Partner visa from outside Australia (subclasses 309 and 100)
This is the offshore partner pathway: one combined application covering a provisional visa and a permanent visa. The provisional subclass 309 is the first stage and the permanent subclass 100 is the second. You must be outside Australia when you apply.
It sets out how the pathway is structured and what is worth gathering before you start. It does not tell you whether you qualify, and it does not repeat the Department’s requirements in full — those are on the official pages linked below, and they are the pages that govern.
One application, two stages
- You apply once — The pathway combines the provisional and the permanent application. You are not lodging two separate applications at two separate times.
- Stage one — provisional, subclass 309 — The first step, and the visa that is decided first.
- Stage two — permanent, subclass 100 — Assessed at a later stage of the same application. The official permanent page describes its applicants as usually people who already hold the provisional visa, and holding subclass 309 is among the criteria it lists.
- In between — The provisional visa lets you stay in Australia until the permanent application is finalised or withdrawn.
- When the permanent stage's processing time starts — The official hub says the processing time for the permanent Partner visa starts from the date of eligibility, and that this is two years after you applied for the temporary and permanent visas. That is when the Department starts counting the permanent stage, not a date by which it is decided or granted, and it is not a promise that anything happens at two years.
Where you are when you apply
You must be outside Australia when you apply for the subclass 309. That is what separates this pathway from the onshore one, where you must be in Australia when you apply for the subclass 820. The two pathways are otherwise structured the same way: one combined application, a provisional or temporary visa first and a permanent visa second. If you are already in Australia, the onshore pathway is the one to read.
The relationship this pathway is for
It is for the spouse or de facto partner of an Australian citizen, an Australian permanent resident, or an eligible New Zealand citizen. Which of those applies, and what evidence of the relationship is expected, is set out on the official pages — and it is the part of a partner application that most repays preparing properly.
Where the requirements and the application are published
- Partner visa (apply outside Australia), subclasses 309 and 100 — Department of Home Affairs — The hub for this pathway, with both stages and the Apply link.
- Partner visa (provisional), subclass 309 — The first stage in detail: its requirements, its conditions and its cost.
- Partner visa (migrant), subclass 100 — The second stage in detail.
- Visa pricing estimator — The Department's own tool for what an application costs, including family members. This page states no figure of its own.
- Who can help with your application — Worth reading before you pay anybody for immigration assistance.
What to have ready
Preparation examples, not a checklist of requirements. The official pages set out what is actually required, and what a particular application needs depends on the circumstances.
- Passports and identity documents for you, your partner and anyone included in the application
- Evidence of the relationship over time — how you came to be together, and how you have been living since
- Evidence about shared finances, a shared household, the social side of the relationship, and your commitment to each other, if it exists
- Your partner's evidence of Australian citizenship, permanent residence or eligible New Zealand citizenship
- Where you will be when you lodge, and the address the Department should use to contact you
- Any previous visa refusal or cancellation, for either of you, with its reference number
- A record of dates that matter — when you met, when you began living together, when you married or registered the relationship
- Documents that are not in English, with the translation arrangements you will use
One. The offshore pathway combines the provisional and the permanent application, so you apply once and the provisional subclass 309 is decided first, with the permanent subclass 100 assessed at a later stage of the same application.
Outside Australia. That is the requirement for the subclass 309, and it is what distinguishes this pathway from the onshore one. What applies at later points in the process is set out on the official pages rather than assumed here.
No. The permanent stage is assessed in its own right. The official permanent page describes its applicants as usually people who already hold the provisional visa, and holding subclass 309 is among the criteria it lists — that is a description of who applies, not a promise about the outcome. The hub does set a date of eligibility — two years after you applied — but that is the point from which the permanent stage's processing time is counted, not a date by which anything is granted.
It lets you stay in Australia until the permanent application is finalised or withdrawn. What you may do while you are here — work, study, travel — comes from the visa's own conditions, which are on the official subclass 309 page.
Neither figure is stated here. The Department publishes a pricing estimator, linked above, and a processing-time guide based on recently decided applications, which you will find on the visa's own official page. Both change, and a figure copied onto a page like this one goes stale quietly. The hub does say the permanent stage's processing time is counted from the date of eligibility, two years after you applied; how long it takes from there is what the processing-time guide covers, and this page states no figure of its own.
A registered migration agent, an Australian legal practitioner, or an exempt person. The Department publishes who qualifies, and it is worth checking before you pay anybody. https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-support/who-can-help-with-your-application/overview
Talk to somebody about your own situation
This page explains how the visa is structured and what to prepare. What applies to you depends on your circumstances.
General information about Australian visa processes, not legal advice about your situation. Legal services are provided by Jameson Law.