The subclass 820 is a generous visa — what the 820 visa lets you do covers the entitlements — and it carries very few formal conditions. What it carries instead are obligations, most of them because the permanent subclass 801 is still in front of you. Breaking one usually costs the permanent visa rather than the temporary one.
What conditions does the 820 actually carry?
In the ordinary case, none. Regulation 2.05 of the Migration Regulations 1994 provides that a visa is subject to the conditions specified for that subclass in Schedule 2, and Part 820 states at clause 820.6 that conditions are Nil. The same is true of the subclass 801 at clause 801.6.
That does not mean you should assume. Your grant letter records the visa grant number, the start date and any conditions, and the Department of Home Affairs says Australian visas are digital — there is no passport label. The authoritative record is VEVO, the Department's online checking service, which shows the visa in effect and its conditions. Check yours rather than carrying over a condition from an earlier visa.
Clause 820.511 sets the other limit: the 820 runs until you are notified that the subclass 801 application has been decided, or that application is withdrawn. It has no expiry date and does not need renewing.
The general obligations
Obey Australian law. This is a criterion, not a condition. Clause 820.223 brings in public interest criterion 4001 — the character test in section 501 of the Migration Act 1958 — and clause 820.226 requires criteria 4020 and 4021. A charge or conviction during the two-year wait is assessed at the permanent stage and must be notified when it happens. See the character requirement. The same criteria apply again at the 801 stage.
Keep your contact details current. Section 52(3A) of the Act requires a visa applicant to tell the Department where they intend to live while the application is being dealt with, and section 52(3B) requires notice of an address you propose to live at for 14 days or more. The permanent application is still being dealt with, so this does not stop at grant.
Notify changes in writing. Section 104 requires a person to inform an officer in writing, as soon as practicable, when circumstances change so that an answer on their application form is incorrect in the new circumstances; section 104(4) says it applies despite the grant of any visa. Section 105 requires you to correct an answer you later realise was wrong when given. See telling Home Affairs about changes.
Stay in the relationship with your sponsoring partner. Clause 801.221(2) requires, for the ordinary permanent pathway, that you hold a subclass 820 visa, continue to be sponsored by the sponsoring partner, are the spouse or de facto partner of that person, and that at least two years have passed since the application was made — subject to the long-term relationship exemption in clause 801.221(6A). You cannot change your sponsor. If the relationship ends, defined exceptions exist; see if the relationship ends and family violence provisions.
Watch out
Being granted another visa ends your eligibility for the 801. The Department of Home Affairs states that to be granted the permanent Partner visa you must hold the subclass 820 (or a subclass 445 visa), and that if you are granted any other visa you will no longer be eligible. Clause 801.221(2)(a) is explicit, and section 82(2) of the Act provides that a substantive visa ceases if another substantive visa comes into effect.
The subclass 444 trap for New Zealand passport holders
This is the version of the rule above that catches people by accident. A Special Category visa (subclass 444) is granted to a New Zealand passport holder on arrival, automatically, unless they say otherwise. It is a substantive visa, so under section 82(2) it displaces the subclass 820 the moment it comes into effect, and clause 801.221(2)(a) can then no longer be met.
The Department of Home Affairs is direct about this: New Zealand passport holders must tell the border officer that they hold a temporary Partner visa and do not want a Special Category visa, because grant of a subclass 444 will override the temporary Partner visa and they will not be eligible for the subclass 801. It happens at an automated gate as easily as at a counter, so plan for it before every return flight. See travelling on a granted 820.
Keeping evidence for the second stage
You become eligible for consideration of the permanent visa two years after you first applied for the temporary and permanent visas. Those two years are not a waiting room: they are the period the Department will later assess.
Keep material as it accumulates, across the four matters the Department considers — the financial aspects of the relationship, the nature of the household, the social context, and the nature of your commitment to each other. Joint accounts, bills, a shared lease or title, dated photographs, travel and correspondence, statements from people who know you both. The Department says that because partner applications can have long processing times, you should update your documents and relationship evidence regularly through ImmiAccount rather than waiting.
Police certificates and health results are each valid for 12 months, so timing matters. Family members cannot be added after the 820 is granted, and a baby born after grant must be reported. See relationship evidence and 801 stage documents.
What happens if you breach an obligation
Because the 820 carries no prescribed conditions, the realistic risks are refusal of the permanent visa and cancellation of the temporary one.
Cancellation for incorrect information. Under section 107 the Department may give a written notice setting out possible non-compliance with the duties to answer correctly (section 101), not to provide bogus documents (section 103), to notify changes (section 104) and to correct incorrect answers (section 105), and inviting you to show cause. Section 109 is the power to cancel, and it applies whether the non-compliance was deliberate or inadvertent.
General cancellation. Section 116 allows cancellation on grounds including that the decision to grant the visa was based wholly or partly on a fact or circumstance that is no longer the case or never existed; that the holder has not complied with a condition; or that the holder's presence in Australia is or may be a risk to the health, safety or good order of the Australian community or to an individual. Section 140 then provides that cancelling a visa under section 109 or 116 also cancels a visa held by a member of that person's family unit.
Cancellation usually involves a notice and a short period to respond. The grounds and review rights are at visa cancellation.
Where advice helps
These obligations are easy to comply with and easy to forget, so they do most of their damage by accident — a passport renewed and never notified, a charge disclosed late, a return flight that produces a subclass 444. A permanent-stage application prepared with an Australian migration lawyer is more likely to succeed, because they will check what visa you actually hold, what was notified and when, and whether the evidence spans the whole two years rather than the first month and the last. Nobody can promise an outcome.
What to do next: open VEVO and confirm which visa you hold and what conditions are recorded against it. Then read when the 801 is assessed so you know the date your evidence has to reach.
Common questions
What conditions are on a subclass 820 visa?
Part 820 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 states at clause 820.6 that conditions are Nil, so in the ordinary case the subclass 820 is granted with no conditions attached. Regulation 2.05 provides that a visa is subject to the conditions specified for that subclass in Schedule 2. Your grant letter records the conditions that apply to your visa, and VEVO shows them online. Check your own record rather than assuming.
Do I have to stay with my partner to get the 801?
In most cases yes. Clause 801.221(2) requires the applicant to hold a subclass 820 visa, to continue to be sponsored by the sponsoring partner, to be the spouse or de facto partner of the sponsoring partner, and, subject to the long-term relationship exemption, for at least two years to have passed since the application was made. There are defined exceptions covering family violence, the death of the sponsor and certain situations involving a child.
Why can a New Zealand passport holder lose the 801?
Because a Special Category visa (subclass 444) granted at the border overrides the temporary Partner visa. Section 82(2) of the Migration Act 1958 provides that a substantive visa ceases if another substantive visa comes into effect, and holding the subclass 820 is a criterion for the permanent subclass 801. The Department of Home Affairs tells New Zealand passport holders to inform the border officer that they hold a temporary Partner visa and do not want a subclass 444 visa.
Can my 820 visa be cancelled?
Yes. Section 109 allows cancellation where the Department decides there was non-compliance with the duties to give correct information and notify changes. Section 116 allows cancellation on grounds including that the decision to grant was based on a fact or circumstance that is no longer the case, that a condition has not been complied with, or that the holder's presence may be a risk. Section 140 can cancel visas held by members of the family unit as a consequence.
What should I keep during the two years?
Evidence covering the four relationship matters the Department assesses: the financial aspects of the relationship, the nature of the household, the social context, and the nature of the couple's commitment to each other. Joint accounts and bills, a shared lease or title, photographs and messages with dates, travel records, and statements from people who know you. Keep it as it accumulates rather than reconstructing it two years later.
Sources
Keep reading
Work Rights on the 820 and Bridging Visa A
A granted 820 carries full work rights. Before grant, your bridging visa copies the work conditions from your old visa. How to check and how to lift them.
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Medicare on the 820 Visa
An 820 holder can apply for Medicare. How enrolment works, where bridging visa holders stand, and how to cover yourself for health care while you wait.
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Studying on the 820 Visa
You can study on an 820 visa, but the Department says there is no government support and costs are at your own expense. How fee status is decided.
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