Australian Prospective Marriage Visa

Are you considering a visa to Australia to marry your partner? The subclass 300 visa, also known as the Fiance or Prospective Marriage Visa, is a temporary visa that lets you travel to Australia to marry your partner within the 9-month visa period. The subclass 300 prospective marriage visa application must be lodged when you are offshore, and you must also be outside Australia at the time of grant. After getting married, we can then assist you with lodging a combined onshore partner subclass 820/801 visa application that would lead you to permanent residence in Australia. This involves a 2-step process, where you'll be assessed for a temporary subclass 820 visa, which grants you the right to stay in Australia while your application for permanent residency is being processed. Two years after lodging your combined subclass 820/801 visa application, the Department will assess your eligibility for the subclass 801 visa, which can lead to permanent residence in Australia.

To be eligible for a Subclass 300 Visa, you must:

• Be 18 years old or older when you apply for the visa

• Be in a genuine relationship with your prospective spouse who is an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen

• Intend to marry your prospective spouse before the visa period ends

• Have sufficient evidence to support your claims about your relationship

• Be outside of Australia at the time the application is made

• Not have had a visa cancelled or an application refused

• Meet Australia's health and character requirements

• Satisfy all other visa requirements

A key requirement for visa grant is that you must genuinely intend to marry your Australian partner within the 9-month visa period. Providing evidence that arrangements have been made for the ceremony after your first entry to Australia is a requirement, and this evidence must be in the form of a signed and dated letter from the authorised marriage celebrant, confirming the date and venue of the ceremony. Under Australian law, if you plan to marry in the country, you must lodge a Notice of Intention to Marry (NOIM) with the marriage celebrant conducting the ceremony. This must be done no less than 1 month and no more than 18 months before the proposed date, and the NOIM is valid for up to 18 months. As part of your visa application, you should provide confirmation that you have lodged a NOIM with your marriage celebrant.

It is important to note that marrying your partner in Australia is not a requirement. If you intend to marry overseas, you must still enter Australia within the 9-month visa period before the marriage. Following the wedding, you may leave Australia and return within the 9-month visa period to apply for the combined subclass 820/801 onshore partner visa. It is important to ensure that your overseas marriage is legally recognised in Australia. If you marry your Australian partner before a decision is made on the visa application, you will no longer be eligible for the prospective marriage visa. In this case, you will need to notify Immigration of the change in circumstances, withdraw the application, and re-apply for a new visa subclass. Failure to do so will result in your subclass 300 visa application being refused.

Some benefits of the Subclass 309 Visa include:

• The ability to stay in Australia temporarily for between 9 and 15 months from the visa grant date

• The ability to work and study in Australia

• The ability to travel to and from Australia as many times as you want

• The ability to apply for a Partner visa (subclass 820 and 801) after you are married and before your Prospective Marriage visa ends.