How Do I Move From Subclass 300 to a Partner Visa (820/801) in 2026?
Newly married and holding a Prospective Marriage visa (subclass 300)? The move to a Partner visa comes down to three conditions: marry first, lodge the Partner visa (subclass 820 and 801) application before your Subclass 300 ends, and be in Australia when you lodge it. That sequencing is set out on the Department of Home Affairs' official Prospective Marriage visa (subclass 300) page, current as of July 2026, which directs couples who want to settle in Australia to the Partner visa (subclass 820 and 801) as the onshore route.
This article explains published rules in general terms and is not personalised advice about your situation; requirements, fees and processing times can change, so the official pages remain the reference point for anything you rely on when you lodge.
When should you lodge the 820/801 application?
Lodge after the wedding and before the Subclass 300 expires. The official page is explicit on both halves of that order: apply for the Partner visa "after you are married" and "before your Prospective Marriage visa ends."
Your stay on the Subclass 300 runs 9 to 15 months from the visa grant date, and the exact end date is the one on your grant letter (you can also check it through VEVO). Because marrying before the visa expires is itself an obligation of the Subclass 300, the expiry date is the hard outer limit — not a target date to aim for.
In practice, couples who marry early in the visa period have more room to gather documents than couples who marry in the final weeks. Police certificates are valid for 12 months from their issue date, and health assessment results are valid for 12 months from the date you complete your examinations, so documents collected for the Subclass 300 stage may need refreshing by the time you lodge the partner application.
Do you have to be in Australia to apply?
Yes. The official page states that you must be in Australia to apply for the Partner visa (subclasses 820 and 801). Being onshore is not a preference or a processing shortcut — it is a condition of lodging this particular application.
Two travel details matter here. If you are outside Australia at the time of visa grant, you must enter Australia before the first entry arrival date shown on your grant letter, and while the Subclass 300 is valid you can travel to and from Australia as many times as you want. That flexibility cuts both ways: a trip booked for the weeks around your wedding can push your lodging date past the point where you planned to apply.
There is also a trap specific to New Zealand passport holders. The official page recommends telling the immigration officer at the border that you hold a Prospective Marriage visa and do not want a Special Category visa (subclass 444); if a 444 is granted, it overrides your Subclass 300. That matters for more than status — as the next section explains, being granted another visa can cost you the lower partner visa charge.
Does applying before the 300 ends change what you pay?
It can. The Department's page says you pay less for the Partner visa if you marry your prospective spouse and apply before your Prospective Marriage visa ends, and it repeats the point in stronger terms: as a Subclass 300 holder you are eligible to pay a lower visa application charge for the Partner visa application.
The same section warns against taking a different visa in the meantime. If you are granted any other visa, that visa replaces your Subclass 300, and you may then need to pay a higher visa application charge when you apply for the Partner visa. So the saving is tied to two things staying true at the moment you lodge: you are still a Subclass 300 holder, and you have already married the person who sponsored that visa.
The official page does not publish a single fixed figure here, and the amount that applies to you depends on your circumstances and any family members included. A visa pricing estimator is published on the Department's website for working out the charge; it does not include the separate costs of health checks, police certificates or biometrics. Concessions apply in limited circumstances, and from 1 July 2026 a lower visa cost applies to eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens who lodge a valid application, based on the primary applicant holding a valid passport from one of the listed countries.
What evidence will you need after the wedding?
The Subclass 300 page's step-by-step guidance gives a good picture of the documentary standard used across the partner program, and much of it carries over to what a newly married couple will be asked for:
- A registered marriage certificate issued by the relevant legal authority. You can marry in any country, but the marriage must be valid under Australian law.
- Identity documents, including a birth certificate showing the names of both parents, the photo and personal details pages of your current passport, and proof of any change of name.
- Police certificates for every country where you spent a total of 12 months or more during the last 10 years since turning 16, plus military service records or discharge papers if you served in any country's armed forces. Form 80 (Personal particulars for assessment including character assessment) is also part of the character documentation.
- Health examinations, arranged through the Department's health requirements process. The results are valid for 12 months; a health undertaking, if you are asked to sign one, is valid for 6 months.
- Anything not in English must be translated. Translators in Australia must be accredited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters; translators outside Australia must include their full name, address, telephone number, and their qualifications and experience in that language, in English, on each translation.
Documents should be scanned or photographed in colour and clearly readable, multi-page documents saved as one file, and there is no requirement to have documents certified. The partner application you complete online carries its own document checklist, and the official guidance is to supply everything with the application or as soon as possible afterwards, because applications with all required information reduce processing delays.
What if the relationship ends before you lodge?
The Department's position is that you may still be eligible for the Partner visa (subclasses 820 and 801) if your relationship ends or your partner dies, and that all information you provide is confidential. The requirement to be in Australia still applies.
Notification happens through the Notification of Relationship Cessation form in ImmiAccount, and the "Your relationship has changed" page covers which situations require it. If you are experiencing domestic and family violence, the family violence provisions may allow the temporary and permanent visa to be granted anyway; the Department publishes a dedicated page on domestic and family violence and your visa.
What about children and other family members?
Family members cannot be added to a Subclass 300 after it has been granted. If a baby is born after your visa was granted, the Department needs to be told, and its "You had a baby" page sets out that process.
The Subclass 300 page states that, for that visa, family members who apply with you must be members of the family unit, meet the health and character requirements, and be outside Australia, and a separate fee applies for each family member who applies with you.
What should you check again closer to the date?
Fees and processing times are the two things most likely to have moved between your wedding and your lodging date. The Department publishes visa pricing through its estimator and publishes global visa processing times separately; it also advises completing health examinations with those published processing times in mind. Treat the figures on those pages as the current position rather than any number quoted in general commentary.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I apply for the 820/801 before the wedding?
No. The official Subclass 300 page says to apply for the Partner visa after you are married. A Subclass 300 exists precisely because the marriage has not happened yet, so the partner application is the step that follows the ceremony, not the step that precedes it.
What happens if I marry while my Subclass 300 application is still being decided?
You become ineligible for the Subclass 300 and the application will be refused if you do not withdraw it. The official guidance is to update your details in ImmiAccount, attach evidence of the marriage, request consideration for a Partner (Provisional) visa (subclass 309) and Partner (Migrant) visa (subclass 100), and state that you want to withdraw the Prospective Marriage application.
Can I lodge the 820/801 from outside Australia?
No — you must be in Australia to apply for the Partner visa (subclasses 820 and 801). The offshore partner route named on the Subclass 300 page is the subclass 309 and subclass 100 combination, which is why where you are on the day you lodge determines which application is available to you.
Do I really pay less by applying before the Subclass 300 ends?
Yes, provided you have married your prospective spouse and you are still a Subclass 300 holder when you lodge. If you are granted another visa first, it replaces your Subclass 300 and you may face the higher visa application charge instead.
Can I keep working while the partner application is being processed?
Your Subclass 300 gives full work rights, along with the right to study and to travel in and out of Australia, for 9 to 15 months from the grant date. Those rights run to the end of the Subclass 300 itself, which is another reason the expiry date on your grant letter is the date to plan around.
My Subclass 300 is close to expiring and my documents aren't ready. What matters most?
The two conditions you cannot negotiate are being married and lodging before the visa ends. Document collection, police certificates and health examinations are the parts you can compress or sequence, so the priority is to protect the lodging date rather than to perfect the document set first.