Temporary partner visa for spouses and de facto partners applying from outside Australia
The Partner visa (subclass 309) is the offshore version of the partner visa. The fundamental difference from the onshore 820: you and any family members applying with you have to be outside Australia when you lodge.
Everything else follows the same logic. One application, one fee of $9,365, covers both this temporary 309 and the permanent stage (subclass 100) that follows.
Once the 309 is granted, you get full work and study rights in Australia, Medicare access, and unlimited travel in and out.
Two years after your original lodgement date, the department considers the permanent 100 stage automatically.
The offshore path is the right one if you're applying from your home country or from any country other than Australia.
Must hold subclass 309 for 2 years and remain in a genuine relationship; 100 is auto-assessed at the 2-year mark
OpenSame outcome — permanent residency via partner pathway. 820 applies onshore; 309 applies offshore. Cannot hold both simultaneously.
OpenThese are the published requirements for the 309. Check each one applies to your situation.
The offshore requirement applies at lodgement only. You have to be outside Australia when you submit the application.
After that, you can be anywhere in the world, including back in Australia, when the department makes its decision on the temporary 309.
Many applicants enter Australia on another visa during the wait and are inside the country when the 309 is granted. That's fine.
The location rule is at lodgement, not at decision.
If you were outside Australia when the 309 was granted, your grant letter will include a first entry arrival date.
You have to physically enter Australia on or before that date. It isn't a soft deadline.
If you miss it, your visa may still technically be valid, but you become subject to cancellation before arrival or at the border.
Check the date immediately when you receive your grant letter and plan your travel accordingly.
To be granted the permanent 100, you have to be holding the 309 at the time of grant.
If you're granted any other substantive visa while the 100 is being assessed (a student visa, a work visa, anything), you permanently lose eligibility for the permanent stage.
This catches people when an employer makes an offer during the long wait, or when someone's circumstances change and they try to move onto a different pathway. The rule is explicit and the consequence is irreversible.
The 12-month requirement for de facto couples is about being in a genuine de facto relationship for 12 months before applying. It's not necessarily about 12 months of living in the same house.
A couple in a genuine committed relationship who spent periods apart due to work or visa constraints can still meet the requirement, if they can demonstrate the relationship was real and ongoing throughout.
Conversely, two people who lived together casually without commitment may not meet it, even if they shared a lease.
The evidence has to tell the story of a genuine relationship, not just a shared address.
If you hold a New Zealand passport and arrive at the Australian border while holding a 309, immigration officers may automatically issue a Special Category visa (subclass 444).
If that happens, the 444 overrides your 309 and you lose eligibility for the permanent 100 entirely.
The standard advice from migration agents is to tell the border officer you hold a temporary Partner visa and don't want the 444. The conversation takes ten seconds. Missing it has permanent consequences.
