What Can You Do on a Partner Visa Subclass 100 in 2026?

Updated 2026-10-11 · General information, not migration advice · Run by the Arrivau team

On the day your Partner (Migrant) visa (Subclass 100) is granted, you become an Australian permanent resident. The Australian Department of Home Affairs' Partner (Migrant) visa (Subclass 100) official page, current as of October 2026, states that permanent residency begins on the grant day itself. From that point you can live, work and study in Australia indefinitely, access Medicare, sponsor eligible family members, travel in and out of Australia for five years, and — if you meet the criteria — move toward Australian citizenship.

This article is general information, not personalised migration or legal advice. Your own grant letter, visa conditions and circumstances govern what you can actually do, so confirm anything decision-relevant against the official pages or a registered professional before you act on it.

How is this different from what my Subclass 309 already allowed?

The Department's process page for this visa describes the step up from the temporary Partner (Provisional) visa (subclass 309) in three additions: you can live, work and study in Australia indefinitely, you can sponsor eligible family members to come to Australia, and you can apply for Australian citizenship if eligible.

The headline change is permanence. Your subclass 309 was a provisional stage tied to the relationship assessment; the subclass 100 is the permanent stage that follows once the Department is satisfied the relationship is genuine and ongoing.

You did not need a fresh application fee for this stage. According to the official page, you paid for this visa when you applied for the temporary and permanent Partner visas together, although you might still have to pay other costs such as health or police checks.

Does "permanent" mean the visa never expires?

Yes for residence, no for travel. You become a permanent resident on the day the visa is granted and there is no end date on your stay. What does expire is the travel facility: you can travel to and from Australia as many times as you want for five years from the date of grant, as long as that travel facility remains valid.

Those are two separate clocks, and confusing them is the most common way permanent residents get caught out. After the initial five-year travel facility ends, you must apply for and be granted a Resident Return (RRV) if you want to travel to Australia again as a permanent resident. You can check when your travel facility ends using VEVO.

If you were outside Australia when the visa was granted, your grant letter specifies a first entry arrival date, and you must enter Australia before it. You can still travel to Australia with an expired first entry arrival date if the visa itself is still valid, but the visa may be subject to cancellation before arrival or at the border.

One extra trap applies to New Zealand passport holders: if an immigration officer processes your clearance at the border, tell them you hold a permanent Australian visa and that you do not want a Special Category visa (subclass 444). If you do not, you might be granted a 444 visa, which overrides your permanent visa and might affect your eligibility for citizenship.

Do I get unrestricted work rights?

Yes. The official page states that with this visa you have full work rights and are protected by Australian workplace law. There is no employer sponsorship step, no occupation list and no hourly cap attached to the visa itself — the same workplace rights and entitlements that apply to other workers apply to you.

Can I study, and does it change what I can access?

You can study in Australia on this visa. The Department points holders to StudyAssist to work out what study they may be eligible for, which is where course and assistance eligibility is set out rather than in the visa conditions.

Do I get Medicare, and what about other government payments?

You can access Australia's public healthcare scheme, Medicare. Some other Australian Government payments and benefits are different: as a newly arrived resident you might have to wait before you can access certain payments, and Services Australia publishes those waiting periods.

Can I now sponsor family members?

Yes — that is one of the three additions listed for this stage. As an Australian permanent resident you might be able to sponsor eligible family members to come to Australia, and the Department's visa options pages are where you identify which visa fits them.

What you cannot do is add anyone to your own application after the permanent visa is granted. If you had a dependent child who did not hold a subclass 309 visa, the official page is explicit that they needed to hold a Dependent Child visa (subclass 445) and be added before a decision was made on your permanent application, using Form 1002. A child born after you applied is handled differently again — the Department asks you to notify it about a new baby.

When can I apply for citizenship?

After a certain time, you may be eligible for Australian citizenship. The official page gives a rule worth noting early: for citizenship purposes your permanent residency starts on either the day the visa was granted if you were in Australia, or the day you first entered Australia on this visa after it was granted.

That distinction matters if you were offshore at grant. Two applicants granted on the same day can start their citizenship clock on different dates depending on when they first entered.

What do I still have to do as a holder?

You and your family members must meet all visa conditions and obey Australian laws. The specific conditions attached to your grant are visible through VEVO rather than on a passport sticker.

There is no visa label. The Department digitally links your visa to your passport and creates a digital visa record; your visa number is in your grant letter and is what you use to access that record. Airlines check it before you board, government agencies use it to verify identity and conditions, and employers, banks and other registered organisations can use it to check your visa conditions. If you need proof of your travel in and out of Australia, you can request your international movement records.

You also need to keep your details current: tell the Department if you get a new passport, and tell it if you have a baby after applying.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Subclass 100 visa valid forever?

Your residence is permanent and begins on the day the visa is granted, with no end date on how long you can stay. The five-year limit applies only to the travel facility, after which you need a Resident Return (RRV) to re-enter Australia as a permanent resident.

Can I still have visa conditions on a permanent visa?

Yes. The Department states that you and your family members must meet all visa conditions and obey Australian laws. Use VEVO to see the conditions attached to your own grant rather than assuming permanent means unconditional.

Can I add my parents or another child to my visa now?

No. The official page says you cannot add any family members after the permanent Partner visa (subclass 100) is granted. As a permanent resident you may instead be able to sponsor eligible family members for their own visa.

Do I need a label in my passport as proof?

No. Australian visas are digital, so the Department links a digital visa record to your passport instead of issuing a label. Employers, banks, airlines and government agencies check your conditions through VEVO using your visa number.

When does my citizenship clock start?

The Department says permanent residency starts, for citizenship purposes, on the day the visa was granted if you were in Australia, or on the day you first entered Australia on this visa after it was granted. If you were offshore at grant, your first entry date is the one that counts.

Do I get every government payment immediately as a permanent resident?

Not necessarily. You can access Medicare, but you might have to wait to access certain Australian Government payments and benefits, and Services Australia publishes the waiting periods that apply to newly arrived residents.