The couple came to us with two files, not one. She was the applicant, with a 2019 drink driving conviction and a fine. He was the sponsor and sole director of the cafe they ran together, with a 2014 assault matter that ended in a bond. Both had signed forms saying neither record mattered. The migration team read the forms. The commercial team read the lease, because if the visa went wrong the business went with it.
In short: A record refuses a partner visa automatically only where the sentence was imprisonment of 12 months or more, and a sponsorship only for a relevant offence with a sentence of that length. Everything below that line is decided by disclosure, the court record and the submission. The visa charge is $11,710 either way.
Which side has the record?
Who has the conviction, the order or the bond?
The applicant: the test, then the tick box
The character test has one decisive limb. A substantial criminal record means a sentence of imprisonment of 12 months or more, or terms adding up to that. Fines, bonds, community orders and suspended sentences sit below it. Below the line the Department may still refuse on the broader ground that past and present conduct shows a person is not of good character, but that is a judgment about the person at the time of decision, and it is answered with documents: the court's own record, evidence the sentence was completed, and the years since.
The tick box is where most of our files go wrong before we see them. An applicant who believes a fine or a bond was not a conviction answers No, and the Department finds the outcome on the Australian Federal Police certificate. Section 105 of the Act requires written notice of any incorrect answer as soon as practicable, on Form 1023. We lodge that correction with the court documents before the Department raises the point, because Public Interest Criterion 4020 turns on whether information was purposely untrue, and a correction you volunteer is the best evidence that it was not.
The conviction is spent. Is it still disclosed?
Yes. State spent conviction schemes do not bind a decision under the Migration Act, and the police certificate issued for immigration purposes shows spent outcomes. The Department will see it whether or not the applicant mentions it. We disclose it, attach the record and explain it.
The sponsor: the police check and the consent
Sponsors are assessed too. Regulation 1.20KC allows a partner sponsorship to be refused where the sponsor has a significant criminal record for a relevant offence: violence, harassment or stalking, breaches of protection orders, weapons, people smuggling or trafficking, and attempts at any of them. Significant means a sentence of 12 months or more. A traffic matter, a public order fine or a bond for a minor offence is not a relevant offence.
The sponsor still discloses everything, and consents to the Department disclosing any relevant conviction to the applicant. A sponsor who omits a 2011 driving matter creates the same credibility problem as an applicant with a forgotten bond. We run both police checks at the start, not when the Department asks.
The business between them
This is the part only a firm with a commercial practice sees. When the sponsor is a director, a business partner or a tenant, a visa refusal is a commercial event. Work rights can end with a bridging visa. A director who leaves Australia leaves a company needing a resident director. A personal guarantee on a lease does not end because a visa did.
None of these change the visa outcome. All of them change what should be in place before lodgement. Our commercial practice reviews the documents while the migration team builds the character file, so nobody is solving a lease problem inside a section 57 deadline.
What the Department weighs when it is not satisfied
Where the delegate is not satisfied that the applicant passes the test, Direction no. 110 binds the decision on whether to refuse. Its five primary considerations are protection of the community, family violence, ties to Australia, the best interests of children here, and community expectations. Violent offences, offences against children and family violence are very serious whatever the sentence, and the delegate applies the Government's view of community expectations rather than forming their own. A submission that respects both points and argues weight through the children and the citizen partner reads as credible.
Our order of work
- Day 1Both police checks ordered. Both forms read line by line for answers that need correcting.
- Week 1Court records requested under written authority for every matter on either side: certificates, orders, police facts, any pre sentence report.
- Week 2Form 1023 lodged for any wrong answer, with a schedule of corrections and the documents.
- Week 2Commercial review: company officers, lease, guarantees, shareholding, employment.
- Week 3Each account reconciled with the record, then the applicant's statutory declaration and the sponsor's statement written to it.
- Week 4Character submission settled and lodged with the records, the certificates and the relationship evidence.
A record does not change the pathway question, onshore or offshore, but it changes timing: a character file is decided later than a clean one, and the bridging visa carries the couple through. That choice is set out in our note on choosing between the 820/801 and the 309/100. If a letter citing PIC 4020 has already arrived, answering it line by line is the next read, and the deadline is short.
What it costs
The government charge is $11,710 for the main applicant, $5,860 for each additional adult and $2,935 for each child. A record does not change the charge. A refusal does: an Administrative Review Tribunal application costs $3,727, or $1,863.50 in hardship, with a deadline that runs from receipt of the decision. Our work is quoted as a fixed fee in writing after the first consultation. Sam Kanjo runs the character file and Deepika Khurana settles every submission before it is lodged; both are on the team page, and the first step is a conversation through our contact page.
Figures verified against Home Affairs visa pricing as at 1 July 2026 and the Administrative Review Tribunal fee schedule. Law cited: Migration Act 1958 ss 57, 105 and 501; Migration Regulations 1994 regulation 1.20KC and Schedule 4 PIC 4001 and 4020; Direction no. 110 of 7 June 2024.
Frequently asked questions
Can a partner visa be granted when the sponsor has a criminal record?
Usually, yes. A sponsorship can be refused only where the sponsor has a significant criminal record for a relevant offence, such as violence, offences against children or breaches of protection orders, with a sentence of 12 months or more. Other matters are disclosed and explained on the sponsor form.
What if we run a business together and the visa is refused?
A refusal does not end the company, the lease or a personal guarantee. It can remove a resident director or an employee's work rights. We review those documents while the character file is prepared so the couple has a second director, an assignment path or a variation in place before the decision.
Do we need the court records if we can describe what happened?
Yes. The Department can obtain the same court file, and the police facts agreed at the time are what the delegate will read. Statements written from memory that differ from the record cost credibility. We request the records under the client's authority before anything is written.
Is a Form 1023 an admission that we lied?
No. Form 1023 is the notice of an incorrect answer that section 105 of the Act requires. A correction lodged with the court documents before the Department raises the point is evidence that the answer was an honest error, which is the opposite of false information under PIC 4020.
Does a record change the government charge?
No. The partner visa charge is $11,710 for the main applicant in 2026-27 regardless of character issues. What changes is the work: court records, a statutory declaration and a character submission on top of the relationship evidence, quoted as a fixed fee.
General information as at 14 September 2026. Not legal advice. The character test and sponsor rules turn on your own records, and Direction 110 can be replaced, so obtain advice before lodging or answering the Department.