Australian Partner Visa for US Citizens: 2026 Guide
Updated: 5 August 2026
US citizens apply for an Australian partner visa the same way everyone else does: offshore as subclass 309 leading to 100, or onshore as 820 leading to 801. If you are already in Australia, the onshore route is usually open to you. Your documents are in English, so nothing needs translating.
Quick Facts: Partner visa for US citizens
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Offshore route | Subclass 309 (temporary) leading to 100 (permanent) |
| Onshore route | Subclass 820 (temporary) leading to 801 (permanent) |
| Marry-first route | Subclass 300 prospective marriage visa (offshore only) |
| Sponsor | Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, at least 18 |
| De facto minimum | 12 months living together, with three exceptions |
| Police clearance | FBI Identity History Summary, plus any country lived in 12 months or more since age 16 |
| Health exam | Required, Bupa panel clinic |
| Forms | 47SP (you) and 40SP (your sponsor), through ImmiAccount |
| Second stage | Assessed about two years after your original application date |
| Cost | See the fee schedule |
| Processing | See the processing times guide |
Where you are standing decides which visa you get
If you have already been to Australia on an ETA, that travel history is useful evidence, and it sets up the most common planning mistake in this category.
The test is physical location, on two separate days. For the offshore 309 you must be outside Australia when you lodge and when the visa is granted. For the onshore 820 you must be in Australia on both days.
| Offshore 309/100 | Onshore 820/801 | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you must be at lodgement | Outside Australia | In Australia |
| At temporary grant | Outside Australia | In Australia |
| Bridging visa | None | Bridging Visa A, if you lodge while holding a substantive visa |
| Work rights while you wait | None | Full and unrestricted once the BVA activates |
| Medicare while you wait | No | Yes, through the BVA |
| Leaving and coming back | Free | Needs a Bridging Visa B first |
The Bridging Visa A is why couples already living together in Australia reach for the 820. It sits dormant until your current visa expires, then takes over.
Check your grant notice for condition 8503, "no further stay", which blocks onshore lodgement and pushes you to the 309. Also treat an ETA as what it is: a visitor authority capped at three months a visit. Back-to-back visits used to sit in Australia while an application gets built can end in a cancelled ETA or a refused entry at the airport.
You cannot switch streams later, either. Changing your mind means withdrawing, lodging again, paying again. Our onshore versus offshore comparison covers the trade-offs.
The offshore stream has a trap. Visiting while the 309 is pending is allowed. Being in the country on decision day is not, and nobody warns you which day that is.
The 12-month de facto rule and the three ways around it
Not married? Then you need a de facto relationship: living together on a genuine domestic basis for at least 12 months immediately before you apply.
Twelve unbroken months under one roof is not what that means. A work posting, a sick parent, a long-distance stretch. All fine. You explain the gaps and you evidence what was happening inside them.
Three exceptions release you from the 12 months:
- Register the relationship on an Australian state or territory relationship register. The registers exist in the ACT, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria.
- Compelling or compassionate circumstances, such as one partner overseas on a work assignment.
- A child of the relationship.
Marriage takes the argument away completely. An overseas marriage that is valid under Australian law is recognised, and a US certificate is already in English, so there is no NAATI translator to find and pay. It will not make your visa faster. It does close off any dispute about the 12 months.
Worth raising with an adviser: three or more years de facto, or two or more with a child of the relationship, can open direct permanent residence.
Should you use the prospective marriage visa instead?
The subclass 300 lets you fly to Australia and marry there. You apply from outside the country, it is single entry, and you get full work and study rights on arrival. You must have met your partner in person; a relationship conducted only online does not qualify.
The 300 gives you a nine-month window to enter Australia and marry. The marriage has to be legally valid here: a registered celebrant, a Notice of Intended Marriage lodged at least a month before the ceremony, and registration with the state registry afterwards.
A 300 does not become permanent residence by itself. After the wedding you lodge the onshore 820/801 as a brand new application, with a second charge on top of the first. Let the 300 expire before you lodge and you are unlawful in Australia.
The 300 earns its place when you cannot marry before you travel and you do not meet the 12-month de facto test. Otherwise marry first and go straight to 309/100 or 820/801.
Proving the relationship when everything is already in English
Four pillars, drawn from the migration regulations. Strength in one offsets a thin patch in another. An empty pillar is a red flag.
| Pillar | What the Department looks at | For a US-Australian couple |
|---|---|---|
| Financial | Joint accounts, loans or cards, bills in both names, transfers between you, tax returns naming each other | A joint US checking account counts, so does a shared auto loan. It need not be an Australian bank |
| Household | Joint lease or mortgage, utilities at one address, mail to both of you, vehicle registration | Your driver's licence showing your partner's address sits here, beside the registration and the mail |
| Social | Recognition as a couple, photos across the relationship, invitations in both names, joint travel | Photos across the whole relationship, not one weekend. Declarations from your family in the States too |
| Commitment | How you met, knowledge of each other's histories, wills, powers of attorney, joint plans | Naming each other on a 401(k) or a life policy counts, and so does a power of attorney |
Form 888 is the witness statement, written by third parties about you. Your own relationship statement and your sponsor's are separate documents, and they carry weight when they are long, dated and detailed. No minimum number of witness statements is published. Get several, from both sides. One careful declaration from a friend who has known you both for years beats ten short ones.
Long-distance couples have a different evidence profile, not a weaker one. Flight records. Years of messages. Put a written timeline of who lived where, and when, at the front of the bundle. The evidence of relationship guide lists the rest.
Police checks and your sponsor's character
You need an FBI Identity History Summary. Ordered directly from the FBI it takes months; an approved channeller such as Fieldprint or IdentoGO handles the fingerprints electronically and comes back in days. Use the channeller. You also need a certificate from every other country you lived in for 12 months or more since you turned 16, often one more from wherever you studied abroad. The police clearance guide has the process country by country.
Your sponsor is checked too. They supply Australian and overseas police checks, and they must consent in writing to convictions for relevant offences being disclosed to you. Withhold that consent and the application can be refused. A significant criminal record means death or life imprisonment, a term of 12 months or more, or two or more terms adding up to 12 months or more.
Book the health examination with a Bupa panel clinic. If it is requested mid-processing you get 28 days, so most people do it up front.
One application, two decisions
One application, one charge, two decisions. The temporary visa (309 or 820) comes first. About two years after your original application date, not two years after the temporary grant, the Department assesses the permanent stage.
At that checkpoint they ask for updated relationship evidence and fresh police clearances, so budget for a second FBI summary. The couples who struggle built a beautiful file, got the 309 or 820, then kept no records for two years. The question at the permanent stage is whether the relationship is genuine and ongoing right now.
You must be in Australia when the 801 is granted. For the 100, anywhere. Once the permanent visa is granted, a later separation changes nothing.
How to apply, step by step
- Work out which subclass your location allows, and check your visa for condition 8503 if you are in Australia.
- Confirm your sponsor qualifies and that sponsorship-frequency limits do not catch them. Check the current limits on homeaffairs.gov.au.
- Order your FBI Identity History Summary through a channeller, plus any other country certificates.
- Book the health examination.
- Build the evidence bundle across all four pillars, with a written relationship timeline.
- Your sponsor lodges Form 40SP through ImmiAccount.
- You lodge Form 47SP with the evidence attached, and pay the charge.
- Answer any request for more information, and report changes in your circumstances.
- Receive the temporary decision (309 or 820).
- Keep generating joint records for two years.
- Provide second-stage evidence and fresh police checks when asked.
- Receive the permanent decision (100 or 801).
The step-by-step apply guide covers the ImmiAccount mechanics.
Cost and how long it takes
We do not print the partner visa charge here. Sources report it differently and it changes. Check the Australian visa fees schedule, then confirm on homeaffairs.gov.au before you budget.
The charge comes in instalments: a base instalment and, where it applies, a second one at the permanent stage. Either can be nil.
Processing estimates move constantly. The partner visa processing time guide and the general processing times guide carry current figures.
Where American applicants get caught out
Skipping translation saves money and weeks, but an English-language file is not a light file. The bundle still has to cover four pillars across the whole relationship.
The 309 trap is being in the country on decision day. Visiting during the wait is fine. Being here when the grant lands is fatal.
A Bridging Visa A lets you stay. It does not let you fly out and come back. A wedding or a funeral at home needs a Bridging Visa B, granted before you leave.
Then there is going quiet after the temporary grant. That is the big one, and entirely avoidable.
If the relationship ends before the permanent visa is decided, read what happens if you separate or divorce before you withdraw anything. Exceptions exist for family violence, for children of the relationship and for the death of the sponsor, and the family violence provisions do not require you to have gone to the police. In Australia, 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 is free, confidential and answered at any hour. For a refusal history or a character issue, talk to a MARA-registered agent first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I apply for a partner visa while I am in Australia on an ETA?
You can lodge the onshore 820/801 while you are in Australia. Lodging while you hold a substantive visa that does not carry condition 8503, "no further stay", is what gets you a Bridging Visa A. Check your grant notice first. An ETA is a short visitor authority, so plan the lodgement properly instead of arriving and hoping.
Is the prospective marriage visa 300 better than applying as de facto?
Usually not, when you have the choice. The 300 means two applications and two charges, because after the wedding you still lodge the onshore 820/801. It earns its place when you cannot marry before travelling and do not yet meet the 12-month de facto rule.
Do my US documents need translation or certification?
No translation is needed. Birth certificates, marriage certificates, bank statements and leases issued in the United States are already in English and are accepted that way. Follow the Department's certification instructions for copies. The saving is real, but the evidence standard stays exactly the same.
Which police check do American applicants need?
The FBI Identity History Summary. Order it through an approved channeller, because direct applications to the FBI take months while a channeller returns results in days. You also need a police certificate from every other country you lived in for 12 months or more since you turned 16.
Can I work in Australia while the application is being processed?
Onshore, yes. A Bridging Visa A carries full unrestricted work rights once it activates, plus study rights and Medicare. Offshore is a different story. Applicants waiting on a 309 have no Australian work rights and no Medicare until the visa is granted and they enter the country.
Can I go home to visit family while I am waiting?
Offshore applicants travel freely, though you must be outside Australia when the 309 is granted. Onshore applicants on a Bridging Visa A cannot re-enter Australia on it. Apply for a Bridging Visa B and have it granted before you leave, every single trip, without exception.
What happens to my residence if we separate after the 801 is granted?
Nothing. Once the permanent visa is granted you hold permanent residence in your own right. You can stay, work, use Medicare, remarry, and apply for citizenship once you meet the residence requirements. Separation before the permanent decision is the situation that puts an application at risk.
