NDIS Eligibility on a Partner Visa
The NDIS residence requirement is met by citizens, permanent visa holders and protected SCV holders, so a partner visa applicant becomes eligible on the 801 or 100 grant, not while on the 820 or 309.
Meeting the residence requirement is one of the access criteria, not all of them. You must also live in Australia, apply before age 65, and meet the disability or early intervention requirements, which the National Disability Insurance Agency assesses separately. This page was checked against the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth) and ndis.gov.au on 23 September 2026.
Can you get the NDIS on a partner visa?
Only once you hold the permanent visa. The table covers the residence limb only.
| Your status | Meets the NDIS residence requirement? | From when |
|---|---|---|
| Bridging visa A while the 820 is decided | No | Not applicable |
| Subclass 820 | No | Not applicable |
| Subclass 309 | No | Not applicable |
| Subclass 300 | No | Not applicable |
| Subclass 801 | Yes, while you live in Australia | The grant date |
| Subclass 100, living in Australia | Yes | The grant date, or your arrival to live if you were outside Australia at the grant |
| Dependent child granted the 801 or 100 with you | Yes, while they live in Australia | The child's own grant date |
| Your Australian sponsor | Yes, if a citizen or permanent resident living in Australia | Already met |
Source: s 23 of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth).
What is the NDIS residence requirement for a partner visa holder?
Under s 23(1) of the Act, you meet the residence requirement if you live in Australia and you are an Australian citizen, the holder of a permanent visa, or a protected Special Category visa holder. The 801 and 100 are permanent visas. The 820, 309 and 300 are not. Whether you "reside in Australia" is judged on your accommodation, family, work and financial ties, assets, travel and intention to stay (s 23(2)). The other access criteria are age (s 22), disability (s 24) and early intervention (s 25). The NDIS explains them on its Am I eligible page.
When does a partner visa holder meet the NDIS residence requirement?
On the date the 801 or 100 is granted. Not on the date you lodged, and not on the 820 or 309 grant.
Onshore: from the subclass 801 grant
Priya lodged her 820 and 801 on 15 March 2023. She became eligible for the permanent stage on 15 March 2025, two years after lodgement, and her partner visa subclass 801 was granted on 20 August 2025. She meets the NDIS residence requirement from 20 August 2025. A disability she had throughout the two-year wait did not open the NDIS any earlier.
Offshore: from the subclass 100 grant, while living in Australia
A 100 holder meets the requirement once they hold the permanent visa and live in Australia. If the 100 is granted while you are still overseas, the residence limb is met from the time you are living in Australia on it.
Is there a waiting period for the NDIS after the partner visa is granted?
No. The newly arrived resident's waiting period is a rule for social security payments under the Social Security Act 1991 (Cth), and the NDIS Act contains no equivalent. That is the main contrast with Centrelink payments on a partner visa, where most working-age payments wait 4 years from permanent residence.
How do you show your partner visa when applying to the NDIS?
- Consent to a Centrelink check if you have a Centrelink record. The NDIS says it can confirm residence and citizenship from that record with your consent.
- If you do not consent, give documentary evidence that you hold a permanent visa, such as your 801 or 100 grant details, together with a birth or arrival document such as your passport.
- Give evidence that you live in Australia and spend most of your time here.
A VEVO record shows your current visa, which helps if your grant letter is not to hand.
What if you or your child has a disability while the 820 or 309 is pending?
- The NDIS is not available until the permanent grant.
- The partner visa health requirement still applies at the permanent stage. The Department assesses health against public interest criterion 4007 for the 801, and a waiver may be possible. The page on the partner visa health check covers it.
- Mainstream health services and state and territory disability services remain available on their own terms.
- How a disability bears on your own visa is case-specific. Applying these rules to your own circumstances is immigration assistance, which ss 276 and 280 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) restrict to registered migration agents and Australian legal practitioners.
Questions about the NDIS and your partner visa
Does a dependent child on the partner visa qualify at the same time as you?
On the residence limb, yes, if the child is granted the 801 or 100 with you and lives in Australia. The child must still meet the age and disability or early intervention criteria.
Does living overseas after the grant affect NDIS access?
It can. You must reside in Australia. Once you are a participant, your plan can continue during a temporary absence of up to 6 weeks, or longer if the Agency agrees, and it is suspended after that until you return (s 40 of the Act).
Is an "NDIS partner" the same as a partner visa?
No. "NDIS partners in the community" are organisations that help people use the scheme, and they are unrelated to partner visas.
Entitlements after the permanent partner visa grant
- The grant that meets the residence requirement: partner visa subclass 801.
- Payments that do carry a waiting period: Centrelink payments on a partner visa.
- Everything else that changes at the grant: after your partner visa is granted.
When a disability and a partner visa meet, the risk sits with the visa: the health criterion at the permanent stage and any waiver request. An application prepared by a registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner is more likely to succeed there, because the waiver turns on evidence presented the right way. No adviser can guarantee a grant.
Questions people ask
Can permanent residents access the NDIS?
Yes, on the residence limb. Section 23 of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 is met by a person who lives in Australia and is a citizen, a permanent visa holder or a protected Special Category visa holder. The person must also be under 65 when they apply and meet the disability or early intervention requirements.
Can a subclass 820 or 309 holder get the NDIS?
No. The subclass 820 and 309 are temporary visas, and a temporary visa does not meet the NDIS residence requirement. Eligibility on the residence limb starts on the day the permanent subclass 801 or 100 is granted, provided you live in Australia.
Is there a waiting period for the NDIS after a partner visa is granted?
No. The newly arrived resident's waiting period belongs to Centrelink payments under the Social Security Act 1991, and the NDIS Act has no equivalent. You can make an access request as soon as the permanent visa is granted and you meet the other criteria.
Is an NDIS partner the same as a partner visa?
No. NDIS partners in the community are organisations that help people connect with the scheme. They have nothing to do with a partner visa or with the sponsor of one.
Sources
Primary sources this page was checked against on 23 September 2026.
- National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth), Federal Register of Legislation www.legislation.gov.au
- NDIS, Am I eligible www.ndis.gov.au
- NDIS, What are the residence requirements www.ndis.gov.au
- Home Affairs, Partner visa (subclass 801) immi.homeaffairs.gov.au