From a 482 to a partner visa: when to apply, what happens to the job and the 186, and keeping both doors open

MARN 1576536

The relationship has to meet the definition first

A partner visa requires, at lodgement, that the applicant is the spouse or de facto partner of the sponsor. A married couple meet it on the marriage, provided the marriage is valid under Australian law, which a marriage celebrated overseas usually is. A de facto couple meet it when the relationship has existed for twelve months before the application, or is registered under a state or territory relationship register, or the Department accepts compelling and compassionate circumstances for dispensing with the twelve months, which is rare. A couple who have been together nine months lodge in three, or register the relationship now; a de facto application lodged short of twelve months is refused on the criterion and cannot be cured by the months that pass during processing. The de facto guide sets out the definition, and the registration guide the states' registers.

When to lodge

Once the definition is met and the evidence is assembled, the application is lodged, and the only constraint is that it is lodged while the 482 is in effect, because an onshore partner application made from a bridging visa after the 482 has ended meets the Schedule 3 criteria, which are a different and harder set. Processing of the 820 takes many months and often more than a year, and the bridging visa A does not come into effect until the 482 ends, so there is no cost in lodging early and real cost in lodging late. The couple who marry or register in order to lodge sooner are doing what the regulations contemplate, and a marriage shortly before lodgement is examined for genuineness like any relationship claim, with the same evidence. A 482 holder whose visa ends in two months and whose de facto relationship is ten months old registers the relationship and lodges before the visa ends, or marries, or accepts that the partner route runs through Schedule 3.

What happens to the 482 and the job

Lodging a partner application does nothing to the 482. The visa continues to its expiry date with all its conditions, including 8607, so the worker continues in the nominated occupation for the sponsor, the sponsor's obligations continue, and nothing changes at work. If the 820 is granted while the 482 is still in effect, the 482 ceases on the grant and the 820 takes its place with unrestricted work rights; the worker can stay with the sponsor as an ordinary employee, or leave. If the 482 expires before the 820 is decided, the bridging visa A comes into effect with the work rights the Department attached to it, which for a partner applicant are unrestricted, and the worker continues with the sponsor or elsewhere. At no point does the worker need to leave the job, and leaving it voluntarily gives up the one visa they hold in their own right. The 820/801 guide sets out the partner visa.

The bridging visa in the background

A bridging visa A is granted when the partner application is lodged, and it is held in the background while the 482 remains in effect; it comes into effect automatically the moment the 482 ceases, so that the applicant is never without a visa. A partner applicant's bridging visa A carries unrestricted work rights, and Medicare enrolment is available on it. It does not permit travel: an applicant who needs to leave Australia while on the bridging visa applies for a bridging visa B before departing, and the 482 holder who travels while the 482 is still in effect does so on the 482. The worker's rights therefore improve rather than worsen when the 482 ends, which is the opposite of what most sponsored workers fear. The bridging visa A guide covers the detail.

The 186 alongside

An employer who intends to nominate the worker for the 186 after two years on the 482 can do so whether or not a partner application is pending, and the worker can hold both applications at once; each is assessed on its own criteria, and the grant of either ends the other, because a person holding a permanent visa has no need of a second application. The comparison is of time and certainty: the 186 is permanent on grant and depends on the employer and the position; the partner route is a temporary visa followed by a permanent one two years after the application and depends on the relationship continuing. A worker close to the two years with a willing employer often reaches permanent residence through the 186 first; a worker whose sponsorship is uncertain has the partner application as the route the employer cannot take away. Lodging both costs two charges and buys the certainty that one will land. The 186 pathway guide sets out the timeline.

Telling the employer

The worker has no obligation to tell the sponsor that a partner application has been lodged, and the Department does not notify the sponsor. Whether to tell is a question of the relationship with the employer and of planning: an employer who is preparing a 186 nomination will want to know that the worker may reach permanent residence by another route and may leave, and an employer who learns of it from the worker is more likely to proceed with the nomination than one who learns of it later. An employer who reacts to the news by ending the sponsorship has breached nothing, and the worker then holds the 482 for the period 8607 allows and the bridging visa thereafter, which is why the application is lodged before the conversation is had.

If the relationship ends

A partner application whose relationship ends before decision is refused unless the family violence provisions, a child of the relationship, or the sponsor's death bring it within an exception. The applicant then holds the 482 if it is still in effect, and continues with the sponsor as before, with nothing lost but the charge; or holds the bridging visa until the application is finalised, with a short period after, and the 180 days under 8607 if the sponsored employment has also ended. A worker who resigned from the sponsor to rely on the partner visa, and whose relationship then ended, has no visa in their own right and a bridging visa with weeks to run. The job is kept for exactly this reason. The relationship breakdown guide sets out the position in full.

The charges and the two years

The partner visa application charge is paid once, at lodgement, and covers both the 820 and the 801; it is the largest charge in the family programme and is not refunded if the application fails. The 801 is assessed two years after the 820 application was made, on the relationship as it then stands, with updated evidence; a couple who married or registered to lodge are, at that point, three years into the relationship and evidence it accordingly. The current charge is on the fees page.

The order of things

1. Check the relationship against the definition: married, twelve months de facto, or registered; if short, register or wait, but note the 482's end date.
2. Assemble the relationship evidence across the four aspects, and the sponsor's documents.
3. Lodge the 820 while the 482 is in effect, and keep working for the sponsor as before.
4. Decide with the employer whether the 186 nomination proceeds alongside, and lodge it if it does.
5. When the 482 ends, continue on the bridging visa A with full work rights; apply for a bridging visa B before any travel.
6. Two years from the 820 application, update the evidence for the 801, unless the 186 has already been granted.

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General information only, current at October 2026; not advice on your own case. Subclasses 820 and 801 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994, regulations 1.09A and 2.03A (the de facto relationship and the twelve months), Schedule 3, the bridging visa A provisions, and condition 8607, as in force at the date above. Outcomes depend on the Department’s assessment of each application; no registered migration agent can guarantee a result (Code of Conduct, Migration Agents Regulations). Keshab Chapagain, MARN 1576536.