As at 23 September 2026, a person holding a visitor visa in Australia can make a valid subclass 820 partner visa application, provided the visa does not carry a condition preventing a further stay and provided they are in Australia when they apply. This is lawful and ordinary. It is also the pathway with the most moving parts, so work through the checks below before lodging anything.
What has to be true before you lodge
Three things, in this order.
1. No no further stay condition. The Department of Home Affairs states that you can apply for this visa "if your current or previous visa does not have a condition that prevents further stay, such as condition 8503", and that a waiver "must be approved before you can apply for this visa". Condition 8503 is very common on visitor visas — under the Migration Regulations 1994 it must be imposed on some subclass 600 streams and may be imposed on others, so two people with the same visa subclass can have different conditions. Check yours and read condition 8503 no further stay if it is there.
2. You are in Australia. Being in Australia, but not in immigration clearance, is a requirement for a valid application, and any family members applying with you must be in Australia too. See being in Australia when you apply.
3. The visa is still in effect. The application must be lodged while you still hold the visitor visa. Once it ceases, you no longer hold a substantive visa and the Schedule 3 criteria apply — a far harder application.
Watch out
check conditions and the expiry date in VEVO yourself, from the Department's check visa details and conditions (VEVO) service, rather than relying on the grant email, a travel agent or memory. Australian visas are digital and there is no label in the passport.
What happens to your status when the visitor visa ends
If you hold a substantive visa when you make a valid partner visa application and you apply for a bridging visa in respect of it, a Bridging visa A is normally granted under the Migration Regulations 1994. The important detail is the timing: a bridging visa granted in these circumstances comes into effect either on grant or when the substantive visa held by the holder ceases, and it then permits you to remain until the partner visa application is decided.
In practice that means:
- while the visitor visa is still running, the visitor visa's conditions still govern you — including condition 8101 (no work) if it is on your visa. The bridging visa's conditions do not replace them yet;
- when the visitor visa ends, the Bridging visa A takes effect and you stay lawful;
- a bridging visa is not a substantive visa, so it does not let you travel in and out. Leaving Australia on a Bridging visa A ends it. Travel is dealt with under Bridging visa B and travel.
Read Bridging visa A before you book anything, and do not assume you can work the day after you lodge.
The genuine visit question
A visitor visa is granted on the basis that the applicant genuinely intends to stay temporarily for the purpose the visa is granted for. Under Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994, that criterion is assessed having regard to matters including whether the applicant substantially complied with the conditions on their last substantive visa and whether they intend to comply with the conditions on the visitor visa.
Two things follow, and the distinction matters enormously.
Changing your plans is not, by itself, a problem. Intentions are assessed at the time. People meet partners, relationships become serious, and circumstances change after arrival. Nothing in the partner visa criteria treats a visitor visa holder as disqualified or suspect for that reason, and the Department's own eligibility material contemplates onshore applications by people holding other visas.
Giving false or misleading information is a serious problem. The Department states that applicants must prove their identity and provide true information with their application. A statement to a visa officer or in an application form that was untrue when it was made does not become harmless later. It can affect the partner visa, the character and public interest criteria, and any future application. If you are worried that something you said earlier looks inconsistent with what you are doing now, that is a reason to get advice before lodging, not a reason to say nothing.
The safe approach is simple: everything you tell the Department is accurate and consistent, and where something changed, you say what changed and when.
The proposed change reported in August 2026
A change was reported in August 2026 under which visitor visa holders may be prevented from applying for family visas, including partner visas, while they are in Australia.
As at 23 September 2026, the law had not changed. On that date:
- no legislation had been introduced or made to give effect to the proposal;
- no commencement date had been announced; and
- no transitional arrangements — the rules that decide who would be affected and who would be protected — had been released.
Nobody should rush an application, or delay one, on the strength of a proposal. A rushed application is usually a thin one, and evidence gaps in a partner application are expensive and slow to fix. A delayed application can leave you without a substantive visa. The right sequence is the one that is right for your own circumstances today, under the law as it stands today.
Because changes of this kind, if they proceed, normally arrive through amendments to the Migration Regulations 1994, the way to check is the Federal Register of Legislation and the Department's own pages, not commentary. This site tracks the proposal at proposed visitor visa changes, and the position stated here is as at 23 September 2026 — check for a more recent update before relying on it.
Practical sequence for a visitor visa holder
- Check VEVO for conditions and the visa end date.
- If condition 8503, 8534 or 8535 is present, request a waiver and wait for approval before lodging anything.
- Work out how much time is genuinely left, allowing for the fact that evidence takes weeks to assemble, not days.
- Prepare the relationship evidence and the sponsor's part of the application together, rather than lodging an empty application and filling it later.
- Lodge the 820 and the 801 together, while the visitor visa is still in effect, and apply for the bridging visa at the same time.
- Keep updating documents in ImmiAccount afterwards. The Department says partner applications can have long processing times and that evidence should be updated regularly; current timeframes are published in the Department's visa processing times tool.
Where professional help matters here
Of all the onshore pathways, this one has the shortest fuse, and an application prepared by an immigration lawyer is more likely to succeed for that reason. A visitor visa is measured in weeks or months, not years: the condition check, the waiver sequence, the evidence gathering and the lodgement all have to fit inside it, and the cost of missing the end date is that you fall out of substantive status and into Schedule 3. The other thing a professional adds on this pathway is judgement about disclosure — how to present a relationship that formed or changed after arrival, accurately and without creating an inconsistency with what was said when the visitor visa was granted. No one can promise an outcome, but these are the two failures that turn a straightforward case into a hard one.
What to do next
Start with VEVO today and write down your conditions and expiry date. Then read how to apply for the 820 visa for the lodgement steps, and 820 visa requirements for the criteria you will have to meet. If your visitor visa has already ended, go straight to Schedule 3 criteria and get advice before lodging.
Common questions
Can I apply for an 820 partner visa while I am on a visitor visa?
Yes, as at 23 September 2026, provided your visitor visa does not carry condition 8503 or another condition preventing a further stay, and provided you are in Australia when you apply. The Department of Home Affairs says you can apply for the visa if your current or previous visa does not have a condition that prevents further stay.
Do I get a bridging visa if I apply on a visitor visa?
If you hold a substantive visa such as a visitor visa when you make a valid partner visa application and you apply for a bridging visa in respect of it, a Bridging visa A is normally granted. It does not come into effect straight away. It comes into effect when the visitor visa ceases, and until then the visitor visa and its conditions, including any no work condition, continue to apply.
Is it dishonest to come as a visitor and then apply for a partner visa?
Changing your plans is not itself a problem. The visitor visa criteria ask whether you genuinely intended to stay temporarily for the purpose the visa was granted for, assessed at the time. What causes serious trouble is giving false or misleading information, at any stage, because that goes to identity, character and the integrity of both applications.
What happens when my visitor visa expires after I have applied?
If a valid partner visa application has been made and a Bridging visa A has been granted, the bridging visa comes into effect when the visitor visa ceases, and you remain lawful. If no valid application was made, or no bridging visa was granted, you become unlawful when the visitor visa ends, and the Schedule 3 criteria then apply to any onshore partner visa application.
Has the law changed to stop visitor visa holders applying onshore?
No. A change of this kind was reported in August 2026, but as at 23 September 2026 the law had not changed. No legislation, commencement date or transitional arrangements had been released. Nobody should rush or delay an application on the strength of a proposal.
Sources
Keep reading
Lodging in ImmiAccount: Screen-by-Screen
How the 820 partner visa is lodged in ImmiAccount - who should own the account, what the form asks, attaching documents, the TRN, paying, and what happens next.
Read the guide →
The Sponsor's Part of the Application
What the 820 visa sponsor has to lodge - the Sponsorship for a Partner to Migrate to Australia form, when to lodge it, what it asks, and what happens if it is refused.
Read the guide →
Including Dependent Children in Your 820 Application
How to include children in an 820 partner visa application: who counts as a dependent child, what each child needs, consent and custody, and adding a child later.
Read the guide →