Previously
when lodging for a prospective marriage or partner visa, character checks only
applied to the visa applicant and not to the Australian citizen or permanent
resident sponsor. There has been an amendment to the legislation which took
effect from 1 September 2016 which now provides that applicants for a
Prospective Marriage (Temporary) (Class TO) visa, a Partner (Provisional)
(Class UF) visa and a Partner (Temporary) (Class UK) visa can be requested to:
- provide the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (the Minister) with a police check from the sponsor and to refuse to approve the sponsorship of all visa applicants if this police check is not provided.
In
addition the legislative amendment provides that the Minister may refuse to
approve the sponsorship of each applicant for the visa if the sponsor has been
convicted of a relevant offence and, as a result of those convictions, has a
significant criminal record. However, the Minister may approve the sponsorship
if he considers it reasonable to do so, having regard to certain matters.
The
change also allows the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (the
Department) to disclose any conviction of the sponsor for a relevant offence to
each visa applicant included in the sponsorship, with the sponsor’s consent.
