This section is to allow Australian citizens or residents to sponsor a prospective marriage partner to live with them in Australia. You can also sponsor a fiancé if you are an eligible New Zealand citizen. The couple should both wish to remain in Australia.

When you apply under this section, ask for a permanent visa at a cost of AUD$1055. Your application is processed in three stages. The first stage is processed overseas, and if successful, grants you a prospective marriage (temporary) visa. The second stage of processing grants you a provisional visa when you get married in Australia, and there is a further fee of AUD$510. The third stage is granted after two years, when you obtain a permanent visa.

The prospective marriage visa application is complicated because there are many protections, both for you arriving over here to get married, and for the Australian public. There have been abuses of the system and breakdowns in marriage leading to hardship.

To evaluate your chances of success in this application, and to avoid losing your application fee of AUD$1055, followed by a further screening fee of $510 and also the Migration Package fee of $10 for your forms, (all of which will be lost if your application fails) you can do a self-assessment.