section 501 (NOICR)

This is the worst case scenario. If your partner visa is refused under section 501, you can never hold a partner visa. Not ever. For all intents and purposes you will never be able to enter Australia again (once you are removed if you are already here).

You will only receive a NOICR if the case officer suspects that you do not pass the character test. I have written about this elsewhere, which applies to all visas, including partner visas, equally.