Subclass 309 Partner Visa (Provisional)
The Subclass 309 Partner Visa is the temporary offshore stage of the Australian partner visa program. It is granted to the spouse or de facto partner of an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen who is outside Australia at the time of application. The Subclass 309 allows entry to Australia, full work rights, and access to Medicare. It precedes the permanent Subclass 100 visa, which is assessed approximately two years after the combined application was lodged.
Key facts
Visa Type
Temporary (provisional)
Application charge
$9,365 (covers 309 and 100)
Processing time
14 months (50%) / 24-26 months (90%)
Location at lodgement
Outside Australia
Who qualifies for the Subclass 309
To qualify for the Subclass 309, an applicant must be in a genuine and continuing relationship as the spouse or de facto partner of an eligible sponsor, must be outside Australia at the time of application and at the time of grant, and must meet Australian health and character requirements. The sponsor must be an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen, aged 18 or over, and must satisfy sponsor eligibility and character criteria.
Married couples demonstrate the relationship through a valid marriage certificate accompanied by supporting evidence across the four relationship aspects. De facto couples must generally show 12 months of cohabitation immediately before lodgement, unless the relationship is registered under state or territory law in Australia or compelling circumstances apply.
The four aspects of relationship assessment
The Department of Home Affairs assesses every partner visa application across four aspects. Evidence must be provided across all four. Applications that lean heavily on one or two aspects and neglect the others attract Requests for Further Information, which extend processing time materially.
Financial aspects
Joint bank accounts, shared liabilities, joint ownership of property or assets, pooling of financial resources, financial transfers between partners, and evidence of mutual financial responsibility. Regular financial interaction over time carries more weight than one-off transactions.
Nature of the household
Lease agreements or property titles in both names, utility accounts, mail addressed to the couple, and statements describing how the household is run, including division of responsibilities, care of children, and shared domestic life. Where the couple has been separated by work or border requirements, the nature of future shared living arrangements must be explained.
Social aspects
Form 888 statutory declarations from adults who know both partners and can give concrete observations about the relationship, photographs covering a substantial period and range of settings, joint travel records, and evidence that the couple is recognised as a couple by family, friends, and the wider community.
Commitment to a shared life
Evidence of future planning, the length of the relationship, mutual knowledge of the personal circumstances of each partner, emotional support during significant events, and documentation of shared long-term intent, including wills, powers of attorney, and beneficiary nominations where relevant.
Managing the wait
Offshore applicants typically face a significant wait between lodgement and grant. The Subclass 309 can only be granted while the applicant is outside Australia, so the applicant cannot remain in Australia on the pending application alone. Many applicants apply for a Visitor Visa during the wait to spend time with the sponsoring partner in Australia. The applicant must leave Australia before the Subclass 309 is granted.
The wait is also an opportunity. Evidence of the continuing relationship generated during the processing period strengthens the eventual Subclass 100 assessment. Joint financial activity, shared travel, and continued social recognition over the two-year period all feed into the permanent stage. Applicants should document the relationship actively during this period rather than treating lodgement as the end of the evidence-gathering task.
Decision-ready lodgement
The single most significant factor affecting processing time is application completeness at lodgement. A decision-ready Subclass 309 application includes all identity documents, a full marriage certificate or relationship registration (where applicable), relationship evidence across all four aspects, police certificates from every country the applicant and sponsor have lived in for 12 months or more in the past 10 years, health examinations completed through panel physicians, and the sponsorship application lodged and approved.
Applications lodged without this material trigger Requests for Further Information. Every request adds months to processing time. Front-loading the application with complete, indexed, and clearly-labelled evidence is the single most effective strategy for reducing the wait.
Common grounds for refusal
Refusals at the Subclass 309 stage typically reflect one of a small number of recurring issues. Insufficient evidence of the genuine and continuing nature of the relationship is the most common. Inconsistency between the application and supporting documents, undisclosed prior refusals or character issues, sponsor ineligibility or sponsor limits, and failure to meet the de facto cohabitation threshold without registering the relationship are also frequent causes.
Where a refusal occurs, merits review with the Administrative Review Tribunal is available in most cases, but review is slow and outcomes depend heavily on the quality of the original application record. A decision-ready application is always less expensive than a refusal plus a review.
Related pathways
The Subclass 309 is the temporary stage of the offshore pathway. Applicants in Australia should consider the Subclass 820 and Subclass 801 onshore stream. Engaged applicants outside Australia should consider the Subclass 300 Prospective Marriage Visa.
Strategic preparation of the Subclass 309
Visa Plan Lawyers prepares offshore partner visa applications to the decision-ready standard. Every application is built around the four relationship aspects, with evidence indexed to each aspect, relationship complications addressed candidly, and the case for direct grant of the Subclass 100 presented clearly where the facts support it.