Onshore vs Offshore Partner Visa Australia (820 vs 309): Differences and Which to Choose

Couples researching the Australian partner visa quickly discover there are two parallel pathways — onshore (820/801) and offshore (309/100) — and that the choice between them is really a question about sequence: where should the applicant be when the application is lodged, and what happens between lodgement and grant?

The structural difference

• Onshore (820 → 801): the applicant is in Australia at lodgement. The 820 grants full work and study rights and access to Medicare; the 801 permanent stage is assessed after a two-year qualifying period from lodgement.
• Offshore (309 → 100): the applicant applies from outside Australia and must generally be offshore when the 309 is granted. Once granted, the 309 allows the applicant to travel to and live in Australia while the permanent 100 stage is assessed.

Both pathways are lodged as one combined application with one application charge — A$11,710 for the primary applicant from 1 July 2026 — so the money is the same either way (see the full partner visa cost breakdown). What differs is everything about the waiting period.

The bridging visa: the onshore pathway’s quiet advantage — and its trap

Apply onshore while holding a substantive visa and you are generally granted a bridging visa that takes effect when your current visa expires, keeping you lawful in Australia throughout processing — which, for the temporary stage, is commonly measured in months to years, not weeks. For most couples already living together in Australia, this is the decisive argument for the onshore pathway: no separation, and work rights while you wait.

The trap is travel. The standard bridging visa granted with an onshore application has no travel facility — leave Australia on it and you may find yourself outside Australia without a visa that lets you return, with your onshore application in a precarious position. Travel during processing needs a bridging visa with a travel facility arranged before departure, and even then the timing deserves care. Our bridging visas guide explains the types and how the travel facility works.

Two more onshore prerequisites people miss:

• Your current visa’s conditions. Condition 8503 (“No further stay”), common on visitor visas, generally blocks an onshore partner application unless waived in limited circumstances. Check your conditions before assuming the onshore door is open.
• Being lawful at the right moments. Your visa history — including any periods of unlawfulness — affects what is available and on what terms. If you apply onshore without a substantive visa, extra criteria apply: see Schedule 3 and the onshore partner visa. If your relationship is under 12 months, see the de facto 12-month rule and its exceptions.

Some onshore applicants also face a genuine interim decision: whether to hold status by other means while preparing a stronger partner application — for example, a student already in Australia weighing a further student visa against lodging now (see what a student visa actually costs in 2026 when comparing those paths). The right order depends on evidence readiness, status, and money — not just impatience.

The offshore pathway: separation, but cleaner mechanics

The offshore 309 involves living outside Australia during processing — the obvious cost. In exchange, the mechanics are simpler: no bridging visa dependency, no travel-facility management, and (for couples not yet living in Australia anyway) no artificial rush to relocate before lodgement. The critical timing rule runs the other way: the applicant must generally be outside Australia when the 309 is granted, so travel to Australia during processing has to be planned around the possibility of a grant. Visits are possible on other visas where eligibility exists, but grant-timing coordination matters.

For engaged couples where the applicant is offshore and the couple doesn’t yet meet the married or de facto requirements, the Prospective Marriage visa (Subclass 300) is the third sequencing option: enter Australia, marry within the visa period, then apply onshore.

Which order to do things

The sequencing logic, in general terms:

1. Establish which pathway is legally open — applicant’s location, current visa and its conditions, and whether the married/de facto threshold (or an exception) is met.
2. Get the evidence ready before lodging, not after. The application is decided on the genuineness of the relationship across the four assessment areas; lodging thin and “topping up later” is how refusals happen. Start with the free partner visa checklist.
3. Plan travel around the application, not the application around travel — especially bridging visa travel facilities onshore and grant-timing offshore.
4. Only then lodge — in the place, and at the time, the strategy calls for.

Which pathway suits a specific couple depends on facts no article can weigh — visa status, conditions, separation tolerance, evidence strength, and timing. No pathway choice guarantees a grant.

This article is general information only and is not migration advice for your circumstances. Migration advice is provided by Keshab Chapagain (MARN 1576536) after a consultation — contact WIDEN before you lodge, especially if travel or visa expiry dates are close.

Choose the pathway before you lodge

Because the application charge is high and generally not refunded, the pathway decision is worth getting right first. A consultation reviews where the applicant is, their current visa and conditions, and the relationship evidence, and tells you which pathway fits. Book a consultation — A$330 inc. GST, credited if you go ahead.

In other currencies: A$330 is about US$225, €205 or £170; A$550 is about US$380, €340 or £285 (approximate, November 2026).

Book 30 minutes with Keshab.

Keshab Chapagain, registered migration agent (MARN 1576536), reads your situation with you and tells you which route fits, what it costs and what happens next.

Video consultation. A$330 inc. GST for 30 minutes, credited in full if you go ahead. Advice on your own case is given in the consultation, and you leave it with a clear plan in writing.

Need 60 minutes, or bringing a partner, employer or documents to go through? Extended consultation, A$550 inc. GST.

MARN 1576536 · practising since 2015 · contact details