If the applicant in your couple could qualify for a skilled or employer-sponsored visa in their own right, you are choosing between two entirely different tests, not two routes to the same door. The partner visa succeeds or fails on whether the Department is satisfied the relationship is genuine and continuing. A skilled visa succeeds or fails on an occupation, a skills assessment, points, and usually a nomination by someone other than you. A couple can be unbeatable on one and have nothing on the other. For current skilled criteria go to the Department of Home Affairs directly, because occupation lists and points settings change.
What each application actually depends on
The partner visa depends on the relationship and the sponsor. Clause 820.211(2) of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 requires the applicant to be the spouse or de facto partner of an Australian citizen, an Australian permanent resident or an eligible New Zealand citizen, and to be sponsored by that person. "Spouse" and "de facto partner" come from sections 5F and 5CB of the Migration Act 1958, given content by regulations 1.15A and 1.09A, which set the four matters the Department weighs: financial aspects, the nature of the household, the social context and the nature of the commitment. See genuine and continuing relationship.
The points-tested skilled visas depend on a machine. Regulation 1.03 defines the points system as the system of assessment under Subdivision B of Division 3 of Part 2 of the Migration Act. Regulation 2.26AC, made for subsection 93(1), prescribes the qualifications in Schedule 6D and the points each attracts, for the Subclass 189 points-tested stream and for Subclasses 190, 489 and 491. Regulation 2.26B lets the Minister specify a relevant assessing authority for an occupation, and it is that body, not the Department, that assesses the applicant's skills. Employer-sponsored routes start somewhere else again: a business willing to nominate a position. So the difference is who holds the outcome. In a partner application the evidence is yours to build; in a skilled one, other people hold the pieces.
How the money is structured
The partner visa is one charge covering two stages. Item 1214C of Schedule 1 sets the charge for the Partner (Temporary) class at nil and requires the application to be made at the same time and place as the Partner (Residence) class application, which carries the charge. That is why the Department of Home Affairs says of the subclass 801: "You paid for this visa when you made your applications for the temporary and permanent Partner visas." One payment, at the start, and not refunded on refusal.
A skilled pathway is a series of separate spends, mostly not to the Department: a skills assessment by the relevant assessing authority; an English language test; for a nominated visa, a state, territory or employer nomination process with its own requirements; then the visa application charge. A step can fail before you reach the next, and nothing already spent comes back. For figures, use the Department's current visa pricing (Visa Pricing Estimator), the tool it pointed applicants to as at 23 September 2026. What the partner charge covers is at 820 visa cost.
Timing differs the same way. The partner visa has a wait built into the law: the Department says you are eligible for consideration of the permanent visa two years after you first applied. A skilled application has no such interval, but a skills assessment or test result can expire while you wait for an invitation. Neither can be predicted; the Department's visa processing times tool is a guide only.
Where each one ends
The partner visa ends in permanent residence if the relationship holds. Clause 820.511 makes the subclass 820 a temporary visa running until the subclass 801 application is decided or withdrawn, and that permanent application is already lodged. The Department says the 801 lets the holder live, work and study indefinitely and apply for citizenship if eligible. See how the 820 and 801 work together.
A skilled visa may or may not end anywhere. Regulation 2.26AC names Skilled-Independent (Permanent) and Skilled-Nominated (Permanent) classes, and separately names provisional ones. A provisional or temporary skilled visa is a stay, and any further step depends on criteria that can be altered.
Key facts
the partner visa is an application for permanent residence made at the outset, with a two-year wait inside it. A temporary skilled visa is only a stay. Do not compare them as though both end in the same place.
Holding a work visa does not close the partner door
A substantive temporary visa is not a barrier. Item 1214C requires only that the applicant be in Australia and not in immigration clearance, and lodging does not disturb the visa already held: see applying from a skilled work visa. Three qualifications are easy to miss:
- Regional provisional visas carry a waiting period. Item 1214C(3)(g) requires a holder, or last holder, of a Skilled-Independent Regional (Provisional) or Skilled-Regional Sponsored (Provisional) class visa, a Subclass 475 or a Subclass 487 to have held it for at least 2 years; item 1214C(3)(h) requires at least 3 years for a Subclass 491 or 494. Until then a partner application is not valid.
- Condition 8503 blocks the application until a waiver is approved, and the Department says the waiver must be approved before you can apply. See condition 8503 no further stay.
- No substantive visa changes everything. That applicant faces the Schedule 3 criteria, and possibly the section 48 bar.
Why running both is not always sensible
There is no rule against having both on foot, and for some couples the hedge is worth the money: the two fail for unrelated reasons.
The problem is the end game. The Department is explicit that, to get the permanent subclass 801, you must hold the subclass 820, and that "If you are granted any other visa, you will no longer be eligible for the grant of the permanent Partner visa (subclass 801)." Section 82 of the Migration Act is the mechanism: a substantive visa ceases when another comes into effect. A temporary skilled visa granted after the 820 can therefore destroy the permanent stage, trading permanent residence for a job-dependent stay. You cannot control which application is decided first, only which ones are still on foot.
Which risk are you actually taking?
A relationship-based visa when the relationship is new. If you are not married, regulation 2.03A requires a de facto relationship of at least 12 months ending immediately before the application, unless an exemption applies, such as a relationship registered under a prescribed State or Territory law. Past that, the four matters in regulations 1.09A and 1.15A are assessed on evidence, and new couples often have thin financial and household history through no fault of their own. The visa is tied to one person, too: the Department says you cannot change your sponsor. See de facto partner requirements and if the relationship ends.
A points test that can change. Points settings, occupation lists and nomination arrangements are made by instrument and by state and territory governments, and they are revised. An applicant comfortably competitive one year may not be the next, through no change in their own circumstances. A relationship is not revised by policy. Neither risk is smaller; they simply sit with different people.
An application prepared by an Australian migration lawyer is more likely to succeed where both routes are live, because the errors are structural rather than evidentiary. The minimum holding periods in item 1214C make an otherwise perfect partner application invalid; a skilled grant in the wrong order extinguishes the subclass 801. None of it is flagged on any form.
What to do next
Work out which skilled visa is genuinely available, and whether it is permanent or provisional, before comparing anything. Then read comparing the partner visa options and 820 visa requirements.
Common questions
Can I apply for a partner visa if I already hold a temporary work visa?
Yes. Holding a substantive temporary visa does not prevent a partner visa application. Item 1214C of Schedule 1 to the Migration Regulations 1994 requires the applicant to be in Australia and not in immigration clearance, and says nothing that excludes work visa holders. Two exceptions matter. Certain regional provisional visas carry a minimum holding period before a valid partner application can be made, and a visa carrying condition 8503 blocks the application until a waiver is approved.
Which is faster, a partner visa or a skilled visa?
Nobody can tell you that, and no site should. The Department of Home Affairs publishes a visa processing time guide tool that shows recently decided applications, and says it is a guide only and not specific to your application. Processing times move, and the two visa programs are managed separately, so a comparison that was true last year may not be true now. Check both in the Department's tool on the day you decide.
Is a partner visa cheaper than a skilled visa?
They are structured differently rather than simply cheaper or dearer. The partner visa is one large charge that covers both the temporary subclass 820 and the permanent subclass 801 stages, paid at lodgement. A skilled pathway is a series of separate spends, most of them paid to someone other than the Department, including a skills assessment by the relevant assessing authority, an English test, any state, territory or employer nomination process, and then the visa application charge. Use the Department's Visa Pricing Estimator for the current charge.
Should we lodge both a partner visa and a skilled visa application?
There is no rule against having both on foot, but it is not automatically sensible. The Department says that if you are granted any other visa you will no longer be eligible for the grant of the permanent Partner visa subclass 801, and section 82 of the Migration Act 1958 causes a substantive visa to cease when another one comes into effect. So a skilled visa granted after the subclass 820 can extinguish the permanent partner stage. Take advice on sequencing before lodging anything.
Does a skilled visa lead to permanent residence?
Some do and some do not, and the label matters. Regulation 2.26AC of the Migration Regulations 1994 identifies Skilled-Independent (Permanent) and Skilled-Nominated (Permanent) classes, and separately identifies provisional classes. A provisional or temporary skilled visa is a stay with conditions attached, not permanent residence, and any further step depends on criteria that are set by the Department and change. The partner visa, by contrast, is a two-stage application for permanent residence from the day it is lodged.
Sources
Keep reading
820 vs 309: Onshore vs Offshore Partner Visa
The onshore 820 against the offshore 309 — where you must be, the bridging visa, work rights, travel, Medicare, and what happens if you leave Australia.
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820 vs 300 Prospective Marriage Visa
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Married or De Facto: Which Should You Apply As?
What actually changes if you apply as a married spouse instead of a de facto partner — the 12-month rule, its exemptions, and the four matters that stay the same.
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