Australia Partner Visa Guide 2026: 820/801 vs 309/100, Cost (AUD 11,710) and Evidence

Australia’s 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. You apply for the 820/801 if you are in Australia, or the 309/100 if you are outside Australia. As of October 2026, the fee is AUD 11,710 for the main applicant, and it covers both stages.

Key points

• Two routes, same fee: onshore 820/801 and offshore 309/100 both cost AUD 11,710 for the main applicant (from 1 July 2026).
• Two stages: a temporary visa first, then a permanent visa assessed about 2 years after you apply.
• Relationship: married, or de facto for usually at least 12 months before applying.
• Sponsor limits: sponsorship may be refused if your partner has sponsored or been sponsored as a partner in the last 5 years, or this would be their third partner sponsorship.
• Coming change: a No Further Stay condition on all future visitor visas was announced on 17 September 2026. It is not yet in force.

Onshore vs offshore: 820/801 vs 309/100

	Onshore: 820 then 801	Offshore: 309 then 100
Where you must be when you apply	In Australia	Outside Australia
Where you must be at temporary grant	In Australia	In or outside Australia
While waiting	Usually a bridging visa lets you stay in Australia	You wait outside Australia (you may visit on a separate visa if granted one)
Fee, main applicant (from 1 July 2026)	AUD 11,710	AUD 11,710
Additional applicant 18+ / under 18	AUD 5,860 / AUD 2,935	AUD 5,860 / AUD 2,935
Permanent stage	801, assessed 2 years after lodging	100, assessed 2 years after lodging

Sources: Home Affairs 820, 801 and 309 pages and the visa pricing table, checked 11 October 2026.

With either temporary visa you can live, work and study in Australia, travel in and out as often as you like, apply for Medicare and, if eligible, attend free English classes through the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP).

Other partner fees

Situation	Main applicant fee (from 1 July 2026)
Prospective Marriage visa (subclass 300)	AUD 11,710
Current 300 holder who marries and applies for 820/801 before the 300 ends	AUD 1,955
Former 300 holder who did not apply in time	AUD 2,475
Applicant holding a Dependent Child visa (subclass 445)	Nil

Eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens pay a lower charge from 1 July 2026. You will also pay for health examinations, police certificates and possibly biometrics. These are not included in the visa fee.

Who can apply

You must be the spouse or de facto partner of an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, both when you apply and when the decision is made.

• Spouse: you must be in a valid married relationship. Forced marriage is a crime in Australia and is grounds for refusal.
• De facto partner: usually you must have been in a de facto relationship for at least 12 months immediately before applying. Time spent dating or in an online relationship might not count. The 12-month rule may not apply if you registered your relationship with an Australian state or territory registry, or if compelling and compassionate circumstances exist.
• Age: applicants must usually be 18 or older.

You also need to meet health and character requirements, sign the Australian values statement and have no debt to the Australian Government.

Onshore applicants and visa conditions

To apply for the 820 in Australia, your current or last visa must not have a condition that prevents further stay, such as condition 8503, unless Home Affairs has first approved a waiver. If you do not hold a substantive visa when you apply (and did not previously hold a 300 visa), you must show compelling reasons for the grant. Some regional visa holders (for example 491 and 494) must have held that visa for at least 3 years before applying.

Sponsor requirements

Your partner sponsors you, and Home Affairs must approve the sponsorship. The sponsor cannot be changed later. As a sponsor, your partner agrees to help you financially and with accommodation for 2 years after the temporary visa is granted (or after your next arrival, if you were outside Australia at grant).

Home Affairs may refuse the sponsorship if:

• this is the sponsor’s third time sponsoring a partner
• the sponsor sponsored another partner in the last 5 years
• the sponsor was sponsored as a partner themselves in the last 5 years

Exceptions can apply, for example if you have a dependent child together or the relationship is long-standing. The sponsorship form itself has no separate charge.

Relationship evidence

Home Affairs groups evidence into four areas. Strong applications usually cover all four.

Area	Examples from Home Affairs
Finances	Joint lease or mortgage, joint loans for major assets, joint bank statements, bills in both names
Household	Statement on how you share housework, bills and mail addressed to you both, documents showing joint care of children, proof of living arrangements
Social	Statements from 2 witnesses aged 18+ who know you as a couple; evidence that friends, family and others know about the relationship
Commitment	Your own statements about how you met, time apart, significant events and future plans

Married applicants also provide a marriage certificate that is valid in Australia. De facto applicants should show the 12-month relationship period, or relationship registration. Police certificates are generally valid for 12 months, so time them carefully.

Processing: two stages and Ministerial Direction 117

Home Affairs says partner processing times vary and may be longer than expected. Applications are processed under Ministerial Direction 117. Use the official visa processing time guide for the latest figures; we do not quote a number here because it changes monthly.

For the permanent stage, Home Affairs says the processing time starts from the date of eligibility, which is 2 years after you lodged the combined application. The permanent visa may be granted sooner if you were already in a long-term relationship when you applied.

The 2026–27 Migration Program sets an indicative 41,500 partner places, up from 40,500 in 2025–26. Partner visas are demand-driven, so this is a planning level, not a hard cap, according to the Home Affairs planning levels page.

The visitor visa “No Further Stay” change

In his 17 September 2026 National Press Club speech, Minister Tony Burke said the government will attach a No Further Stay provision to all future visitor visas, with an exception for protection applications. He linked the change to people arriving on visitor visas and then applying for partner visas onshore, and said it will give “some consistency as to what happens with family migration”.

What this means for couples, based on what has been announced:

• Not yet in force. As of 11 October 2026, no start date or legal instrument had been published.
• No effect on visas already held. The Minister said it “will have no impact on anybody who is already here”.
• Future visitors granted a visa with the condition would generally not be able to lodge a partner visa from inside Australia without a waiver. The offshore 309/100 route is not affected.

If you were planning to visit Australia and then apply for an 820, get advice before you travel. Follow our updates page for the start date.

Step-by-step: how to apply

1. Choose your route: 820/801 if you will be in Australia when you apply; 309/100 if you will be outside.
2. Check visa conditions (onshore applicants): look up your current visa in VEVO for 8503 or similar.
3. Collect relationship evidence across all four areas, plus identity documents and any marriage or relationship registration certificate.
4. Get 2 statutory declarations from adult Australian citizens, permanent residents or eligible New Zealand citizens who know you as a couple.
5. Lodge the visa application in ImmiAccount and pay AUD 11,710 (plus any additional applicants).
6. Your partner lodges the sponsorship using your Transaction Reference Number (TRN).
7. Complete health checks, police certificates and biometrics when requested.
8. Wait for the temporary grant, then provide updated evidence when the permanent stage is assessed.

What to do next

• Budget for the AUD 11,710 fee plus medicals and police checks. Our Australia visa fees 2026 guide lists all current charges.
• Compare the partner route with other options in our Australian PR pathways guide, and see the Australia hub.
• If your partner’s parents also want to come, read our Australia parent visa options.
• If you have a past visa refusal, are onshore without a substantive visa, or hold a visa with a No Further Stay condition, talk to a registered migration agent or Australian legal practitioner before lodging. Our guide on how to choose an immigration consultant explains how to check registration.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Always confirm current rules and fees on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au.