Overview

Partner (Provisional) Visa (Subclass 309) allows partners or spouses, along with their dependents, in a long-term and mutually exclusive relationship with an Australian citizen, permanent resident or an eligible New Zealand citizen to live in Australia. Such applicants will be invited to apply for a Partner (Migrant) Visa (Subclass 100) visa once they have been in a spousal relationship with their sponsor for a minimum period of 2 years from the date of their relationship. The applicant must be outside Australia when applying for this visa and when it is granted. It is important that the sponsor as well as the applicant provide strong evidence of their genuine relationship in order to meet the applicable visa requirements, as described below.

Applicants applying for a Spouse/Defacto Partner (Provisional) visa onshore will be applying for a subclass 820 variant of this visa and the eligibility criteria will remain the same. However, it is important to ensure that your onshore application is not adversely impacted by s48 of the Australian Migration Act or visa condition 8503 of schedule 8 of the Migration Regulations.

Eligibility Criteria – Applicant

Applicants for this visa subclass must meet the following criteria in order to lodge a valid visa application, be it onshore or offshore:

• Be 18 years old at the time of lodging the application
• Be the spouse or de facto partner of an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or an eligible New Zealand citizen
• Be sponsored by the Australian de facto partner/spouse
• Be outside Australia when applying for this visa
• Meet the health and character* criteria
• Not have any debt to the Australian government
• Accept Australian Values Statement
• Not had a visa cancelled or a visa application refused* in the past

*It is important to let us know if you have had a visa cancelled or refused in the past or have a criminal record

Eligibility Criteria – Sponsor

Sponsoring partner/spouse  must fulfill the following criteria:

• Be Australian citizen or permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen
• Be 18 years or above
• Meet the character criteria – if applicable, must provide information on any past offences/criminal history

Key Visa Entitlements

• Stay, work and study in Australia temporarily while your Partner (Migrant) Visa (subclass 100) visa is processed
• Travel multiple times to and from Australia
• Enroll in the Australian government’s public health program
• Attend free English language classes conducted by the Australian government
• Add members of your family unit in the visa application (e. g, dependent children)

Visa Application Charges

Primary Applicant	AUD 7,850
Secondary applicant over the age of 18 years	AUD 3,930
Each additional applicant under the age of 18 years	AUD 1,965

Processing Timelines

Processing times for applications in this visa subclass can vary significantly depending on the risk assessment level of the applicants’ country of origin and how promptly the applicants can submit the requested documents, including translations, if required. The general processing times for the visa applications in this visa subclass are given below and it does not include the time needed to process the skills assessment and state-nomination applications.

• 75% of the applications are processed within 18 months
• 90% of the applications are processed within 26 months

Important: You may still be eligible for your Spouse (Migrant) Visa if you are the holder of a subclass 309 visa and your relationship with the sponsor has broken down due domestic violence or if your sponsoring partner/spouse is deceased.