Abstract: In December 2025, for applicants holding a Bridging Visa or who have become unlawful non-citizens, lodging an onshore Partner Visa (Subclass 820) faces the most severe test since the legislative changes of 2014. Recent precedents from the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) and internal Department of Home Affairs guidelines indicate that the 'waiver threshold' for Schedule 3 criteria has been drastically raised. This article provides an in-depth analysis of how the definition of 'Compelling Reasons' has been reconstructed, why mere 'family reunion' is no longer sufficient for a waiver, and how applicants should navigate this high-risk landscape.
December 3, 2025 — For a long time, a myth has circulated within the Australian migrant community: "As long as you find an Australian partner onshore, even if your visa has expired, you can 'whitewash' your status through marriage."
In 2025, this belief has become a dangerously misleading fallacy. With the Department of Home Affairs enforcing Schedule 3 criteria of the Migration Regulations with unprecedented rigour, countless applicants attempting to lodge Subclass 820 Partner Visas onshore without holding a Substantive Visa are facing a "Waterloo" of refusals.
Latest data shows that in the second half of 2025, the refusal rate for Partner Visas due to failure to meet Schedule 3 criteria—and failure to obtain a waiver—has risen by 35% compared to the same period last year. This signals that the Australian immigration system is closing the last "backdoor" for transitioning from unlawful to lawful status onshore.
To prevent non-citizens from using "overstaying" as a method to bypass the regular offshore queuing system, Australian immigration law established Schedule 3 criteria. It primarily targets two groups of people:
If you fall into these categories when lodging an 820 Partner Visa application, you must meet additional strict conditions, the core of which is Criterion 3004.
Requirement of Criterion 3004:
If the applicant is not the holder of a substantive visa, they must demonstrate that "Compelling Reasons" exist, such that they should not be required to leave Australia to apply for a visa offshore.
In the past (especially during the AAT era), if an applicant had a long-term cohabiting relationship with a sponsor, or if the sponsor was financially dependent on the applicant, decision-makers might sometimes show leniency.
But in 2025, with the accumulation of precedents from the new Administrative Review Tribunal (ART), the interpretation of "Compelling" has undergone a fundamental tightening. The Immigix Legal Team has summarised three key enforcement shifts:
The ART now strictly distinguishes the causes of the applicant's unlawful status.
This is perhaps the most heartbreaking change of 2025. Previously, having an Australian citizen child together almost guaranteed a Schedule 3 waiver.
However, recent precedents show decision-makers asking: "Why can't the father/mother return to their home country to apply, while the child and Australian partner wait in Australia, or live in the home country for a short period?"
Unless the applicant can prove that departing to apply would cause "irreversible, long-term, pathological physical or mental harm" to the Australian child, the mere reason of "not wanting to separate" is no longer sufficient to waive Schedule 3.
In the current economic climate, many applicants argue, "If I leave Australia, my sponsor cannot afford the mortgage alone."
Departmental policy in 2025 explicitly states: Economic inconvenience is a normal consequence of immigration control. Unless such financial hardship would lead to the sponsor's bankruptcy or destitution, a simple decline in living standards does not constitute a "Compelling Reason."
A series of guidance decisions released by the ART's "Guidance and Appeals Panel" (GAP) in 2025 have further solidified this severe stance.
The GAP has explicitly stated: The legislative intent of Schedule 3 is to encourage non-citizens to comply with the visa system. Granting waivers too easily effectively punishes those who obey the law and depart to apply for 309 visas. Therefore, a waiver should be the Exception, never the Norm.
This means that when visa officers adjudicate, the default starting position is "Refusal," and the applicant must exert immense evidentiary effort to overturn this presumption.
Many applicants underestimate the chain reaction of a refusal. If an onshore 820 application is refused (due to Schedule 3 failure), the consequences are catastrophic:
Facing the "Iron Wall" of Schedule 3 in 2025, the Immigix team advises applicants in this situation to adopt extremely cautious strategies:
Strategy 1: Honest Self-Assessment—Depart if Necessary
If your reason is merely "We love each other, don't want to part, and it's too troublesome to go back," then voluntarily departing immediately and lodging a Subclass 309 Partner Visa offshore is often the wiser, faster, and cheaper choice. Processing speeds for 309 visas have improved significantly, making this far safer than gambling on a slim chance of an onshore waiver.
Strategy 2: Constructing a "Multi-Dimensional" Evidence Chain
If you truly cannot depart (e.g., undergoing uninterrupted cancer treatment, or the home country is in a state of war), you must build a chain of evidence:
Strategy 3: Precise Legal Submissions
Submit a legal submission drafted by a professional lawyer. This is not about telling an emotional story, but refuting Schedule 3 legal requirements point by point, citing the latest favourable ART precedents for analogical reasoning.
The Australian immigration rule of law environment in 2025 tells us: Rules are rules. Schedule 3 is no longer a hurdle that can be crossed simply by pleading hardship.
For those whose status has already become problematic, do not harbor wishful thinking and casually lodge a partner visa application. This could lead not only to a refusal but push you into the abyss of Section 48. Before making any decision, seeking professional legal advice to assess the probability of passing Schedule 3 is the only way to protect yourself and your family.