Partner Visa Processing Time

Those are two published percentiles, not a promise. The median is the point by which half of the decided applications had been decided, and the 90th percentile is the point by which nine in ten had. The figures below were read from the Department of Home Affairs global visa processing times guide on 23 September 2026. The guide was last updated on 4 September 2026 and covers applications decided in the period ending 31 July 2026. The Department's own page shows no month figure until you use its dropdown, so the numbers are restated here.

How long does a partner visa take, by subclass?

A first-stage partner visa decision took a median of 23 months onshore and 21 months offshore, as at the Department's update of 4 September 2026. The permanent stages are counted from the eligibility date, not from lodgement.

The offshore timeline is covered on the subclass 309 page. This table gives its row for comparison.

How long does a subclass 820 partner visa take?

Half of subclass 820 applications decided in the period to 31 July 2026 took 23 months or less, and 90% took 29 months or less.

How long does a subclass 801 partner visa take?

The subclass 801 median was 3 months and the 90th percentile 17 months, as at the 4 September 2026 update. The Department's subclass 801 page says this processing time starts from the date of eligibility, which is two years after you applied. It is not counted from the day you first lodged.

How long does a subclass 300 prospective marriage visa take?

The subclass 300 median was 14 months and the 90th percentile 26 months, as at the same update.

What do the median and the 90th percentile actually mean?

• The median, or 50th percentile, is the number of months by which half of the applications decided in the period had been decided. Half took longer.
• The 90th percentile is the number of months by which nine in ten had been decided. One in ten took longer.
• Neither is a forecast for your application. Both describe applications that have already been decided, not the ones still waiting.

The Department's guide also publishes a 25th and a 75th percentile. They appear in the series at the end of this page.

Why does the Department's own page not give a number?

Its processing times page is a tool. You choose a visa type, a stream and an application date, and the figure appears. The Department's factsheet on priority processing says processing times are published monthly, so any figure you read carries the date of its update.

Why do other websites give such different numbers?

They are usually quoting a different month, a different percentile or a different subclass, and some have not been updated. Check which percentile a figure is, which subclass it belongs to, and which update it came from.

How the two stages are timed separately

The subclass 820 and 801 are one application with two decisions. The first-stage clock runs from lodgement to the subclass 820 decision. The second stage cannot be assessed until the eligibility date. Under cl 801.221(2)(d) of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth), at least two years must have passed since the application was made.

How long until permanent residence after a partner visa?

Add two years to your lodgement date, then add the second-stage processing time. If you lodged on 1 October 2026, your eligibility date is 1 October 2028. On the 4 September 2026 figures, half of subclass 801 decisions came within 3 months of eligibility and 90% within 17 months.

The Partner Visa FAQs explain how the second stage starts. Once two years have passed, you log in to ImmiAccount, choose "Stage 2 - Permanent Partner Visa Assessment (100, 801)" and complete the form using your application ID. No Department letter starts it.

Can the subclass 801 be granted before two years?

In some cases. Clause 801.221(6A) removes the two-year wait if, when you applied, you were already in a long-term partner relationship with your sponsor. Regulation 1.03 defines this as at least 3 years, or at least 2 years if you have a dependent child together (not a stepchild). Clause 801.221(7) also lets the Department grant the subclass 801 early where the sponsor has died (cl 801.221(5)), or where the relationship has ended and there was family violence or a child of the relationship (cl 801.221(6)).

How Ministerial Direction 117 sets your place in the queue

Partner visas are processed under Ministerial Direction No. 117, given under s 499 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). It was signed on 24 July 2026 and replaced Direction 102 on 25 July 2026. It applies to applications already waiting as well as new ones. The Department's FAQ says applications are "generally assessed in the order in which they are received", with highest priority given to onshore partner applications.

Section 8 of the Direction sets two groups:

1. Higher priority: applications where the primary applicant was in Australia when they applied and the visa can be granted in Australia. This is the subclass 820 and 801.
2. Lower priority: applications where the primary applicant was outside Australia when they applied, or must be outside Australia at grant. This is the subclass 309, 100 and 300.

Within each group, the Direction sets this order:

1. applications where the Minister has substituted a Tribunal decision under ss 351 or 417 of the Act
2. applications by a spouse, de facto partner, prospective spouse or dependent child of a sponsor
3. orphan relative applications
4. contributory parent applications
5. carer applications
6. parent, aged parent, remaining relative and aged dependent relative applications.

Family members applying with you get the same priority as your application.

What the Direction does not do:

• It gives no month figure.
• A higher priority changes your place in the order, not the criteria you must meet.
• It does not apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal.
• It does not apply where it is readily apparent the visa criteria will not be met, so a clearly refusable application can be decided out of turn.

Can you ask for priority processing?

You can ask, but the bar is high. Section 9 of Direction 117 lets the Department move an application ahead only if it involves special circumstances of a compassionate nature and there are compelling reasons to depart from the order. The Department's priority processing factsheet says:

• most requests cannot be approved
• your circumstances must set you apart from most partner applicants
• a request is considered only if every supporting document is already lodged.

The factsheet lists circumstances that do not qualify on their own. They include financial reasons, planning a family or pregnancy, the pain of separation, employment, wedding plans, and a health result, police certificate or passport about to expire. The evidence for a request is attached in ImmiAccount, and the factsheet warns that repeated requests, calls or emails will not speed things up.

What makes a partner visa application faster?

The Department names the factors itself. Its factsheet says the time depends on:

1. the quality and completeness of the application
2. how quickly you respond to requests for information
3. how complex the relationship, character, health and security assessments are.

In practice that means lodging with every document the ImmiAccount checklist asks for, arranging health examinations and police certificates when the timing suits, and replying within the period any request gives you. The Department's subclass 820 page asks applicants to update their relationship evidence regularly while they wait.

What causes delays?

• A request for more information under s 56 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), which adds a response period to the timeline.
• Health results or police certificates expiring before a decision. Both are valid for 12 months for immigration purposes, and the Department may ask for them again.
• Checks with other government agencies or overseas bodies. The Department's factsheet says it has no control over how long these take.
• An offshore application, which sits in the lower priority group.
• A change of circumstances you must report, such as a new child or a new passport.

Why is my partner visa taking so long?

Your partner visa may be taking longer than the median because the median describes only half of the decided cases. One in ten subclass 820 applications took more than 29 months in the 4 September 2026 update, and one in ten subclass 309 applications took more than 39 months. Subsection 51(2) of the Act, noted in Direction 117, says that a later application being decided first does not mean an earlier one is unreasonably delayed.

How do you check your partner visa status?

1. Log in to ImmiAccount and open the application.
2. Read the status shown against it.
3. Compare the date you lodged with the current published processing time.
4. If you are still within that time, the Department asks you not to contact it, because it cannot give further updates.
5. If the published time has passed, or you need to report a change, use the Department's partner processing enquiry form.

How the published figures have moved

This site records each monthly update of the Department's guide and adds a new row rather than overwriting the last. The series below starts with the first reading.

Figures read on 23 September 2026. The next reading is due after the Department's next monthly update.

How long does a review take if the visa is refused?

The Administrative Review Tribunal publishes its own timeliness figures, separately from the Department. This site has not yet restated them because they could not be confirmed from the Tribunal's website on 23 September 2026. What a refusal means and the deadline to apply for review are on the page about a partner visa refused.

What happens while you wait, and where these numbers come from

Every figure here comes from the Department of Home Affairs processing times guide, the text of Direction 117 and the Migration Regulations 1994. Each was read on 23 September 2026.

An application prepared by a registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner is more likely to succeed and less likely to stall. The Department names completeness and quick responses as factors in how long it takes, and a practitioner makes sure nothing is missing at lodgement.

• If your application has passed the published time, the partner visa processing enquiry form page explains when and how to use it.
• For what happens month by month after you lodge, read waiting for a partner visa decision.
• For how many applications are granted, refused and waiting, see the partner visa grant and refusal statistics.
• To see which subclass fits your situation, start with the Australian partner visa overview.

Questions people ask

How long does it take to get a partner visa in Australia in 2026?

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. For the offshore subclass 309 the figures were 21 months and 39 months. These describe applications already decided, not a promise for yours.

What does the 90th percentile processing time mean?

It is the number of months by which nine in ten of the applications decided in the period had been decided. One in ten took longer. The median, or 50th percentile, is the point by which half had been decided.

How long does it take to go from 820 to 801?

You become eligible for the permanent assessment two years after you lodged the combined application. After that the Department's guide updated on 4 September 2026 showed a median of 3 months and a 90th percentile of 17 months for the subclass 801, counted from the eligibility date.

Why is my partner visa taking so long?

Onshore and offshore partner applications are processed in priority order under Ministerial Direction 117 and generally in the order received. The Department says the time also depends on how complete the application is, how quickly you answer requests, and checks on relationship, character, health and security.

Can I ask for priority processing of a partner visa?

You can ask, but the Department says most requests cannot be approved. Direction 117 allows priority only for special circumstances of a compassionate nature with compelling reasons, and the Department will consider a request only if every supporting document has already been lodged.

Sources

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

1. Department of Home Affairs, Global visa processing times guide immi.homeaffairs.gov.au
2. Ministerial Direction No. 117, Family visa processing order immi.homeaffairs.gov.au
3. Department of Home Affairs, Family visa processing priorities immi.homeaffairs.gov.au
4. Department of Home Affairs, Partner Visa Frequently Asked Questions immi.homeaffairs.gov.au
5. Department of Home Affairs, Factsheet on partner visa priority processing immi.homeaffairs.gov.au
6. Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth), Federal Register of Legislation www.legislation.gov.au