After Your 820 Partner Visa Is Granted: What Actually Happens Next

Step 1 — read the grant carefully: no conditions, but no fixed end date either

Regulation 820.6 states it plainly: Conditions: Nil. There's no work-hour cap, no sponsor-employment tie, no regional restriction, no health-insurance condition attached to this visa. You have full work and study rights from the moment it's granted.

What regulation 820.511 does set is unusual: the 820 is in effect "until the holder is notified that his or her application for a Subclass 801 (Partner) visa has been decided, or that application is withdrawn." There's no calendar expiry date — the visa runs for exactly as long as the 801 decision takes, however long that turns out to be.

Step 2 — if you were on a bridging visa before this, it's gone now

If your substantive visa expired while your combined 820/801 application was being processed, you would have been on a Bridging Visa A (BVA) in the period between lodging and the 820 being granted. The moment the 820 itself is granted, that bridging visa ceases — you're now on the 820 substantive visa, not the bridging visa. This is worth actually confirming via VEVO, since some people continue thinking of themselves as "on a bridging visa" well after the situation has changed.

Step 3 — the one real obligation: reporting material changes

Even though the 820 itself carries no numbered conditions, you're still expected to keep Home Affairs informed of material changes relevant to your application — most importantly, if the relationship the visa was granted on ends. This is done via Form 1022 (Notification of changes in circumstances) — see /blog/form-1022-guide for how it works. This isn't optional based on convenience; a relationship breakdown is exactly the kind of change the Department expects to be told about, and if your circumstances involve safety concerns, the family-violence provisions exist specifically to protect a genuine applicant's pathway to permanent residence even where the relationship has ended in those circumstances — see /blog/family-violence-provisions-partner-visa-australia.

Step 4 — your first week

Because there's no visa-driven urgency (no work-hour cap, no 90-day deadline), the sequence here is closer to any new arrival's: TFN, bank account, myGov, and confirming your Medicare situation — partner visa applicants and holders may have interim Medicare access from earlier in the application process depending on your specific circumstances, so confirm your current status directly with Services Australia rather than assuming. See /blog/get-tfn-tax-file-number-australia, /blog/open-bank-account-in-australia-as-new-migrant, and /blog/set-up-mygov-australia for the mechanics.

The 801 stage — what's actually running in the background

The 801 (permanent) stage is typically decided 2 or more years after you first became eligible, and the Department expects the same relationship evidence — financial, social, household, and commitment — to keep accumulating across that entire period, not just at the point of the original application. Joint bank statements, a shared lease renewal, updated utility bills in both names, and continued photographs and communication records all matter more collectively than any single document. See /blog/partner-visa-second-stage-801-100 for what the 801 stage specifically assesses.

Documents to keep from day one

Because the evidence standard for the 801 is cumulative across the whole 820 period, the discipline that matters most here is consistency: keep adding to the same four evidence categories continuously rather than assembling a burst of evidence right before the 801 decision is due. The Partner Evidence Pack ($99) is built around exactly this structure — the four pillars, a running timeline, and prompts for statutory declarations — kept current as you go rather than reconstructed retrospectively.

Does my 820 visa expire?

Not on a calendar date — under regulation 820.511 it remains in effect until you're notified of the decision on your Subclass 801 application, or that application is withdrawn. There's no fixed expiry to plan around.

Can I work and study freely on an 820?

Yes — regulation 820.6 attaches no Schedule 8 conditions at all to the 820, so there's no work-hour cap, sponsor tie, or regional restriction.

What happened to my bridging visa now that my 820 is granted?

If you held a Bridging Visa A while your 820 application was being processed, it ceased automatically the moment the 820 was granted — you're now on the 820 itself. Confirm this via VEVO if you're unsure of your current status.

Do I need to tell Home Affairs if my relationship changes after the 820 is granted?

Yes — even though the 820 has no numbered Schedule 8 conditions, you're still expected to notify material changes via Form 1022. A relationship ending is exactly the kind of change this covers. See /blog/form-1022-guide and, where safety is a concern, /blog/family-violence-provisions-partner-visa-australia.

How long until my 801 is decided?

Typically 2 or more years after you first become eligible, though this varies with processing volumes — check current Home Affairs processing time indicators rather than relying on a fixed figure here.

What evidence does the 801 stage actually look at?

The same four categories the 820 stage assessed — financial, social, household, and commitment — but assessed for the ongoing relationship across the whole period, not just the original application. See /blog/partner-visa-second-stage-801-100 for the detail.