Form 40SP: Sponsorship for a Partner Visa

The sponsorship is a separate application from the visa application. The Department assesses and approves it while it processes the applicant's temporary visa, and it can refuse both if the sponsor does not qualify. This page was checked on 23 September 2026 against the "For Sponsors" sections of the Home Affairs subclass 820, 801 and 309 pages, last updated 10 August 2026.

What is Form 40SP for a partner visa?

Form 40SP, "Sponsorship for a Partner to Migrate to Australia", is the sponsor's own application to be approved as the sponsor of a partner visa applicant and any family members included. Lodging it also accepts the sponsorship obligations. Home Affairs says the applicant "must have a sponsor when you lodge your application and when you are on this visa".

Who completes the partner visa Form 40SP?

The sponsor completes it, and the declarations are the sponsor's own. The sponsor must be the applicant's spouse or de facto partner, an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, and aged 18 or over. If a married sponsor is under 18, their parent or guardian might be able to sponsor instead.

What does the partner visa Form 40SP ask for, section by section?

The Department does not publish the online form's section names, and this guide could not open the live form. The groups below follow what Home Affairs says the sponsor must show.

The sponsor's identity and status

• A copy of the sponsor's passport and birth certificate, and a photo of their face.
• Proof of being a citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen.
• The common mistake: a driver's licence or Medicare card is not enough to prove status.

Where the sponsor usually lives

• Permanent residents and eligible New Zealand citizens must show they usually live in Australia. Evidence can include a home, work, property or family ties.

Previous sponsorships and previous partner visas

• Whether the sponsor has sponsored a partner before, or was sponsored as a partner themselves.
• The common mistake: leaving one out. The limits under reg 1.20J turn on exactly these dates.

The sponsor's character

• An Australian Federal Police complete disclosure National Police Certificate. State and territory certificates and standard disclosure certificates are not accepted.
• A police certificate from every country where the sponsor spent 12 months or more in the last 10 years since turning 16.
• Written consent for the Department to disclose any convictions for relevant offences to the applicant.

The undertaking and declaration

• The promise to assist the applicant and included family financially and with accommodation, and a declaration that the answers are true and match the applicant's.

When is Form 40SP lodged with the partner visa application?

After the applicant's application. The applicant lodges, pays and passes the TRN or Application ID to the sponsor, who then selects New application, Family, "Sponsorship for a Partner to Migrate to Australia" in either partner's ImmiAccount, from in or outside Australia. Its status stays at Submitted. The full order is on the page about how to apply for a partner visa.

Does Form 40SP cost anything on top of the partner visa charge?

No separate charge appears on the Home Affairs partner visa pages as at 23 September 2026. The applicant's visa application charge, from A$11,710 for most subclass 820 and 801 applicants, covers the application. The sponsor pays for their own police certificates and any translations.

What documents does a partner visa sponsor attach?

The documents in the section-by-section list above: identity and status documents, evidence of living in Australia where needed, police certificates and the written consent. Attach colour scans with English translations; certified copies are not needed. The applicant's side is in the partner visa document checklist.

Does Form 40SP cover the partner visa sponsor's police check?

Form 40SP asks about the sponsor's criminal history. The police certificates the sponsor gives, and what a conviction means under reg 1.20KC, are set out under partner visa sponsor requirements.

What does a partner visa sponsor promise on Form 40SP?

• Financial and accommodation help. Home Affairs says the sponsor "must assist" the applicant and included family members financially and with accommodation.
• For two years. The sponsorship ends two years after the temporary visa is granted if the applicants are in Australia, or two years after their next arrival if they are outside, even if the permanent visa follows at once.

How many partner visa applicants can you sponsor?

Two in a lifetime, with gaps of at least five years. Under reg 1.20J of the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth), the sponsorship is not approved if more than one earlier partner was granted a visa on your sponsorship, or if five years have not passed since the earlier partner's application or since your own partner visa application. The Department may still approve it in compelling circumstances, for example where you and the applicant have a dependent child or the relationship is long-standing. The detail is under partner visa sponsor requirements.

Can a partner visa sponsorship be withdrawn or refused?

Withdrawn. The sponsor withdraws through the Partner Processing Enquiry Form by choosing "I am withdrawing my Sponsorship" and attaching a signed statement and photo identification. Removing it from ImmiAccount does not withdraw it. Home Affairs says a sponsor can withdraw at any time before the permanent visa is decided, but not from the subclass 820 once it is granted.

Refused. The Department may refuse the sponsorship, and the visa application with it, where a sponsorship limit or the character rules apply.

The effect on the applicant. The applicant needs an approved sponsor for the visa to be granted. The enquiry form still lets an application continue in some circumstances: family violence by the sponsor, the sponsor's death, or children of the relationship.

What happens to Form 40SP at the subclass 801 or 100 stage?

Nothing new is lodged. Home Affairs says the sponsor does not need to submit another sponsorship application. The sponsor attaches their passport page showing their signature, or an Australian driver's licence, and a Commonwealth statutory declaration about the relationship.

Questions about Form 40SP for a partner visa

Can a girlfriend sponsor her boyfriend?

Yes, if they are in a de facto relationship that meets the partner visa rules, usually 12 months immediately before applying. The test is the relationship, not the gender.

Can two people sponsor one applicant?

No. The sponsor is the applicant's partner, and Home Affairs says the applicant cannot change sponsor.

What if the sponsor moves overseas?

A sponsor can lodge from outside Australia. A permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen sponsor must show they usually live in Australia, so a move can matter. Get advice before it happens.

What if the sponsor dies before the decision?

The applicant may still be eligible, and the Partner Visa FAQs ask them to complete the Notification of Relationship Cessation form in ImmiAccount. Applying these rules to your own circumstances is immigration assistance, which ss 276 and 280 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) restrict to registered migration agents and Australian legal practitioners.

Getting the sponsorship right

A sponsorship that is refused takes the visa application down with it. A registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner checks the sponsorship limits and the character rules before either form is lodged, and makes sure the two applications match. That makes an application they prepare more likely to succeed, though no one can promise a grant.

Partner visa forms and sponsor requirements

• The partner visa sponsor requirements set out who can sponsor, the police checks and the limits in full.
• The page on how to apply for a partner visa shows where the sponsorship falls in the eight steps.
• The partner visa forms page lists every other form in the application.

Questions people ask

Is there a Form 40SP PDF?

Not as at 23 September 2026. The Department's PDF address for Form 40SP returns a not-found page. The sponsorship is lodged online in ImmiAccount as Sponsorship for a Partner to Migrate to Australia, using the applicant's Transaction Reference Number or Application ID.

When does the sponsor lodge Form 40SP?

After the applicant has lodged and paid for the partner visa application. Home Affairs tells the sponsor to apply after the applicant gives them the Transaction Reference Number or Application ID, and to do so as soon as possible. The sponsor can use their own ImmiAccount or the applicant's.

Is there a fee for Form 40SP?

Home Affairs shows no separate charge for a partner sponsorship. The visa application charge the applicant pays at lodgement covers the partner visa application. The sponsor may have their own costs, such as police certificates.

How many times can you sponsor a partner?

Under reg 1.20J of the Migration Regulations 1994, a sponsorship is not approved if the sponsor has already had two partners granted visas on their sponsorship, or if five years have not passed since an earlier partner sponsorship or since the sponsor's own partner visa application. The Department may approve it anyway in compelling circumstances.

Does the sponsor need to lodge Form 40SP again for the permanent stage?

No. Home Affairs says the sponsor does not submit another sponsorship application for the permanent stage. The sponsor provides further documents instead, including a passport page or Australian driver's licence and a Commonwealth statutory declaration about the relationship.

Sources

Primary sources this page was checked against on 23 September 2026.

1. Home Affairs, Partner visa (subclasses 820 and 801), For Sponsors immi.homeaffairs.gov.au
2. Home Affairs, Partner visa (subclass 801), For Sponsors immi.homeaffairs.gov.au
3. Home Affairs, Partner Processing Enquiry Form immi.homeaffairs.gov.au
4. Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth), regs 1.20J and 1.20KC www.legislation.gov.au