Do You Pay Again for the Partner Visa 100 in 2026?

Updated 2026-10-12 · General information, not migration advice · Run by the Arrivau team

No — there is no application charge to pay again when the Department decides your permanent Partner visa. According to the Australian Department of Home Affairs' Partner (Migrant) visa (Subclass 100) official page, as of October 2026, you paid for this visa when you applied for the temporary and permanent Partner visas together. In practice that means the combined temporary Partner visa (subclass 309) and permanent Partner visa (subclass 100) application covered both stages, and the later decision on the 100 does not open a new bill. The same page adds one caveat: you might have to pay other costs for health or police checks.

Why is there no separate charge at the Subclass 100 stage?

The 309 and the 100 are two stages of one application rather than two purchases. You asked for both at the same time, the Department assessed the temporary stage first, and the permanent stage follows from the same lodgement. So the fee question at the 100 stage is settled by what you already paid. Nothing on the visa page describes a further instalment, a balance, or a grant fee due when the permanent visa is decided.

What can still cost you money before the 100 is granted?

Health checks and police checks sit outside the application charge. Health assessments are arranged as part of the assessment process, and police certificates come from authorities in the countries where you have lived, so their cost and timing depend on where and how often you need them. Neither amount is set out on the visa page, and both change over time, which is why any figure you see quoted elsewhere should be read as a snapshot rather than a fixed rule.

This article is general information about how the visa works, not advice about your own circumstances and not a prediction of how your case will be decided; where your situation involves unusual facts, treat the Department's current published guidance or a qualified professional of your own choosing as the reference point.

When does the Department start processing the 100?

Processing does not start the day your 309 is granted. According to the visa page, the processing time for the permanent visa starts from the date of eligibility, and that date falls two years after you applied for the temporary and permanent Partner visas. Before that point, the Department is still working within the assessment window rather than running a separate 100 timetable.

That two-year marker also explains a common frustration: applicants sometimes expect the permanent decision to arrive immediately after the temporary grant, then interpret the wait as a delay or as evidence that something is missing.

What actually changes on the day the 100 is granted?

You become a permanent resident on the day the visa is granted, and the conditions attached to your stay change accordingly.

You can live, work and study in Australia indefinitely.
You can access Australia's public healthcare scheme, Medicare.
You can sponsor eligible family members to come to Australia.
You can travel to and from Australia for five years from the date of grant, and after that travel facility ends you need a Resident Return visa to travel as a permanent resident.
You may be eligible for free English classes under the Adult Migrant English Program, and later for Australian citizenship, subject to the separate criteria for each.

There is no visa label placed in your passport. The Department links the visa digitally to your passport and creates a digital record instead. You and any family members included must still meet all visa conditions and obey Australian laws.

Can you add family members at the permanent stage?

Usually not, because the family unit is included much earlier. You can include members of the family unit when you apply for the temporary Partner visa (subclass 309), and those who apply with you must also be outside Australia. Once the permanent visa is granted, you cannot add any family members to it.

A dependent child who does not hold a subclass 309 visa can be added to your permanent application before the Department decides it, but the order matters.

Your child must first be granted a Dependent Child visa (subclass 445). They can be in or outside Australia.
Complete Form 1002, Application by a subclass 445 dependent child for a permanent partner visa.
Attach the form to your ImmiAccount.
Tell the Department through the Partner Processing Enquiry Form.

The Department can grant your child the subclass 100 visa if they are a member of the family unit and meet all other criteria. Separately, if you have a baby while the application is on foot, you need to let the Department know.

What commonly slows the permanent stage down?

The Department says it updates processing times regularly and assesses every application case by case, so published times are a guideline only. Complex cases may take longer. Your own file can also slow down if you do not fill the application in correctly, you leave out required documents, the Department needs more information from you, or it takes time to verify the information you provided.

None of these delays create a new fee. They affect timing, not cost.

For readers comparing their own situation with the description above, the Department maintains answers to common questions across the partner visa program, which sit alongside individual visa pages. Government charges, health requirements and police certificate arrangements are all subject to the latest official publication, so a page read today should be rechecked before any decision based on it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you pay the Partner visa 100 fee again at the permanent stage?

No. The Department's official page states that you paid for this visa when you applied for the temporary and permanent Partner visas together. There is no second application charge described for the decision on the Subclass 100.

Is the combined application really covering both the 309 and the 100?

Yes. Both stages come from the same application you lodged, which is why the permanent stage is assessed later rather than applied for separately. The Department's own processing rules treat eligibility for the 100 as falling two years after that combined application.

Are health and police checks included in what I already paid?

No, not in the application charge. The visa page notes that you might have to pay other costs for health or police checks, so budget for them as separate costs that fall outside the fee already paid.

Does anything I pay later change my chances of being granted?

Nothing in the official description links the extra costs to the outcome. They are requirements to be met, alongside the criteria for the visa itself, and paying them does not by itself secure a grant.

Can I add my partner's child after the 309 has been granted?

A child who does not hold a subclass 309 visa must first hold a Dependent Child visa (subclass 445) before being added to your permanent application. You then lodge Form 1002 through ImmiAccount and notify the Department using the Partner Processing Enquiry Form, all before a decision is made.

What happens if I have a baby while waiting for the 100?

You need to tell the Department. The visa page points applicants to its guidance for people who have had a baby, rather than leaving the child to be picked up automatically in the existing application.

Is the Subclass 100 permanent from the moment it is granted?

Yes. You become a permanent resident on the day the visa is granted, with the ability to live, work and study in Australia indefinitely and access Medicare. The main thing with a time limit is travel: the travel facility runs for five years from the grant date.