Will my partner's visa application be stuck if they stop processing certain visas?

The situation

I am living in Melbourne, Victoria, and I am quite worried about my partner's current situation. My partner applied for a specific subclass visa back in March of last year, and we have been waiting for over fourteen months now for any sort of update from the department. I recently read some news online suggesting that the government might pass a new rule to temporarily stop all processing for certain types of visas to manage the backlog. I am terrified that if they implement this pause, our application will just sit in a pile indefinitely without anyone even looking at it. However, I am also aware that I am an Australian citizen and we have been living together as a de facto couple for three years. I have already tried calling the helpline twice and sent an enquiry through the online portal, but I only receive automated responses saying our application is still under assessment. If the Minister decides to suspend processing for this class of visa, will our application be frozen too, or does being married to an Australian citizen mean we are exempt from such a delay?

Detailed Analysis

Under the Migration Act 1958, the Minister has the power to stop processing certain types of visas to manage backlogs. This is known as a suspension of processing^[1]. Specifically, the Minister may "determine that dealing with applications for visas... of a specified class is to stop until a day specified in the determination"^[1]. This means that if a rule is passed to pause a specific visa subclass, the Department would normally stop all work on those applications^[1].

However, there is a very important protection for people in your situation. The law states that a decision to stop processing "does not have any effect in relation to an application for a visa made by a person on the ground that he or she is the spouse, de facto partner or dependent child of: (a) an Australian citizen;"^[1]. A de facto partner is someone who lives with you on a genuine domestic basis but is not legally married^[1].

Because you have stated that you are an Australian citizen and you have been living together as a de facto couple for three years, your partner's application should be exempt from any such pause. The law ensures that the Minister's power to suspend processing does not apply to your partner's application because it is based on their relationship with you, an Australian citizen^[1].

While the law protects the application from being frozen, it does not guarantee how fast the Department will work. The requirement to consider a valid visa application continues until the Minister grants or refuses it^[2]. This means that while your partner's application won't be legally 'stuck' due to a suspension, the current long wait time you are experiencing may simply be due to standard processing delays rather than a formal suspension of that visa class.

Statutory Citations

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