Onshore or Offshore Partner Visa
You lodge an onshore partner visa (subclass 820/801) if you are inside Australia on the day of application and an offshore partner visa (subclass 309/100) if you are outside it, and the A$11,710 charge as at 23 September 2026 is identical either way.
- Stage 1
- Temporary. Live, work and study while the permanent stage waits.
- Eligibility date
- Two years after the day you lodged. The Department then asks for fresh relationship evidence.
- Stage 2
- Permanent. Stay indefinitely and, when eligible, apply for citizenship.
- Subclass 300
- Engaged couples only. Marry within the visa's life, then lodge the 820 in Australia.
The choice is made for you by your location on one day. What it changes is whether you get a bridging visa, whether you can work in Australia while you wait, and how the Department prioritises your application.
Onshore or offshore: the one-line difference
An onshore partner visa is lodged from inside Australia, because item 1214C of Schedule 1 to the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) requires it; an offshore partner visa is lodged from outside Australia, because item 1220A requires that. The relationship test, the sponsor and the charge are the same.
Subclass 820, 309 and 300 compared
| Attribute | Subclass 820 | Subclass 309 | Subclass 300 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where you must be on the day you lodge | Inside Australia | Outside Australia | Outside Australia |
| Where you may be when it is granted | Inside or outside Australia (cl 820.411) | Inside or outside Australia (cl 309.412) | Inside or outside Australia (cl 300.412) |
| Your relationship on the day you lodge | Married or de facto | Married or de facto | Engaged, intending to marry |
| Visa application charge, main applicant (as at 23 September 2026) | A$11,710 | A$11,710 | A$11,710 |
| Bridging visa while you wait | Bridging visa A, if you held a substantive visa when you lodged | None | None |
| Work rights in Australia while you wait | Those of your current visa, then of your Bridging visa A | None, unless another visa allows it | None, unless another visa allows it |
| Leaving and returning while you wait | On a Bridging visa A you need a Bridging visa B first | You are already outside Australia | You are already outside Australia |
| 50% decided within (guide updated 4 September 2026) | 23 months | 21 months | 14 months |
| 90% decided within (guide updated 4 September 2026) | 29 months | 39 months | 26 months |
| The permanent visa it leads to | Subclass 801 | Subclass 100 | Subclass 820, then 801 |
| What starts the permanent stage | 2 years after you lodged (cl 801.221) | 2 years after you lodged (cl 100.221) | Marrying, then lodging a subclass 820 |
| Deadline attached to the visa | None | None | Marry within the visa period of 9 to 15 months |
| If the relationship ends before the decision | Refused unless the sponsor died, or family violence or a child-related exception applies (cl 820.221) | Refused unless the sponsor died, or family violence or a child-related exception applies (cl 309.221) | Refused, because the intention to marry must continue to the decision (cl 300.221) |
| Schedule 3 can apply | Yes, if you hold no substantive visa | No | No |
Read the matrix one row at a time: the only row you cannot change by planning is the first one. If you are in Australia today and hold a substantive visa without condition 8503, apply onshore. If you are outside Australia today, apply offshore. If you are outside Australia and neither married nor in a de facto relationship, the subclass 300 is the one open to you.
When is the onshore partner visa the better choice?
- You are already in Australia and your visa allows a further application.
- You hold a substantive visa, so a Bridging visa A keeps you lawful when it ends.
- You need to keep living and working in Australia while you wait.
- You would rather wait together than apart.
The cost of the choice: once you are relying on a Bridging visa A, you need a Bridging visa B before you travel, granted only for substantial reasons under clause 020.212 of Schedule 2. If you hold no substantive visa, Schedule 3 adds criteria the offshore path does not have.
When is the offshore partner visa the better choice?
- You are outside Australia.
- You cannot get or keep a substantive visa in Australia, or your visa carries condition 8503.
- You need to keep working in your home country while you wait.
- You want to avoid the s 48 and Schedule 3 issues that attach to onshore lodgement.
The cost of the choice: you hold no Australian visa while you wait, the 90th percentile wait was 10 months longer than onshore in the guide updated on 4 September 2026, and Ministerial Direction 117 gives offshore applications lower priority.
When does the prospective marriage visa apply?
- You are not yet married to your sponsor and not in a de facto relationship with them.
- You are outside Australia when you apply.
- You have met in person since you both turned 18 (cl 300.214).
- You will marry within the visa period, which clause 300.511 sets at 9 to 15 months from grant (9 months if the Department sets no date).
The full rules and costs are on prospective marriage visa subclass 300.
Can you apply onshore if you are here on a tourist visa?
Yes, if your visitor visa does not carry condition 8503 ("no further stay"). If it does, the Department must approve a waiver before you apply, and regulation 2.05(4) limits waivers to compelling and compassionate circumstances that developed after the visa was granted, were beyond your control and changed your circumstances in a major way.
If you hold no substantive visa when you lodge, clause 820.211(2)(d) applies Schedule 3 criteria 3001, 3003 and 3004 unless the Department is satisfied there are compelling reasons not to. If you were refused a visa since you last entered Australia and hold no substantive visa, s 48 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) limits what you can apply for, and the Department's page sets extra lodgement documents for that case. Holding a tourist visa that is still in effect and has no 8503 condition avoids most of this.
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.
Can you switch after you have lodged?
No. A lodged subclass 309 does not become a subclass 820 because you arrive in Australia, and a lodged subclass 820 does not become a subclass 309 because you leave. A change of pathway is a new application and a second charge. The Department's page for the subclass 300 describes one route: an applicant who marries before a decision can ask to be considered for the subclass 309 and 100 instead.
What is the same, whichever you choose?
- One charge covers both the temporary and the permanent stage.
- The same four relationship factors apply, under regulations 1.09A and 1.15A.
- The same sponsor rules and sponsorship limits apply.
- The same health and character requirements apply.
- You apply online in ImmiAccount, and your sponsor completes the same online sponsorship form.
- The permanent stage comes two years after you lodged, unless you were already in a long-term partner relationship.
Questions about applying onshore or offshore
Which one is faster?
The 50th percentile is the time within which half of recently decided applications were finalised; the 90th, nine in ten. In the guide updated on 4 September 2026 the subclass 820 figures were 23 and 29 months and the subclass 309 figures were 21 and 39 months, so the offshore median was shorter and its slowest cases much slower. Check the date on any figure you rely on.
Can your partner visit Australia while an offshore application is pending?
Yes, on a separate visitor visa, which is assessed on its own criteria. The Department says an applicant who travels to Australia on a different visa must keep holding a valid visa for the whole stay.
Does applying offshore make a refusal more likely?
The criteria for the subclass 309 and the subclass 820 test the same relationship factors, so the location alone does not change what you must prove. What differs is priority and the length of the wait.
The five partner visa subclasses
- Onshore applicants start with the partner visa subclass 820, which then leads to the subclass 801.
- Offshore applicants who are married or de facto start with the partner visa subclass 309, which leads to the subclass 100.
- Engaged couples outside Australia use the subclass 300, covered above.
- The overview of every subclass, cost and step is on the Australian partner visa page.
The location choice is permanent once you lodge, and the wrong choice costs a second charge. An application prepared by a registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner is more likely to succeed, because they check your visa conditions, your immigration history and your relationship evidence before you commit to one path. No one can promise a grant, but advice before lodging avoids the mistakes that cannot be undone afterwards.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between the partner visa 820 and 309?
The subclass 820 is lodged from inside Australia and the subclass 309 from outside it. Onshore applicants who hold a substantive visa get a Bridging visa A while they wait; offshore applicants get no Australian visa while they wait. Both cost A$11,710 for the main applicant as at 23 September 2026 and both lead to permanent residence two years after lodging.
Can I apply for a partner visa while on a tourist visa in Australia?
Yes, if your visitor visa does not carry condition 8503 no further stay, or if the Department has approved a waiver of that condition before you apply. If you hold no substantive visa when you lodge, Schedule 3 criteria also apply, and a visa refusal since you last entered Australia can restrict you under section 48 of the Migration Act 1958.
Which is faster, onshore or offshore?
In the Department of Home Affairs guide updated on 4 September 2026, half of subclass 820 applications were decided within 23 months and 90% within 29 months, against 21 months and 39 months for the subclass 309. Onshore applications have higher priority under Ministerial Direction 117. The figures change regularly.
Can I switch from an offshore to an onshore partner visa application?
No. Travelling to Australia does not convert a lodged subclass 309 into a subclass 820. Changing pathway means lodging a new application and paying a new visa application charge.
Sources
Primary sources this page was checked against on 23 September 2026.
- Department of Home Affairs, Partner visa (subclass 820 and 801) immi.homeaffairs.gov.au
- Department of Home Affairs, Partner visa (subclass 309 and 100) immi.homeaffairs.gov.au
- Department of Home Affairs, Prospective Marriage visa (subclass 300) immi.homeaffairs.gov.au
- Department of Home Affairs, Family visa processing priorities immi.homeaffairs.gov.au
- Department of Home Affairs, Global visa processing times guide immi.homeaffairs.gov.au
- Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth), Federal Register of Legislation www.legislation.gov.au