Partner visas are used by Australians who form married or de facto relationships with people from other nationalities. They allow those couples to live together permanently in Australian and build their lives together. Partner visas exist for social objectives based around universal rights to family unity.
Under section 87 of the Migration Act partner visas are also not allowed to be capped and should be granted on demand unlike many other permanent visas which are capped and queued. In legislating that these visas cannot be capped, the Australian Parliament has recognised that these are not ordinary visas. They are in fact fundamental to a fair society and to protecting family unity. Unfortunately, Australia’s executive government seems to have a different view.
Partner visas are now being treated in a similar manner to skilled visas with exorbitant fees, capping and long waiting periods. The concept of partner unity at a reasonable cost does not seem to resonate with the Treasury mandarins and their political masters in Canberra.
Worsening the situation, the Australian Government recently announced a large 25% increase in the costs of partner visas (along with a raft of other visas). In dollar terms that means a partner visa now cost $11,700 rather than $9,365. Of note, partner visas cost just $1,310 in 2007. In Canada and the United States partner visas cost below $2,000. Much like the challenges with student visas partner visas are being used as a cash cow and with an added price signal to quell demand.
The current charge is a huge amount of money for someone on a low income to be united with their loved one; it treats partner visas as something for the well-heeled rather than a basic human right. The massive price increase seems hard to justify for a progressive government, even considering the anti-immigration sentiment raging in sections of our community at present.
Recent comments by the Government on the capping of partner visas have also drawn fresh public attention to the sorry state of affairs of the partner visa program. The Australian Government has spent years denying there was a cap on partner visas but Minister Tony Burke said recently on Sky News and with some honestly that ‘we have a cap’ on partner visas. His current Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs, Julian Hill, called this unofficial cap on partner visas ‘cruel and illegal’ when he was in Opposition in June 2022.
The annual ‘planning level’ of 41,500 places for partner visas goes no way near to addressing the current backlog of around 115,000 on-hand applications (at last count). And with those 115,000 on-hand applications is around $1 billion in application fee revenue going straight to the Commonwealth before any decision is made or any visa granted. This billion-dollar benefit is harnessed despite the Commonwealth not meeting their own legislative obligations to not cap partner visas and with departmental customer service and waiting periods heading south.
Australian born citizen ‘Tash’ (real name withheld) has been waiting for well over a year to have her partner visa finalised having previously paid $9,365 for the privilege of living fully with her British partner in Australia. She says she has heard ‘crickets’ from the Department since lodging their application. She is married to her partner and they have a child together. Unlawful partner visa delays contribute to family separation, put people’s lives on pause and keep the core family unit (a pillar of our society) apart.
There is one easy fix to this problem which is to remove partner visas from annual planning level caps and ensure departmental resources are reprioritised towards granting this critical visa. The policy experts at the Australian National University led by Alan Gamlen have already recommended this in their 2025 paper: Love on Hold; Fixing Australia’s Broken Partner Visa system.
The migration debate is complex in Australia at present and there are many challenges for the Government to consider. However, ensuring that Australians can live with their life partner without undue delay and without exorbitant cost should be a bare minimum. It’s time the Government complied with their own Migration Act and made this a reality again.
Peter van Vliet was appointed as CEO of the MIA in 2024. Prior to this, Peter has worked as a senior executive in the Commonwealth and Victorian governments, including for the then Department of Immigration and Citizenship. He has also led several non-government organisations and has had some experience practising as a registered migration agent. Peter has a Master of Arts from Monash University, a Graduate Diploma in Corporate Governance from the Governance Institute of Australia, and a Graduate Diploma in Migration Law from Victoria University. Peter also serves on the board of Settlement Services International.
