Partner Visa Agent Perth for Onshore and Offshore Couples
Partner visa agent Perth: Australian Migration Co prepares onshore and offshore partner visa applications for couples, and the first thing any agent you engage must show is that they are entitled to act. Giving immigration assistance for a fee is restricted by law to a registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner acting in that capacity, and a partner visa application is a matter for the applicant and sponsor as a couple — the agent prepares and advises, but the relationship, and what is said about it, is theirs.
Below: how we run a partner visa from first consultation to decision, how to verify that any agent is entitled to act, how the two pathways run, what an application commits you and your sponsor to, and what to prepare before the first consultation.
How we help with your partner visa in Perth
Adam Kocoglu handles each partner visa matter personally, for the applicant and the sponsor together:
- Applying in Australia. Partner visa (subclass 820 and 801) applications lodged onshore.
- Applying from outside Australia. Partner visa (subclass 309 and 100) applications lodged offshore.
- Engaged couples. The Prospective Marriage visa (subclass 300).
- Relationship evidence. We work through your evidence with you before lodgement, so gaps are found early rather than in a request from the Department.
- After lodgement. Responding to any request from the Department. Our guide to partner visa processing times explains what affects the wait.
Source: Department of Home Affairs, Partner visa (onshore), Partner visa (offshore) and Prospective Marriage visa.
The registration check every applicant and sponsor should make
Giving immigration assistance for a fee is restricted by law to a registered migration agent, an Australian legal practitioner acting in that capacity, or a person within a specific exemption. No general exception applies to a friend, a community contact or an adviser who is simply experienced. An applicant or sponsor who engages the wrong person exposes the application itself, not only the fee they paid for it.
How to check the OMARA register
Search the agent's name or MARN on the OMARA public register and confirm the status reads “Current.” The register is free, public and authoritative. Request the MARN before the first meeting — a registered agent will provide it without hesitation.
Why this matters as much to the sponsor as to the applicant
A partner visa application and the sponsorship that supports it are both assessed on the same file. If the person who prepared them was never entitled to give immigration assistance, the exposure sits with both the applicant and the sponsor, not only with whichever of them paid the invoice.
Source: Migration Act 1958, sections 276 and 280, compilation C2026C00232, compilation date 4 June 2026, Compilation No. 171.
How the partner visa pathway actually runs
A partner visa runs on one of two pathways, and which one applies is decided by where the applicant is when they apply — not by preference. An applicant in Australia applies for the Subclass 820 and 801 partner visa, a provisional visa followed by a permanent one. An applicant outside Australia applies for the Subclass 309 and 100 partner visa, the offshore equivalent of the same two-stage structure. Both pathways require the applicant to be the spouse or de facto partner of an eligible Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, assessed on the same relationship criteria either way.
What follows on this page — the registration check, the sponsorship limitation, the evidence burden, and how to choose an agent — applies to both pathways equally, because it concerns the agent and the relationship, not the schedule criteria specific to one visa. This page does not set out the detailed eligibility criteria for either pathway; our partner visas Australia page and the two subclass pages linked above cover those in full.
Source: Migration Regulations 1994, Schedule 2, Subclasses 820, 801, 309 and 100 — principal criteria requiring the applicant to be the spouse or de facto partner of an eligible sponsoring person.
What a partner visa application commits you to
A partner visa application is not simply a form about two people who are together. Three things follow from lodging one, and each of them should be understood before the application is prepared, not discovered partway through it.
- The relationship itself is what is being assessed, and it is assessed against four matters — the financial aspects, the nature of the household, the social aspects and the nature of the commitment between the applicant and sponsor — whether the relationship is a marriage or a de facto partnership.
- An applicant who is in Australia without holding a substantive visa at the time of applying faces an additional and separate hurdle known as Schedule 3, which the Minister must be satisfied there are compelling reasons to set aside before the application can succeed on that basis.
- A sponsor is limited in how many partner visa sponsorships they may have approved — generally no more than two in a lifetime, and not a second sponsorship within five years of the first application, subject to a waiver where compelling circumstances affecting the sponsor apply.
Schedule 3 is the trap most often found after the fact, not before
An applicant who is unlawful, or who holds a visa that is not a substantive visa, when they lodge an onshore partner visa application does not automatically fail on that basis. But they do take on a burden that a substantive visa holder does not carry, and that burden is assessed at the time the application is decided, not simply noted at the time it is lodged.
Raise your visa status with your agent before deciding when to lodge, not after.
A sponsor's own history also matters here, separately from the relationship evidence. Where a proposed sponsor has previously sponsored a partner, the five-year limitation above may bar a second sponsorship from being approved at all, regardless of how genuine the current relationship is.
A sponsor is also required to disclose relevant criminal history as part of the sponsorship framework — a disclosure obligation, not a character test on the applicant, and one that catches sponsors who assume it only concerns the person being sponsored.
Source: Migration Act 1958, sections 5F (married relationships) and 5CB (de facto relationships); Migration Regulations 1994, regulations 1.15A(3) and 1.09A (the four matters), regulation 1.20J (sponsorship limitations — the "two, and not within five years" rule and its compelling-circumstances waiver at 1.20J(2)), and Schedule 3 criteria engaged via paragraph 820.211(2)(d) for an onshore applicant without a substantive visa.
What separates the right partner visa agent in Perth
Registration confirms an agent is entitled to act. It does not confirm a partner visa agent Perth applicants engage handles partner visa matters the way a couple needs them handled. Four questions asked before engagement help tell the two apart:
- whether the agent asks about visa status and lodgement timing before advising on Schedule 3 exposure, or only raises it after an application has already been prepared
- who personally manages your matter, and how both the applicant and the sponsor are kept informed as the application progresses
- whether the written fee agreement and scope of services are provided before any commitment is made
- whether the agent asks the sponsor's own sponsorship history early — a prior partner sponsorship can bar a second one under the five-year rule, and it needs to be checked before work begins, not discovered afterward
A registered agent who works regularly with partner visa matters should answer each of these easily. An agent who does not ask about the sponsor's own history at the outset has skipped a check that can determine whether the application can proceed at all.
Source: Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA), Consumer Guide, mara.gov.au.
Fees: what you're entitled to see in writing
The Migration Agents Code of Conduct that binds every registered agent requires a written client agreement before work begins. It must set out the scope of services, the professional fee, what triggers any extra charge, and what happens if a visa application is refused. This applies to a partner visa matter the same way it applies to any other.
Source: Migration Agents Regulations 1998, Schedule 2 (Code of Conduct), clause 5, made under section 314 of the Migration Act 1958.
Two separate costs, and only one of them a registered agent sets
A registered agent's professional fee is separate from the Department's own visa application charge, which is set and published by the Department and changes from time to time. Check the Department's own visa pricing estimator for the government charge, and obtain your agent's professional fee in writing — the two should never be quoted as a single figure.
What your partner visa agent will need from you
The relationship evidence for a partner visa should be assembled with the four matters in mind, not gathered at random. Having the following ready before the first consultation shortens the timeline meaningfully:
- financial evidence — joint accounts, shared liabilities, financial support between the applicant and sponsor
- household evidence — shared residence, division of domestic responsibilities, joint ownership or leasing of property
- social evidence — how the relationship is presented to family and friends, evidence of joint social activities
- commitment evidence — the length and exclusivity of the relationship, and future plans as a couple
- evidence of any relationship registration under a state or territory scheme, where the couple has that option
- the sponsor's own eligibility documents — proof of citizenship, permanent residency or eligible New Zealand citizen status, and their own sponsorship history
Evidence concentrated in only one or two of these four categories, however strong, is the pattern that most often draws a request for more information after lodgement. Spreading the evidence across all four from the outset is worth more than volume in any single one.
Source: Migration Regulations 1994, regulations 1.15A(3) and 1.09A — the four matters relevant to assessing a married or de facto relationship, as digested from the practice's verified PAM3 source material on assessing spouse and de facto relationships.
Questions applicants and sponsors ask before engaging an agent
How do I check a partner visa agent in Perth is actually registered?
Search their name or MARN on the OMARA public register and confirm the status reads “Current.” The register is free and authoritative, and is the only check that settles the question before you engage them.
Source: Migration Act 1958, sections 276 and 280, compilation C2026C00232, compilation date 4 June 2026, Compilation No. 171.
Does it matter whether we apply for the partner visa onshore or offshore?
Yes — the applicant's location at the time of applying decides which pathway applies. An applicant in Australia applies for the Subclass 820 and 801 visa; an applicant outside Australia applies for the Subclass 309 and 100 visa. Both assess the relationship on the same criteria and follow the same two-stage, provisional-then-permanent structure.
What happens if I don't hold a substantive visa when I apply onshore?
An additional hurdle, Schedule 3, is engaged, and the Minister must be satisfied there are compelling reasons to set it aside before the application can succeed on that basis. It is not an automatic bar, but it is a separate case that needs to be made, and it should be raised with your agent before you decide when to lodge.
Source: Migration Regulations 1994, Schedule 3, engaged via paragraph 820.211(2)(d).
Can my sponsor sponsor me if they have sponsored a partner before?
Not always. A person may generally have at most two partner visa sponsorships approved in their lifetime, and cannot have a second one approved until at least five years after the first application was made, subject to a waiver where compelling circumstances affecting the sponsor apply. This should be checked before any work on the application begins.
Source: Migration Regulations 1994, regulation 1.20J, including the 1.20J(2) waiver — verify against the current compilation before relying on it in a specific matter.
Are the government visa charges the same as our agent's professional fee?
No. The Department sets and publishes its own visa application charge separately from whatever a registered agent charges for their professional service. Check the Department's own visa pricing estimator for the government charge, and get the agent's professional fee in writing.
What evidence will we need to show for our relationship?
Evidence across four matters — the financial aspects, the nature of the household, the social aspects and the nature of the commitment between you. Evidence concentrated in only one or two of these, however strong, is the pattern that most often draws a request for more information after lodgement.
Source: Migration Regulations 1994, regulations 1.15A(3) and 1.09A.
Speak with a partner visa agent in Perth
Australian Migration Co is a registered migration agent in Perth. Adam Kocoglu is a Registered Migration Agent, MARN 2418576, and acts for partner visa applicants and sponsors across the onshore and offshore pathways, in English and Turkish.
Further information is available on our partner visas Australia page, our migration agent Perth profile, and the individual Subclass 820 and 801 and Subclass 309 and 100 pages.
There is no obligation until you have seen the written fee agreement and decided it suits you. We cannot tell you what a decision on a partner visa will be, and no registered agent will — we can tell you what the pathway requires, where the risk lies in your position, and what to have ready before you lodge.
Current at 24 September 2026. Migration law changes, and the instruments and provisions referred to on this page are amended from time to time. This page is general information, not immigration assistance for your matter.