It is public interest criterion 4019 in Schedule 4 to the Migration Regulations 1994, applied to the subclass 820 by clause 820.223(1)(b) of Schedule 2, and it is assessed at the time of decision like any other criterion.
This page explains who signs it, what signing commits you to and where it sits in the application. It is one of the shorter items in the 820 visa requirements.
Who has to sign it?
Applicants who had turned 18 at the time the application was made. That covers:
- the main applicant, under clause 820.223(1)(b);
- each member of the family unit who is also an applicant for the subclass 820 visa, under clause 820.224(1)(b);
- the same people again at the permanent stage, under clause 801.223(1)(b) and clause 801.224(1)(b) of the subclass 801 permanent visa provisions.
Applicants who had not turned 18 at the time of application do not sign it. Different criteria apply to them instead, covered in age requirements. The sponsor does not sign a values statement as part of this criterion; sponsors have their own undertakings and checks.
What has to happen before you sign
The Department of Home Affairs says that applicants aged 18 or older must have read, or had explained to them, the Life in Australia booklet. The booklet sets out Australian values and what living in Australia involves. Signing the statement is a declaration that you have read it or had it explained, so it is not background reading you can skip and come back to. If English is a difficulty, having the content explained is expressly contemplated, which is why the Department words it that way.
What does the statement commit you to?
Part 3 of Schedule 4 to the Migration Regulations tells you what the statement has to contain rather than reproducing its words. Clause 3.1 requires the Minister to approve one or more values statements by legislative instrument for specified subclasses, and provides that a values statement must include provisions relating to:
- values that are important to Australian society;
- matters concerning Australian citizenship, if relevant;
- compliance with the laws of Australia.
A values statement may include other provisions as well. The wording that appears in the form is the wording of the current approved instrument, so read the text in front of you rather than a version quoted elsewhere. In substance, you are stating that you have read or had explained the Life in Australia booklet, that you understand and will respect the values it describes, and that you will obey the laws of Australia for as long as you are here.
Where does it appear in the application?
Inside the online application. Partner visa applications must be lodged online through ImmiAccount, and the values statement appears as a declaration in the form rather than as a separate document to upload. Clause 3.1(4) of Part 3 provides that, for criterion 4019, a values statement is taken to have been signed by an applicant who makes an internet application if the instructions for signing the statement are followed. In other words, following the on-screen instruction is the signature. There is no additional form to sign, witness or scan. See lodging in ImmiAccount.
Each adult applicant signs for themselves. One person cannot sign on behalf of another adult in the same application, and an authorised recipient or lawyer completing the form does not sign it for the applicant.
Important
Criterion 4019 is assessed at the time of decision, alongside health, character and the rest. It is not a housekeeping item that gets tidied up after grant.
Why it is a criterion, not a formality
Three reasons it deserves a moment rather than a reflexive tick.
It can be the reason a criterion is unmet. Public interest criterion 4019 has only one limb: the applicant has signed a statement in accordance with Part 3. If that has not happened, the criterion is not satisfied. Subclause 4019(2) allows the Minister to decide that an applicant is not required to satisfy it where compelling circumstances exist, but that discretion is an exception and is not something to rely on.
It is a declaration. Everything you declare in a visa application is caught by the obligation in the Migration Act 1958 to answer the questions on the form correctly and to correct answers that become wrong. Public interest criterion 4020, which also applies to this visa, deals with information that is false or misleading in a material particular. Signing a declaration you have not read is a small risk that sits next to much larger ones.
It connects to what comes later. The values described in the booklet reappear at the citizenship stage for people who go on to apply, and the commitment to comply with Australian law sits alongside the character requirement, which looks at conduct rather than declarations. See from the 801 to citizenship.
Why professional help matters here
On its own, this criterion almost never causes trouble. It matters because of how it fails: as one unticked box in a long online form, discovered months later when the Department asks for it, in an application that has already been waiting. An application prepared by a migration lawyer is more likely to succeed partly for unglamorous reasons like this one — every declaration completed by the right person, in the right place, before lodgement, so that nothing in the file invites a request for information. No one can promise an outcome.
What to do next
Read the Life in Australia booklet before you start the declarations section, and make sure every applicant over 18 in your family completes their own. Then work through the remaining time-of-decision criteria: the health requirement and the character requirement, and check everything else against the 820 visa document checklist.
Common questions
Who has to sign the Australian Values Statement?
Every applicant who had turned 18 at the time the application was made, including family members who apply with the main applicant. Clause 820.223 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 applies public interest criterion 4019 to an applicant who had turned 18 at the time of application, and clause 820.224 applies it to each member of the family unit who is also an applicant. Applicants under 18 do not sign it.
What is the Life in Australia booklet?
It is the Department of Home Affairs publication that explains Australian values and the responsibilities and privileges of living in Australia. The Department says applicants aged 18 or older must have read it, or had it explained to them, before signing the Australian Values Statement. Signing is a statement that this has happened, so reading the booklet is part of the requirement rather than optional background material.
Where do you sign the Australian Values Statement?
In the online application itself. Partner visa applications are lodged through ImmiAccount, and the values statement appears as a declaration in the form. Under Part 3 of Schedule 4 to the Migration Regulations, a values statement is taken to have been signed by an applicant who makes an internet application if the instructions for signing it are followed.
What happens if the values statement is not signed?
The criterion is not met, and public interest criterion 4019 is a criterion for the grant of the visa at the time of decision. The Migration Regulations allow the Minister to decide that an applicant is not required to satisfy it where compelling circumstances exist, but that is an exception rather than the ordinary course. In practice an unsigned declaration usually means the application form is incomplete and the Department will ask for it.
Do you sign it again for the permanent 801 visa?
The same criterion appears in the subclass 801 provisions. Clause 801.223 applies public interest criterion 4019 to an applicant who had turned 18 at the time of application, so the requirement carries through to the permanent stage of the same combined application.
Sources
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