Partner Visa 801 Evidence Files 2026: How Practitioners Package Stage 2 Uploads

You package Stage 2 evidence for the Partner visa (subclass 801) the same way the Department reads it: every document becomes one file, all pages of that document live inside that file, the label says what it is, each file is attached once, and the total stays within 100 attachments per person — a cap the Australian Department of Home Affairs says cannot be raised, with anything beyond it attached to another applicant on the same application. That packaging logic comes from the Department's official Partner visa (Permanent) (Subclass 801) page as at October 2026. It is general procedural information rather than advice written for any one person's circumstances, so an individual case should still be checked against what the Department currently publishes.

Are you actually at Stage 2 yet?

You become eligible for consideration of the permanent visa two years after lodging the combined temporary and permanent Partner visa application, and the Department tells applicants not to submit Stage 2 documents before that date. Check the lodgement date in ImmiAccount before you build anything.

There is also a case where none of this applies. If the 801 visa was granted immediately after your subclass 820 visa, there is nothing further to provide. The landing page directs applicants to VEVO (Visa Entitlement Verification Online) to confirm which visa they currently hold.

What goes into the Stage 2 package?

The official page breaks the request into four groups, and each has its own packaging consequence.

Identity: a copy of the pages of your most recent passport showing your photo, personal details, signature, and passport issue and expiry dates.
Character: a current Australian police certificate is usually required at this stage if one was not attached to the subclass 820 application. Only a complete disclosure National Police Certificate issued by the Australian Federal Police is accepted — not standard disclosure certificates, and not certificates issued by state or territory police. Certificates are valid for 12 months from the issue date. You also need an overseas police certificate from any country, including your home country, where you spent a total of 12 months or more since the grant of the 820 visa.
Relationship: evidence that you continue to be the spouse or de facto partner of the same person who sponsored the temporary visa, using relationship documents and supporting evidence of the relationship.
Family members: for every family member who currently holds a subclass 820 or 445 visa, copies of their passport, documents showing changes to their situation, and police certificates where applicable for dependants aged 16 or older.

How is each item assembled before it gets a name?

Scan or photograph every document in colour, English and non-English alike, clearly enough to read. If a document runs to more than one page, save all of it as a single file. No documents need to be certified.

Non-English documents need an English translation, and you provide the original and the translation together. Translators working in Australia must be accredited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI). Translators outside Australia do not have to be accredited, but each translation must carry their full name, address and telephone number, and their qualifications and experience in the language they are translating — all shown in English.

One more rule governs everything that follows: attach a document only once, even when you are relying on it to show more than one thing.

What should file names actually do?

The Department's instruction is to clearly label your documents; beyond that, no naming template is prescribed. Practically, a label has to make the file intelligible to someone who has never seen your case, because there is no second chance to rename it mid-upload and no benefit in attaching it twice under two names.

Weaker label	Clearer label	What the clearer one tells the officer
`scan001.pdf`	`A_PEREZ_Identity_Passport-Bio-Pages.pdf`	Whose file it is, which category, which document
`police.pdf`	`A_PEREZ_Character_AFP-NPC_2026-03.pdf`	Issuing body and issue date, so expiry can be checked against the 12-month rule
`statement.pdf`	`JOINT_Relationship_Finances_Joint-Bank-Statements_2025-07-to-2026-06.pdf`	Whose relationship it supports, and the exact period covered

A stable order — applicant, category, document, date — also lets you count how many distinct documents you have, which is the number that matters for the attachment cap.

How does "attach once" change the filing plan?

It moves the work from uploading to indexing. A joint lease, a joint bank statement series, or a passport used for both identity and travel history gets uploaded once and does its job everywhere it is relevant. That means you should organise your checklist by document rather than by requirement, and keep a simple map of which file answers which requirement. Duplicate uploads are then visible as duplicates, and each one saved is a slot returned to the 100-document budget.

How do you stay inside 100 attachments per person?

You can attach up to 100 documents for each person on the application, and the limit cannot be increased. So the quota is spent on documents, not pages: merging genuine multi-page items — a long AFP certificate, a full passport bio-data spread, a 12-month statement set kept as one document — costs one slot regardless of length, while splitting one item across several files costs several slots.

When one person reaches the cap, the Department's stated option is to attach further documents to other clients on the application. In practice that makes the allocation order a decision worth making before the first upload rather than at attachment 99.

Suppose an application lists two people — the main applicant and a family member already holding a subclass 820 visa. The following is an illustrative allocation only, used to show how the quota behaves; it is not an official formula.

Person	Quota	Typical uploads	If the cap is reached
Main applicant	100 documents	Identity pages, Australian and overseas police certificates, relationship documents and supporting evidence	Remaining documents attachable to another person on the application
Family member holding 820/445	100 documents, counted separately	Passport copy, documents showing changes to their situation, police certificate if 16 or older	Further documents go to another applicant's allocation

Because the limit is per person, applications with several applicants have considerably more room in total than any single person's cap suggests — which is another reason to put joint material under the applicant it most directly evidences, rather than scattering it.

What has to stay true after you upload?

Partner visa processing times can be long, and the Department advises applicants to update their documents and relationship evidence regularly through ImmiAccount while waiting. If you did not attach everything when you submitted, add it as soon as you can.

Changes have to be reported too: changes to marital or de facto status, the birth of a child, any other changes relevant to the application, or a request to withdraw. Where a document genuinely cannot be uploaded, the official page points to the Partner Processing Enquiry Form as the route flagged for that situation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I upload Stage 2 documents before the two-year point?

No. The Department says you become eligible two years after lodging the temporary and permanent applications together, and instructs applicants not to attach Stage 2 documents before that time. Confirm the lodgement date in ImmiAccount first.

Do I need to provide more relationship evidence for the 801 stage?

Yes, in the sense that you must show you continue to be the spouse or de facto partner of the same sponsor. The Department also advises updating relationship evidence regularly given how long these applications can take to finalise.

Is my state police certificate enough?

No. Only complete disclosure National Police Certificates issued by the Australian Federal Police are accepted; standard disclosure certificates and certificates issued by state or territory police are not. Certificates are valid for 12 months from their issue date.

Do my documents need to be certified or notarised?

No certification is required. The requirements are colour scans or photographs that are legible, all pages of a multi-page item saved together as one file, and English translations for non-English documents provided alongside the originals.

What happens if one applicant reaches 100 attachments?

The limit per person cannot be increased, and the Department's stated position is that further documents can be attached to other clients on the same application. This is why counting distinct documents before uploading matters more than counting pages.

Can splitting one large file save me attachments?

The opposite is true. Attachments count documents, not pages, so a sixty-page statement series kept as a single file uses one slot, while splitting it into twelve monthly files uses twelve.

What if my relationship ends before a decision is made?

Tell the Department — the official page lists relationship changes as something you must notify, and points to the relationship cessation notification in ImmiAccount. It also notes that you may still be eligible for the permanent visa where the relationship ends or your partner dies, and that information you provide is treated confidentially.