A subclass 417 Working Holiday or subclass 462 Work and Holiday visa is a substantive visa, so its holder can lodge a subclass 820 partner visa application from inside Australia. The obstacle on this pathway is almost never the visa. It is the calendar.
The 12-month problem
Most working holiday couples meet in Australia, and most working holiday visas run for about a year. That produces the single most common refusal risk on this page: the relationship is real, and it is too new.
If you are not married, regulation 2.03A of the Migration Regulations 1994 requires the Minister to be satisfied that you have been in the de facto relationship for at least the 12 months ending immediately before the date of the application. It is measured to the date of application, not the date of decision, so waiting in the queue does not fix it.
There are three ways out, and they are not equally available:
- Marriage. A married spouse is assessed under section 5F of the Migration Act 1958 and regulation 1.15A. No 12-month period applies. See married spouse requirements and getting married in Australia, which has the notice period that has to be built into any plan.
- A registered relationship. Regulation 2.03A(5) disapplies the 12-month requirement where the de facto relationship is a registered relationship within the meaning of section 2E of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901. Not every state and territory has a register that counts.
- Compelling and compassionate circumstances for the grant of the visa, under regulation 2.03A(3)(b).
All three are set out at exemptions from the 12-month rule. Read that page before you decide anything else on this one, because it usually determines the sequence of everything that follows.
Important
the 12-month period is one thing; the evidence is another. Under regulations 1.09A and 1.15A the Department looks at the financial aspects of the relationship, the nature of the household, its social context and the nature of the couple's commitment. Working holiday couples often have a short paper trail — no joint lease, no joint account, a lot of travel. Reaching 12 months does not by itself answer the question. See relationship evidence.
Conditions on a 417 or 462 visa
Clauses 417.611 and 462.611 of Schedule 2 require two conditions on every working holiday and work and holiday visa:
- condition 8547 — the holder must not be employed by any one employer for more than 6 months without the prior permission in writing of the Secretary; and
- condition 8548 — the holder must not engage in any studies or training in Australia for more than 4 months.
Other conditions may be imposed. Clause 417.612 allows any one or more of conditions 8106, 8107, 8301, 8303, 8501, 8502, 8503, 8516, 8522, 8525 and 8526. Clause 462.612 allows 8303, 8501, 8503, 8516 and 8540.
Two of those matter here. Condition 8503 blocks the grant of a substantive visa, including the 820, while you remain in Australia, and the Department says a waiver "must be approved before you can apply for this visa" — see condition 8503 no further stay. Condition 8540 does the same for a 462 holder, except that it permits a further subclass 462 visa; a partner visa is not on its list of exceptions either.
Because these are discretionary, two people who arrived on the same subclass can be in completely different positions. Check your own conditions in the Department's check visa details and conditions (VEVO) service.
What happens when the working holiday visa ends
If you lodged a valid 820 application while the working holiday visa was still in effect and applied for a bridging visa, a Bridging visa A is normally granted. Under clause 010.511 it comes into effect either on grant or when the substantive visa ceases, and it then lets you remain until the partner application is decided.
The detail that catches working holiday applicants is what the bridging visa inherits. Clause 010.611 provides that, in the ordinary case, the Bridging visa A carries whichever of a listed set of conditions applied to the visa held at the time of application — and condition 8547 is on that list. Condition 8548, the study limit, is not. So the six-month-per-employer restriction can follow you onto the bridging visa and stay there for as long as the partner application takes. Check the bridging visa grant itself in VEVO rather than assuming, and read Bridging visa A.
Once the 820 is granted, clause 820.611 imposes no conditions, and the Department says holders have full work rights.
Should you take a second or third working holiday visa instead?
This is a genuine decision, not a formality, and it turns on dates.
Taking another working holiday visa keeps you in a substantive visa, which keeps Schedule 3 criteria out of the picture and buys time towards the 12-month de facto period. It is also conditional. Clause 417.211(5) requires an applicant who has held one subclass 417 visa to have carried out specified subclass 417 work of at least 3 months in total, remunerated in accordance with Australian legislation and awards and not carried out for an excluded employer; clause 417.211(6) requires at least 6 months for a third visa, carried out while holding the second visa or its bridging visa. Part 462 has equivalent provisions. The work has to be the right work, in the right place, properly paid and properly evidenced.
Two cautions. A further working holiday visa is a fresh application that can be refused, and a refusal while you hold no substantive visa engages the section 48 bar in the Migration Act. And the Department is explicit that once you hold the temporary Partner visa you should not get another visa: "If you are granted any other visa, you will no longer be eligible for the grant of the permanent Partner visa (subclass 801)." That bites after the 820 is granted, not before, but it is why the order of applications matters.
The trap of leaving at the end of the visa
Working holiday makers are used to flying out. On this pathway, two departures cause different kinds of damage.
Leaving before you lodge. The Department requires you to be in Australia when you apply, and any family members applying with you must be too. Once you are overseas the onshore application is not available at all. See being in Australia when you apply.
Leaving after you lodge, on a Bridging visa A. That visa permits you to remain in Australia. It does not permit you to travel to and enter Australia. Section 82(8) of the Migration Act 1958 provides that a visa to remain in, but not re-enter, Australia that is granted to a non-citizen in Australia ceases when the holder leaves. Boarding the plane ends it, and there is nothing to come back on. To travel, you need a Bridging visa B granted before departure, and clause 020.212 requires the Minister to be satisfied that your reasons for wanting to leave and re-enter are substantial. See Bridging visa B and travel.
A farewell trip home, a friend's wedding, or a cheap flight booked months earlier are the usual ways this goes wrong.
Where professional help matters here
An application prepared by an Australian migration lawyer is more likely to succeed on this pathway, because almost every working holiday case is a sequencing problem before it is an evidence problem. Someone has to work out, from real dates, whether the relationship will reach 12 months before the visa ends, whether registration or marriage is realistic in the time available, whether a second-year visa is a sensible bridge or an avoidable refusal, and whether condition 8503 or 8540 is sitting on the visa. Get that order wrong and you are out of substantive status with a thin evidence file. No one can promise an outcome, but this is a pathway where the right answer changes with a fortnight.
What to do next
Write down three dates: when the relationship began, when your visa ends, and today. Then read how to apply for the 820 visa when you are ready to lodge.
Common questions
Can I apply for a partner visa on a working holiday visa?
Yes. A subclass 417 or 462 visa is a substantive visa, and its holder can lodge a subclass 820 application while in Australia. The two things to check first are whether condition 8503 was imposed on your visa, because it can be imposed on both subclasses, and whether you can satisfy the 12-month de facto requirement in regulation 2.03A if you are not married.
We met in Australia eight months ago. Can we still apply?
Only if you are married, or the 12-month de facto requirement does not apply to you. Regulation 2.03A of the Migration Regulations 1994 requires the Minister to be satisfied that a de facto applicant has been in the relationship for at least the 12 months ending immediately before the date of the application, unless the relationship is registered under a prescribed state or territory law, or the applicant can establish compelling and compassionate circumstances for the grant of the visa.
What is condition 8547?
Condition 8547 in Schedule 8 to the Migration Regulations 1994 provides that the holder must not be employed by any one employer for more than 6 months without the prior permission in writing of the Secretary. Clauses 417.611 and 462.611 require it to be imposed on every working holiday and work and holiday visa, along with condition 8548, which limits study or training to 4 months.
Should I apply for a second working holiday visa while I wait?
It depends entirely on dates and on whether you qualify, and it is a decision to take advice on. A second or third visa keeps you in substantive status and buys time towards the 12-month de facto period, but it requires specified work that meets the criteria in clause 417.211 or the equivalent in Part 462, and the Department says that once a subclass 820 has been granted, being granted any other visa means you are no longer eligible for the permanent subclass 801.
What happens if I leave Australia when my working holiday visa ends?
If you have lodged a valid 820 application and hold a Bridging visa A, leaving Australia ends that bridging visa, because it permits you to remain in Australia but not to re-enter. You would need a Bridging visa B granted before you go. If you leave without having lodged at all, you can no longer make the onshore application, because you must be in Australia when you apply.
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 →