Knowledge Centre
Partner Visa Processing Times in 2026 (820, 309, 100, 801)
Written and reviewed by the Reliance Law Group immigration team · Last reviewed August 2026
Partner visa waits are long enough that couples plan their lives around them: whether to take a job overseas, whether to book a wedding, whether one of you can visit family. Understanding what actually drives the timeline is more useful than a single published number.
Short answer: the temporary stage of a partner visa commonly takes well over a year, and the permanent stage is assessed later, usually two years after lodgement of the initial application. Evidence quality affects your wait more than anything else you can control.
How long does a partner visa take?
Partner visas run in two linked stages under one application charge, and the published figures cover each stage separately.
| Stage | Visa | What it does |
|---|---|---|
|
Temporary (onshore) |
820 |
Lets you stay and work in Australia while the relationship is assessed |
|
Permanent (onshore) |
801 |
Permanent residence, assessed about two years after lodgement of the 820 Visa |
|
Temporary (offshore) |
309 |
Lets you enter Australia once granted |
|
Permanent (offshore) |
100 |
Permanent residence, assessed about two years after lodgement of the 309 Visa |
You do not lodge twice or pay twice. The permanent stage is a continuation of the same application, and the department contacts you when it is time to provide updated evidence.
Why do some applications take so much longer?
The department is assessing whether your relationship is genuine and continuing, which is an evidence question rather than a queue question. Applications that arrive with a complete, coherent evidence set across finances, household, social recognition and commitment tend to move. Applications with visible gaps generate requests for further information, and each one adds months.
The factors that reliably slow things down:
- Thin evidence in one of the four pillars. Strong finances but almost no social evidence is a common and avoidable weakness
- Unexplained time living apart. Periods apart are fine; unexplained periods apart are not
- Incomplete police certificates from every country you have lived in for twelve months or more
- Health examinations left until asked for rather than arranged early
- A prior refusal or a complex immigration history that has not been addressed head on
Can you work and travel while you wait?
If you lodged onshore and held a substantive visa, you generally receive a bridging visa A that lets you remain and usually work while the 820 is decided. It does not let you leave and return. For that you need a bridging visa B, applied for separately and granted for a set travel period.
Leaving Australia on a bridging visa A without a bridging visa B generally means you cannot use it to come back, which is the single most costly avoidable mistake in this area. If you applied offshore on a 309, you wait outside Australia and can generally travel until the visa is decided.
What happens at the permanent stage?
About two years after you lodged, the department invites you to provide updated evidence that the relationship is continuing. This is not a formality. Couples who stopped keeping records after the temporary grant often struggle to evidence the intervening period, so it is worth maintaining the same categories of evidence throughout.
Some applicants are eligible for the permanent stage sooner, for example where the relationship was long-standing at the time of application. Our partner visa team can confirm whether that applies to you.
How can you make your application faster?
You cannot buy priority, but you can avoid the delays that are within your control. Lodge with the evidence complete rather than promising to supply it later, arrange health checks and police certificates early, explain anything unusual before you are asked, and keep your contact details current so requests do not sit unanswered.
Frequently asked questions
There is no paid priority pathway. Compelling circumstances can sometimes be raised, but the practical lever is lodging a complete application that does not require follow-up requests. However, genuine long term relationships may be expedited faster.
No. The single application charge covers both the temporary and permanent stages of the same pathway.
Only with a bridging visa B. Departing on a bridging visa A generally means you cannot return on it, which can separate you from your partner for a long time.
You must notify the department, and it will usually affect the application. There are limited exceptions, including family violence provisions. Get advice quickly rather than waiting.
Not by itself. Married and de facto applicants are assessed against the same genuine relationship criteria, so marriage is evidence rather than a shortcut.
Speak to an immigration lawyer
Get clear, fixed-fee advice on your matter from Reliance Law Group’s immigration lawyers in North Sydney.