Your partner is overseas.The visa that bringsthem home to you,and then makes it permanent.
The 309 is the temporary partner visa lodged and granted while the applicant is outside Australia; the 100 is the permanent stage. One application, one charge of $11,710, no bridging visa, and a decision your partner waits for in their own country. The timing of that wait is the whole strategy.
Government charges, 309/100
- Visa application charge, main applicantcovers the 309 and the 100$11,710
- Each adult dependant$5,860
- Each child under 18$2,935
- Visitor visa 600, to visit while it waitsno work, and no 8503 if you may lodge onshore later$250
- Tribunal review by the sponsor, if refused$3,727
As at 1 July 2026. The applicant must be outside Australia when the 309 is lodged and, in most cases, when it is granted. Our professional fee is fixed and quoted in writing.
A two stage partner visa for a spouse or de facto partner who is outside Australia.
The subclass 309 and 100 is the offshore partner visa for the spouse or de facto partner of an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. It is lodged while the applicant is outside Australia, costs $11,710 for both stages, lets the holder enter and live in Australia with work rights on grant of the 309, and the permanent 100 is assessed two years after the application was made.
Verified as at 1 July 2026 against the Department of Home Affairs subclass 309 and 100 pages, regulation 1.15A and Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994.
Is the 309 the right visa? A 30-second check
Answer the questions to see where you stand.
A guide only, not legal advice. The consultation is where the real answer comes from.
Five things every 309 application must show.
Couples living apart are held to the same four pillars as couples living together. The evidence looks different, and the file has to explain why.
The evidence, pillar by pillar
- 01
A genuine and continuing relationship across distance
The financial pillar becomes transfers and shared costs, the household pillar becomes the periods you lived together and the plan for the home in Australia, the social pillar becomes family on both sides, and commitment becomes the daily contact and the plans. All of it dated.
- 02
Twelve months, or a registered relationship, or marriage
De facto couples need twelve months of the relationship before lodgement unless it is registered under an Australian state or territory scheme. Registration usually needs one of you resident in that state. Married couples have no minimum period.
- 03
Outside Australia on lodgement, and on grant
The applicant must be offshore when the 309 is lodged and, unless the Department agrees otherwise, when it is granted. A visit on a 600 visitor visa while it waits is common. Being in Australia on the day of grant can mean the visa cannot be granted.
- 04
A sponsor who passes their own checks
The sponsor lodges the sponsorship, provides police certificates and gives support undertakings. Two earlier partner sponsorships, or one in the last five years, usually needs a waiver. The sponsor's history is read as closely as the relationship.
- 05
Health, character and consistency
Health examinations in the applicant's country, police certificates for every country lived in for twelve months or more in the last ten years, and answers that match every earlier application either of you has lodged.
One application, four stages, most of it spent apart.
The two year clock on the permanent 100 starts on the day the 309 is lodged. Lodging early and complete shortens the years apart more than anything else you can do.
Lodge the 309 from offshore
The applicant lodges online from outside Australia with evidence under all four pillars, both statements, Form 888 declarations, health and police certificates. The sponsor lodges the sponsorship. The $11,710 charge is paid at lodgement and covers both stages.
Visit while it waits
A visitor visa 600 at $250 lets the applicant spend time in Australia during processing. Declare the pending 309 on the visitor application. Be outside Australia again when the grant is due, or ask us about a request to grant onshore.
Grant of the 309 and entry
On grant the applicant enters Australia, lives and works here on the temporary 309, with Medicare enrolment. The relationship must be continuing, and changes of circumstance are reported.
The 100 is assessed
Two years after the 309 was lodged, the permanent 100 is assessed on evidence that the relationship is continuing. Couples together for three years at lodgement, or two years with a child of the relationship, can be granted the 100 at the same time as the 309. Family violence provisions apply.
Which application fits a couple living in two countries.
Three visas, one relationship. Where the applicant is and whether you are married decide it.
| Situation | Usual visa | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Married or de facto, applicant overseas | 309/100 | $11,710, permanent pathway from the start, no bridging visa |
| Married or de facto, applicant in Australia on a visa without 8503 | 820/801 | $11,710, stay together on a bridging visa with work rights |
| Engaged, not yet married, applicant overseas | 300, then 820 at $1,955 | nine to fifteen months to marry in or outside Australia |
| Applicant on a visitor visa with 8503 in Australia | 309/100 lodged after departure | 8503 blocks the onshore application; the offshore route stays open |
| Long relationship, three years or two with a child | 309/100 or 820/801 with the permanent stage at once | the permanent visa can be granted together with the temporary one |
Charges as at 1 July 2026. A visitor visa lodged while the 309 is pending should say so; an undeclared pending application reads as misleading.
What the 309/100 costs in government charges.
Government charges only. Health examinations, police certificates, translations and our fixed professional fee are additional.
As at 1 July 2026. The main applicant charge is not refunded if the visa is refused.
How a long distance file is built.
Couples apart have less of the ordinary evidence and more of a different kind. The submission explains the shape of the relationship so the delegate does not read absence as weakness.
- 01
The periods you lived together
Every stretch under one roof, anywhere in the world, with leases, mail, photographs and third party statements. This is the household pillar for a couple now apart.
- 02
Money between you
Transfers with dates and amounts, shared costs of visits, gifts and support to family. Joint accounts across borders are rare; a pattern of transfers is not.
- 03
Daily contact
Call logs and message histories summarised by month, not dumped. A one page table of contact across the relationship says more than three hundred screenshots.
- 04
Family on both sides
Form 888 declarations from Australians who know you both, and statements from family overseas, translated. Photographs with the people named and the dates written in.
The offshore partner visa, answered plainly.
Can my partner visit Australia while the 309 is processed?
Yes, usually on a visitor visa 600 at $250, declaring the pending partner application. The applicant must be outside Australia when the 309 is granted unless the Department agrees to grant it onshore, so visits are planned around the expected decision window.
How long does the 309 take?
The Department publishes processing times monthly and they vary. Files lodged complete, with evidence under all four pillars and the sponsorship alongside, are decided faster and rarely receive a request for further information.
We have never lived together. Can we get a 309?
Married couples can. De facto couples need twelve months of the relationship, and the Department expects a period of living together unless there is a good reason there was none. Registering the relationship in an Australian state removes the twelve month rule but usually needs one partner resident there.
Does the 309 give work rights?
Yes, from the day the holder enters Australia on it. There is no bridging visa stage because the applicant waits offshore. Medicare enrolment is available to 309 holders.
Can the 100 be granted at the same time as the 309?
For couples who have been together for three years at lodgement, or two years with a dependent child of the relationship, yes. Otherwise the 100 is assessed two years after the 309 application was made.
What if the sponsor is in Australia and the applicant has a visitor visa with no further stay?
Condition 8503 stops the onshore 820. The applicant returns overseas and lodges the 309, or the couple asks for the condition to be waived, which needs compelling circumstances that arose after the visitor visa was granted. We look at the visitor visa grant letter first.
What does the 309/100 cost?
In government charges, $11,710 for the main applicant covering both stages, plus $5,860 per adult dependant and $2,935 per child. Health, police certificates and translations are paid to third parties. Our professional fee is fixed and quoted in writing.
Where this visa connects.
- 820Open
Onshore partner visa
When the applicant is in Australia on a valid visa, $11,710.
- 300Open
Prospective Marriage visa
Engaged and apart: enter to marry, then the 820 at $1,955.
- EvidenceOpen
Relationship evidence
The four pillars for couples living apart.
- SponsorOpen
Sponsor requirements
What the Australian partner signs up to.
Living in two countries?
One consultation sets the subclass, the visit plan around the grant, and the evidence for a long distance relationship, with a fixed fee for both stages.