Who can complete Form 888, how many you need and what ID they attach
Published by Form 888 Australia · Last checked 3 October 2026 · publisher and review details
General information, not legal advice. Form 888 Australia is not a law firm or migration practice.
As at October 2026: current edition design date 08/26 (Home Affairs listing updated 27 August 2026).
Form 888 can be completed by anyone aged 18 or over who knows the visa applicant, their partner or fiancé(e) and the history of their relationship, and the supporter does not have to be an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
Home Affairs asks for statements from 2 witnesses, each supporter may be asked for up to 3 statements during processing, and each attaches a copy of an ID showing their current name and age, plus evidence of Australian citizenship or permanent residence where that applies.
Supporter card
The current Form 888’s “About this form” panel and Home Affairs’ partner and Prospective Marriage visa pages give these rules.
Who can complete Form 888
18 or over; knows the applicant and their partner or fiancé(e); knows the history of the relationship; any nationality since the 07/23 edition.
How many statements Home Affairs asks for
Statements from 2 witnesses; each supporter may be asked for up to 3 statements during processing.
What each supporter attaches
A copy of an ID showing current name and age; citizens and permanent residents add status evidence. Home Affairs’ online document instructions allow a clear colour scan or photo, with no certification.
The following supporter types follow the current Form 888’s eligibility and ID wording, together with Home Affairs’ visa-page rules on status evidence and translation.
| Supporter | Can complete Form 888? | What they attach |
|---|---|---|
| Parent | Yes, if 18 or over and knows both partners and the history; the form does not say supporters must be unrelated | ID copy showing current name and age; citizenship or PR evidence if they hold that status |
| Sibling | Yes, on the same two conditions | Same as a parent |
| Friend | Yes, on the same two conditions | ID copy; status evidence only if a citizen or PR |
| Colleague | Yes, if they know both partners and the history, not only one partner at work | ID copy; status evidence only if a citizen or PR |
| Overseas friend | Yes; any nationality since 07/23 | ID copy showing name and age; English translation if the document is not in English |
| Non-citizen living in Australia | Yes | ID copy showing name and age; a permanent resident adds evidence such as a passport containing a permanent visa |
| Someone who knows only one partner | No: the form asks for a person who knows the applicant and their partner or fiancé(e) and the history | — |
Who fills out Form 888?
Form 888 is filled out by a supporter who meets 2 requirements: the supporter is at least 18 years old, and knows the visa applicant, their partner or fiancé(e) and the history of their relationship. The current form’s “About this form” panel requires:
- 18 or over: the person “is at least 18 years of age”.
- Knows both partners and the history: the person “knows the visa applicant and their partner or fiancé(e) and the history of their relationship”.
The same supporter signs and dates Form 888. The current form has only their signature and date boxes: nobody else signs it.
Home Affairs calls supporters “witnesses”: its partner visa pages ask for “statements from 2 witnesses” who are 18 or older, know the couple and know about the relationship, and say statements “can be done by completing Form 888”. That is what a partner visa witness statement means in this context.
Does a Form 888 supporter need to be an Australian citizen?
No. A Form 888 supporter does not need to be an Australian citizen or permanent resident: that condition went with the 07/23 edition (mid-2023), and it is absent from the current Home Affairs form.
Home Affairs’ statutory-declaration editions, up to 10/20, required a citizen or permanent resident unless an offshore applicant could not find one, and the statement was witnessed.
Citizens and permanent residents still attach evidence of their status: the current Form 888 says “where applicable”, and Home Affairs’ visa pages expressly ask for this evidence if the supporter holds either status.
Those editions were also witnessed; whether anyone needs to witness or certify Form 888 now is answered on the witness page—the current form requires nobody else to do so.
Can non-Australians fill out Form 888?
Yes. Non-Australians can fill out Form 888 on the same two conditions as anyone else, under the current form’s eligibility wording. This includes a temporary visa holder in Australia or someone living overseas.
Their attachment is a copy of an ID showing current name and age. Under Form 888 and Home Affairs’ visa-page instructions, someone who is neither an Australian citizen nor a permanent resident does not attach evidence of either status.
Which supporters can complete Form 888?
Any supporter who meets both conditions can complete Form 888, whatever their relationship to the couple. The current form’s wording and Home Affairs’ description of evidence from “others” distinguish these situations:
| Situation | Can complete it? | Why (form wording) |
|---|---|---|
| 18+ and knows both partners and the history | Yes | Meets both conditions |
| Under 18 | No | “is at least 18 years of age” |
| Knows only the applicant or only the partner | No | “knows the visa applicant and their partner or fiancé(e)” |
| Knows both but not the history | No | “and the history of their relationship” |
| The applicant or sponsor themselves | No | Home Affairs describes this as “Evidence that others know about your relationship”; the couple’s own relationship statement is a separate document |
What first-hand detail looks like from each kind of supporter is shown in the Form 888 example answers for a friend, a parent or a sibling.
Can a family member complete Form 888?
Yes. A family member can complete Form 888, whether a parent, a sibling or another relative, if they are 18 or over and know both partners and the history. The current form does not say supporters must be unrelated.
Can an overseas friend complete Form 888?
Yes. An overseas friend can complete Form 888: the current form has no citizenship, residence or witness condition, but they must still be 18 or over and know both partners and the history.
For a supporter abroad, Form 888 and Home Affairs’ document instructions call for:
- An ID copy showing current name and age.
- The original ID and an English translation if it is not in English; translators outside Australia do not have to be accredited.
- A clear colour scan or photo of the signed form and ID.
- Contact details, including a phone number with country code and an email address; providing an email means agreeing to electronic contact.
- Awareness that the Department may contact them for further comment or an interview.
The previous Home Affairs editions had a separate overseas rule that no longer applies to the current form.
Can a supporter who does not write English complete Form 888?
Yes, but Form 888 requires the answers to be in English, typed or handwritten in BLOCK LETTERS. If a supporter is not comfortable writing in English, someone may translate for them. Translating is not “immigration assistance” under section 276(3)(b) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).
Guidance: the words must be the supporter’s own; help with translation should preserve their account, not replace it.
An ID that is not in English also needs a translation under Home Affairs’ visa-page instructions.
Two witnesses, up to 3 statements each
Home Affairs asks for statements from 2 witnesses for a partner visa and for the Prospective Marriage visa, and each supporter may be asked for up to 3 separate statements during processing, according to Form 888’s “About this form” panel.
The guide to how many Form 888s a partner visa needs explains why one supporter can be asked for more than one statement, what the Prospective Marriage visa asks for, and whether there is a stated limit.
Do you need new Form 888s at the second stage?
Yes. At the permanent second stage (801 or 100), Home Affairs’ visa pages again ask for statements from 2 witnesses, and the documents for that stage go in once two years have passed since the first application. The pages say: “Do not attach them before this time.”
The supporter criteria are the same as at the first stage. Home Affairs’ subclass 820 page also asks applicants to update relationship evidence regularly because processing can be long.
At the same stage, Home Affairs’ 801 and 100 pages ask the sponsor for a Commonwealth statutory declaration covering, among other things, “the social aspects of your relationship”, separate from the supporters’ Form 888s.
The ID each supporter attaches
The ID each supporter attaches is a copy of an identity document showing their current name and age, as required by Form 888, and Australian citizens and permanent residents also attach evidence of that status; Home Affairs’ online document instructions allow a clear colour scan or photo, with no certification.
The guide to Form 888 identity documents explains which documents count, whether copies need certification and what to do with an ID that is not in English.
Can a letter from family or friends replace Form 888?
A letter from family or friends is not a Form 888: Home Affairs asks for witness statements on Form 888, and its visa pages say statements from witnesses “can be done by completing Form 888”.
Whether a letter adds anything to a particular application is a question for a migration lawyer.
What if a Form 888 supporter withdraws?
Form 888 and the Home Affairs partner visa pages do not set out a process for a supporter to withdraw a statement.
Form 888 says the supporter “may also be contacted for further comment and/or interview”.
Section 56 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) lets the Department obtain information it considers relevant and requires it to have regard to that information when deciding the application.
Home Affairs’ attach-documents page says documents cannot be removed after the application is submitted.
Home Affairs’ subclass 820 page asks applicants to update relationship evidence regularly.
Speak to a migration lawyer before acting on a supporter’s withdrawal.
How do you choose and brief your supporters?
You choose and brief your supporters in three steps.
Choose. Each person must meet both conditions in Form 888: 18 or over, and knows both partners and the relationship history.
Guidance, not a Home Affairs rule: choose people who have seen the relationship over time. Each must know both partners; together, their first-hand accounts can cover different periods of the history.
Brief. Send the current 08/26 form from the Home Affairs form listing.
Guidance: explain what the questions ask, then leave the answers to the supporter. Each person should write in their own words about what they know.
Collect. Under Form 888 and Home Affairs’ document instructions, supporters type or handwrite in English, using BLOCK LETTERS when handwritten, “print and sign”, date the form, scan or photograph it in colour and return it with their ID copy; the applicant or appointed representative attaches it in ImmiAccount.
The applicant then follows the steps to upload Form 888 to ImmiAccount as one clear colour file per statement.
How a migration lawyer checks your choice of supporters
An Australian migration lawyer can check each supporter against Form 888’s two eligibility conditions and identify gaps in how the statements cover both partners and the relationship history. They can also compare each ID and status document with what the supporter claims, using Form 888 and Home Affairs’ attachment requirements, so missing evidence or mismatches are identified before lodgement.
Talk to an Australian migration lawyer about your Form 888s before the statements go in.
The same check applies whichever partner visa you apply for; the homepage table shows which visas use Form 888 and at which stage.