How Long Does a Subclass 820 Partner Visa Take? Current Processing Times Explained

How long a subclass 820 partner visa takes right now

Home Affairs decides 50% of subclass 820 applications within 23 months and 90% within 29 months. That is the Department's own published guide, taken from its visa processing times tool.

In plain terms, plan for about two years. Half of all applicants wait longer than 23 months, and one in ten waits more than 29 months, which is close to two and a half years.

Those numbers have moved. Figures published earlier in 2026 sat closer to 20 months at the median, and material still circulating online quotes 16 or 17 months. If you are reading a timeframe anywhere other than the Department's own tool, assume it is out of date.

It is also worth being clear about which visa these figures describe. The 23 and 29 month numbers are for the temporary subclass 820 only. The permanent 801 stage is a separate assessment that happens roughly two years after your original lodgement date, and it is not included in these figures. The offshore subclass 309 runs on its own separate timeframe.

What the Department's published figures actually mean

The processing times tool is often misread, and the misreading causes real anxiety.

They are historical, not predictive. The Department calculates them from applications it has already decided. They tell you what happened to other people's files, not what will happen to yours.

They are percentiles, not an average or a maximum. "50% in 23 months" means half of decided applications took 23 months or less. It does not mean most applications are decided at 23 months, and it certainly does not mean yours will be.

They are not a deadline the Department is bound by. There is no legal obligation to decide within the published period, and exceeding it does not give you a remedy or a right of complaint that changes the outcome.

They exclude time attributable to you. Periods where the Department is waiting on your health examination, your police certificates or your response to a request are still wall clock time you experience, but the Department's own framing treats an application awaiting information from the applicant differently from one sitting in a queue.

The practical consequence is that the figures are useful for planning your life, and close to useless for predicting your specific grant date.

Why some 820 applications take much longer

Applications that run well past the 29 month mark usually share one or more of a small number of features.

A request for further information. This is the most common cause by a wide margin. A case officer opens the file, finds a gap, and writes to you. Even if you respond promptly, the file goes back into a queue. A single request can add months.

Incomplete evidence at lodgement. Related, but distinct. The clock starts when you lodge, not when your application is ready. Lodging early to secure a bridging visa is sometimes the right call, but an application lodged with four months of evidence still to come will be assessed later than one lodged complete.

Schedule 3 issues. If you lodged without holding a substantive visa, the Schedule 3 waiver question is decided before the relationship is properly assessed. That is an extra decision layer, and it takes time.

Character or health referrals. Anything requiring a health waiver, a further medical opinion or a character assessment moves the file out of the standard queue.

Sponsorship complications. Where the sponsorship limitations in reg 1.20J apply and a waiver is needed, the sponsorship approval itself has to be resolved first.

Expired documents. Health examinations and police certificates have a limited validity. On a two year application, documents obtained at lodgement can expire before the decision, and you will be asked to redo them.

What you can do to shorten the wait

You cannot make the Department work faster. You can avoid being the reason it slows down.

Lodge complete. Address all four relationship criteria at lodgement rather than planning to supplement later. An application that gives a case officer no reason to write to you is the fastest application.

Explain the gaps rather than leaving them. If you have lived apart, kept separate finances, or been together a short time, say so and explain why. Silence invites a request for information. An explanation usually does not.

Get the health and police checks done early, but not too early. They have expiry dates. Sequencing matters on a two year timeline.

Respond to any request in full and within time. Some case officers issue only one request before deciding on what is in front of them. A partial response can result in a refusal rather than a further request.

Keep your contact details current in ImmiAccount. A request sent to an old email address still counts as sent.

Keep gathering evidence after you lodge. The permanent 801 stage is assessed on evidence covering the period after lodgement. Building that record as you go is far easier than reconstructing two years later.

What your status is while you wait

Two years is a long time to be in limbo, and the practical questions matter more than the grant date.

If you held a substantive visa when you lodged, you will usually be granted a Bridging Visa A. It takes effect when your current visa expires, keeps you lawful, and generally carries full work rights and study rights. Most onshore applicants keep working throughout.

A Bridging Visa A does not permit travel. If you need to leave Australia, you must apply for a Bridging Visa B before departing, and it carries a limited travel period. Leaving without the right bridging visa can mean you cannot return, and the 820 generally cannot be granted while you are outside Australia.

Check the grant notice rather than assuming. Work rights are not automatic on every bridging visa, and the conditions attached to yours are what govern, not the general position.

What to do if your application is past the published timeframe

Being outside the 29 month mark is not unusual and it is not, on its own, a sign that something is wrong.

Start by checking ImmiAccount. Confirm that nothing is outstanding, that no request has been issued that you missed, and that your health and police documents have not expired. A surprising number of apparently stalled applications are waiting on the applicant.

If nothing is outstanding, you can make a status enquiry, but expect a general response. A complaint to the Department does not accelerate a decision, and it does not create a review right.

Where an application has gone genuinely silent for a long period with nothing outstanding, there are limited legal avenues concerned with the Department's duty to decide rather than the merits of your case. Those are narrow and rarely the right first step, but they exist.

When the decision comes, it arrives through ImmiAccount rather than by post, and the grant is usually effective immediately. There is no interview stage for most partner visa applications, so in many cases the first substantive contact you have with the Department after lodgement is the decision itself.

Keep a copy of the grant notice. It states the conditions attached to your visa and the date from which the 801 assessment period runs, and you will need both when the permanent stage comes around.

If your application is refused rather than delayed, the position changes entirely and a short, strict deadline starts running. Our page on partner visa refusals explains how that period is calculated.

If you are unsure whether your application is delayed or in trouble, our partner visa lawyers can review the file and tell you which it is. You can book a consultation online.