# Prospective Marriage Visa - subclass 300



## 390979 (Feb 3, 2021)

Hi everyone!

I found this forum only yesterday, so I'm very new here. I can't seem to see many recent PMV threads.

I am Australian & my fiance is Texan, we've been together since 2018 and became engaged in 2020. Our last trip together was late 2019, we had travel plans booked last year but were cancelled due to Covid. We are going through a migration agent (review service only) and will be lodging in the next week or two. I feel pretty confident with our application, but will know more when the migration agent reviews our docs! We've met each others friends & family, but lieu of photos with many of them we are providing Form 888 stat dec's (around 15-20 of them). We have PayPal transfers, gift receipts, travel booking receipts (for Texas, New Orleans and around Melbourne), Victorian relationship certificate, letter from my landlord agreeing to put my fiance on my lease, and _plenty_ of photos. We've appointed a celebrant and I've signed my part of the Notice of Intent to Marry (our celebrant and venue are flexible with dates thankfully!). Due to these border closures we've been apart for over a year and our initial wedding plans fell apart (all documented in our application). I have photos of the family heirloom ring my fiance will give to me when he is in Australia and my mother in law has included info on the ring in her Form 888. So we have a lot of evidence but it is still an incredibly nerve-racking process.

The DHA website says processing time is 19 months for 75% and 24 months for 90%. We are totally committed to one another, but it is still so much time apart (which I'm sure many people in this forum can empathise with!!). I was wondering if anyone has any recent experience with the PMV? Has anyone had any positive experiences with quick processing times?

Thanks in advance


----------



## wrussell (Dec 31, 2014)

A fiancé is NOT a family member and could expect a problem applying for a travel exemption. From what you have posted, it looks as if you could satisfy the schedule 1 and the schedule 2 criteria to apply for a partner visa in the first instance. By applying for a subclass 300 visa, you might be shooting yourself in the foot; both feet. If you consulted a registered? migration agent for advice about applying for a subclass 300 visa, and that is what you get, best of luck.


----------



## 390979 (Feb 3, 2021)

wrussell said:


> A fiancé is NOT a family member and could expect a problem applying for a travel exemption. From what you have posted, it looks as if you could satisfy the schedule 1 and the schedule 2 criteria to apply for a partner visa in the first instance. By applying for a subclass 300 visa, you might be shooting yourself in the foot; both feet. If you consulted a registered? migration agent for advice about applying for a subclass 300 visa, and that is what you get, best of luck.


Hi wrussell, thanks for your response. We do know we need to apply for a travel exemption, and that our 300 PMV application should satisfy the Department's travel exemption criteria. However your points are important and when we chat to the migration agent next week we'll see if they suggest we go straight for the partner visa instead of fiance.


----------



## Kofi (Nov 2, 2020)

MelbourneTexasCouple said:


> Hi everyone!
> 
> I found this forum only yesterday, so I'm very new here. I can't seem to see many recent PMV threads.
> 
> ...


Subclass 300 is pretty silent lately.
My fiance and I lodged our application in Aug 2020 and haven't heard anything from DHA till date. We uploaded most docs upfront, Ive done biometrics as well. 
We keep supplying evidences from time to time.
Our migration agent asked us not to do the medicals and wait till DHA asks (not sure if its a good idea or not) 
Still waiting......


----------



## paulhand (Apr 15, 2017)

MelbourneTexasCouple said:


> Hi wrussell, thanks for your response. We do know we need to apply for a travel exemption, and that our 300 PMV application should satisfy the Department's travel exemption criteria. However your points are important and when we chat to the migration agent next week we'll see if they suggest we go straight for the partner visa instead of fiance.


Even holding a 300 visa does not satisfy the travel exemption requirements: 
_
" If you hold a Prospective Marriage (subclass 300) visa, please be aware that you need to request an exemption from Australia's travel restrictions and this will be considered on a case-by-case basis. An intention to marry is not sufficient evidence to demonstrate that you are an immediate family member of an Australian citizen or permanent resident. You can provide proof of your relationship, or evidence that you meet any other individual exemption category, by applying online at the bottom of this page."_

As Westley said, If you are confident that your situation meets the travel exemption criteria, then why would it not meet the partner visa criteria?


----------



## eli27abeth (Mar 22, 2020)

I'm in a similar situation. My partner is located in Melbourne and I live here in DC - we lodged in March 2020 and have not received any updates. From everything I've read and heard from others in the PMV300 boat, very very few are being processed. My partner and I have been looking into converting to a 309. I would say the FB groups for Partner visas have been very helpful in tracking grants. We did not apply for the 309 originally since we have never lived together and were worried about fulfilling that qualification. 

Best of luck!


----------



## 390979 (Feb 3, 2021)

Kofi said:


> Subclass 300 is pretty silent lately.
> My fiance and I lodged our application in Aug 2020 and haven't heard anything from DHA till date. We uploaded most docs upfront, Ive done biometrics as well.
> We keep supplying evidences from time to time.
> Our migration agent asked us not to do the medicals and wait till DHA asks (not sure if its a good idea or not)
> Still waiting......


Thanks for the timeline update ... best of luck with hearing from DHA soon!


----------



## 390979 (Feb 3, 2021)

paulhand said:


> Even holding a 300 visa does not satisfy the travel exemption requirements:
> _
> " If you hold a Prospective Marriage (subclass 300) visa, please be aware that you need to request an exemption from Australia's travel restrictions and this will be considered on a case-by-case basis. An intention to marry is not sufficient evidence to demonstrate that you are an immediate family member of an Australian citizen or permanent resident. You can provide proof of your relationship, or evidence that you meet any other individual exemption category, by applying online at the bottom of this page."_
> 
> As Westley said, If you are confident that your situation meets the travel exemption criteria, then why would it not meet the partner visa criteria?


Hi Paul. As I mentioned, we are due to speak to our migration agent next week after they have gone through our documentation.


----------



## 390979 (Feb 3, 2021)

eli27abeth said:


> I'm in a similar situation. My partner is located in Melbourne and I live here in DC - we lodged in March 2020 and have not received any updates. From everything I've read and heard from others in the PMV300 boat, very very few are being processed. My partner and I have been looking into converting to a 309. I would say the FB groups for Partner visas have been very helpful in tracking grants. We did not apply for the 309 originally since we have never lived together and were worried about fulfilling that qualification.
> 
> Best of luck!


Hi there - that sounds very similar to us, with regards to the 309 & not living together. We had planned to live together in 2020 but of course covid changed all of that. We have written about that in our statements, so will see what the agent recommends when we see her next week. Thanks for the FB group tip and best of luck to you too!


----------



## wrussell (Dec 31, 2014)

> PMV300 boat,


AKA the Titanic.


----------



## Kofi (Nov 2, 2020)

Just to ask, our migration agent advised us to wait for DHA to ask for medical check before we do it. 
But whats the ideal way to go about it,
Wait as they suggest or provide upfront 
Visa is subclass 300 lodged in Aug 2020
Most docs uploaded upfront except the medicals


----------



## Hope28 (Jan 26, 2019)

Kofi said:


> Just to ask, our migration agent advised us to wait for DHA to ask for medical check before we do it.
> But whats the ideal way to go about it,
> Wait as they suggest or provide upfront
> Visa is subclass 300 lodged in Aug 2020
> Most docs uploaded upfront except the medicals


 due to covid they are not processing quickly, I would suggest to wait


----------



## wrussell (Dec 31, 2014)

> We did not apply for the 309 originally since we have never lived together


To qualify, you do not have to live together.


----------



## kamehameha (Sep 18, 2020)

eli27abeth said:


> I'm in a similar situation. My partner is located in Melbourne and I live here in DC - we lodged in March 2020 and have not received any updates. From everything I've read and heard from others in the PMV300 boat, very very few are being processed. My partner and I have been looking into converting to a 309. I would say the FB groups for Partner visas have been very helpful in tracking grants. We did not apply for the 309 originally since we have never lived together and were worried about fulfilling that qualification.
> 
> Best of luck!


Hi eli27abeth, my partner and I are in similar situation, we lodged in June 2019 and there're no updates at all. The reason we didn't go for the 309 was also because we've been living in different countries, don't have mortgage together etc. Now it's just endless waiting..
But how do you convert a 300 to a 309 visa? Is it possible?


----------



## JandE (Jul 17, 2015)

kamehameha said:


> But how do you convert a 300 to a 309 visa? Is it possible?


You get married, then you can switch to a 309.


----------



## BECKZ (Mar 18, 2019)

Kofi said:


> Just to ask, our migration agent advised us to wait for DHA to ask for medical check before we do it.
> But whats the ideal way to go about it,
> Wait as they suggest or provide upfront
> Visa is subclass 300 lodged in Aug 2020
> Most docs uploaded upfront except the medicals


Hi Kofi,

It's your choice, but my partner and I opted to do the health checks beforehand and uploaded everything at the same time (police checks too).

The reason that we decided to do that was because, throughout last year, we found that some people were finding it hard to book in their medicals due to the Covid situation in their country (due to whatever restrictions they had in place at the time). This was after their Case Officer had requested medicals and they would've been given 21 or 28 days to complete it. We didn't want to be in the same situation, so we front-loaded everything. (I don't think this is an issue anymore though.)

I think the main reason that people tell you to wait is because they only last 12 months, and so if you have to do them again, it will be double the cost. For us, we didn't mind paying if it meant we had all of our documents front-loaded. So the choice is yours on whether the benefits outweigh the cons!


----------



## Kofi (Nov 2, 2020)

BECKZ said:


> Kofi said:
> 
> 
> > Hi Kofi,
> ...


----------



## JandE (Jul 17, 2015)

Some fast grants for subclass 300, PMV, recently.

300 Granted: 30 Mar 2021 – Applied 19 Jul 2020. UK. Processed in 8.4 months.
300 Granted: 27 Mar 2021 – Applied 13 Sep 2020. Jordan. Processed in 6.4 months.
300 Granted: 22 Mar 2021 – Applied 25 Feb 2021. Israel. Processed in 1 months.
It would not surprise me if these did not wait to be asked for the medical.


----------



## ComeFlyWithMe (Jan 28, 2021)

JandE said:


> Some fast grants
> 
> 300 Granted: 22 Mar 2021 – Applied 25 Feb 2021. Israel. Processed in 1 months.


That's me! and yeah, I had everything ready and uploaded as soon as possible.


----------



## JandE (Jul 17, 2015)

ComeFlyWithMe said:


> That's me! and yeah, I had everything ready and uploaded as soon as possible.


Have you got the travel ban exemption to get to Australia?


----------



## ComeFlyWithMe (Jan 28, 2021)

JandE said:


> Have you got the travel ban exemption to get to Australia?


My flight is only in July so I am not able to file for the exemption yet 
They say at-most 2 months in advance, system allows up to 3 months in advance. So I got another month or 2 ahead of me.
Being vaccinated with the finest that is Pfizer , and generally healthy with clean records and positive intentions, I believe I could get the exemption...but so many rejections in general made me skeptical lately.


----------



## WhyIsNigh (Apr 6, 2021)

Hello all,

I am new to this forum. I wish to know (if possible) whether there has already been a coordinated effort to form a petition against the decision to require an exemption for subclass 300 Visas (prospective marriage) when student visas do not need exemption nor do critical skills visas. I am entertaining the possibility of forming a petition and gathering signatures to send to parliament in order to force the topic to be discussed again and reviewing this (in my opinion outlandish decision) considering and provided that it affects so many Australians' lives.

Thank you


----------



## JandE (Jul 17, 2015)

WhyIsNigh said:


> Hello all,
> 
> I am new to this forum. I wish to know (if possible) whether there has already been a coordinated effort to form a petition against the decision to require an exemption for subclass 300 Visas (prospective marriage) when student visas do not need exemption nor do critical skills visas. I am entertaining the possibility of forming a petition and gathering signatures to send to parliament in order to force the topic to be discussed again and reviewing this (in my opinion outlandish decision) considering and provided that it affects so many Australians' lives.
> 
> Thank you


If a petition is done it has to be worded accurately, or it can be easily rejected. 

You mention that critical skills visas do not require an exemption. Their reply would probably be that they do, in the same way that subclass 300s do, based on these figures:

Travel Ban Exemption Statistics.

Compelling and Compassionate Reasons:
3,630 granted.
35,303 refused.

Critical Skills (non medical)
9,736 Granted.
10,852 Refused.

The reason that subclass 300 grant holders require an exemption is that the couples in 'some' of these applications have only ever met for a week or two. Should these be granted one of the limited numbers of exemptions?

Those with longer relationships, should of course be eligible for an exemption.

That is the point of an application, to try to show equal relationship levels to a subclass 309 applicant.


----------



## WhyIsNigh (Apr 6, 2021)

JandE said:


> If a petition is done it has to be worded accurately, or it can be easily rejected.
> 
> You mention that critical skills visas do not require an exemption. Their reply would probably be that they do, in the same way that subclass 300s do, based on these figures:
> 
> ...


I do not understand the validity of the reason for exemption. If I have already been granted a visa for subclass 300 why should I also not be granted a right to enter the country to marry considering that is the Visa I apply for to begin with? In order to get a Visa to begin with loads of documents and proofs need to be provided and you wait for a long time as well. So after waiting all this time and getting the Visa now they are requiring proofs that are impossible to provide if you are in long distance relationship including cohabitation of 2 years minimum and joint bank accounts of 2 years minimum. The criteria are impossible to overcome and are DESIGNED in a way to eliminate people from entering the country. I do not believe this is right though and in fact is against human rights.

I have thought this through carefully and the only way for all people to overcome this is to form a petition and word it in a meaningful way for all those people who ALREADY HOLD A VISA and cannot enter the country because it is impossible to provide the proofs they want/need to enter with exemption in such cases.


----------



## JandE (Jul 17, 2015)

WhyIsNigh said:


> a petition and word it in a meaningful way


That is the important part. 

However, there is another issue to consider. Getting the actual flights, which are restricted by quarantine place numbers. 

Almost 40,000 Australian Citizens are also being stopped from returning home due to these restrictions. That issue is heading to a human rights question. 

Someone somewhere has to determine priority. 

I personally feel that by the time these petitions and court cases are finalised, the borders will be open anyway.


----------



## Aussie83 (Oct 15, 2015)

"student visas do not need exemption"
Where is that information? Based on what I can find while offshore student visas can be granted at the moment the borders are still closed to them. Incorrect info will also sink a petition without it getting it looked at. 
Basing my info from here





Student and Temporary Graduate Visas | COVID-19 and the border


For information on Student and Temporary Graduate visas, please see: Inte




covid19.homeaffairs.gov.au


----------



## ZubiSim (Sep 26, 2020)

The requirements for the PMV 300 aren't very strict (you need to have met in person at least once) so I guess that's why there is also an exemption process. Do you think a long-term couple with children should be in the same queue as two people who only met in person once? Unfortunately, with the current arrival caps, they need to prioritise who can enter the country and who can't, and they have to draw a line somewhere. I do agree that we need to increase the hotel quarantine capacity and the arrival caps to bring more people in, and then should definitely allow PMV visa holders to enter without an exemption.


----------



## Subclass300Holder (May 21, 2021)

WhyIsNigh said:


> Hello all,
> 
> I am new to this forum. I wish to know (if possible) whether there has already been a coordinated effort to form a petition against the decision to require an exemption for subclass 300 Visas (prospective marriage) when student visas do not need exemption nor do critical skills visas. I am entertaining the possibility of forming a petition and gathering signatures to send to parliament in order to force the topic to be discussed again and reviewing this (in my opinion outlandish decision) considering and provided that it affects so many Australians' lives.
> 
> Thank you


Hello Zubi,

Even i am in same boat, received PMV in 2020 and still unable to enter Australia, applied for Travel exemption more than 10 times and been rejected every time, even on compassionate grounds, how on earth can we show joint bank accounts and bills when we are apart from each other. Have you filed any petition so far ? Have you managed to get travel exemption ?


----------



## JandE (Jul 17, 2015)

Subclass300Holder said:


> Hello Zubi,
> 
> Even i am in same boat, received PMV in 2020 and still unable to enter Australia, applied for Travel exemption more than 10 times and been rejected every time, even on compassionate grounds, how on earth can we show joint bank accounts and bills when we are apart from each other. Have you filed any petition so far ? Have you managed to get travel exemption ?


Some 300 applicants do live together, and have such proofs. 

You need to find alternative reasons to show compelling grounds, if apart.


----------



## Subclass300Holder (May 21, 2021)

WhyIsNigh said:


> I do not understand the validity of the reason for exemption. If I have already been granted a visa for subclass 300 why should I also not be granted a right to enter the country to marry considering that is the Visa I apply for to begin with? In order to get a Visa to begin with loads of documents and proofs need to be provided and you wait for a long time as well. So after waiting all this time and getting the Visa now they are requiring proofs that are impossible to provide if you are in long distance relationship including cohabitation of 2 years minimum and joint bank accounts of 2 years minimum. The criteria are impossible to overcome and are DESIGNED in a way to eliminate people from entering the country. I do not believe this is right though and in fact is against human rights.
> 
> I have thought this through carefully and the only way for all people to overcome this is to form a petition and word it in a meaningful way for all those people who ALREADY HOLD A VISA and cannot enter the country because it is impossible to provide the proofs they want/need to enter with exemption in such cases.





JandE said:


> Some 300 applicants do live together, and have such proofs.
> 
> You need to find alternative reasons to show compelling grounds, if apart.


Hello JandE

Majority of them apply for PMV when they are in a long distance relationship (Due to many reasons) In my case we both have jobs in different countries (we know each other from last 10 years), So when we decide to move together in 2019 and applied for PMV, we waited 12 months for our application to get approved and been waiting since last 15 months to enter Australia. 
others with same visa are able to enter Australia (Only reason they have shared bank accounts and bills) this is clear example of discrimination. We are in queue from last 3 years waiting to start our life together but others who has been granted same visa recently are able to get in.


----------



## ZubiSim (Sep 26, 2020)

Maybe your Australian partner can leave Australia to stay with you for 3-6 months so you can collect some evidence?
I don't know if there is any other way.
PMV holders aren't allowed to enter because there's not enough quarantine capacity for everyone. Even Australian citizens often struggling to return home due to the flight caps.


----------



## JandE (Jul 17, 2015)

Subclass300Holder said:


> Hello JandE
> 
> Majority of them apply for PMV when they are in a long distance relationship (Due to many reasons) In my case we both have jobs in different countries (we know each other from last 10 years), So when we decide to move together in 2019 and applied for PMV, we waited 12 months for our application to get approved and been waiting since last 15 months to enter Australia.
> others with same visa are able to enter Australia (Only reason they have shared bank accounts and bills) this is clear example of discrimination. We are in queue from last 3 years waiting to start our life together but others who has been granted same visa recently are able to get in.


I am not sure how it can be discrimination. 

There are thousands of Australians that can't manage to return home to Australia, plus many more partner visa holders that also can't get in.

Only about one in ten exemptions are granted, with, in theory, excellent reasons submitted. In practice the case offices might have different views on these reasons.


----------



## harsh710 (Apr 10, 2021)

Hello,

I have got my exemption and after that in few hours I got my partner visa 309 I guess what I did I uploaded everything I had since beginning of my relation from small to big thing and mentioned why and how it’s important to travel and luckily I got exemption first and then in 7 hrs my 309
Wish you all good luck


----------



## Steven2020 (Jan 9, 2021)

*Prospective marriage visa holders can now get inward exemptions to travel to Australia*
In a massive relief to couples in marriage limbo, the Australian government declared that existing prospective marriage visa holders (Subclass 300), who applied for a visa at least 12 months ago, will be eligible for an inward travel exemption.


----------



## wrussell (Dec 31, 2014)

eligible to *apply*


----------



## 390979 (Feb 3, 2021)

MelbourneTexasCouple said:


> Hi everyone!
> 
> I found this forum only yesterday, so I'm very new here. I can't seem to see many recent PMV threads.
> 
> ...


Hi everyone, just an update as our Prospective Marriage Visa has been GRANTED this week!!

Timeline:

Applied March 2021
Request for info (medical, police background check) in July 2021
Visa granted October 2021
*Total time 7 months*

The visa allows us to get married within 12 months (not 9 months). 

With the new border rules easing from next week, I plan to travel to the US in December/January. My US partner will be able to apply for his exemption to enter the country in March 2022 (which is 12 months after we lodged the initial application). We are hopeful that soon PMV holders will be classified as family and able to enter without waiting for that 12 month period. Border entry rules are constantly evolving.

Good luck everyone!


----------



## LaraG04 (5 mo ago)

ComeFlyWithMe said:


> That's me! and yeah, I had everything ready and uploaded as soon as possible.


Hi! I saw your message on Australia forum, regarding prospective marriage visa subclass 300, you got approved in a month. I just wanna get some tips on how you did it. I would like to apply for this visa type this year and it would be awesome if I get approved with the same timeframe you had. Please feel free to respond, it's highly appreciated.


----------



## Sweet Angel (7 mo ago)

390979 said:


> Hi everyone, just an update as our Prospective Marriage Visa has been GRANTED this week!!
> 
> Timeline:
> 
> ...


Hi Hi, I just saw your post when looking at this forum to get some help for attaching evidence online for my PMV offshore.
Your experience and advice on below questions is much appreciated as my fiance and I had long distance relationship more than 5 years. We just want to prepare as much as we can because we can't wait to get marry and spend the rest of our lives together.

*(1). Description and File Name*
Document Type / Description / File Name show under each topic to attach file.

*Q : *What is the meaning of "Description" under each topic as I don't know what to enter?
*Q :* For File Name, did you add your name on the File Name, like " Passport - XXX "? Or "Passport" is good enough?


*(2). Intention to live as married couple*
We were not living together as we live and work in different countries. Not sure what kind of evidence to be attached here.

*Q : *Any tips?


*(3). Photos*
It looks like photos should be put / categorised into different documents to show :
"Met in person" - photos with fiance, e-tickets
"Social Aspect" - photos travelling together, with families and friends

*Q : *Is it more appropriated to do like this instead of putting all the photos by time sequence in one document, right?


*(4). WhatsApp Communication*
We have lots of communication which involve over thousandssss screenshots.

*Q :* How many did you provide?
*Q :* Did you put context to the message showing significant communication?


Your experience and sharing is much appreciated.


----------

