300 vs 309/100 vs 820/801 in 2026: Which Route Leads to Australian PR?
How the subclass 300, offshore 309/100 and onshore 820/801 partner routes differ in stages, and where each one ends in Australian PR.
None of the three grants permanent residence on its own. The Prospective Marriage visa (subclass 300) is a temporary visa with a stay period of 9 to 15 months from the date of grant, and the other two options are pairs: the offshore 309/100 and the onshore 820/801, in which the second subclass in the pair — subclass 100 and subclass 801 — is where the permanent outcome sits. Which route you end up on is settled by two facts: whether you are married, and whether you are inside or outside Australia at the relevant time. This comparison is drawn from the Department of Home Affairs' official page for the Prospective Marriage visa (subclass 300), as at July 2026, together with the criteria in the Migration Regulations 1994.
Does any of these subclasses grant PR by itself?
No. Subclass 300 is described by the Department as a temporary visa; you stay for the period specified on your grant letter, which is 9 to 15 months from the grant date. It carries no permanent stage of its own. Its function is to put you in Australia so that, once married, you can move onto the partner visa that does.
The other two options are lodged as combined applications covering a provisional stage and a permanent stage. The Department names subclass 309 the Partner (Provisional) visa and subclass 100 the Partner (Migrant) visa; for the onshore pair, the subclass 300 page directs couples who want to settle in Australia to a single Partner visa covering subclasses 820 and 801. Nothing on the subclass 300 page sets out how the permanent stage of either pair is assessed — those requirements sit on the Department's pages for the individual subclasses, and the Department's current published requirements are what govern any application.
| Route | Where you apply | Temporary or provisional stage | Where PR arrives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subclass 300 (Prospective Marriage) | Outside Australia; family members must also be outside Australia | Temporary visa, 9–15 months from grant | Not a PR visa; it sets up the later onshore partner application |
| Subclasses 309 and 100 (offshore partner) | Outside Australia, once married | Subclass 309, Partner (Provisional) visa | Subclass 100, Partner (Migrant) visa |
| Subclasses 820 and 801 (onshore partner) | After marrying, and before the subclass 300 visa ends | Subclass 820 | Subclass 801 |
The subclass 300 page does not describe the rights attached to the 309, 100, 820 or 801 stages, so any comparison of work rights, travel or waiting periods beyond the structure above has to be read off the Department's pages for those subclasses.
What does the subclass 300 stage actually give you?
It gives you a lawful temporary position in Australia while you marry. The Department's page lists the entitlements as living, working and studying in Australia for 9 to 15 months from the grant date, and travelling to and from Australia as many times as you want while the visa is valid. The visa is digitally linked to your passport; no label is issued.
Two timing obligations sit on top of that. You must enter Australia on the subclass 300 visa before the date specified in your grant letter, and you must have married your prospective spouse before the visa expires. The marriage can take place in any country, but it must be valid under Australian law. The Department also recommends holding health insurance for the period you are in Australia, because without it you are personally liable for your healthcare costs; the subclass 300 page points to reciprocal healthcare agreements for nationals of some countries.
When does the route become 820/801 instead of 309/100?
It turns on whether the marriage happens before or after the subclass 300 visa is granted.
If the visa is granted, you enter Australia, marry, and then apply for the Partner visa (subclasses 820 and 801) after the marriage and before the subclass 300 visa ends. That is the sequence the Department's page sets out for couples who want to settle in Australia.
If you marry while the subclass 300 application is still being decided, the position changes: you are no longer eligible for subclass 300. The Department's step-by-step guidance requires you to update your details in ImmiAccount, attach evidence that the marriage is valid (a registered marriage certificate issued by the relevant legal authority), request consideration for the Partner (Provisional) visa (subclass 309) and Partner (Migrant) visa (subclass 100), and file a statement withdrawing the subclass 300 application. If you do not withdraw it, it will be refused, because you no longer meet the eligibility requirements.
So the route is not really a matter of preference between two equivalent options. Marriage before decision pushes you offshore onto 309/100; marriage after grant, while you are in Australia, keeps you on the onshore 820/801 pair.
What has to remain true for a subclass 300 application to reach a grant?
The Migration Regulations 1994 set the primary criteria, and several of them are the ones applications fail on. In substance: both parties must be at least 18; the applicant must intend to marry an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen; the two must have met in person and known each other personally after each turned 18; the applicant must show the parties genuinely intend to marry and that the marriage is intended to take place within the visa period; the Minister must be satisfied the parties genuinely intend to live together as spouses; there must be no impediment to the marriage under Australian law; and the sponsorship must be approved and still in force. Public interest criteria, including health and character, also apply, as do special return criteria for applicants who have previously been in Australia.
Because the criteria are assessed again at the time of decision, changes during processing matter. The Department's page requires you to notify changes after you apply and before a decision is made — the birth of a child, any other change relevant to the application, or a request to withdraw. If the relationship ends, the notification is made through the Update Details tab in ImmiAccount.
Document preparation follows the same logic. The Department asks for identity documents, evidence of the relationship and of any former relationships, and evidence of any dependants; non-English documents need translation, with translators in Australia accredited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters and overseas translators including their name, address, contact details and qualifications on each translation. Documents are scanned or photographed in colour and do not need to be certified. Each person on the application can have up to 100 documents attached, and that limit cannot be raised.
Health and character evidence has its own shelf life. A health assessment result is valid for 12 months from the time the examinations were completed, and a health undertaking, if one is requested, is valid for 6 months. Police certificates are valid for 12 months from the issue date for immigration purposes, and new checks are required if more than 15 months has passed since an Australian Federal Police National Police certificate was issued.
Does holding a subclass 300 visa change what you pay later?
Yes, in one specific way. The Department's page states that you pay less for the Partner visa (subclasses 820 and 801) if you marry your prospective spouse and apply for that visa before your Prospective Marriage visa ends. That is a structural reason to keep the onshore transition inside the subclass 300 validity period rather than letting it lapse.
The page also confirms that a separate visa application charge is payable for the Partner visa, and that the subclass 300 charge covers the main applicant with concessions in limited circumstances, plus a charge for each family member who applies with you. The Department directs applicants to the Visa pricing estimator for a total, and notes that the estimator does not include the costs of health checks, police certificates or biometrics. Applications are not processed unless the correct charge is paid, and the application fee is not refunded if the application is refused.
From 1 July 2026, a lower visa cost applies to eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens who lodge a valid visa application. Eligibility is recognised through a valid passport issued by one of the listed countries, and family members are also eligible, based on the passport of the primary applicant or the visa holder who satisfies the primary criteria. The listed countries are:
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Fiji
- Kiribati
- Nauru
- Palau
- Papua New Guinea
- Republic of the Marshall Islands
- Samoa
- Solomon Islands
- Timor-Leste
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
Can family members be included, and when must they be outside Australia?
Members of the family unit can be included when you lodge. A dependent child can be added after lodgement but before the Department decides the temporary visa, and the child must be outside Australia. Family members who apply with you must be members of the family unit, meet the health and character requirements, and be outside Australia; family members who are not coming to Australia may also have to meet health and character requirements. If a child is born after you apply, the Department's guidance on having a baby applies.
Assume an applicant marries after the subclass 300 grant and then lodges the onshore partner application two months before the subclass 300 visa expires: on the Department's published rules, the reduced Partner visa charge is preserved, because the application was made within the subclass 300 visa period; whether the applicant holds a valid visa in the meantime is not dealt with on the subclass 300 page. Assume instead that the same couple marries while the subclass 300 application is undecided: the eligibility for subclass 300 falls away, and the application has to be redirected to subclasses 309 and 100 and withdrawn, or it will be refused.
What should you weigh before choosing?
The choice is less about which visa is "better" and more about sequencing. Subclass 300 buys a temporary onshore period and a cheaper entry into the onshore partner pair, at the cost of one extra stage, two application charges, and a hard deadline: marry within the visa period and lodge before it ends. The 309/100 pair avoids the intermediate visa but keeps the applicant outside Australia for the provisional stage. The onshore pair requires the applicant to be in Australia and married first, which for most couples is exactly what subclass 300 is there to arrange.
Processing times are published by the Department as global processing times and change over time; the subclass 300 page refers applicants to those published times rather than stating a figure, and advises completing health examinations with those times in mind. Any requirement, criterion or charge described here is general information about how these subclasses are structured, not personalised advice about your circumstances, and where the Department's current published information differs, that published information is what applies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the subclass 300 visa lead directly to permanent residence?
No. Subclass 300 is a temporary visa with a stay period of 9 to 15 months from the grant date, and it has no permanent stage. Permanent residence arrives through a later partner visa — the onshore 820/801 pair if you marry and apply while in Australia before the subclass 300 visa ends, or the offshore 309/100 pair if you marry before the subclass 300 application is decided.
What happens if I marry while my subclass 300 application is still being processed?
You stop being eligible for subclass 300, because the marriage is no longer prospective. The Department requires you to update your details in ImmiAccount, provide a registered marriage certificate issued by the relevant legal authority, request consideration for subclasses 309 and 100, and file a statement withdrawing the subclass 300 application. Without a withdrawal, the application will be refused.
Can I apply for the 820/801 partner visa from outside Australia?
The subclass 300 page presents subclasses 820 and 801 as the route for couples who want to settle in Australia, applied for after the marriage and before the subclass 300 visa ends. Where you must be when lodging that application is set out on the Department's pages for those subclasses rather than on the subclass 300 page, so the current published requirements for 820/801 govern the point.
Do I have to marry in Australia while holding a subclass 300 visa?
The marriage can take place in any country, but it must be valid under Australian law. What the visa requires is that you enter Australia before the date specified in your grant letter and that you have married before the visa expires; travelling to and from Australia as often as you like is permitted while the visa is valid.
Is the visa application fee refunded if my application is refused?
No. The Department states that the application fee will not be refunded if the application is refused, and that it cannot process an application at all unless the correct visa application charge has been paid.
Can I add family members after I lodge a subclass 300 application?
A dependent child can be added after lodgement but before the Department decides the visa, provided the child is outside Australia. Other members of the family unit need to be included when the application is lodged, and must be outside Australia, meet the health and character requirements, and be members of the family unit.
Is there a reduced visa cost from 1 July 2026?
Yes, for eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens who lodge a valid visa application. Eligibility is recognised through a valid passport from one of the listed countries, and family members are also eligible based on the passport of the primary applicant or of the visa holder who satisfies the primary criteria. The Department applies the lower cost during the application process in ImmiAccount.