How the 2-Year Eligibility Date Affects Your 309 to 100 PR Timeline in 2026

How the two-year eligibility date and the later assessment period add up in your Subclass 309 to 100 permanent residency timeline.

Published: 11 October 2026

The two-year mark on a Partner visa is not the date you get permanent residency — it is the date you become eligible to be assessed for it. Under the Department of Home Affairs' Partner (Migrant) visa (Subclass 100) official page (as at October 2026), two years must have passed since you applied for the combined Subclass 309 and Subclass 100 visas before you can be considered for the permanent visa, and the published processing time for the permanent visa runs from that eligibility date rather than from your original lodgement. For anyone estimating which year they will actually become a permanent resident, that means the timeline has two separate blocks: a fixed two-year waiting block, then a variable assessment block that only starts once the first one ends.

What exactly is the two-year eligibility date?

The eligibility date is the second anniversary of the day you lodged your combined Partner (Provisional) (subclass 309) and Partner (Migrant) (subclass 100) application. It is counted from the application date, not from the date your 309 was granted and not from the date you first entered Australia.

The Department's page states plainly that two years must have passed since you applied for the subclass 309 and 100 visas for you to be eligible to be assessed for the permanent subclass 100 visa. Until that day arrives, your permanent-stage application cannot be considered; from that day, it can.

How do I work out my own date?

You can check the date you submitted your application in ImmiAccount. That date is the anchor for everything else in your planning: add two years to it to get your eligibility date, and treat the processing period as running from that anniversary onwards.

Why the two-year wait and the decision wait are not the same block

This is the distinction that most often distorts people's estimates. The first block is fixed and mechanical — two years from lodgement, with the narrow exceptions set out below. The second block is the Department's assessment of your permanent-stage documents, and the official page describes published processing times as a guideline only, based on how long recently decided applications took, with no guarantee that any individual application will be decided inside that timeframe.

Because "processing time for a permanent Partner visa starts from the date of eligibility", the clock on the second block does not start until the first block finishes. A longer-than-expected wait in the first block pushes the whole schedule out; a shorter one does not pull it in, because the two years are a threshold rather than an average.

The Department also lists what makes an application take longer: incorrect forms, missing documents, requests for further information, and time spent verifying what you have provided. Those are factors inside the second block, not the first.

Can the two-year threshold ever be shortened?

Yes, in two situations described on the official page. The Department may grant the permanent subclass 100 visa in less than two years if either:

you were in a long-term partner relationship with your sponsor when you applied for the subclass 309 and 100 visas, or
your sponsor is, or was, the holder of a permanent humanitarian visa, and before that permanent visa was granted was in a married or de facto relationship with you — and you had informed the Department about the relationship before that permanent visa was granted.

If neither applies, plan on the full two years.

What can I prepare while the two years run?

Nothing can be submitted early — the official page says to submit your documents for the permanent stage once two years have passed since you first applied, and not to attach them before that time. What you can do is assemble them so the second block starts cleanly rather than stalling on a request for more information.

Documents commonly relevant at the permanent stage include:

a copy of the pages of your most recent passport showing your photo, personal details, signature and issue and expiry dates
an Australian Federal Police National Police Certificate, if you did not attach one with your 309 application or if your previous certificate has expired (police certificates are valid for immigration purposes for 12 months from the issue date; only complete disclosure National Police Certificates issued by the AFP are accepted, not standard disclosure certificates or state and territory police certificates)
overseas police certificates from any country, including your home country, where you spent a total of 12 months or more since the grant of your 309 visa
evidence that you continue to be the spouse or de facto partner of the same person who sponsored you
for each family member holding a 309 or 445 visa, copies of their passport, documents showing changes to their situation, and police certificates for dependants aged 16 or over

Translations must be into English. Translators in Australia must be accredited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters; translators outside Australia need not be accredited but must include their full name, address and telephone number, and their qualifications and experience in the language, in English on each translation. Documents do not need to be certified, and scans or photographs should be in colour, legible, and saved as one file where a document runs to several pages.

What does submitting for the permanent stage involve?

Inside ImmiAccount, you select 'New application', then 'Family', then 'Stage 2 – Permanent Partner Visa Assessment', and attach your documents. Each document should be attached only once even if it supports more than one point, documents should be clearly labelled, and there is a limit of 100 attachments per person on the application, which cannot be increased — if one applicant reaches the limit, further documents can be attached under another client on the same application.

If the Department granted you a permanent Partner visa immediately after granting your 309, none of this applies and you do not need to provide further documents. You can confirm which visa you currently hold using VEVO.

A worked example for estimating your PR year

Assume an applicant lodged the combined 309 and 100 application on 14 March 2024. Their eligibility date is 14 March 2026. Any permanent-stage documents submitted before that date fall outside the two-year rule, and the assessment period begins on or after that date. Their permanent residency therefore starts on the day the visa is granted, which is some point after 14 March 2026 — not on 14 March 2026 itself. The Department's page is explicit that you become a permanent resident on the day the visa is granted.

The practical reading is that the two-year date gives you a floor, not a finish line. Your planning horizon is "eligibility date plus however long the assessment takes", and the published global processing times page is the only place that figure moves.

Things that can change the schedule rather than the rule

Some events affect whether the permanent visa can be granted at all, and so matter more to your timeline than any processing estimate:

Relationship ending, or the death of your partner. You may still be eligible for the permanent visa, but the circumstances have to be assessed, and the Department may require a Notification of Relationship Cessation in ImmiAccount.
Family violence. The Department states it may be able to help and that you may still be eligible for the grant of the permanent visa.
Children. A dependent child can be added before a decision is made on the permanent application if they hold a Dependent Child visa (subclass 445), are a member of the family unit, and meet the health requirement and, from age 16, the character requirement. No family member can be added after the subclass 100 is granted. A baby born after you applied must be notified to the Department.
Health and character. You and accompanying family members must continue to meet the health requirement, and the Department will tell you if health examinations done for the 309 need repeating.
Debts to the Australian Government. These must be repaid or arrangements made to repay them, including for family members not coming to Australia.

Because partner applications can run long, the Department advises updating your documents and relationship evidence regularly through ImmiAccount rather than treating the permanent-stage upload as a single event.

This article sets out how the published rules fit together for general planning purposes. It is general information, not advice tailored to your circumstances, and your own dates, relationship history and document position should be checked against the Department of Home Affairs' current pages or with a registered migration agent or legal practitioner before you rely on a particular estimate.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the two-year period start from my 309 grant date?

No. The Department's Subclass 100 page measures the two years from the date you applied for the subclass 309 and 100 visas together. You can confirm that date in ImmiAccount, and the anniversary of it is your eligibility date.

Do I become a permanent resident on the day I reach the two-year mark?

No. Reaching two years makes you eligible to be assessed for the Subclass 100. The official page states that you become a permanent resident on the day the visa is granted, which comes after the assessment of your permanent-stage documents.

Can the Subclass 100 be granted in less than two years?

Yes, in two narrow cases: where you were in a long-term partner relationship with your sponsor when you applied, or where your sponsor holds or held a permanent humanitarian visa and was in a married or de facto relationship with you before that visa was granted, provided you had told the Department about the relationship before it was granted.

What happens if I upload my Stage 2 documents early?

The official page instructs applicants to submit permanent-stage documents once two years have passed since they first applied, and not to attach them before that time. Uploading early does not start the assessment clock, because the Department says processing time for the permanent visa starts from the date of eligibility.

Do I have to pay the visa fee again for the permanent stage?

No. The Department states that you paid for this visa when you applied for the temporary and permanent Partner visas. You may still face separate costs for health checks or police certificates.

Do I need new police certificates for the permanent stage?

Possibly. You usually need a current Australian Federal Police National Police Certificate if you did not attach one with your 309 application, and the Department may ask for a new one if the previous certificate has expired, since police certificates are valid for 12 months from issue. You also need overseas police certificates for any country where you spent 12 months or more since your 309 was granted.

Where should I look for the current processing estimate?

The Department publishes global visa processing times and updates them regularly. Its page describes those times as a guideline based on recently decided applications, assessed case by case, and notes that complex cases can take longer.