The Australian Federal Budget 2020-21 has brought some cheer for Partner Visa applicants. The Budget has increased the number of places under Partner Visa — to a total of 72,300 (from 47,000) in 2020-21. Further, the Budget has indicated that priority processing will go to applicants who are onshore. Also, authorities will assign priority processing to those applicants whose sponsor currently lives in any of Australia’s designated areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, there’s some not-so-great news as well. Another change in Partner Visa as per the Budget is with regards to the English Language requirement. Late 2021 onwards, new applicants for Partner Visas and their Permanent Resident sponsors as well will have to demonstrate a functional level of English. Alternatively, they will have to prove that they tried reasonably well to learn English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do they accomplish this? One way is to complete 500 hours of free English Language classes under the Adult Migration English Program (AMEP). Recently, the Australian government removed limitations on access to free English classes by migrations under AMEP – making it possible for them to attend classes for as many hours as required to attain vocational English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n