Partner Skills Points in Your EOI: When Partner Points Apply
What Are Partner Skills Points?
In the SkillSelect EOI points system, “partner skills” is a bonus category worth 10 points for applicants whose partner meets certain skills and English-language criteria. This is a significant number of points — equivalent in absolute value to moving from Proficient English to Superior English.
It is also one of the most complex categories in the EOI system in terms of conditions. The conditions need to be read carefully to avoid declaring incorrect information.
Conditions to Earn Partner Skills Points
To earn the 10 partner skills points, you and your partner need to meet all of one of the following two sets of conditions:
Condition Set 1: Your partner is an Australian citizen or permanent resident
If your partner is:
- an Australian citizen, or
- an Australian permanent resident, or
- a New Zealand citizen with the right to reside in Australia under a special category
then you will earn 10 partner skills points without your partner needing a skills assessment or having to meet any additional English-language requirement.
This is the simplest case and is fairly common for people who have married an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
Condition Set 2: Your partner has a valid skills assessment
If your partner is not an Australian citizen or permanent resident, they need to meet both of the following requirements at the same time:
Requirement 1 — A valid skills assessment: Your partner must have a positive skills assessment in an occupation on the list accepted by DHA for this purpose. This must be a valid, current skills assessment from a recognised assessing authority.
Requirement 2 — Competent English: Your partner must reach at least Competent English (IELTS 6.0 in each band, or PTE 50 in each skill). This is the minimum English level — Proficient or Superior is not required.
Both requirements must be met at the same time; meeting only one of the two is not enough to earn the points.
Can Single Applicants Earn These Points?
No. Partner skills points are only available to people in a legal marriage or de facto relationship (living together as partners). Single applicants do not receive these points.
However, if you are a single applicant (with no partner), DHA does not deduct points either. You simply do not have these 10 bonus points.
Who Is a Partner Under the DHA Definition?
DHA recognises two types of relationship for partner skills purposes:
Spouse / married partner: You and your partner are legally married. The marriage must be recognised under Australian law.
De facto partner: You and your partner are not married but are living together in a genuine and ongoing partnership (usually for at least 12 months). This relationship must also be declared and may need documentary evidence when lodging the visa application.
Note: same-sex partners are also recognised under both of the above forms.
When Partner Conditions Are Assessed
Partner skills conditions are assessed at the time you receive your Invitation to Apply (ITA), not at the time you lodge your EOI. This has several practical consequences:
- If your partner is waiting on a skills assessment result, you can declare the information in your EOI and update it when the result arrives.
- If your partner completes a skills assessment after you have lodged your EOI, update the EOI immediately so the points are recalculated.
- Conversely, if your partner’s skills assessment expires before you receive your ITA, you may lose these 10 points.
Strategy for Couples Migrating Together
If both you and your partner are eligible to lodge an EOI, a practical question is: who lodges as the main applicant, and who is the partner in the EOI?
Generally, the person with the higher total score should be the primary applicant. The other person can also lodge their own EOI, but only one EOI can receive an ITA at any one time. If one person receives an ITA, the other is included in the visa application.
Note too: partner skills points are only counted for the primary applicant. The person declared as the partner in the EOI does not need to lodge a separate EOI — they only need to meet the conditions for the primary applicant to earn the points.