Current partner visa legislation enables a visa applicant to apply for a temporary and a permanent partner visa in one hit – one initial application and one visa application charge. The subclass 820/801 visa application is the onshore version of the subclass 309/100 visa application. The 820 and 309 visas are the temporary partner visas. The 801 and 100 visas are the permanent partner visas. The government has flagged that partner visa applicants may soon be required to pay one fee at the temporary partner visa application stage and a second fee at the permanent partner visa assessment stage.
Holders of an 820 visa are usually assessed for the permanent partner visa two years after the date of the original application. However, a Department of Home Affairs decision maker may assess the permanent partner visa before those two years are up where the applicant and sponsor were in a qualifying relationship for at least two years at the time the 820/801 visa application was lodged and they have a child together OR where the couple can prove that they were in a qualifying relationship for at least three years when the 820/801 application was lodged.
In some circumstances, it is possible for a temporary partner visa applicant or a temporary partner visa holder to be granted a permanent partner visa even though their relationship with their sponsor has come to an end. This may include situations where the applicant has been subjected to domestic violence or where the applicant has an Australian child.
