From Subclass 300 to Permanent Residence in 2026: The 820/801 Timeline

How the subclass 300 9–15 month window, your marriage date and the onshore 820/801 lodgement fit together, and where the timeline breaks.

Published: 10 July 2026 Reading time 12 min

The sequence the Department of Home Affairs' official Prospective Marriage visa (Subclass 300) pages describe, as at the July 2026 version of those pages, is: marry before your subclass 300 expires, then lodge the combined Partner visa (subclasses 820 and 801) application while you are in Australia and while the subclass 300 is still in effect. Doing it in that order also means you pay less for the Partner visa than you would if your subclass 300 had already ended or been replaced by another visa. This article sets out general information only — it is not advice about your own circumstances — so where your dates are tight, treat the official pages and any qualified professional you choose to consult as authoritative.

What starts the clock: the 9 to 15 months on your grant letter

The subclass 300 is a temporary visa. It lets you live, work and study in Australia for 9 to 15 months from the visa grant date, and travel in and out as often as you like while it is valid. The exact end date is the period specified on your grant letter, which you can also confirm through VEVO.

Two dates matter, and they are not the same date:

First entry arrival date — if you are outside Australia when the visa is granted, you must enter Australia before the "first entry, arrive by" date in your grant letter. You can still travel to Australia after that date has passed if the visa itself remains valid, but the visa may be subject to cancellation before arrival or at the border.
Visa expiry — the end of the 9 to 15 month period, which is the date your marriage and your Partner visa lodgement have to beat.

Visas are digital, so there is no label in your passport; your grant letter carries the visa number you use to pull up the record in VEVO.

When do you have to marry, and does it matter where?

You must marry your prospective spouse before the subclass 300 expires. You can marry in any country, but the marriage must be valid under Australian law. There is no requirement in the official pages that the wedding happen in Australia.

The trap is marrying too early. If you marry before the Department decides your subclass 300 application, you are no longer eligible for that visa. The official step-by-step guidance says you then need to notify the change in ImmiAccount, provide evidence the marriage is valid, ask to be considered for the offshore Partner (Provisional) visa (subclass 309) and Partner (Migrant) visa (subclass 100) instead, and include a statement that you want to withdraw your Prospective Marriage visa application — if you do not withdraw it, it will be refused because you no longer meet the eligibility requirements. In other words, marrying while a 300 is still undecided moves the case offshore, and 309/100 is a different route from the onshore 820/801 pair.

When should you lodge the 820/801, and must you be in Australia?

Both conditions apply to the timing. The official pages state the Partner visa (subclasses 820 and 801) should be applied for after you are married and before your Prospective Marriage visa ends; in the guidance covering relationships that have ended or a partner who has died, they also state that you must be in Australia to apply for the Partner visa (subclasses 820 and 801).

Practically, that gives you three fixed points to work backwards from:

Your subclass 300 expiry date.
Your wedding date — which must fall before that expiry, with enough margin to prepare the application.
Your 820/801 lodgement date — after the wedding and before the expiry.

The 300 page also notes you must have entered Australia on the subclass 300 before the date specified on the grant letter, which is what puts you onshore in the first place.

Why lodging before the 300 ends changes what you pay

The fee angle is stated plainly: as a subclass 300 holder you are eligible to pay a lower visa application charge for the Partner visa (subclasses 820 and 801), and you pay less if you marry your prospective spouse and apply before the subclass 300 ends. Losing that discount can happen if your subclass 300 ends before you apply, as well as if you are granted another visa. The official guidance warns that if you are granted any other visa, that visa replaces your subclass 300, and you may then need to pay the higher visa application charge when you apply for the Partner visa.

New Zealand passport holders get a pointed version of the same warning: at the border, tell the immigration officer you hold a Prospective Marriage visa and that you do not want a Special Category visa (subclass 444), because a subclass 444 grant overrides the subclass 300.

No specific dollar amounts are set out on these pages. The Department directs applicants to its Visa pricing estimator, which covers the main applicant and additional family members but not health checks, police certificates or biometrics.

From 1 July 2026: lower costs for some Pacific and Timor-Leste applicants

From 1 July 2026, a lower visa application cost applies to eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens who lodge a valid application, and it is applied during the application process in ImmiAccount. Eligibility is recognised through a valid passport issued by one of: Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu or Vanuatu. Family members are also eligible for the lower cost, based on the passport of the primary applicant.

How long does the 820/801 stage itself take?

This is where the honest answer is a boundary rather than a number. The subclass 300 pages establish the trigger points — marry, stay onshore, lodge before expiry — and describe the Partner visa as a single application covering both the temporary subclass 820 and the permanent subclass 801. They do not set a date for when the permanent stage is decided, and the published Global processing times page is the Department's own reference for how long the stage is currently taking. Anything quoted elsewhere should be checked against that page and the official Partner visa pages, since processing times move.

What the timeline does give you is a hard deadline on the front end. Missing the subclass 300 expiry does not just delay things; it changes the visa you are eligible for, the fee you pay, and whether you can apply onshore at all.

Where timelines quietly break

Several rules on these pages are date-sensitive in their own right, and they catch people out:

Police certificates are valid for 12 months from the issue date. You need one from every country where you spent a total of 12 months or more in the last 10 years since turning 16. If more than 15 months has passed since an Australian Federal Police National Police Certificate was issued, new checks are required.
Health examinations results are valid for 12 months from when you completed them; if you are asked to sign a health undertaking, that is valid for 6 months. The official guidance says to consult processing times before deciding when to do them, precisely so results do not expire mid-assessment.
Family members can be included in the subclass 300 application but cannot be added after the visa is granted; you would need to explore other visa options for them. A dependent child can be added after lodgement but before the temporary visa is decided, and must be outside Australia.
Document limits: up to 100 documents per person on an application, and the limit cannot be raised.
Withdrawal rules: the application fee is not refunded if a visa is refused.

Suppose an applicant's subclass 300 expires in March, and the wedding is set for late February. That leaves roughly a fortnight for a marriage certificate to be issued and an application to be prepared and lodged — workable only if the police certificates and health checks are already in date. The same wedding in early January gives materially more room. The rule is identical in both cases; the risk is not.

What if the relationship ends, or there is family violence?

The official pages are explicit that you may still be eligible for the Partner visa (subclasses 820 and 801) if your relationship ends or your partner dies, and that information you provide is confidential. You must still be in Australia to apply. If you are experiencing domestic and family violence, the Department states it may be able to help and that you may still be eligible for the grant of both the temporary and permanent visa under the family violence provisions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I apply for the 820/801 before we are married?

No. The official Prospective Marriage visa pages say to apply for the Partner visa (subclasses 820 and 801) after you are married and before your subclass 300 ends. Marrying first is what converts a prospective-marriage case into a partner case.

Do I have to be in Australia when I lodge?

In the guidance on relationships that have ended or where a partner has died, the Department states you must be in Australia to apply for the Partner visa (subclasses 820 and 801); check the onshore Partner visa pages for the general lodgement requirements. That is why entering before the first entry arrival date on your subclass 300 grant letter matters.

How long can I stay on the subclass 300?

You can stay for the period specified on your grant letter, which is 9 to 15 months from the visa grant date. Check the exact expiry in your grant letter or through VEVO.

Do I really pay less if I apply before the 300 expires?

Yes. The Department states you pay less for the Partner visa if you marry your prospective spouse and apply before the Prospective Marriage visa ends. If you are granted a different visa in the meantime — including a subclass 444 at the border for New Zealand passport holders — your subclass 300 is replaced and a higher charge may apply.

Can I add my partner's child or another family member later?

Not after the subclass 300 is granted. Family members must be included in the application, with a dependent child addable after lodgement but before the decision, and that child must be outside Australia. After grant, you need to look at other visa options.

What happens if we marry while the subclass 300 is still being decided?

You stop being eligible for the subclass 300. The official guidance directs you to notify the change in ImmiAccount, request consideration for the offshore Partner (Provisional) visa (subclass 309) and Partner (Migrant) visa (subclass 100) instead, and provide a statement withdrawing your Prospective Marriage visa application — otherwise it will be refused.

Is there a published date for when the permanent 801 stage is granted?

Not on the subclass 300 pages. They confirm the Partner visa application covers both the temporary subclass 820 and the permanent subclass 801, and refer to the Global processing times page for how long the stage is taking. Check that page and the official Partner visa pages for current figures.