Applying for an Australian partner visa? Get it right the first time.

From 1 July 2026 the primary applicant charge is AUD 11,710, up from AUD 9,365. It is the same for onshore 820 and 801 and offshore 309 and 100, and it covers both stages. Additional applicants are AUD 5,860 for adults and AUD 2,935 for children under 18. A reduced charge applies to holders of passports from certain Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste. Budget separately for health examinations, police clearances and translations. The charge is not refunded if you are refused.

Published processing times for the temporary stage currently sit at roughly 14 to 16 months at the median, with the slowest ten per cent of cases stretching towards 24 to 26 months. The permanent stage is assessed from the two-year point after lodgement. Complete, well-organised applications tend to move faster, because incomplete ones generate requests for information that add months each time.

Yes. De facto relationships, including same-sex relationships, are treated the same as marriages for partner visa purposes. You generally need to show twelve months of de facto relationship before lodging. That requirement can be waived if the relationship is registered in a state or territory that permits registration, or in certain compelling circumstances.

If you are onshore and held a substantive visa when you lodged, you will generally be granted a Bridging Visa A, which usually carries work rights once it comes into effect. Offshore applicants have no Australian work rights until the 309 is granted and they enter Australia. If you need to leave and return to Australia while onshore, you need a Bridging Visa B, which now costs AUD 575 and must be applied for in advance.

Not automatically. Sponsorship limits apply where your partner has sponsored someone before, where they were themselves sponsored as a partner, or where required waiting periods have not passed. Certain criminal convictions, particularly offences involving children, can bar sponsorship or require disclosure to the applicant. This is worth confirming early, because no amount of relationship evidence overcomes an ineligible sponsor.

Applying onshore without a substantive visa triggers Schedule 3 criteria, which require compelling reasons for the Department to waive the usual requirements. These are difficult to satisfy and outcomes are uncertain. If your visa is close to expiring, treat lodging a valid application as urgent, because the position is significantly stronger before expiry than after.

You must notify Home Affairs, and the application generally cannot proceed on the original basis. There are important exceptions, including where there are children of the relationship, or where family violence has occurred. The family violence provisions allow some applicants to continue to the permanent stage despite separation. If this applies to you, get proper advice rather than assuming the application is finished.

Depending on your circumstances you may be able to seek review at the Administrative Review Tribunal, where the fee rose to AUD 3,727 on 1 July 2026 and is partially refundable if you succeed. Review deadlines are strict and generally cannot be extended. The alternative is a fresh application, which means the full charge again. Which route makes sense depends on the refusal reasons, so work it out quickly rather than waiting.

Yes. Sending your situation and getting a response on which pathway applies and where your evidence is thin costs nothing. If your case needs formal migration advice or representation, that work is done by a registered professional whose fees are separate and disclosed to you before anything proceeds.