Partner Visa Subclass 309/100 Lawyers:
Talk to a Registered Partner Visa Lawyer

What Is the Subclass 309/100 Partner Visa

The Subclass 309/100 exists for couples where the applicant is living overseas at the time they apply, rather than already in Australia. It runs on the same basic structure as the onshore 820/801: one combined application covering a temporary stage and a permanent stage, one government charge, and the same underlying test of whether the relationship is genuine and continuing. What sets it apart is almost entirely about location, timing and what rights you do and do not have while the case is on hand.

This pathway suits couples who met or built their relationship while living in different countries, couples where the Australian partner has been working overseas and is returning home, and couples who simply have not yet had the opportunity to live together in Australia. If you are engaged but not yet married or in a 12-month de facto relationship, the Subclass 300 Prospective Marriage visa is usually the better starting point, with a transition to the onshore 820/801 after the wedding rather than the 309/100.

The Location Rule: Why 309/100 Is Different

This is the single most important distinction between the offshore and onshore partner visa pathways. To apply for the 309, you and any dependent family members included in the application must be outside Australia at the time you lodge. You are then generally required to remain outside Australia until a decision is made on the 309 stage itself. This is different from the 820/801, where the applicant is in Australia for the entire process and receives a bridging visa automatically.

Many applicants ask whether they can visit their partner in Australia while the 309 is being assessed. In practice, you can apply for a separate visa, such as a visitor visa, to travel to Australia temporarily during processing, but you generally need to be outside Australia again by the time the department is ready to decide the 309 application. Getting this timing wrong, for example being onshore on a visitor visa when the decision is due, can create complications or delay. Because the rules around travel during processing carry real risk if mistimed, this is one of the areas where speaking to a registered migration agent before you book any travel is genuinely worthwhile.

Eligibility Requirements for the 309/100

Because the applicant is outside Australia, Schedule 3 requirements, which apply to onshore applicants without a substantive visa, are not relevant to the 309/100 pathway at all. Instead, eligibility turns on location, relationship status and the standard sponsor requirements.

As with every partner visa pathway, relationship evidence is assessed across the four pillars: financial, social, household and commitment. For offshore applicants, this evidence often has to bridge two countries, so consistency across time zones, currencies and languages matters more than it might for a couple who has always lived under one roof in Australia.

Not sure whether you should apply offshore or wait until you are in Australia? Check with a free assessment.

Gathering Evidence From Overseas

Offshore applications carry a few evidence challenges the onshore pathway does not. Any documents not in English need a certified translation, and police clearances are required from every country you have lived in for 12 months or more in the last 10 years, which for a couple with an international relationship history can mean coordinating certificates from several jurisdictions at once. Health examinations and biometrics are usually completed through an authorised panel clinic or visa application centre in your home country rather than in Australia, so it pays to check appointment availability early rather than leaving it until a request for information arrives.

Relationship evidence should still tell one consistent story across the four pillars, but for couples who have spent time apart, it helps to specifically document how the relationship was maintained across the distance: money transfers, travel bookings to see each other, call and message records, and evidence of visits, alongside the more familiar joint financial and household evidence from any time spent living together.

Work Rights and Travel While the 309 Is Being Decided

Because you are outside Australia, there is no bridging visa involved at the 309 stage, and you do not have Australian work rights while waiting on a decision. If you want to spend time in Australia during processing, you need a separate visa, such as a visitor visa, and that visa's own conditions, not the pending 309 application, will determine whether you can work while you are here. Once the 309 is granted, you can move to Australia and take up full work and study rights, and travel in and out of the country freely while the permanent Subclass 100 stage is assessed.

Medicare access under this pathway generally begins once you arrive in Australia to live, rather than automatically from the date you first apply, which is a genuine practical difference from the onshore pathway where Medicare access starts as soon as the 820 is granted. It is worth factoring private health cover into your planning for the period before you relocate.

Fast-Track for Long-Term Relationships

The same long-term relationship exception used for the onshore pathway applies here. Couples who have been together for at least three years by the time they apply, or two years if they have a dependent child together, may have the permanent Subclass 100 granted immediately after the Subclass 309, skipping the usual two-year wait between stages. This does not lower the evidence bar, but it removes the waiting period for couples who already have a long, well-documented history together, regardless of how much of that history was spent in different countries.

Family Violence and Sponsor Death Provisions

If the relationship ends before the permanent 100 stage is decided, the application generally cannot proceed on relationship grounds, with the same exceptions available under the onshore pathway: family violence committed by the sponsor, the death of the sponsor, or a dependent child of the relationship with ongoing needs. One nuance specific to the 309/100 pathway is that where family violence is the basis for the exception, it generally needs to have occurred after you entered Australia as a 309 visa holder, since the provision is tied to the period after arrival rather than events that took place while you were still living overseas. If any of these situations apply to you, get advice from a registered migration agent or immigration lawyer promptly, since both the evidence and the timing of your response to the department matter.

When Sponsorship Obligations End

Under the 309/100 pathway, the sponsor's formal obligations run for two years from the date the applicant first enters Australia on the 309 visa, rather than two years from lodgement. This is a small but genuine difference from the onshore pathway, where the sponsorship period is generally measured from the visa application itself, and it is worth both partners understanding clearly before the applicant relocates.

Step-by-Step: How the 309/100 Process Works

1. Build your evidence file while overseas. Gather relationship evidence across the four pillars, plus identity, health and character documents, including police clearances from every relevant country.
2. Lodge the combined 309/100 application through ImmiAccount from outside Australia. The temporary and permanent stages are lodged and paid for together, alongside a separate sponsorship application from your partner in Australia.
3. Complete health and biometrics through an authorised provider in your country. Book early, since panel clinic and visa application centre appointments can take time to arrange.
4. The department assesses the 309 stage. A case officer reviews your evidence against the four pillars while you remain outside Australia.
5. The 309 is granted. You can now move to Australia with full work, study and travel rights while the permanent stage is pending.
6. The department reassesses roughly two years after lodgement. You provide updated evidence that the relationship is still genuine and continuing.
7. The 100 is granted. You become an Australian permanent resident, with a pathway to citizenship down the track.

Get help planning a decision-ready 309/100 application from overseas. Start your free assessment.

Costs and Processing Times

From 1 July 2026, the base application charge for the primary applicant on the 309/100 pathway is the same as the onshore pathway, AUD 11,710. This single charge covers both stages, so there is no second government fee when the 100 is later granted. A secondary applicant aged 18 or over adds AUD 5,860, and a secondary applicant under 18 adds AUD 2,935. Beyond the government charge, budget for a health examination, translation of any non-English documents, and police clearances for each country you have lived in for 12 months or more, which for offshore applicants with an international history can mean several certificates rather than just one.

As of mid-2026, the Department of Home Affairs reports a median processing time of around 20 months for the combined Partner Provisional and Temporary category, which includes the 309. This is a program-wide figure rather than a promise for any individual case, and it can move depending on document completeness, requests for further information, and case complexity. The permanent 100 stage is generally not assessed until at least two years after lodgement. For current government charges and processing bands, the Department of Home Affairs publishes both on its partner visa page.

Common Mistakes That Delay or Derail 309/100 Applications

Why Get Matched Through Us

AussieMigrationGuide is an independent information and referral platform. We are not a law firm and not a registered migration agency, and we never provide immigration advice ourselves. What we do is help you understand the 309/100 pathway in plain language, then connect you with a MARA-registered migration agent or immigration lawyer from our network who can review your specific situation, including any travel timing, multi-country evidence or family violence complexity, and represent you directly with the Department of Home Affairs. There is no cost to you to be matched, and no obligation to proceed.

How Our Matching Works

1. Submit your free assessment. Tell us where you are currently living, your relationship history, and where you are in the process.
2. We review your situation. We look at your location, your evidence position and which specialist experience fits your case.
3. We connect you with a MARA-registered agent or immigration lawyer. They contact you directly to discuss your case and provide advice specific to your circumstances, including any travel planning.
4. You decide how to proceed. There is no obligation, and the advice you receive comes from the registered professional, not from us.

Related Guides

Frequently Asked Questions