Marrying Before Your Subclass 300 Is Granted in 2026: Switching to Partner Visa 309/100

Marrying before your subclass 300 is decided ends that visa's eligibility — here is how the switch to Partner visas 309/100 works.

Published: 10 July 2026 Reading time 12 min

If you marry before your Prospective Marriage visa (subclass 300) is decided, you are no longer eligible for that visa. The Australian Department of Home Affairs' official Prospective Marriage visa (subclass 300) page, as at the July 2026 version of that page, directs you to update your details in ImmiAccount, attach evidence of a valid marriage, and ask to be considered for the Partner (Provisional) visa (subclass 309) and Partner (Migrant) visa (subclass 100) instead — together with a statement that you want to withdraw the subclass 300 application.

What actually happens to a subclass 300 application once you are married?

Marriage removes the legal basis of the application rather than converting it on its own. The subclass 300 exists for people who intend to marry; once the marriage has taken place, the "prospective" element is gone, and the official page states plainly that you are no longer eligible.

The consequence of doing nothing is also stated on that page: if you do not withdraw the application, it will be refused because you no longer meet the eligibility requirements, and the application fee is not refunded when an application is refused. The withdrawal request is therefore not a courtesy — it is the step that separates a change of pathway from a refusal on your record.

Why marriage ends eligibility instead of the visa simply changing

The criteria in Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994 require, among other things, that the applicant continue to satisfy the core intention requirements at the time of decision, and that no legal impediment to the marriage exists under Australian law. A marriage that has already occurred cannot be an intended marriage, which is why the assessment cannot continue on subclass 300 grounds.

Regulation 2.08E is the provision that provides for a change to a partner visa application in certain circumstances. Regulations are amended and recompiled, so the current wording and commencement status should be confirmed on the Federal Register of Legislation before you rely on it. The practical point is the one the official page makes: the change has to be requested, and it has to be requested by you.

What do you have to lodge, and where?

The official page sets out a short sequence. Sign in to ImmiAccount, go to the 'Update details' tab, and select the 'Change in situation' option. Then attach to your application:

evidence that your marriage is valid — a registered marriage certificate issued by the relevant legal authority
a request to be considered for a Partner (Provisional) visa (subclass 309) and a Partner (Migrant) visa (subclass 100)
a statement telling the Department you want to withdraw your Prospective Marriage visa application

Once ImmiAccount has been updated, the page instructs you to notify the Department using the Partner Processing Enquiry Form. That form is also the fallback where you cannot upload the relevant documents to your application in ImmiAccount at all.

Two details are worth getting right before you start. The certificate must be the registered one issued by the relevant legal authority, not a ceremonial record, and the request should name both 309 and 100, since the official page frames the post-marriage request as a single request covering the provisional and migrant stages of the offshore partner pathway.

Does 309/100 or the onshore 820/801 pair apply to you?

This is the fork that matters for a permanent residence plan. The Department lists subclass 309 and subclass 100 under its offshore partner visa pages, and the official subclass 300 page points married applicants to that pair. The onshore pair — subclass 820 and subclass 801 — is the partner pathway referred to in Migration Regulations 1994 and PAM3 guidance for applicants who marry in Australia after a subclass 300 visa has been granted; confirm the current criteria on the official partner visa pages, since they are not set out on the subclass 300 page.

Path	Where it sits	Structure
309 / 100	Offshore partner stream; the pair the official subclass 300 page names after marriage	Provisional 309, then permanent 100
820 / 801	Onshore partner stream; referred to in regulations and PAM3 guidance as the post-marriage step for granted subclass 300 holders in Australia	Temporary 820, then permanent 801

Location drives the split, and the subclass 300 rules make location a live question rather than a fixed one. You must apply for subclass 300 online and while outside Australia, but the Department may decide the application while you are in or outside Australia. Suppose an applicant lodges from overseas, then enters Australia on another visa while the subclass 300 is still undecided and marries here: the question of which partner pair fits needs to be resolved against the official pages for those visas, because the subclass 300 page does not address it.

What if you marry while you are already in Australia?

The official subclass 300 page does not turn travel into a solution. It tells applicants not to arrange travel to Australia until the Department advises in writing that the subclass 300 visa has been granted, and it states that if you travel to Australia on another visa while the Prospective Marriage application is in progress, you remain responsible for holding a valid visa for the whole of your stay.

Because subclass 309 and subclass 100 are the offshore partner pair, and because the permanent stage of the onshore pair depends on where you are and which criteria you meet, treat the place you intend to be at the time of decision as a decision in its own right rather than an incidental detail.

Does the evidence you already lodged stay useful?

Partly, and the answer depends on validity periods stated on the official page. Police certificates are valid for 12 months from the issue date for immigration purposes, and the results of a health assessment are valid for 12 months from the time the examinations were completed; a health undertaking, if you are asked to sign one, is valid for 6 months. If more than 15 months has passed since your National Police certificate was issued by the Australian Federal Police, new checks will be required to progress the application.

That matters for anyone whose subclass 300 has been in the queue long enough for a certificate to age out. The official page also requires an Australian police certificate where you have spent a total of 12 months or more in Australia in the last 10 years since turning 16, and accepts only complete disclosure National Police Certificates issued by the AFP.

This article is general information about how the rules are framed and is not advice tailored to your circumstances, so verify anything that turns on your own dates and location against the official pages and any professional advice you choose to obtain.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to withdraw my subclass 300 application if I marry during processing?

Yes, in the sense that the official page requires you to attach a statement saying you want to withdraw the Prospective Marriage visa application as part of the change. If you do not withdraw, the page states the application will be refused because you no longer meet the eligibility requirements.

Will the application fee be refunded if the subclass 300 is refused after marriage?

No. The official page states that the Department will not refund the application fee if it refuses an application, which is the outcome it describes for applicants who marry and do not withdraw.

Where do I send the marriage certificate?

Attach it to your application in ImmiAccount after you have used the 'Update details' tab and selected 'Change in situation', alongside the request to be considered for subclass 309 and 100 and your withdrawal statement. The official page also asks you to notify the Department through the Partner Processing Enquiry Form after ImmiAccount has been updated.

What if I cannot upload the documents in ImmiAccount?

The official page directs you to contact the Department using the Partner Processing Enquiry Form if you are unable to upload the relevant documents to your application. That form is used both for notifying the Department after you update your details and as the workaround where uploading is not possible.

Is a religious or customary marriage enough to trigger the change?

The official page asks for evidence that your marriage is valid in the form of a registered marriage certificate issued by the relevant legal authority. A ceremony that has not produced a registered certificate from the relevant authority does not meet the stated evidence requirement.

Can I travel to Australia while the change to 309/100 is being sorted out?

Travelling does not resolve the subclass 300 problem, and the official page tells applicants not to arrange travel until written notice of the grant is received. If you do travel on another visa while the application is in progress, you remain responsible for holding a valid visa for the duration of your stay.