It lets the spouse or de facto partner of an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen live in Australia while the permanent Partner visa (subclass 801) is decided. You must be in Australia to lodge it, and you hold it until the 801 is finalised or you withdraw the application. This page is the map of the whole guide: each section below answers one part of the process and links to the pages that go deeper.
| At a glance | Subclass 820 |
|---|---|
| Stage | Temporary. The first of two stages in one application; the second is the permanent subclass 801. |
| Cost | From A$11,710 for most applicants, and from A$1,955 for subclass 300 holders, as shown by the Department on 23 September 2026. One charge covers both stages. |
| Where you must be | In Australia when you apply. In or outside Australia when the 820 is decided. |
| What it lets you do | Live, work and study in Australia, travel in and out as many times as you want, apply for Medicare, and attend free English classes if eligible. |
| How long until the 801 is assessed | You become eligible for consideration of the 801 two years after you first applied. |
820 and 801: How the Two-Stage Partner Visa Works
The 820 and 801 are one partner visa application with one charge and two decisions. What happens at lodgement, and what the two-year point means.
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820 Visa Requirements and Eligibility
Every subclass 820 partner visa criterion in one place — relationship, sponsor, being onshore, Schedule 3, condition 8503, section 48, health and character.
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Who Can Sponsor an 820 Partner Visa
Who can sponsor a subclass 820 partner visa: citizens, permanent residents and eligible New Zealand citizens, and how sponsorship is lodged and approved.
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820 Visa Document Checklist
A working checklist for the subclass 820 — identity documents, relationship evidence, police certificates, health examinations, translations and uploads.
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Relationship Evidence for Partner Visas: The Four Pillars
The four matters the Migration Regulations set for partner visa relationship evidence, the documents that speak to each, and how to organise them.
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820 Visa Cost in 2026–27
What the subclass 820 partner visa costs in 2026–27: the visa application charge, who pays less, and the medicals, police checks and fees people forget.
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How to Apply for the 820 Visa: Step by Step
The full 820 partner visa lodgement process: what to check first, what to gather, how to apply online in ImmiAccount, the sponsor's form, and what happens next.
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820 Visa Processing Time
How long the subclass 820 takes, where the Department publishes processing times, and what actually makes one application slower or faster than another.
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Subclass 801 Permanent Partner Visa Guide
What the subclass 801 permanent partner visa is, when it is assessed, what evidence it needs, and the exceptions that apply if the relationship has ended.
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What Happens to Your 820 If the Relationship Ends
What to do if your partner relationship ends while your 820 and 801 are on foot, how to tell the Department, and when a permanent visa can still be granted.
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Why 820 Visas Are Refused: Common Refusal Reasons
The reasons 820 partner visas are refused, what the refusal letter usually says for each one, what can be done next, and what happens to your status.
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What the 820 Visa Lets You Do
What a granted subclass 820 allows: living, working, studying, travelling, English classes and Medicare, plus the warnings that can cost you the permanent 801.
Read the guide →What is the subclass 820, and how does it pair with the 801?
The 820 and the 801 are one application with one charge and two decisions. When you lodge, you apply for both at once; the Department decides the temporary 820 first, and comes back to the permanent 801 later. The Department's own wording is that the 820 "lets the de facto partner or spouse of an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen live in Australia temporarily" and that getting it "is the first step towards a permanent Partner visa (subclass 801)". Because the two are joined, the decisions you make at lodgement — who sponsors you, what date you apply — still matter two years later. Start with how the 820 and 801 work together.
Who can apply for an 820 visa?
You can apply if you are the spouse or de facto partner of an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, that person sponsors you, and you are in Australia when you lodge. Beyond the relationship itself, the Department must also be satisfied about:
- health — the health requirement applies to you and to family members who apply, and can apply to family members who do not;
- character — the character requirement applies on the same basis;
- age — applicants in de facto relationships must be 18 or older when they apply, and married applicants must in most cases be 18 or older;
- the Australian Values Statement — applicants aged 18 or over must have read, or had explained to them, the Life in Australia booklet and sign the statement;
- debt — you must have no outstanding debt to the Australian Government, or an arrangement to repay it;
- the best interests of a child — the visa might not be granted if that would not be in the best interests of an applicant under 18.
Two rules catch people out. If you do not hold a substantive visa, Schedule 3 criteria apply and you must show compelling reasons for the grant, and if your current or a previous visa carries condition 8503 (no further stay), a waiver must be approved before you can apply at all. The full list is on 820 visa requirements, and the sponsor's side is on who can sponsor an 820 visa.
How does Home Affairs assess the relationship?
The Department must be satisfied that the relationship is genuine and continuing, and the Migration Regulations tell the decision maker what to look at: the financial aspects of the relationship, the nature of the household, the social aspects, and the nature of your commitment to each other. Those four headings are not a checklist to tick once — they are the frame the whole file is read through, and a couple of strong photographs will not carry a thin financial or household record. Married and de facto applicants are assessed against the same four matters, although de facto applicants must usually also show 12 months of the relationship before applying, unless an exemption applies. See genuine and continuing relationship.
What evidence and documents are needed?
Two different piles. The first is relationship evidence, organised under the four regulatory headings above, including a written account of the relationship from each of you and statutory declarations from people who know you. The second is the paperwork: identity documents, certified translations, police certificates and health examinations. Two timing traps are worth knowing now — police certificates are valid for 12 months from the date of issue for immigration purposes, and health assessment results are also valid for 12 months, so ordering them too early can mean doing them twice. The Department also asks applicants to keep adding to their file through ImmiAccount while they wait. Start with relationship evidence, then work through the 820 visa document checklist.
Watch out
if you do not hold a substantive visa, the Department requires the sponsorship form, evidence of your sponsor's status, and at least two statutory declarations made within the last six weeks, all included at lodgement. Its own advice is that "if this information is not included when you lodge your application, it may be deemed invalid". A Form 888 is not a statutory declaration and does not meet that requirement.
What does the 820 visa cost?
On 23 September 2026 the Department showed the cost as from A$11,710 for most applicants, and from A$1,955 for holders of a Prospective Marriage visa (subclass 300), with concessions in limited circumstances — including a lower cost, from 1 July 2026, for eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens who lodge a valid application. That single charge covers both the 820 and the 801. It is indexed and it changes, so check your own figure with the Department's Visa Pricing Estimator before you pay, and budget separately for medicals, police checks and translations. The Department also says plainly that it will not refund the application fee if the application is refused. See 820 visa cost.
How do you apply, and what does decision-ready mean?
You must apply online, in ImmiAccount, while you are in Australia. Your sponsor completes a separate 'Sponsorship for a Partner to Migrate to Australia' form, which they can lodge through their own ImmiAccount or yours, and the Department says the sponsor should do this as soon as possible after the visa application. A decision-ready application is one where everything the case officer needs is already attached, so the file can be decided without a request for more information — which is the point, because the alternative is a wait, then a request, then another wait. The Department's step-by-step guidance is to provide all required information with the application, or as soon as possible afterwards. See how to apply for the 820 visa and decision-ready applications.
What happens after you lodge?
The Department acknowledges receipt, and if your substantive visa expires while you wait, a Bridging visa A normally keeps you lawful in Australia until the 820 is decided. Processing times vary, the Department warns that applicants may experience longer processing times than expected, and applications are processed according to Ministerial Direction 117. Its processing time guide tool shows how long recently decided applications took and is expressly "a guide only and not specific to your application" — no figure quoted anywhere else should be treated as your timeline. While you wait, the Department may ask you for more information or put adverse material to you for comment, and those letters carry deadlines. See 820 visa processing time, Bridging visa A and requests for more information.
What does the 820 let you do once it is granted?
You can live, work and study in Australia, and travel in and out as many times as you want, until the 801 is finalised. Work rights are full, and the Department notes that you are protected by Australian workplace law. You can study, but at your own expense and with no government support, and you can apply for Medicare and for free English classes through the Adult Migrant English Program if you are eligible. Some Australian Government payments have newly arrived residents' waiting periods. Australian visas are digital, so you prove yours through VEVO rather than a label in your passport. See what the 820 visa lets you do.
When does the permanent 801 stage happen?
You become eligible for consideration of the 801 two years after you first applied for the temporary and permanent Partner visas — not two years after the 820 was granted. The application date is visible in ImmiAccount, and the Department says the processing time for the permanent visa starts from that date of eligibility. At that point you provide updated evidence that the relationship has continued, and in most cases you must still be in a genuine and ongoing relationship with your sponsor. The Migration Regulations remove the two-year wait for applicants who were in a long-term partner relationship with their sponsoring partner when the application was made. See subclass 801 permanent visa.
What if things go wrong?
If the relationship ends, tell the Department — there is a Notification of Relationship Cessation form in ImmiAccount — and get advice quickly, because your visa position changes from that moment. The Migration Regulations allow the permanent visa to be granted in some situations after a relationship has ceased, including where the applicant or a child has experienced family violence committed by the sponsoring partner, and the Department assesses those claims under the family violence provisions. If the 820 is refused, the refusal letter gives the reasons and says whether there is a right of review, and review deadlines at the Administrative Review Tribunal are short and strict. See if the relationship ends, family violence provisions and why 820 visas are refused.
Getting the application right the first time
An application prepared by an Australian migration lawyer is more likely to succeed. On this visa the expensive mistakes are structural rather than clerical: applying while a no further stay condition is still in force, lodging without a substantive visa and without addressing Schedule 3 compelling reasons, filing relationship evidence that covers only one or two of the four regulatory headings, or letting a deadline in a departmental letter pass. None of those can be fixed after a refusal without cost, and the charge is not refunded. Working with a migration lawyer explains what a migration lawyer does and how to check one.
If you are at the start, read how the 820 and 801 work together next, then check yourself against 820 visa requirements before you spend anything.
Common questions
Do I have to be in Australia to apply for the 820 visa?
Yes. The Department of Home Affairs says you must apply online and while you are in Australia, and any family members applying with you must also be in Australia. You can be either in or outside Australia when the temporary visa is decided.
How much does the 820 visa cost?
As at 23 September 2026 the Department shows a cost from A$11,710 for most applicants, and from A$1,955 for holders of a Prospective Marriage visa (subclass 300). Concessions apply in limited circumstances, including a lower cost for eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens who lodge a valid application from 1 July 2026. That one charge covers both the temporary 820 and the permanent 801, and it is not refunded if the application is refused. Check your own figure with the Department's Visa Pricing Estimator before you pay.
Do I pay again for the permanent 801 visa?
No. The Department says you paid for the permanent Partner visa when you made your combined application for the temporary and permanent Partner visas. There can still be later costs that are not part of the charge, such as police certificates, medical examinations and translations.
Can I work while I wait for the 820 to be decided?
Once the 820 is granted you have full work rights and are protected by Australian workplace law. Before grant, what you can do depends on the visa or bridging visa you hold at the time, so check your conditions in VEVO rather than assuming.
When is the permanent 801 assessed?
The Department says you are eligible for consideration of the permanent Partner visa two years after you first applied for the temporary and permanent Partner visas. The application date is shown in ImmiAccount. The Migration Regulations remove that two-year wait for applicants who were in a long-term partner relationship with their sponsoring partner when the application was made.
Unregistered agents
An unregistered agent who gives immigration assistance is acting illegally (Migration Act 1958 s 280). They carry no professional indemnity insurance, so if their mistake costs you a refusal, your fees or your pathway, there is no insurer to claim against. A practising Australian lawyer must hold that insurance.