Provisional Partner Visas (Subclass 820) (Subclass 309)

What are the requirements for the Provisional Partner Visas (820 Visa) (309 Visa)?

For Applicants

• You must either be:
  • in Australia (onshore) when lodging an application and when the decision is made on the Partner Visa (Temporary) (Subclass 820). Family who apply with you must also be onshore.
  • outside of Australia (offshore) when lodging an application and when the decision is made on the Partner (Provisional) Visa (Subclass 309). Family who apply with you must also be offshore.
• You must have an approved sponsor. This is generally your partner. You cannot change your sponsor after your temporary Partner Visa (Subclass 820 or Subclass 309) is granted, and the same person must sponsor you in the 2 years after the visa is granted.
• You must be 18 years or older at the time of lodging the visa application.
• You must be the spouse or de facto partner of an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. In addition, you must meet other relationship requirements, such as showing your relationship is genuine and continuing, you live together or don’t live permanently apart from your partner, you have a mutual commitment to your partner to the exclusion of others, and you and your partner are not related by family. If applying as a de facto partner, you must satisfy the 12-month requirement, unless exempt.
• You must meet health and character requirements.
• You must have no debt or arranged to repay any outstanding debts to the Australia government.
• Your immigration history and past application refusals may affect your eligibility for these provisional visas. For example, you must not have held certain regional visas previously if applying for a Subclass 820 visa. If you are a prospective marriage visa holder or former holder, you may still be eligible for the Subclass 820 Visa if your relationship ends or your partner dies.

For Sponsors

• You must be an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or an eligible New Zealand citizen and be approved as a sponsor. If you are a New Zealand citizen and do not meet the eligibility criteria to sponsor for Provisional Partner Visas, your partner may be eligible for a New Zealand Citizen Family Relationship Visa (Subclass 461).
• You must be 18 years old or older. If you are under 18 and married to the applicant, your parent or guardian might be able to sponsor your partner.
• You must meet character requirements. You might not be approved as a sponsor if you have a significant criminal record in relation to relevant offences, refuse to provide police clearance or do not consent to the disclosure of your convictions to the applicant.
• Sponsorship limitations may apply under certain conditions.