Can an Australian Permanent Resident that has not been living in Australia for a few years sponsor a partner on a Partner Visa?
As can be seen from the comment below, an Australian Permanent Resident that is currently overseas, for a short time, can definitely sponsor an applicant for a Partner visa.
This is actually very common.
However, there have been cases in the past, where the sponsor has been living overseas for a long time, and they have had issues with proving that they are actually an Australian Resident, not just a Permanent Visa holder.
This is based on this definition:
An Australian permanent resident (permanent resident) is a non-citizen who is usually resident in Australia and holds a permanent visa.
The question relates to being absent from Australia for a few years, and the full answer might depend on more information.
Some examples to try to explain this situation.
- If the sponsor owns a property in Australia, one would assume that would confirm residency, no matter how long absent.
- If the sponsor has only spent one week in Australia, over 10 years ago, and has no real links to the country, they would probably have issues in proving they are usually resident in Australia.
In an application that looks difficult, it is often best to consult a migration agent, as they probably have experience in wording an application that can get around long absences from Australia.