Partner Visa Australia

Which partner visa can you apply for?

A partner visa lets the spouse or de facto partner of an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen live in Australia, first on a temporary visa and then permanently. Both routes cost $11,710 and end in the same permanent visa.

There are two routes: the onshore partner visa (subclass 820, then 801) if you are in Australia when you lodge, and the offshore partner visa (subclass 309, then 100) if you are outside Australia.

Two more visas sit in the same family. The Prospective Marriage visa (subclass 300) is for a fiancé who will marry in Australia and then apply for the 820. The subclass 461 visa is for the partner of a New Zealand citizen who holds the ordinary Special Category visa and cannot sponsor a partner visa.

Onshore or offshore: which route fits your situation?

The processing figures are the Department’s published guide for applications decided recently (last updated 2 November 2026). They are not a promise for your file. Our partner visa processing time post explains what moves an application up or down the queue, and why onshore applications are decided first under the current family processing order.

Pick onshore if you are already in Australia on a visa that allows a further application. Pick offshore if you are overseas, or if the visa you hold in Australia blocks an onshore application (the next sections explain which visas do).

The offshore route also suits couples who need the applicant to keep working overseas: once the 309 is granted you can enter Australia and work while the permanent stage is assessed.

Who can sponsor a partner visa?

Your sponsor must be your spouse or de facto partner, aged 18 or over, and an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. The Department must approve the sponsorship, and the same person must sponsor you for 2 years after the temporary visa is granted (Home Affairs, subclass 820).

The Department can refuse a sponsorship, and with it the visa, where a sponsorship limit applies:

• Third sponsorship — the sponsor has already sponsored two partners or fiancés for a partner or Prospective Marriage visa.
• Recent sponsorship — the sponsor sponsored another partner within the last 5 years.
• Recently sponsored — the sponsor was themselves sponsored as a partner within the last 5 years.

These limits can be set aside where the couple has a dependent child together, where the previous partner died or left the sponsor with dependent children, or where the current relationship is longstanding. Being the blameless party in the earlier relationship is not, on its own, a reason the Department accepts.

The Department counts the 5 years from the date the earlier visa application was lodged to the date it decides the new sponsorship, so a sponsorship lodged at four and a half years can still be approved once the five years have passed.

Sponsors with convictions for certain offences involving children face a separate bar. All sponsors must provide police clearances, and the Department can refuse a sponsor with a significant criminal record for violence or offences against children.

How long do you have to be together?

Married couples have no minimum period: the marriage must be valid under Australian law and the relationship genuine and continuing. De facto couples must usually have been in the de facto relationship for at least 12 months immediately before applying (reg 2.03A). Dating or an online relationship generally does not count.

The 12-month rule does not apply if:

• Registered relationship — you have registered the relationship with an Australian state or territory registry (Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, the ACT and South Australia register relationships; Western Australia and the Northern Territory do not).
• Compelling and compassionate circumstances — the Department treats this as a high bar. Its own examples are a dependent child of the relationship, or living in a country where de facto relationships are illegal. A pregnancy on its own, or a relationship that is clearly genuine, is not treated as enough.
• Humanitarian partner — your partner holds or held a permanent humanitarian visa, the relationship existed before that visa was granted and your partner declared it at the time, or your partner has applied for a permanent humanitarian visa.

Two timing points matter. A relationship registered after you lodge but before the decision still satisfies the rule, because the regulation does not say when registration must happen. And if you marry after lodging, the 12-month rule falls away: your application is then assessed as a spouse application.

Every partner visa, married or de facto, is assessed on evidence under four headings: finances, household, social recognition of the relationship and commitment to each other. The Department weighs the picture as a whole; a short relationship with strong evidence under all four can succeed where a long one with thin evidence does not.

Can you apply from inside Australia?

You can lodge an onshore partner visa only if the visa you hold on the day you lodge allows it. Three rules decide the answer, and they are different rules with different fixes.

The three rules overlap in practice. A visitor whose visa carries 8503 and then expires faces both the condition and Schedule 3. Someone refused another visa after arriving can lodge the 820 under the section 48 exception but still has to satisfy Schedule 3 or show compelling reasons.

Where more than one rule applies, the offshore route is often the simpler path. Our partner visa delays post covers what a long wait overseas means for the couple.

How much does a partner visa cost in 2026?

The visa application charge is $11,710 for the main applicant on either route, paid once at lodgement for both stages. Each dependent child adds a further charge, and a Prospective Marriage visa holder pays from $1,955 for the later 820 application instead of the full amount. Health checks, police certificates and translations are paid separately.

Our professional fees for a partner visa are a fixed fee per stage: $3,900 for the temporary stage and $2,750 for the permanent stage, GST included, on the fees page.

The partner visa cost post sets out every government and third-party cost with a worked total. The visa fees and thresholds page lists the current charges for every visa.