Partner Visa (Subclass 100)

Stage 1 · temporary

Then

Stage 2 · permanent

In Australia when you lodge

Subclass 820

Eligibility date

Subclass 801

Outside Australia when you lodge

Subclass 309

Eligibility date

Subclass 100

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.

You pay nothing further, because the one A$11,710 charge (as at 23 September 2026) you paid for the subclass 309 covered both stages.

• Visa application charge at this stage: nil
• Assessed from: the second anniversary of your subclass 309 lodgement
• Where you may be when it is granted: in Australia (not in immigration clearance) or outside Australia (cl 100.411)
• Travel facility: 5 years from grant (cl 100.511)
• Decided within: 9 months for half of applications and 18 months for 90%, from the eligibility date (guide updated 4 September 2026)

Is the subclass 100 permanent residence?

Yes, the subclass 100 is permanent residence. Clause 100.511 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) makes it a permanent visa, and the Department's page says you become a permanent resident on the day it is granted. It is the second of the two visas you applied for together from outside Australia.

What is the difference between the subclass 309 and the subclass 100?

Less than most people expect. A subclass 309 holder already lives, works, studies and travels. The table above shows what the second grant adds: permanence, a 5-year travel facility, the right to sponsor eligible relatives, the start of your permanent-resident time for citizenship, and a visa that no longer depends on the relationship.

When is the subclass 100 assessed?

Clause 100.221(2)(c) requires at least 2 years to have passed since the application was made. The date runs from lodgement, not from the subclass 309 grant: if you lodged on 1 June 2025, you become eligible on 1 June 2027, even if the subclass 309 was granted in 2027.

Can the subclass 100 be granted at the same time as the subclass 309?

Yes, in two cases under clause 100.221(5) and (6):

• you were in a long-term partner relationship with your sponsor when you applied, meaning at least 3 years together, or 2 years with a dependent child of you both (regulation 1.03); or
• your sponsor holds or held a permanent humanitarian visa and you told the Department about your relationship before that visa was granted.

The Department's subclass 100 page says that if the subclass 100 was granted straight after the subclass 309, you do not need to do anything else.

What triggers it?

The second anniversary of lodgement. You then submit the permanent-stage documents in ImmiAccount; clause 100.226 requires your sponsoring partner to nominate you for the grant, and the Department asks the sponsor for a statutory declaration about the relationship. The applicant-side steps are on partner visa subclass 309.

How long does the subclass 100 take to decide?

The 50th percentile (the median) is the time within which half of recently decided applications were finalised; the 90th percentile, nine in ten.

The Department's subclass 100 page says the processing time for the permanent visa starts from the date of eligibility, two years after you applied. A 9-month median therefore means about 33 months from the day you lodged the subclass 309. Incomplete documents, requests for more information and verification checks can make it longer.

What does the subclass 100 cost?

Nothing further. The Department's page says you paid for this visa when you applied for the temporary and permanent visas. The second instalment is a different thing and does not apply here: item 1129(2)(b) of Schedule 1 to the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) sets it at nil. The charge table itself is on the subclass 309 page and the partner visa cost page.

What documents does the Department ask for at the second stage?

The evidence must show that you continue to be the partner of the same sponsor, so the period since you lodged the subclass 309 is what counts. The full list is on partner visa document checklist.

What changes on the day the subclass 100 is granted?

• You become a permanent resident.
• You can live in Australia indefinitely.
• Your travel facility runs for 5 years.
• You may be able to sponsor eligible family members.
• Your permanent-resident time for citizenship starts, on the grant date if you are in Australia or on your first entry after grant if you are not.
• The visa no longer depends on the relationship.

How long can you stay outside Australia on a subclass 100?

As long as you like, but the travel facility lasts 5 years from grant. To return as a permanent resident after it expires, you need a Resident Return visa, which gives a 5-year facility if you were in Australia for at least 2 of the last 5 years as a permanent resident or citizen.

When can you apply for citizenship?

Take the date your permanent residence started and add 12 months, then check that you have lived in Australia on a valid visa for the 4 years before that date, with no more than 12 months away in total and no more than 90 days in the last year. For example, a grant on 1 June 2027 while in Australia gives an earliest possible date of 1 June 2028, if the 4-year and absence tests are met by then. The after-grant pages work through the rest.

Does a subclass 100 holder get Centrelink payments?

Possibly, after a wait. The Department's subclass 100 page warns that you might have to wait for certain payments and benefits under Services Australia's newly arrived resident's waiting period.

Can the subclass 100 be refused?

• Refused at the second stage: if the Department is not satisfied that the relationship with the same sponsor is still genuine and continuing, and no exception applies. The Partner Visa FAQs note that a refused subclass 100 means you no longer hold the subclass 309.
• Review: the refusal letter says whether you can apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal, which replaced the Administrative Appeals Tribunal on 14 October 2024, and within what time.
• Cancelled after grant: a permanent visa can still be cancelled, for example on character grounds under s 501 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).

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.

What happens if the relationship ends before the subclass 100 is granted?

It is refused unless the sponsor has died, or you entered Australia after applying and you or a family member experienced family violence committed by the sponsor, or you share custody, access or maintenance for a child with the sponsor (cl 100.221(3), (4) and (4AA)). Tell the Department promptly, using the Notification of Relationship Cessation form in ImmiAccount where it applies.

What happens if it ends after?

Nothing, for the visa: it is permanent and does not depend on the relationship continuing after grant.

Subclass 100 and subclass 801 compared

The status is the same. Which one you hold depends only on which temporary visa came first.

Questions people ask about the subclass 100

Do you have to be in Australia when the subclass 100 is granted?

No. Clause 100.411 allows you to be in Australia (not in immigration clearance) or outside it. If you are outside, you must first enter by the date in your grant letter.

Is the subclass 100 the same as the subclass 801?

In status, yes: both are permanent partner visas. They differ only in path, the subclass 100 following a subclass 309 and the subclass 801 following a subclass 820.

Do you get a new grant letter and visa grant number?

Yes. The Department sends a grant letter with your visa grant number and conditions; there is no label, and you prove the visa through VEVO.

Can you sponsor a partner after holding a subclass 100?

The Department may refuse a partner sponsorship by someone who was sponsored as a partner in the last 5 years, or who has already sponsored two partners, subject to exceptions such as a dependent child of the new couple.

Does the subclass 100 expire?

No; it is permanent. Its travel facility expires 5 years after grant.

The offshore partner visa pathway

• Plan what comes next with after your partner visa is granted.
• Review the first stage on partner visa subclass 309.
• Check the second-stage documents against the partner visa document checklist.
• See every subclass, charge and step on the Australian partner visa page.

The subclass 100 is decided on evidence that the relationship has continued since you lodged, often after years of living in two countries, and a thin submission can be refused and end your subclass 309 with it. An application prepared by a registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner is more likely to succeed, because they check that the second-stage evidence covers the right period and answers each of the four factors. No one can guarantee a grant, but careful preparation removes the avoidable reasons for refusal.

Questions people ask

Is partner visa 100 permanent residency?

Yes. The subclass 100 is a permanent visa, and the Department of Home Affairs says you become a permanent resident on the day it is granted. The subclass 309 you hold before it is a provisional visa.

How long does it take to get a 100 visa after 309?

You become eligible for the subclass 100 assessment two years after you lodged the combined subclass 309 and 100 application. In the Department of Home Affairs guide updated on 4 September 2026, half of subclass 100 applications were then decided within 9 months and 90% within 18 months, counted from that eligibility date.

How much does a subclass 100 visa cost?

Nothing further. The visa application charge paid when you lodged the subclass 309 covered the subclass 100 as well, and Schedule 1 to the Migration Regulations 1994 sets the second instalment for this visa at nil.

Does the subclass 100 expire?

No. It is a permanent visa. What expires is its travel facility, 5 years after grant, after which you need a Resident Return visa to come back to Australia as a permanent resident.

Sources

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

1. Department of Home Affairs, Partner visa (subclass 100) immi.homeaffairs.gov.au
2. Department of Home Affairs, Partner visa (subclass 309) immi.homeaffairs.gov.au
3. Department of Home Affairs, Global visa processing times guide immi.homeaffairs.gov.au
4. Department of Home Affairs, Resident Return visa (subclass 155 and 157) immi.homeaffairs.gov.au
5. Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth), Federal Register of Legislation www.legislation.gov.au