Partnership Visa Australia
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Partner Visa Requirements

An Australian partner visa has 7 requirements: a genuine and continuing relationship, an eligible sponsor, health, character, no outstanding debt to the Commonwealth, a substantive visa or a Schedule 3 waiver if you apply onshore, and a valid application with your sponsor's sponsorship.

Last checked 5 primary sources About Partnership Visa Australia

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There is no income test, no savings threshold and no English test at either stage of a partner visa. This page was checked against the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth), compilation 288 in force from 1 July 2026, and against immi.homeaffairs.gov.au on 23 September 2026.

Requirement Who it applies to The instrument that sets it What satisfies it What fails it Which subclass it applies to
Genuine and continuing relationship Applicant and sponsor Migration Act 1958 (Cth) ss 5F and 5CB; Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) regs 1.15A, 1.09A and 2.03A A valid marriage, or a de facto relationship of at least 12 months or registered, shown across the four matters in the regulations No valid marriage, a de facto relationship under 12 months with no exemption, or a relationship that is not genuine 820/801, 309/100; the subclass 300 tests an intention to marry instead
Eligible sponsor Sponsor Sch 2 cl 820.211 and cl 309.213; reg 1.20J An Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen whose sponsorship is approved A sponsor who has already sponsored 2 partners, or 1 within the last 5 years, without compelling circumstances 820/801, 309/100, 300
Health Applicant and family members Sch 4 Public Interest Criterion 4007 Health examinations that show no tuberculosis, no public health threat and no condition over the significant cost threshold A condition that meets those limbs, unless a health waiver is exercised 820/801, 309/100, 300
Character Applicant and family members; sponsor police certificates Sch 4 Public Interest Criterion 4001; Migration Act s 501 Passing the character test, shown by police certificates and, if asked, Form 80 Failing the character test in s 501(6) 820/801, 309/100, 300
No debt to the Commonwealth Applicant and family members Sch 4 Public Interest Criterion 4004 No outstanding debt, or an arrangement to repay it An unpaid debt with no arrangement 820/801, 309/100, 300
Substantive visa or Schedule 3 Onshore applicant Sch 2 cl 820.211(2)(d); Sch 3 criteria 3001, 3003, 3004 Holding a substantive visa when you apply, or meeting Schedule 3 No substantive visa and Schedule 3 not met or waived 820/801 only
A valid application Applicant and sponsor Sch 1 items 1124B and 1129 Online lodgement, the charge paid, the sponsorship lodged A missing sponsorship form or unpaid charge 820/801, 309/100

What are the requirements for a partner visa in Australia?

  1. A genuine and continuing relationship: the partner visa requires you to be the spouse or de facto partner of your sponsor, and de facto couples need 12 months together or a registered relationship.
  2. An eligible sponsor: the partner visa requires a sponsor who is an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, and the Department must approve the sponsorship.
  3. Health: the partner visa requires you and your family members to satisfy Public Interest Criterion 4007.
  4. Character: the partner visa requires you to pass the character test in s 501 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).
  5. No debt: the partner visa requires that you owe the Australian Government nothing, or have arranged to repay it.
  6. A substantive visa or Schedule 3: an onshore partner visa requires you to hold a substantive visa when you apply, or to meet Schedule 3.
  7. A valid application: the partner visa requires an online application, the charge paid, your sponsor's sponsorship and, from applicants 18 or over, a signed Australian values statement.

Who can apply for a partner visa?

You can apply if your partner is an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen who sponsors you. The subclass 820 is lodged in Australia and the subclass 309 outside it.

Do you have to be married?

No. A spouse is defined in s 5F of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), and reg 1.15A of the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) lists the matters the Department weighs. A married couple uses the spouse visa Australia route with no minimum time together. A de facto partner is defined in s 5CB, with the same four matters in reg 1.09A. The de facto partner visa route needs 12 months together before you apply, unless an exemption in reg 2.03A applies.

Is there an age requirement for a partner visa?

There is no upper age limit, so a 50-year-old applies on the same terms as anyone else. Under reg 2.03A(2), a de facto applicant and their partner must both be at least 18 when the application is made. The Department says married applicants must, in most cases, be 18 or older, because that is usually the minimum age to marry under Australian law.

Can a same-sex couple apply for a partner visa?

Yes: ss 5F and 5CB of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) define a spouse and a de facto partner "whether of the same sex or a different sex", and the same four matters are tested.

Can you include your children?

Yes, when you lodge or before the temporary visa is decided, and each child must meet the health and character requirements. A child under 18 attracts the additional applicant charge in Schedule 1, A$2,935 as at 23 September 2026. A parent who is not migrating but has a legal right to decide where the child lives must consent on Form 1229. After the subclass 820 or 309 is granted, a child can no longer be added and needs a Dependent Child visa (subclass 445) first.

Who can sponsor you?

  • An Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen.
  • Aged 18 or over. If a married sponsor is under 18, a parent or guardian sponsors instead.
  • Not someone who has already sponsored 2 partners, who applied to sponsor another partner less than 5 years ago, or who was sponsored as a partner themselves less than 5 years ago, unless the Minister finds compelling circumstances affecting the sponsor (reg 1.20J).
  • Willing to give police certificates and consent to the disclosure of relevant convictions to you.
  • The same person for the whole process: the Department says you cannot change your sponsor.

The full sponsor rules are on the page titled Partner Visa Sponsor Requirements.

What health and character checks do you need?

The health requirement

Every partner visa subclass requires the applicant to satisfy Public Interest Criterion 4007 in Schedule 4 of the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth): no tuberculosis, no public health threat, and no condition likely to exceed the significant cost threshold. PIC 4007 is the version that allows a health waiver. The examinations by age are on the partner visa health check page.

The character requirement

You must pass the character test in s 501 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), which the regulations apply through Public Interest Criterion 4001. In practice that means police certificates from every country where you spent 12 months or more in the last 10 years since you turned 16. The certificates, costs and what fails the test are on the partner visa police check page.

Do you need to hold a substantive visa?

For an onshore application, yes, or you must meet extra criteria. The rule is in cl 820.211(2)(d) of Schedule 2. An applicant who holds no substantive visa when they apply must satisfy Schedule 3 criteria 3001, 3003 and 3004, unless the Minister is satisfied there are compelling reasons not to apply them. That is the Schedule 3 partner visa waiver. A former subclass 300 holder is treated differently.

Section 48 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) limits further applications in Australia after a visa refusal or cancellation. Reg 2.12 keeps the partner visa classes open, but Schedule 1 item 1124B closes it to a person caught by s 48 who has been refused a partner visa since they last entered Australia.

Does a partner visa need an English test?

No. None of the Australian partner subclasses (820, 801, 309, 100 or 300) has an English language criterion. The second instalment of the charge in Schedule 1 items 1124B and 1129 is nil in the compilation in force from 1 July 2026, so the second charge for applicants without functional English that older pages mention does not apply to partner visas. The page titled Partner Visa Cost in Australia sets out what you do pay.

Is there an income or savings requirement?

No. Neither the applicant nor the sponsor has to show an income, savings or a job. What the sponsor gives instead is the sponsorship itself: the Department says the person who sponsors you when you apply must be the same person who sponsors you for 2 years after your temporary Partner visa is granted.

Can you apply for a partner visa on another visa?

Yes, onshore, as long as the visa you hold does not stop you. Three common starting points:

From a visitor visa

A visitor visa may carry condition 8503 ("no further stay"), which prevents the grant of most substantive visas while you remain in Australia. The Department says a waiver of condition 8503 must be approved before you can apply for the partner visa. Whether a waiver is available to you is a question for a registered migration agent or lawyer.

From a student visa

You can apply if your student visa has no condition preventing further stay. Conditions 8534 and 8535 work like 8503 for most visas, so check VEVO first.

From a temporary work visa (subclass 482)

A subclass 482 holder can apply onshore. Holders of a subclass 491 or 494 must first have held it for 3 years, under Schedule 1 item 1214C.

You can marry an Australian while on a tourist visa, but the marriage does not remove condition 8503. If you are not married, the relationship test is the de facto one.

What is not a requirement for a partner visa?

  1. No minimum income for the sponsor or the applicant.
  2. No minimum savings or assets.
  3. No English test at the temporary or the permanent stage.
  4. No minimum time living together for a married couple.
  5. No requirement to live in Australia while an offshore application is decided. The subclass 309 must be lodged from outside Australia, but under cl 309.412 it can be granted whether you are in or outside Australia.

Questions people ask about partner visa requirements

Can you bring an unmarried partner to Australia?

Yes, as a de facto partner, if you have been together for 12 months before you apply, or your relationship is registered, or another reg 2.03A exemption applies.

How much is a visa to bring your partner to Australia?

From A$11,710 for most applicants as at 23 September 2026, according to the Department. Use the Department's Visa pricing estimator for your own figure. One charge covers both stages.

What documents are required for a partner visa?

Identity documents, evidence of the relationship's financial, household, social and commitment aspects, statements from 2 witnesses, police certificates and health results. The page titled Partner Visa Relationship Evidence lists them.

Partner visa requirements in detail

A partner visa is refused if one criterion is missed, and there is no refund if it is refused. The criteria are also assessed at more than one point in time. A registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner checks each of the 7 requirements against your facts before you lodge, so an application they prepare is more likely to succeed. Nobody can promise a grant.

Questions people ask

What are the requirements for a partner visa in Australia?

You must be the spouse or de facto partner of an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen who sponsors you. You must meet the health and character requirements, owe no unpaid debt to the Commonwealth, and lodge a valid application with your sponsor's sponsorship. If you apply in Australia without a substantive visa, the Schedule 3 criteria also apply.

Does a partner visa need an English test?

No. None of the partner visa subclasses has an English language criterion. As compiled on 1 July 2026, Schedule 1 of the Migration Regulations 1994 sets the second instalment of the charge at nil for both partner visa classes, so no extra charge applies for applicants without functional English.

Is there an age limit for a partner visa?

There is no upper age limit. A de facto applicant and their partner must both be at least 18 when the application is made, under reg 2.03A of the Migration Regulations 1994. Married applicants must, in most cases, be 18 or older, because that is usually the minimum age to marry under Australian law.

How much money do you need to sponsor a partner to Australia?

The partner visa has no income test and no minimum savings. The sponsor has to be eligible and have the sponsorship approved. The cost is the visa application charge, from A$11,710 for most applicants as at 23 September 2026, plus health examinations, police certificates and biometrics.

Do you have to live together to meet the partner visa requirements?

Not necessarily. Sections 5F and 5CB of the Migration Act 1958 require that you live together or do not live separately and apart on a permanent basis. Time apart for work, study or visa reasons is not the same as living separately and apart permanently.

Are the requirements different for the subclass 820 and the subclass 309?

The relationship, sponsor, health, character and debt requirements are the same. The difference is where you are. The subclass 820 is lodged in Australia and brings the substantive visa and Schedule 3 rules into play. The subclass 309 is lodged outside Australia, where those rules do not apply.

Sources

Primary sources this page was checked against on 23 September 2026.

  1. Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth), compilation 288 in force from 1 July 2026 (regs 1.09A, 1.15A, 1.20J, 2.03A; Sch 1 items 1124B and 1129; Sch 2 Parts 309, 820; Sch 4) www.legislation.gov.au
  2. Migration Act 1958 (Cth), ss 5CB, 5F, 48 and 501 www.legislation.gov.au
  3. Department of Home Affairs, Partner visa (subclass 820), last updated 10 August 2026 immi.homeaffairs.gov.au
  4. Department of Home Affairs, Partner visa frequently asked questions, last updated 16 September 2026 immi.homeaffairs.gov.au
  5. Department of Home Affairs, Visa pricing estimator immi.homeaffairs.gov.au

Have a registered professional check your application

Choosing the wrong subclass, or lodging in Australia when a condition such as 8503 stops you, can make an application invalid, and the Department does not refund the charge when it refuses an application.

An application prepared or reviewed by a registered migration agent or an immigration lawyer is more likely to succeed: they read the criteria against your facts, spot the gaps before you pay, and answer the Department’s requests on time. No one can promise a grant.

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