The only current figures are the ones the Department of Home Affairs publishes in its visa processing times tool, and the Department is explicit that those figures describe applications that were recently decided, that they are a guide only, and that they are not specific to your application. This page explains where the numbers come from, what decides the order applications are looked at in, and what makes one file move faster than another.
How to Check Your 820 Application Status
How to check a subclass 820 application in ImmiAccount, what each status label means, where your application date is, and when to contact the Department.
Read the guide →
Bridging Visa A While Your 820 Is Processed
Who gets a Bridging visa A with an 820 application, when it starts, what work rights it carries, why it ends if you leave Australia, and what replaces it.
Read the guide →
Requests for More Information (s56) Explained
What a section 56 request for more information is, the deadline it sets, what happens if you miss it, how to ask for more time, and how to answer one.
Read the guide →
Natural Justice Letters (s57): How to Respond
What a section 57 natural justice letter is, what triggers one on a partner visa, the deadline to comment, and how to structure a response.
Read the guide →
Partner Visa Interviews and Home Visits
When Home Affairs interviews partner visa applicants and sponsors, what subjects are covered, why partners are interviewed separately, and how to prepare.
Read the guide →
Telling Home Affairs About a Change in Circumstances
What you must tell the Department while your 820 and 801 are pending, which form to use, how to notify without ImmiAccount, and what happens if you say nothing.
Read the guide →
Withdrawing an 820 Application
How to withdraw an onshore partner visa application, what happens to your bridging visa and your money, and why withdrawing is often the wrong move.
Read the guide →Where the official processing times are published
The Department publishes indicative times in its visa processing time guide tool, which it updates as applications are decided. The figures in the tool are drawn from applications that have already been finalised, so they describe the recent past rather than predicting your own wait. The Department also warns, on its own subclass 820 page, that applicants "may experience longer processing times than expected".
Important
No figure quoted on this site, or on any other private site, is a substitute for the Department's tool. Processing times move month to month. Check the tool yourself on the day you need the number, and treat anything older as out of date.
Because the figures change, this guide does not repeat them. If you want to track how they have moved, see processing time updates.
How the Department decides which applications to look at first
Partner applications are processed according to Ministerial Direction 117, which sets the processing priorities for family visa applications. A ministerial direction is a legal instrument that tells departmental decision-makers the order in which to deal with applications. The Department refers to this under the heading "Family visa processing priorities" on its Partner visa pages.
The practical effect is that lodgement order is not the only thing that matters. An application is allocated to a case officer when it reaches the front of the relevant processing arrangement, not simply when two years have passed or when a certain number of other applications have been decided. Two couples who lodged in the same week can be allocated months apart without anything having gone wrong with either file.
When does the clock start for the permanent 801?
The 820 and the 801 are lodged as a single application, but they are assessed at different times. The Department says the processing time for a permanent Partner visa "starts from the date of eligibility", and that this is two years after you applied for the temporary and permanent Partner visas — not two years after the 820 was granted.
That distinction matters. If the 820 took a long time to decide, the eligibility date for the 801 may arrive soon after the temporary visa is granted, or may already have passed. The date you applied is visible in ImmiAccount. See when the 801 is assessed and 801 processing time for how the permanent stage runs.
What actually makes an individual application slower
Most of the variation between applications comes from the file itself, not from the published averages.
Completeness at lodgement
The Department's own step-by-step guidance says you should provide all required information with your application, or as soon as possible afterwards. An application that arrives with the sponsorship form lodged, identity documents attached, and relationship evidence across the four categories can be assessed in one pass. An application missing pieces goes back in a queue each time the case officer has to stop and ask. See decision-ready applications.
Requests for more information
If a case officer needs something, they will ask. A request for more information under section 56 of the Migration Act sets a period to respond, and the file usually waits until that period ends or the material arrives. Responding slowly, or partially, adds that whole period to the wait. See requests for more information and, where the concern is more serious, natural justice letters.
Health and police certificates expiring
The Department treats police certificates as valid for 12 months from the date of issue for immigration purposes, and health assessment results as valid for 12 months. A health undertaking runs for 6 months. On a long-running application, certificates obtained early can expire before a decision is made, and the Department may ask for them again. That is why the Department suggests checking processing times before you organise them. See police certificates and health examinations.
Changes in circumstances
A birth, a marriage, a change of address, a new passport, a period of separation or the end of the relationship all have to be assessed before the application can be decided. Some of these also trigger a legal obligation to notify. See telling Home Affairs about changes.
Interviews and further checks
Not every application is interviewed, but some are, and an interview or a home visit adds scheduling time. Character or identity checks that have to be referred elsewhere also add time that is outside the case officer's control. See partner visa interviews.
How to check the status of your application
Status is checked in ImmiAccount, using the account the application was lodged from. The application record shows the lodgement date, the documents attached, and the current status label. The Department contacts applicants through the address recorded on the application, which may be the applicant's own address, the sponsor's address if nominated, or an authorised recipient — but the Department may still contact the applicant directly.
Two practical points. First, keep the ImmiAccount password secure and the contact details current: a request for information sent to an address you no longer read still runs its deadline. Second, update your relationship evidence in ImmiAccount as the wait goes on. The Department's own advice is that because Partner applications can have long processing times, you should update your documents and evidence regularly. A step-by-step walkthrough is at checking your application status.
What "further assessment" means
"Further assessment" is a status label, not a decision and not a warning. It means the application has been received, is valid, and is being worked through — nothing more. It does not indicate that a problem has been found, and it does not mean a decision is imminent.
There is no way to read a timeline out of a status label. If the Department needs something from you, it asks; if it has concerns that could lead to refusal, it is generally required to put those concerns to you first. Silence between those points is normal and, on Partner applications, common.
What you can and cannot control
You cannot change the published processing times, the order set by Ministerial Direction 117, or the date of eligibility for the 801. You can control whether the file is complete, whether your evidence still describes your relationship as it is today, and how quickly you answer when the Department asks.
This is the point at which professional help makes a measurable difference. An application prepared by a migration lawyer is more likely to succeed, because the delays that hurt most on Partner applications are self-inflicted: evidence that is thin in one of the four categories the Department assesses, a response to a request for information that answers the wrong question, or a deadline in a letter that is missed because nobody was watching the inbox. Someone who handles these files routinely knows which of those a case officer will pick up on. No one can promise an outcome or a date.
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.
What to do next
Work out what your bridging visa lets you do while you wait — in particular whether you can work and whether you can leave Australia. Start with Bridging visa A, then Bridging visa B and travel if you need to go overseas. If your 820 has already been granted, move on to what the 820 visa lets you do.
Common questions
How long does the 820 visa take?
There is no set period. The Department of Home Affairs publishes indicative processing times in its visa processing time guide tool, and those figures describe applications that were recently decided rather than yours. The Department says the figures are a guide only and that some applicants experience longer processing times than expected. Check the tool for the current figure before you rely on any number.
Does the 801 have its own processing time?
Yes. The Department says the processing time for a permanent Partner visa starts from the date of eligibility, which is two years after you applied for the temporary and permanent Partner visas. The wait for the 801 is measured from that point, not from the day the 820 was granted.
Why is my partner visa taking longer than my friend's?
Applications are not decided in a simple queue. Home Affairs processes family visa applications according to Ministerial Direction 117 and its family visa processing priorities, and an individual file can also be delayed by missing documents, a request for more information, expired police or health checks, or a change in circumstances that has to be assessed.
Can I ask Home Affairs to speed up my 820 application?
The Department does not publish a general fast-track for Partner visas, and processing order is set by Ministerial Direction 117 rather than by request. What you can control is completeness: lodging with full relationship evidence, responding quickly to any request for information, and keeping your documents current in ImmiAccount.
What does further assessment mean on my application status?
It is a general status label, not a decision and not a sign of a problem. It means the case officer is still working through the application and has not reached the point of deciding it. The Department contacts you directly if it needs something from you, so the practical response is to make sure your contact details in ImmiAccount are current.