Family & Partner
Subclass 309 — Partner visa (offshore, provisional)
Important notice: General information only — not immigration assistance or legal advice. For advice about your circumstances, book a verified practitioner.
Compiled from official Department of Home Affairs sources — practitioner verification pending.
The offshore counterpart of the partner pathway: apply from outside Australia, with the permanent 100 stage following. One combined application charge covers both stages.
Government charge
$11,710.00
This is the government Visa Application Charge (VAC), payable directly to the Department of Home Affairs when you lodge. It is not a fee charged by this platform, and it is separate from any platform or practitioner fee. Always check the official source for the current amount.
Estimate for a family application
Total government fee (Visa Application Charge): $11,710.00
Worked out from the government's published fee list — an estimate only, not platform fees and not advice. Always check the official estimator ↗
Is the subclass 309 pathway a fit? A general snapshot
In general terms, the subclass 309 is the offshore, provisional stage of the partner migration pathway. It is typically applied for from outside Australia by a person who is in a genuine and continuing relationship — married or de facto — with an eligible sponsor, usually an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen. The 309 and the permanent subclass 100 are generally lodged together as one combined application and assessed in two stages: the provisional 309 is normally decided first, and the permanent 100 is typically considered later once a further period has passed and the relationship is shown to be ongoing. Applicants are commonly expected to demonstrate the genuineness of the relationship across its different aspects (such as the financial, social, household, and commitment dimensions that decision-makers look at), to be sponsored by an approved sponsor, and to meet health and character requirements. The exact relationship registration rules, de facto timing considerations, sponsorship limits, and any concession arrangements change over time and turn heavily on individual facts. This is general information only and is identical for every reader — it is not immigration assistance or legal advice. Check the official Home Affairs page for the current requirements, and remember that what YOUR particular situation needs, including whether you qualify at all, is a question for a registered migration practitioner who can advise on your circumstances.
Common questions about the offshore partner pathway
Q: What is the difference between the subclass 309 and the subclass 100? A: In general terms they are two stages of one combined offshore partner application. The 309 is the provisional (temporary) stage, typically granted first, and the 100 is the permanent stage usually considered later once an ongoing relationship is established. They are normally lodged together. Q: Do I have to be outside Australia to apply? A: Typically yes — the 309 is the offshore pathway, so applicants generally apply from outside Australia, and there are usually expectations about location at the time of application and decision. The onshore equivalent is a different subclass. Check the official page for current rules. Q: How long does it take? A: Processing times vary widely and change over time depending on caseloads and how complete an application is. The Department publishes indicative processing times on its website, which is the place to check for current estimates rather than relying on general figures. Q: How much relationship evidence is needed? A: In general terms, decision-makers look at the relationship across several dimensions, and a well-prepared application usually assembles a range of evidence rather than a single document. What is sufficient depends entirely on individual facts — a registered practitioner can advise on your circumstances. This is general information only, not immigration assistance or legal advice.
Health and character checks in general terms
Applicants for the provisional partner pathway are generally asked to meet Australia's health requirement, and family members who apply with them are generally expected to meet it as well; in some cases family members who are not coming to Australia may also need to meet it. Health examinations are commonly completed as part of the application. When they are required, the Department gives the applicant a list of examinations and a health identifier (a HAP ID) used to book them; some applicants may instead arrange examinations before applying through the My Health Declarations service. Outside Australia, examinations are carried out by a panel physician or clinic that conducts examinations for people applying for a visa from outside Australia, while within Australia they are arranged through the Department's medical services provider, Bupa Medical Visa Services. Additional examinations can be required depending on an applicant's circumstances. On character, applicants must generally meet the character requirement, which is set out in the Migration Act 1958, in order to be granted a visa and to stay in Australia. Applicants are generally asked to provide a police certificate for each country where they spent a total of 12 months or more over the last 10 years since turning 16, and biometrics such as fingerprints and a facial photograph may also be requested. For time spent in Australia, an Australian Federal Police National Police Check is used, and state- or territory-issued certificates are not accepted. Police certificates may be provided with the application or when the Department asks for them. For partner applications, the sponsor is generally also required to provide an Australian police certificate and an overseas police certificate for each country where they spent 12 months or more over the last 10 years since turning 16, and to give written consent for convictions for relevant offences to be disclosed to the visa applicant. There are limitations on who can sponsor where a sponsor has been convicted of certain offences. Dependent children included in an application generally also need to meet the health requirement. This is general information only and is not immigration assistance or legal advice.
Health cover and Medicare in general terms
Australia's public health scheme, Medicare, is generally used by Australian citizens and permanent residents to help meet medical and hospital costs. Overseas visitors are generally not covered by Medicare for medical or hospital expenses. Whether a person on a temporary visa can access Medicare depends on their individual circumstances, and eligibility is confirmed by Services Australia rather than by this site. Where a person is not covered by Medicare, Overseas Visitors Health Cover (OVHC) is the general form of private insurance used to help meet medical and hospital costs in Australia. In some cases it can be a condition of a visa to hold a form of health insurance while in Australia, in which case the policy needs to meet the type and level set by that visa condition. Australia also has Reciprocal Health Care Agreements with a number of countries, which can cover the cost of some medically necessary care for visitors from those countries. These agreements are limited in scope — for example, they generally do not cover treatment as a private patient in hospital, and other limits can apply depending on the country — so people from those countries are commonly encouraged to check what their own country's agreement covers and to consider separate cover. This is general information only and is not immigration assistance or legal advice.
What the visa can cost in general terms
The main government cost of applying is the Visa Application Charge, paid to the Department of Home Affairs. For the offshore partner pathway, the costs shown by the Department cover both this provisional (temporary) visa and the later permanent Partner visa (subclass 100), because the two are lodged together as one application. The charge is made up of a base application charge for the main applicant plus additional applicant charges for each family member included in the application. The Department does not publish a fixed figure on the visa page, so the current amount should be worked out using the Department's own Visa Pricing Estimator before lodging; the estimator does not account for other costs. Separate from the Visa Application Charge, applicants generally meet other costs directly with third parties, for example health examinations, police certificates, biometrics, and translation of documents. These are not part of the government application charge. The government Visa Application Charge is also separate from any fee charged by a migration agent, legal adviser, or service provider. On this independent website, any service or platform fee is always kept distinct from the government charge. This is general information only and is not immigration assistance or legal advice.
Timing and validity in general terms
The subclass 309 is a provisional (temporary) visa and does not have a fixed expiry date. In general terms it lets the holder stay in Australia until a decision is made on the permanent Partner visa (subclass 100) or the application is withdrawn. A first-entry (arrive-by) date is specified in the visa grant letter, by which the holder must first enter Australia. For the permanent stage, an applicant is generally eligible for consideration of the permanent Partner visa two years after first applying for the temporary and permanent Partner visas. While holding the provisional visa, a person can generally travel to and from Australia as many times as they want. Processing times vary between applications and are published and regularly updated by the Department, so the current guide should be checked using the Department's visa processing-time tool rather than relying on a fixed estimate. This is general information only and is not immigration assistance or legal advice.
Visa conditions that may apply
The Partner (Provisional) subclass 309 visa is generally granted without limits on work or study. Holders are typically able to work and study in Australia while the permanent stage of their application is assessed, so the work-restriction and study-restriction conditions that attach to some other visas are not usually imposed. Because holders can generally enrol in Medicare, the adequate-health-insurance condition (condition 8501), which requires some temporary visa holders to keep private health cover for the whole time they are in Australia, is generally not attached to this visa. Where conditions are imposed, they are drawn from Schedule 8 of the Migration Regulations 1994 and are printed on the visa grant notification. For subclass 309, the Schedule 2 provisions allow condition 8502 to be imposed, and, for a family member included in the application, condition 8515 as well. Condition 8502 means the holder must not enter Australia before a person specified in the visa has entered; condition 8515 means the holder must not marry or enter a de facto relationship until after they have entered Australia. The exact conditions on any particular grant are set out in the grant letter and can be checked online through the Department's visa verification service. Applicants and holders are also generally expected to keep the Department informed of relevant changes in their circumstances, such as a change of address. This is general information only and is not immigration assistance or legal advice.
Eligibility and what decision-makers assess
Subclass 309 is the offshore, provisional stage of the partner visa program. It is for the spouse or de facto partner of an Australian citizen, an Australian permanent resident, or an eligible New Zealand citizen. Applicants generally must be outside Australia both when they apply and when the provisional visa is decided. There are two situations within the visa, a married (spouse) relationship or a de facto relationship, and both are assessed against the same core tests. The central question is whether the relationship is genuine and continuing, with the couple not living apart on a permanent basis and having a mutual commitment to a shared life to the exclusion of all others. For a de facto relationship, applicants are generally asked to show the relationship existed for at least 12 months before applying, unless it is registered under an Australian state or territory scheme or there are compelling circumstances. The visa also requires an approved sponsor, usually the Australian partner, who must generally be at least 18 and meet sponsorship requirements. Limits apply to how often and how recently a person can sponsor a partner, and sponsors may be asked to provide police certificates and personal information as part of the sponsorship framework. There is no points test, no skills assessment or occupation list, and no English-language test required to be granted the provisional visa. All applicants, including any family members included in the application, are generally required to meet the Department's health requirement and character requirement, which can involve police certificates from countries where a person has lived. This is general information only and is not immigration assistance or legal advice.
Including family and what the visa allows after grant
Members of the applicant's family unit, for example a dependent child or another dependent relative, can generally be included in the application. Family members can be added before a decision is made using the Department's form for adding an applicant after lodgement, and in some cases a dependent child can be added after the provisional visa is granted while the permanent stage is still being assessed. Once the provisional visa is granted, holders can generally live in Australia, work, and study (without access to Australian Government study funding), and can travel in and out of Australia while the visa is valid. Holders are usually able to enrol in Medicare, Australia's public health system, once they have applied for the permanent stage, and access to government-funded English classes through the Adult Migrant English Program may also be available. The provisional visa is a step toward permanent residence. The permanent Partner visa (subclass 100) is generally assessed around two years after the original application was lodged, without a further application or a further base application charge, provided the relationship is continuing and the other requirements are met. In some cases the permanent visa can be granted at the same time as, or soon after, the provisional visa. A dependent child of a provisional partner visa holder may in some circumstances apply for a Dependent child visa (subclass 445). Limited provisions allow a partner visa application to continue in defined situations even if the relationship has ended, for example where there has been family violence committed by the sponsoring partner, or where the couple share a child, and these situations are assessed against specific legal requirements. This is general information only and is not immigration assistance or legal advice.
Common refusal reasons and review at the ART
Decisions on this visa turn heavily on evidence. Applications of this type are commonly refused where the decision-maker is not satisfied the relationship is genuine and continuing, or where the evidence of the relationship is considered insufficient. Other frequent factual grounds include not meeting the health requirement, not meeting the character requirement, a sponsor who is not eligible or whose sponsorship is not approved, and not meeting the de facto relationship requirements (such as the 12-month period) where these apply. If a partner visa is refused, the decision letter states whether the decision can be reviewed, who can apply, and the deadline to do so. For an offshore partner visa refusal, the person generally able to apply for review is the Australian-based sponsor. Merits review of a reviewable migration decision is conducted by the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART). Time limits to lodge are strict and are set out in the decision letter, and the Tribunal generally cannot extend them, so the date stated in the letter is the one that counts. An application fee applies to lodge a review. A reduced fee can be requested in cases of financial hardship, and part of the fee is refunded if the Tribunal decides the matter in the applicant's favour by setting aside or remitting the decision. If a review succeeds, the Tribunal generally returns the application to the Department to continue processing rather than granting the visa itself. This description is factual and neutral and is not a prediction of any outcome. This is general information only and is not immigration assistance or legal advice.
Costs: government charges and other expenses
The main government cost is the Visa Application Charge (VAC), set by the Department of Home Affairs. For the partner program, a single base charge is paid when the combined application is lodged, and it covers both the provisional (subclass 309) and the permanent (subclass 100) stages, so there is no separate base charge assessed at the permanent stage. On top of the base charge, additional applicant charges apply for each family member included in the application, at one rate for applicants aged 18 and over and a lower rate for those under 18. A reduced base charge may apply where the main applicant previously held a Prospective Marriage (subclass 300) visa. A second VAC instalment can apply in limited circumstances before the permanent stage is granted, for example where a main applicant aged 18 or over has not demonstrated functional English. A separate subsequent-entrant charge generally applies if a family member is added to the application later, and card payments may attract a payment surcharge. Visa Application Charges are generally non-refundable, including if the application is refused or withdrawn. Because the amounts are indexed and change over time, the exact charges for a given situation should be confirmed using the Department's visa pricing estimator before lodging. Applicants also typically meet other separate costs that are not part of the VAC, for example health examinations, police or character certificates from relevant countries, biometrics where required, and translation of documents. These government and third-party costs, and the government VAC itself, are always separate from any service or platform fee charged by an independent provider, which is never part of the government Visa Application Charge. This is general information only and is not immigration assistance or legal advice.
Official forms associated with this visa
Departmental forms that commonly come up for subclass 309, linked to the department’s own files. Whether a form applies to you depends on your circumstances — the note beside each is general only.
- 888.PDF — Form 888 - Supporting statement in relation to a Partner or Prospective Marriage visa application ↗Supporting statement from friends or family witnessing the relationship.
- 80.PDF — Form 80 - Personal particulars for assessment including character assessment ↗Personal particulars and character — commonly requested by the department.
- 1221.PDF — Form 1221 - Additional personal particulars information ↗Additional personal particulars, if the department requests it.
- 54.PDF — Form 54 - Family composition ↗Family composition details, if requested.
- 1229.PDF — Form 1229 - Consent to grant an Australian visa to a child under the age of 18 years ↗Consent to grant a visa to a child under 18 where a non-migrating parent must consent.
- 1410I.PDF — Form 1410i - Completing a statutory declaration for a family violence claim ↗Guidance for a statutory declaration if making a family violence claim.
- 956.PDF — Form 956 - Appointment of a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person ↗
Official information and lodgement
Applications are lodged through your own ImmiAccount on the Department of Home Affairs website — never through this platform.
Visit the official Home Affairs page ↗Important notice: General information only — not immigration assistance or legal advice. For advice about your circumstances, book a verified practitioner.
Compiled from official Department of Home Affairs sources — practitioner verification pending.