Australian Partner Visa Processing Time: How It's Actually Measured

Two Stages, One Application

The Australian partner visa involves two stages regardless of whether you apply onshore or offshore, and both are lodged together as a single application at the start — you don't file two separate applications. Onshore: Subclass 820 (temporary) leads to Subclass 801 (permanent). Offshore: Subclass 309 (temporary) leads to Subclass 100 (permanent). Home Affairs assesses the permanent stage (801 or 100) about 2 years after you lodged the combined application. The exception is a long-term relationship: if you had been in the relationship for at least 3 years when you applied, or 2 years with a dependent child together, the permanent visa can sometimes be granted straight away. Most applicants haven't met that threshold at initial lodgement, so they hold the temporary visa until the threshold is reached, at which point the permanent stage is assessed — in many cases without a fresh application, since it was lodged as part of the original combined application.

How the Department Actually Reports Processing Time

Home Affairs publishes global visa processing times on its website, updated monthly, for every visa subclass including the partner visa streams. Rather than a single average, the published figures show percentile bands — commonly the time taken to finalise the fastest 25%, 50%, 75% and 90% of applications decided in the reporting period. That spread exists precisely because partner visa timelines vary enormously by evidence quality, individual circumstances and processing volume at the time — a single headline number would hide more than it reveals. Because these percentiles are recalculated from whichever applications were actually finalised that month, they shift over time and can move up or down depending on Departmental resourcing and application volume; the only genuinely current figure is the one on the Department's own processing-times page at the moment you check it, and it should be checked again close to your own lodgement date rather than relied on from an article written months earlier.

The Published Figures for a Recent Period

As one dated example of how the spread actually looks: for the reporting period ending 30 June 2026 (published by the Department on 4 August 2026), the offshore Subclass 309 (temporary) took 13 months to finalise the fastest 25% of decided applications, 17 months for the fastest 50%, 24 months for the fastest 75%, and 30 months for the fastest 90%. The offshore Subclass 100 (permanent) took 9, 10, 12 and 19 months at those same bands. Onshore, the Subclass 820 (temporary) took 8, 18, 24 and 32 months, while the Subclass 801 (permanent) took 89 days, 5 months, 10 months and 12 months. It isn't a mistake that the permanent 801 shows faster figures than the temporary 820 in this snapshot — many 801 assessments are effectively a check-in on relationship evidence that was already lodged and reviewed years earlier at the 820 stage, once the 3-year (or 2-year-with-child) threshold has been reached, so they can move faster than a fresh 820 application working through the queue. These numbers are a single monthly snapshot, already several weeks old, and will have moved by the time you check — go to the Department's current processing-times page for the figure that applies today.

What Drives Delays Beyond the Published Range

Regardless of where the published percentile bands currently sit, several factors reliably push an individual case toward the slower end: incomplete evidence at lodgement, which triggers requests for further information and effectively restarts the clock on that piece of the assessment; expiring health examinations or police clearances during a long-running application, which can require redoing checks that were valid at lodgement but have since lapsed; complex relationship history (previous marriages, prior de facto relationships, children from earlier relationships), which increases the volume of evidence the Department needs to work through; a change of circumstances during processing (either party moving address or country, a change in relationship status) that must be reported and reassessed; and sponsor-side issues, including a sponsor's criminal history or having sponsored a partner before, which can trigger extra scrutiny under the sponsorship limitations in the Migration Regulations. A case that involves a Tribunal review or ministerial intervention request runs on an entirely separate, generally much longer timeline outside the standard processing figures altogether.

Evidence That Actually Moves a Case Faster

The single biggest lever you control is the completeness of your evidence at first lodgement — a case that needs a follow-up request for information is, by definition, slower than one that doesn't. The Department assesses relationship evidence across four broad categories: financial (joint accounts, shared bills, co-signed loans or leases), social (evidence your circle recognises you as a couple — joint invitations, photos, statutory declarations from people who know you), household (shared address, joint lease or utilities, evidence of a shared home), and commitment (communication history, travel together, joint future plans). See /blog/partner-visa-evidence-guide and /blog/partner-visa-evidence-checklist-2026 for what belongs in each category and how much depth is enough — a well-organised submission across all four categories at lodgement is the most direct way to avoid the delay a request for further information causes.

The Bridging Visa During the Temporary-Stage Wait

If you apply onshore for the 820 and your current substantive visa expires before the 820 is decided, you're automatically granted a Bridging Visa A (BVA), which generally carries the same work conditions as the visa it replaced, keeping you in lawful status while the application is processed. Once the 820 is granted, you move onto its own conditions (which include full work rights) rather than the bridging visa. A common trap: leaving Australia while on a BVA causes it to cease — you need a Bridging Visa B (BVB), applied for and granted before you depart, and you must return before it expires. An offshore applicant on the 309 pathway has no equivalent bridging visa; they need to remain offshore (or return offshore) until the 309 itself is granted.

After the Temporary Grant: What Happens at the Permanent Stage

Once you've held the temporary 820 or 309 for the required period and meet the 3-year (or 2-year-with-child) relationship threshold, the permanent 801 or 100 stage is assessed. In many cases the Department contacts you or your representative for an update rather than requiring a completely fresh application, since the permanent-stage criteria were already part of the original combined lodgement — but you generally still need to provide updated evidence showing the relationship has continued genuinely in the intervening period. See /blog/partner-visa-second-stage-801-100 for exactly what the second stage requires and how it differs from the first.

Sponsor Eligibility and Its Effect on Timing

The person sponsoring you (your Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen partner) is separately assessed, and sponsor-side issues are a genuine source of delay that applicants sometimes overlook because the focus naturally sits on the relationship evidence. The Migration Regulations place limits on how often, and how recently, someone can sponsor a partner — a sponsor who has sponsored a previous partner within a set period, or been sponsored themselves recently, can trigger additional scrutiny or, in limited circumstances, require a specific ministerial discretion to proceed at all. A sponsor's relevant criminal history (particularly offences involving violence) is also assessed and can affect both timing and outcome. None of this is unusual to disclose or plan around — it's simply a second, separate assessment running alongside the relationship evidence, and getting the sponsor's own documentation in order at first lodgement avoids it becoming a second source of delay layered on top of the relationship assessment itself.

Priority Processing and What It Doesn't Change

The Department occasionally flags certain circumstances for more urgent handling within the existing process — for example, compelling compassionate or health circumstances raised and evidenced at the time of lodgement or during processing. This is discretionary and case-by-case, not a formal fast-track queue you can opt into, and it doesn't change the underlying evidentiary requirements or the two-stage structure described above. The most reliable way to give your own case the best realistic timeline within the Department's published range is still the two things you actually control: a complete, well-organised application at first lodgement, and prompt, thorough responses if the Department does request further information — both matter more to your individual outcome than anything published about program-wide averages.

What the Charge Covers Across Both Stages

The visa application charge is a single charge covering both stages of the combined application, whether you're on the onshore 820/801 pathway or the offshore 309/100 pathway: $11,710 for the main applicant, plus $5,860 for each additional adult included in the application and $2,935 for each additional child, at 1 July 2026 rates. You don't pay it twice — nothing further is charged when the permanent stage (801 or 100) is assessed. See /blog/partner-visa-australia-cost for the full cost breakdown, including agent fees.

How long does the Australian partner visa actually take?

There's no single fixed answer — Home Affairs publishes updated percentile processing times monthly (the time to finalise the fastest 25%, 50%, 75% and 90% of decided applications), and that figure moves with application volume. Check the Department's current global processing times for the 820/801 or 309/100 close to your own lodgement date rather than relying on a number from an article. As one dated data point: for the period ending 30 June 2026 (published 4 August 2026), the fastest half of decided applications finished in 17 months for the offshore 309, 10 months for the offshore 100, 18 months for the onshore 820, and 5 months for the onshore 801 — a snapshot, not a promise, for the period it covers.

Why does the Department publish a range instead of one number?

Because actual processing time varies enormously by evidence quality and individual circumstances — a single average would hide that spread. The published percentile bands (25/50/75/90%) show how the fastest quarter, half, three-quarters and nine-tenths of recently decided cases were actually processed, which is more honest than one headline figure.

Can we get married after lodging the partner visa to strengthen our application?

Yes. Marrying after lodgement doesn't invalidate the application, but you must notify the Department of the change in relationship status from de facto to spouse, and it adds a new category of evidence to the file rather than replacing what you've already submitted.

What happens if we separate after lodging the partner visa?

You must notify the Department. A genuine relationship breakdown generally means the partner visa criteria are no longer met. Limited provisions exist for people affected by family violence — seek advice from a migration agent urgently if this applies to you.

Can I work while waiting for the 820 to be granted?

It depends on what you hold while waiting. If your prior substantive visa carried work rights, a Bridging Visa A granted after it expires generally continues those same rights. Once the 820 itself is granted, full work rights apply regardless of your prior visa.

What's the biggest thing that speeds up a partner visa application?

A complete, well-organised evidence package across all four categories (financial, social, household, commitment) at first lodgement. A request for further information because evidence was thin or missing is one of the most common and avoidable sources of delay.