Planning Your 2026 PR Date: Reading Partner Visa 100 Processing Times Realistically

Turn the two-year eligibility rule and published Partner visa 100 processing times into a realistic PR year you can plan around.

Published: 11 October 2026

Your permanent residency date is not set by the day your temporary Partner visa (subclass 309) was granted, and it is not set by the day you first arrived in Australia. According to the Australian Department of Home Affairs' Partner (Migrant) visa (Subclass 100) official page, current as at October 2026, processing time for the permanent visa runs from your date of eligibility, which falls two years after you applied for the temporary and permanent Partner visas together. Nothing before that eligibility date counts as permanent-stage processing, so "how long until PR?" is really two separate questions: when do I become eligible, and how long does the assessment take once I am?

What follows explains how those pieces fit together so you can plan around them. It is general information, not advice tailored to your circumstances, and because every application is assessed on its own facts, weigh your own position against current official published information or advice from a registered migration agent or lawyer.

How do the three dates stack up?

A PR forecast has three anchors, and only one of them is ever negotiable.

Anchor	How you work it out	What controls it
Application date	The date you lodged the combined 309 and 100 application, visible in ImmiAccount	Fixed once lodged
Eligibility date	Exactly two years after that application date	Fixed by the two-year rule
Decision date	Eligibility date plus the current published processing time	Case complexity, documents, verification checks

The arithmetic itself is simple. Find your combined application date in ImmiAccount. Add two years. Add the current published processing time shown on the Global processing times page. Treat the result as the earliest plausible PR date rather than a due date.

Assume an applicant lodged the combined application in March 2024. The eligibility date is March 2026. Add the processing time published at that moment and you have a working estimate of the earliest realistic grant date — and if the case turns out to be complex, that date slides further out. The published figure you add is the one shown on the Department's Global processing times page at the time you plan.

What does the published figure actually describe?

It is a rear-view mirror, not a timetable. The Department states plainly that the estimated timeframe is based on how long it took to process recently decided applications, and that it does not guarantee your application will be decided within the current standard processing timeframe. Processing times are also updated regularly, so a figure that applied when you became eligible may not apply by the time an officer opens your file.

Three further qualifications matter for planning:

Applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Complex cases may take longer to process.
Published processing times should be used as a guideline only.

The practical consequence is that the published figure is best used to build a range, not a single date. The optimistic end assumes your file is straightforward and complete; the conservative end assumes it needs more information or more verification.

Which parts of the wait are actually yours to control?

Some of the waiting is structural, and some of it is self-inflicted. The Department names four things that make an application take longer: it is not filled in correctly, required documents are missing, more information has to be requested, and verifying information takes time. Two of those sit firmly on the applicant's side of the line, and two largely do not.

What you can influence is the quality of the second-stage package. Documents may only be submitted for the permanent stage once two years have passed since you first applied — the guidance is explicit that they should not be sent before that date. Sending them via ImmiAccount under "Stage 2 – Permanent Partner Visa Assessment" once eligible is the ordinary pathway. There is a hard attachment limit of 100 documents for each person on the application, and the Department states that limit cannot be increased; if one applicant hits the ceiling, further documents can be attached to another person on the same application.

Two recurring traps deserve their own mention, because they convert into real delays. Police certificates have a shelf life: for immigration purposes they are valid for 12 months from the issue date, so a certificate attached early in a long wait may need to be redone. Overseas police certificates are also required for any country, including your home country, in which you spent a total of 12 months or more since the grant of your 309 visa. Because partner applications can have long processing times, updating relationship documents and evidence regularly through ImmiAccount is recommended by the Department — stale evidence invites a request for more information, which restarts part of the exchange.

What has to be finalised before the decision is made?

This is the deadline that catches families out. You cannot add any family members after the Department grants the permanent Partner visa (subclass 100). If a dependent child does not already hold a subclass 309 visa, they must hold a Dependent Child visa (subclass 445) and be added to your permanent application before a decision is made, using Form 1002 — Application by a subclass 445 dependent child for a permanent partner visa. Such a child must be a member of the family unit and must meet the health requirement, and the character requirement if they are 16 or older. The child can be in or outside Australia.

Changes in your situation also have to be notified before the decision: changes to marital or de facto status, the birth of a child, and any other change relevant to the application. A child born after you applied must be notified. In planning terms, that means a family-size decision — including a baby due during the waiting period — needs to be resolved well before you expect the grant, not after it.

What changes on the day PR is granted?

You become a permanent resident on the day the visa is granted. From then you can live, work and study in Australia indefinitely, access Medicare, and sponsor eligible family members. The visa also carries a travel facility allowing travel to and from Australia for five years from the date of grant; after that facility expires, travel as a permanent resident requires a Resident Return visa (subclasses 155 and 157). If you are outside Australia at grant, your grant letter will specify a first entry arrival date by which you must enter.

There is no visa label in your passport — the visa is digitally linked and a digital visa record is created instead. If eligible, you may later apply for Australian citizenship, and free English language classes under the Adult Migrant English Program may also be available. For budgeting, the Department notes you already paid for this visa when you applied for the temporary and permanent Partner visas together, though other costs such as health or police checks may still arise.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the two-year wait counted from the day my 309 visa was granted?

No. Eligibility is two years after the date you applied for the temporary and permanent Partner visas as a combined application, not two years after the 309 grant and not two years after your arrival in Australia. If you plan from the wrong start date, your forecast can be out by many months.

Do I still have to wait two years if we have been together for much longer?

The two-year rule sets when you become eligible for consideration of the permanent visa, regardless of how long the relationship has run. That said, the same guidance notes that some applicants are granted the permanent visa immediately after the temporary visa, in which case there is no second-stage document round to complete; VEVO will show which visa you currently hold.

When exactly can I upload my permanent-stage documents?

Not before two years have passed since you first applied — the Department states documents should not be sent before that time. Once eligible, they can be attached in ImmiAccount under "Stage 2 – Permanent Partner Visa Assessment", up to a limit of 100 documents for each person on the application.

Can I treat the published processing time as a promise?

No. The estimate is based on how long recently decided applications took, is updated regularly, and does not guarantee your own timeframe. Use it to build a plausible range rather than to book flights, settlements or job start dates around a single date.

Do I need new police certificates for the permanent stage?

Often yes. You usually need a current Australian police certificate if one was not attached with your subclass 309 application, and AFP-issued complete disclosure National Police Certificates are the only Australian ones accepted — state or territory certificates and standard disclosure certificates are not. You also need an overseas police certificate for any country, including your home country, where you spent a total of 12 months or more since your 309 grant.

What if my relationship ends while the 100 is still processing?

You may still be eligible for the permanent visa if your relationship ends or your partner dies, and information you provide is treated as confidential. There are also provisions that may apply where domestic and family violence is involved. Any change to your marital or de facto status still needs to be notified before a decision is made.