Australia Prospective Marriage Visa

If you are in a committed relationship with someone living in Australia and wish to marry them, you can apply for a Prospective Marriage Visa (Subclass 300).

This is a temporary visa, which allows you to enter Australia with the intention of getting married. After your wedding, you can apply to become permanently settled in Australia with your spouse.

Eligibility for the Australian Prospective Marriage Visa

To be eligible for the Prospective Marriage Visa for Australia, you and your fiance must meet the following criteria:

• You must both be over the age of 18.
• Your partner must be an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen.
• You and your partner must have met each other in-person before.
• You must be planning on getting married within nine months of receiving your visa. You cannot marry before the visa is granted.
• You must prove you intend to live together as spouses.
• You must both be of good character. You may have to submit police certificates.
• You must meet the health requirements. You may need to get a health examination from an approved doctor.
• Neither you nor your partner must not have been charged or convicted of an offence that involves children.

Prospective Marriage Visa Document Checklist

The documents you must provide when you apply for an Australian Prospective Marriage Visa are:

• Your passport. It must show your photo that is in line with the guidelines, personal details and the issue and expiry dates.
• Your birth certificate. Must show the names of both your parents.
• If you cannot provide a birth certificate, submit one of the following:
  • Identification pages from a family book or family census register.
  • Document of identification, issued by a court or government body in your home country.
  • Is older than 18 years of age.
  • Know you and your partner.
  • How, where, and when you met.
  • How you got engaged.
  • Any important events in your relationship.
  • How your relationship has progressed and any joint activities.
  • What your plans for the future as a married couple are.
  • Police certificates from any country you have lived in for longer than 12 months during the last 10 years.
  • A completed Form 80 – “Personal particulars for assessment including character assessment”
  • Identity documents.
  • Proof of your relationship to them, such as a birth certificate.
  • Consent from a parent or legal guardian of the child, who has custody over them and is not travelling along with them.
  • Identity documents.
  • Proof of your relationship to them, such as a birth certificate.
  • Proof of their dependence on you.

  How to Apply for the Australian Prospective Marriage Visa?

  You apply for the Prospective Marriage Visa online, while you are outside Australia. The step-by-step process is as follows:

  1. Create an ImmiAccount, or log in if you already have one. To register, you need to provide your personal details, email address, and phone number.
  2. Complete the ImmiAccount application form. You have to start a new application for the Subclass 300 Visa and answer the questions. You can save and continue the application at a later date using the “Edit” option.
  3. Pay the visa application fee. You can pay the Australian visa application fees online.
  4. Submit the ImmiAccount online application form.
  5. Note down the transaction reference number (TRN) and send it to your partner. Your partner needs this to apply for Sponsorship.
  6. Attach electronic copies of the required documents. You must attach the documents after you submit the application. In case you must do so before submitting the form, you will be notified.
  7. Your partner applies for Sponsorship using their own ImmiAccount or yours. To start the application, they must select the option “Sponsorship for a Partner to Migrate to Australia (300, 309/100, 820/801)”.
  8. Your partner attaches the required supporting documents for the Sponsorship application. They have to provide their identity documents, proof they are legally resident in Australia, an Australian National Police Certificate as well as a Police Certificate from any country they have lived in longer than 12 months.
  9. You wait for your visa to be processed.

  Once you receive your visa, you can use VEVO or an ImmiCard to check its validity and conditions.

  Prospective Marriage Visa Subclass 300 Processing Time

  It can take up to two years for a Marriage Visa application to be processed. According to the Department of Home Affairs, most applications are finalized within 22 months.

  Duration of the Prospective Marriage Visa for Australia

  The Australian Prospective Marriage Visa is valid for 9 to 15 months. The exact duration will be specified on the Visa Grant Letter. During this time, you can:

  • Marry your fiance.
  • Work in Australia.
  • Study in Australia, but you will not receive Government aid.
  • Travel in and out of the country.
  • Apply for a Permanent Partner Visa, which allows you to live in Australia with your spouse permanently.

  After You Get the Visa

  After you receive your Prospective Marriage Visa, you have to do the following:

  • Enter Australia within the date specified on the visa.
  • Marry your fiance before the visa expires. You may also need to get a Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM) at least one month before your wedding. You can get married in or outside Australia, as long as the marriage is valid and recognized by Australian law.
  • Apply for a Partner Visa (Subclass 820 and 801), if you want to settle and live in Australia after getting married. Make sure to apply after getting married but before the Subclass 300 visa expires.

  Prospective Marriage Visa Cost

  The Australian Marriage Visa costs AUD 7,850 for the main applicant (the partner of the Australian resident). In addition, you also have to pay:

  • AUD 3,930 for each dependent applicant over the age of 18.
  • AUD 1,965 for each dependent applicant under the age of 18.

  Can I Bring My Children To Australia With a Prospective Marriage Visa?

  Yes, if you have children, you may bring them along with you when you travel to Australia to get married. For the purposes of visa application, your child must be:

  • Under the age of 18 and under your custody, or
  • Between the ages of 18 and 23 and dependent on you, or
  • Over the age of 23, but dependent on you due to “physical or cognitive limitations”.

  To be considered a dependent, your child must not be married or in a de facto relationship.

  Switching From the Prospective Marriage Visa to Permanent Residency

  Once you have gotten married, you can apply for the 820 and 801 Partner Visa. While you apply simultaneously, you will receive the 820 (Temporary) Visa first, which is valid for two years. After two years, you will receive the 801 (Permanent) Visa, which allows you to settle with your spouse in Australia permanently and even apply for Australian citizenship after a few years.

  Can I Get Married in Australia on a Tourist Visa?

  While it is possible to get married in Australia while you are there on a Tourist Visa if you want to have the best chance of settling there with your future spouse, it is probably best to go for the long route and apply for a Prospective Marriage Visa. That’s because:

  • With a Marriage Visa Subclass 300, you will be allowed to work and study without restrictions in Australia. If you enter on a Tourist Visa and get married, you will receive a Bridging Visa while you wait for the Subclass 820 Visa to be processed, and you have to apply for permission to work – you are not entitled to work rights immediately.
  • The application for the Partner Visa (820/801) from the Prospective Marriage Visa is more streamlined than from a Tourist Visa.
  • If you have a “No Further Stay” condition on your Tourist Visa, it can complicate matters further when you want to apply for permanent residency.
  • It can be difficult to obtain a Tourist Visa (Subclass 600) for Australia because you have to prove you are a Genuine Temporary Entrant and do not intend to settle in Australia. This is especially true if you are from a non-Western country or a country that is known to have a lower standard of living.
  • If your Tourist Visa application is refused, it will make it more difficult (or even impossible) to apply for a long-term visa in the future, such as a Partner Visa.