Once the subclass 820 is granted you can live, work and study in Australia and travel in and out while the permanent visa is processed, so settling in becomes a list of ordinary errands: proving the visa, Medicare, a tax file number, a bank account, a driver licence, school for the children, a job. The part most couples miss is that this admin is not separate from the visa. Nearly every item on the list creates a dated document in one or both of your names, and those documents are what the subclass 801 stage is assessed on two years later.
Changing Your Name After Marriage (and on Your Visa)
Changing your name after marriage in Australia, how it is evidenced, and what the Department must be told — Form 1022, Form 929, and why the passport matters.
Read the guide →
Enrolling Children in School on a Partner Visa
Who runs school enrolment for children on a partner visa, what schools usually ask for, why fee arrangements differ by state, and the subclass 445 pathway.
Read the guide →
Tax File Number, Bank Accounts and Leases in Joint Names
How to sort a tax file number, bank accounts and a lease after an 820 grant, and why joint paperwork opened early is worth more at the 801 stage.
Read the guide →
Having Your Parents Visit While You're on an 820
How a parent's visit works while you hold an 820: who applies, what an invitation letter covers, conditions to check, and why a visit is not a residence step.
Read the guide →How do you prove a visa that has no label?
Through VEVO. Australian visas are digital and there is no sticker or label in the passport, so the Department of Home Affairs points visa holders to VEVO — Visa Entitlement Verification Online — to check and show their visa details and conditions. Employers, landlords, schools and agencies can be given access through the same service.
Keep the grant letter as well. It records the visa grant number, the start date and the conditions attached to the visa, and it is the document most organisations recognise on sight. What it does not do is update itself, which is why VEVO is the authority if the two ever appear to disagree.
Medicare, and who decides
Medicare is administered by Services Australia, not by Home Affairs. The Department says that on the 820 you can apply for access to Medicare; applying is a separate step with its own process and its own evidence, and the visa grant does not enrol you. Services Australia decides who is enrolled and from when. Take the grant letter, passport and identity documents, and ask Services Australia what else is needed for your circumstances. The detail is on Medicare on the 820 visa.
A tax file number and starting work
A tax file number is issued by the Australian Taxation Office. It is not a visa document and Home Affairs has no part in it. Your employer will ask for it when you start, and the ATO explains what applies if you do not have one yet.
On the work side, the Department's own wording is that on this visa "you will have full work rights and are protected by Australian workplace law". No hour limit, no nominated employer, no occupation restriction. Many 820 holders have come off a visa that did restrict work, or off a bridging visa that carried a restriction, so it is worth checking your own conditions in VEVO and showing an employer the record rather than explaining it. See work rights.
A bank account, a lease and a licence
Banks set their own identification requirements, and they, not the Department, decide what they need to open an account. A driver licence is issued by the licensing authority in your state or territory, and each of them sets its own rules about overseas licences, how long you may drive on one and what conversion involves — ask the authority where you live rather than relying on what applied to someone in another state.
Both of these are worth doing early and doing jointly where that reflects how you actually live, because a joint account used over years and a lease with both names on it are the two documents that do the most work at the permanent stage. That is the subject of joint accounts and leases.
Children and school
School enrolment is run by the education department of each state and territory. Home Affairs does not enrol children and does not set school fees. Fee arrangements for children on temporary visas differ between states and between visa subclasses, so the family has to ask the relevant department directly. The migration side — children included in the application, a child added afterwards, telling the Department about a birth — is set out on school enrolment for children.
Names, and the paperwork that follows them
If you change your name after marriage, every document in the list above eventually has to catch up, and the Department has to be told separately from everyone else. A name that appears one way on the passport and another way on a lease or a bank statement is a small problem that turns into a large one at the permanent stage. See changing your name after marriage.
What the 820 does not give you
Important
The 820 is close to permanent residence in daily life, but it is still a temporary visa, and three limits catch people out.
- Study costs are yours. You can study, but the Department says "you will not receive any government support and any study costs will be at your own expense". Providers set their own fee categories; confirm yours before enrolling. See studying on the 820 visa.
- Some payments have waiting periods. The Department says you "might have to wait to access certain Australian Government payments and benefits", and newly arrived residents' waiting periods apply to a number of payments. Services Australia decides which applies to which payment. See Centrelink payments.
- Family cannot be added later. Family members cannot be added to the application after the 820 is granted. A dependent child must first be granted a Dependent child visa (subclass 445) and can then be included in the 801 application while in Australia, using Form 1002.
English classes run the other way: if you are eligible, the Adult Migrant English Program is free to 820 holders. Eligibility is set by the program, not by the visa alone. See free English classes.
Why the errands are the evidence
The decision maker at the permanent stage must consider the same four matters as at the 820 stage — the financial aspects of the relationship, the nature of the household, its social context and the nature of your commitment to each other. Read that list against the errands above and the overlap is almost complete. A joint account and shared bills answer the financial matter. A lease or title in both names, and the way you run the household, answer the second. A school enrolment listing both parents, and the people who know you as a couple, answer the third.
The practical consequence is about timing rather than volume. Documents created month by month as you live an ordinary life are dated across years; a bundle assembled in the weeks before the permanent stage is dated in one week, and reads that way. Open the accounts, put both names on what genuinely belongs in both names, and keep the statements as they arrive. The framework is on relationship evidence, and what the permanent stage asks for is on 801 stage documents.
Alongside that, keep the Department informed. You must tell Home Affairs if your circumstances change — relationship status, the birth of a child, contact details, a new passport. See telling Home Affairs about changes.
Where professional help matters here
Settling in is mostly a matter of dealing with the right agency, and no one needs advice to open a bank account. The visa-critical decisions hidden inside it are different: a new passport that is never reported, a child who cannot be added after grant, a name that stops matching the visa record, or another visa granted by accident. On those, an application prepared with an immigration lawyer is more likely to succeed, because each of them is easier to prevent now than to repair at the permanent stage. No one can promise an outcome.
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 through the four pages below in whatever order your week demands, and start with joint accounts and leases if the 820 was granted recently, because those documents gain their value from age. Then look at what the permanent stage will ask of you at subclass 801 permanent visa, and back at the entitlements themselves on what the 820 visa lets you do.
Common questions
What should I do first after my 820 is granted?
Check the grant letter for the visa grant number, start date and conditions, then check your own record in VEVO, because Australian visas are digital and VEVO is how you prove your status to an employer, a landlord or an agency. After that, the usual order is Medicare through Services Australia, a tax file number through the Australian Taxation Office, a bank account, and a driver licence through your state or territory licensing authority.
Can I work full time while I wait for the 801?
Yes. The Department of Home Affairs says that on a temporary Partner visa you have full work rights and are protected by Australian workplace law. There is no hour limit and no restriction to a particular employer or occupation. That is different from a bridging visa held before grant, which may have carried a work restriction.
Can I study on the 820, and will I pay domestic fees?
You can study. The Department says you will not receive any government support and any study costs will be at your own expense. Education providers set their own fee categories, so whether you are treated as a domestic or a full-fee student has to be confirmed with the institution before you enrol.
Do I get Centrelink payments once the 820 is granted?
Not automatically. The Department says you might have to wait to access certain Australian Government payments and benefits, and newly arrived residents' waiting periods apply to a number of payments. Services Australia decides which payment carries which waiting period and how it is counted, so ask Services Australia rather than assuming.
Does everyday paperwork really count as relationship evidence?
Yes. The four matters the decision maker must consider include the financial aspects of the relationship and the nature of the household, and those are evidenced by joint accounts, a lease or title in both names, shared bills and joint liabilities. Documents created as you live your life carry more weight than a folder assembled shortly before the permanent stage.