Australian Partner Visa

The spouse or de facto partner of an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen.
The applicants must be outside Australia when they apply.

If you are married, your marriage must be valid under Australian law.
Under very limited circumstances, the marriage could be valid if one person is younger than 18 years of age.
Please note that underage, polygamous and same-sex marriages are not legal in Australia.
Same-sex couples can apply for this visa based on their de facto relationship.
The applicants must be in a genuine and ongoing relationship. They must live together or, if they do not, any separation must be only temporary.
There must be free consent to the relationship by both parties.
The applicant can apply if he/she intends to marry his/her partner before a decision is made on the visa application.

The de facto relationship must have existed for at least 12 months immediately before you apply for this visa. Time spent when you were dating does not count towards the length of your de facto relationship.
Under limited circumstances, you might be granted a visa without having been in a de facto relationship for 12 months if:
- there are compelling and compassionate circumstances, such as having dependent children
- your partner has been granted a permanent humanitarian visa and your de facto relationship existed before it was issued, and you have informed the Department of Immigration about the relationship before the humanitarian visa was granted
- your de facto relationship has been registered in Australia (this may be possible in some states and territories).
You should be older than 18 years of age and not be related to your partner by family. This usually means that you cannot be an ancestor or descendant of one another, or have a parent in common.

There are two stages for your application, which are processed about two years apart. The first stage is the Partner (Provisional) visa (subclass 309). The second stage is a permanent Partner visa (subclass 100). The applicant will lodge only one application for both temporary and permanent visas and pay one application charge.
The applicants must be outside Australia when they apply and when the Partner (Provisional) visa (subclass 309) is granted. They can be in or outside Australia when Partner visa (subclass 100) is granted.

The Partner (Provisional) visa (subclass 309) will allow you to enter Australia and stay here until a decision is made about your permanent Partner visa (subclass 100).
You can work in Australia, study in Australia (however there would be no access to government funding)
You can enrol in Medicare, which covers:
free or subsidised treatment by health professionals such as doctors, specialists, optometrists, and in some circumstances, dentists, and other allied health practitioners
free treatment and accommodation for public Medicare patients in a public hospital
75% of the Medicare Schedule fee for services and procedures if you are a private patient in a public or private hospital.

If you hold a permanent Partner visa (subclass 100), you can: