Partner Visa for Australia

Live in Australia with your partner and move to permanent residency. There is no points test. What carries a partner visa is your evidence, and how it is put together. That is what we do.

Find your path

A partner visa lets the partner of an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen live in Australia and move toward permanent residency. It covers married couples and de facto couples, including same-sex couples, and it covers couples who are engaged but not yet married. There is no points test and no occupation list. The whole decision turns on one thing, whether your relationship is genuine and continuing.

There is really one partner visa, applied for differently depending on where you are. Onshore it is the 820 then the 801. Offshore it is the 309 then the 100. If you are engaged and outside Australia, the Prospective Marriage visa, the 300, gives you time to come and marry first. The tool below works out which one is yours.

It is worth knowing up front that partner visas are expensive. The base government charge is A$11,710 from 1 July 2026, among the highest partner visa fees in the world, and that is before a partner or children are added. Because it costs so much and is checked so closely, the evidence has to be right the first time. That is where most of our work goes.

A partner visa comes down to whether your relationship is genuine. You prove it once, and it is checked twice.

A partner visa lets the partner of an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen live in Australia and move to permanent residency. You lodge once. It is assessed in two stages, a temporary visa first and a permanent visa about two years later. There is no points test. What carries it is your evidence.

2
stages, temporary first then permanent, from one application
4
areas of evidence your relationship is judged on
12 mo
living together for de facto couples, unless the relationship is registered
$11,710
one government charge covering both stages
1. Which partner visa is yours

The subclass depends on where you are

There is one partner visa, applied for differently depending on your situation. Choose yours to see the path.

2. What actually carries it

Four kinds of evidence

A partner application stands or falls on evidence across these four areas. Thin evidence in any one of them is where refusals come from.

Financial
Joint accounts, shared bills and assets, money moving between you.
Household
Living together, a lease or mortgage in both names, how you share the home.
Social
Friends and family who know you as a couple, including Form 888 statements.
Commitment
How long you have been together, your knowledge of each other, your plans.
3. How ready is your evidence

Tick what you already have

A quick sense of where your evidence sits today. This is a guide, not an assessment.

Tick everything that is true for you
Start ticking to see how your evidence looks.

Source: Australian Department of Home Affairs. Combined charge around $11,710; confirm the current figure before you rely on it. Processing times vary and can run over a year. Rules change; this is a guide, not migration advice. Registered Migration Agent MARN 2318121.

Australian Partner Visa Finder

Find the right partner visa for you

There is one partner visa, applied for differently depending on where you are and where your relationship is up to. There is no points test. Answer two questions to see your route, and what it will cost.

A$11,710
the base government charge, the same for the 820, 309 and 300, from 1 July 2026. Partner visas are among the most expensive in the world, so it is worth getting the application right the first time. Add A$2,935 for each child, and A$5,860 for any other dependent aged 18 or over.
1. Where are you right now?
2. Where is your relationship up to?
Your route
Answer both questions
Tell us where you are and where your relationship is up to, and this will show your subclass, the stages, and who it is for.
This is a guide only, not a formal assessment or migration advice. Base charge from 1 July 2026: A$11,710, plus A$5,860 per additional applicant aged 18 or over and A$2,935 for each child. De facto couples generally need 12 months living together unless the relationship is registered. Rules and charges change. Registered Migration Agent MARN 2318121.

The three partner visa ways in, and how they fit together

People often talk about the 820, the 309 and the 300 as if they were different visas competing with each other. They are not. They are the same partner visa, entered from different starting points.

If you are already in Australia, you apply onshore for the 820, and the permanent 801 follows about two years later. If you are outside Australia, you apply offshore for the 309, and the permanent 100 follows.

If you are engaged but not yet married, the 300 is a bridge, it lets you come to Australia, marry within nine months, and then move onto the 820 and 801.

So the question is never really which visa, it is where you are and where your relationship is up to. Answer those two things honestly and the right subclass is obvious. The route finder above does exactly that.

  • 309 / 100 Offshore Partner

    For partners outside Australia, married or de facto. Come here on the 309, then the permanent 100

  • 300 Prospective Marriage

    For couples engaged but not yet married, including arranged marriages. Come to Australia and marry within nine months.

  • 482 Skills in Demand

    If a partner visa is not the fastest route, an employer sponsored work visa may be.

Who each partner visa is for

The onshore 820 and 801 are for partners who are already in Australia, married or de facto.

The offshore 309 and 100 are for partners who are outside Australia, again married or de facto.

The 300, the Prospective Marriage visa, is for couples who are engaged but not yet married, where the applicant is overseas.

All of them are for the partner of an Australian citizen, a permanent resident, or an eligible New Zealand citizen.

None of them ask for a points score. What they ask for is proof that the relationship is real.

Partner Visa

What actually carries a partner application

A partner application stands or falls on evidence, across four areas.

Financial, meaning joint accounts, shared bills and money moving between you.

Household, meaning living together, a shared lease or mortgage, and how you run the home.

Social, meaning friends and family who know you as a couple, including written Form 888 statements.

And the nature of your commitment, meaning how long you have been together, how well you know each other, and your plans.

Thin evidence in any one of these four areas is where refusals come from. Strong applications cover all four, and that is what we build with you.

The de facto rule

If you are not married, you generally have to show you have lived together in a genuine de facto relationship for at least twelve months before you apply. There is an important exception.

If you register your relationship with an Australian state or territory, that twelve month requirement can be waived.

This matters for couples who have been together a long time but living apart, and it is one of the first things we check, because it can change your timing and even which visa fits.

Two stages, and the wait

You lodge once, but a partner visa is decided in two stages. The temporary visa, the 820 or 309, is granted first.

The permanent visa, the 801 or 100, is assessed about two years after you first lodged, and you have to show the relationship is still genuine and continuing at that point.

Processing times vary and can run over a year for each stage. That means the evidence you keep during the wait matters as much as what you lodge at the start, so we set you up to keep building it across the whole period, not just at lodgement.

Arranged marriages

Arranged marriages are recognised in Australian partner visas. The law does not ask how a couple met or who introduced them. It asks whether the relationship is genuine and continuing.

For couples who are engaged through an arranged marriage but have not yet married or lived together, the Prospective Marriage visa, the 300, is often the right route, because it does not require the twelve months of living together that a de facto claim would.

The evidence for these applications looks different, it leans more on the intentions of both families, the steps already taken toward the marriage, and the couple's own communication and plans, and less on shared bank accounts and years of cohabitation. We prepare a lot of these, and we know how a case officer reads them.

Partner visa cost

There is no gentle way to say it, partner visas are expensive.

The base government charge is A$11,710 for the main applicant from 1 July 2026, add A$5,860 for a partner and A$2,935 for each child. That is one of the highest partner visa fees anywhere in the world, and it is before health checks, police clearances, document translation and any professional help.

The charge is largely fixed on the day the department receives your application, and a refused application does not come back to you. That is the honest reason to get it right the first time, and it is why we would rather turn away an application that is not ready than watch it fail.

We start by testing your relationship against the four areas of evidence, so you know where you are strong and where the gaps are before you spend a dollar on the charge.

We work out the right subclass, check whether the de facto rule or relationship registration applies, prepare the Form 888 statements, and assemble the whole application so it holds together across both stages.

For arranged marriages, we know how to frame the evidence so it is understood.

Dhara is a Registered Migration Agent, MARN 2318121, and a Licensed Immigration Adviser in New Zealand, and speaks Hindi and Gujarati as well as English. If you want a clear read on where your relationship evidence stands, book a consultation and we will tell you plainly.

How we help with your Partner visa:

Partner Visa Frequently Asked Questions

  • It lets the partner of an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen live in Australia and move toward permanent residency. It covers married and de facto couples, including same-sex couples. There is no points test.

  • If you are in Australia you apply onshore for the 820, then the 801 permanent visa. If you are outside Australia you apply offshore for the 309, then the 100 permanent visa. The steps are the same, the subclass depends on where you are when you apply.

  • Two. You lodge once, and a temporary visa is granted first. The permanent visa is assessed about two years after you first lodge, and you need to show the relationship is still genuine and continuing at that point.

  • No. De facto couples can apply, including same-sex couples. If you are not married you generally need to show you have lived together for at least twelve months before applying, unless your relationship is registered.

  • Yes. Australian partner visas do not ask how a couple met, only whether the relationship is genuine and continuing. For couples engaged through an arranged marriage who have not yet married, the Prospective Marriage visa, the 300, is often the right route, and the evidence is presented differently to a de facto claim.

  • Evidence across four areas. Financial, such as joint accounts and shared bills. Household, such as living together and a shared lease or mortgage. Social, such as friends and family who know you as a couple and Form 888 statements. Lastly, commitment, such as how long you have been together and your plans. Thin evidence in any one area is where refusals come from.

  • The subclass 300 is for couples who are engaged but not yet married, where the applicant is outside Australia. It gives you up to nine months to come to Australia and marry. After you marry, you apply onshore for the 820 and 801 partner visas.

  • If you apply onshore for the 820, you usually get a bridging visa that lets you stay, and it generally allows you to work while the application is decided. We confirm the conditions that apply to your situation.

  • Processing times vary and can run over a year for each stage. The temporary visa is decided first, and the permanent visa is assessed about two years after you lodge. Keeping strong evidence across the whole period matters as much as what you lodge at the start.

  • The base government charge is A$11,710 for the main applicant from 1 July 2026, plus A$2,935 for each dependent child, and A$5,860 for any other dependent aged 18 or over. It is one of the highest partner visa fees in the world, and health checks, police clearances and other costs sit on top. Charges change, so we confirm the current figure with you before you rely on it.