Prospective Marriage Visa (Subclass 300): The 2026 Guide
Published 17 Mar 2026
What is the Prospective Marriage visa, and who is it for?
The Prospective Marriage visa (subclass 300), often called the fiancé visa, lets you enter Australia to marry an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. It costs $11,710, runs 9 to 15 months, and you must marry within that time. After the wedding you apply for the 820/801 partner visa in Australia for $1,955.
You must be outside Australia when you apply. Half of recent applications took 14 months and nine in ten took 26 months, so most couples wait longer than the visa itself will last. It suits couples who cannot yet meet the partner visa’s relationship test, or who want to marry in Australia.
The Prospective Marriage visa costs $11,710 and runs for 9 to 15 months from grant. Marry within that window, then lodge the 820/801 partner visa before it expires: the charge for that second application drops from $11,710 to $1,955.
Who can apply for the Prospective Marriage visa?
The rules are the subclass 300 criteria in Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations. In plain terms, you must:
- Be 18 or older — both you and your prospective spouse, at the time you apply.
- Apply from outside Australia — you and any family included in the application must be offshore when it is lodged. You may be in or outside Australia when it is granted, as long as you are not in immigration clearance at the airport.
- Intend to marry an eligible sponsor — an Australian citizen, an Australian permanent resident or an eligible New Zealand citizen, who sponsors you.
- Have met in person as adults — you must have met face to face since you both turned 18, and know each other personally. A relationship conducted only online or by phone does not qualify.
- Intend to marry in the visa period — genuinely, and to live together as spouses afterwards. A letter from a celebrant or a lodged Notice of Intended Marriage is the usual evidence of a real wedding plan.
- Be free to marry — under Australian law: there must be no legal barrier to the marriage, so a prior marriage must have ended and both parties must be able to consent.
- Meet health and character rules — a medical examination, and police certificates from every country where you have lived for 12 months or more in the last ten years.
Same-sex and opposite-sex couples are treated the same way. Dependent children can be included when you lodge, and a child born or added after lodgement can be added until the visa is decided.
Who can sponsor, and what limits apply?
Your sponsor is your prospective spouse, and their sponsorship must be approved before your visa can be granted. Home Affairs asks sponsors to lodge the sponsorship form as soon as possible after the visa application, and the sponsor must provide police certificates of their own.
Regulation 1.20J limits how often a person can sponsor. A sponsor can be approved for at most two partner or prospective-marriage sponsorships in their lifetime, at least five years apart. A person who was themselves sponsored as a partner or fiancé cannot sponsor someone else until five years after that application was lodged.
Home Affairs can waive these limits where compelling circumstances affect the sponsor. A former partner’s death, or a child of the new relationship, are the usual examples.
What if the sponsor has a criminal record?
A sponsor with convictions for certain offences, particularly violent or child-related offences, can be refused as a sponsor under regulations 1.20KB and 1.20KC. Disclose any record early; it is assessed, not automatically fatal.
How much does the Prospective Marriage visa cost?
The visa application charge is $11,710 for the main applicant, $5,860 for each additional applicant aged 18 or over and $2,935 for each child under 18. It is paid in full at lodgement and is not refunded if the application is refused or withdrawn.
| Application | Main applicant | Each additional applicant 18+ | Each child under 18 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prospective Marriage visa (300) | $11,710 | $5,860 | $2,935 |
| Partner visa (820/801) lodged while the 300 is still valid | $1,955 | $980 | $485 |
| Partner visa (820/801) lodged after the 300 has expired | $2,475 | $1,235 | $625 |
The second row is the reason to plan the wedding date around the visa expiry, not the other way round. Health checks, police certificates and translations come on top; our partner visa cost guide works through them, and the fees and thresholds page holds every current charge.
From 1 July 2026 a lower charge applies to applicants holding a passport from Timor-Leste or one of twelve Pacific countries. Home Affairs applies it automatically in ImmiAccount.
Google’s AI summary for this search says the visa costs “from $1,955”. That figure is the charge for the partner visa a 300 holder lodges after the wedding. The Prospective Marriage visa itself is $11,710.
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★★★★★ 4.9How long does the Prospective Marriage visa take?
Home Affairs’ processing guide, updated 4 September 2026, shows 50 per cent of Prospective Marriage visas decided within 14 months and 90 per cent within 26 months. Its visa page warns that applicants “may experience longer processing times than expected”. Applications are ordered under Ministerial Direction 117, which puts aged, compassionate and compelling cases first.
Two practical consequences follow. Do not book a venue for a fixed date before the visa is granted; a Notice of Intended Marriage lodged with a celebrant, up to 18 months ahead, is enough evidence of the wedding plan. And expect to repeat the medical and police certificates, which are generally valid for 12 months.
What can you do once the visa is granted?
The visa lets you live, work and study in Australia, and travel in and out freely, for the period on the grant letter. The visa officer sets that period at between 9 and 15 months from grant, and it cannot be extended. First entry must be made by the date on the letter.
Three conditions shape the months after grant:
- Condition 8515 — you must not marry, or enter a de facto relationship, before you first enter Australia on the visa. Marrying overseas before arrival breaches the condition.
- Condition 8519 — you must marry your sponsor within the visa period. The wedding can be held in any country, as long as the marriage is valid under Australian law.
- First entry before the sponsor — condition 8502 may be imposed, which prevents you entering Australia before your sponsor does.
Health cover is your own responsibility. Medicare is generally not available on this visa, and Home Affairs recommends private insurance for the whole stay. Work is unrestricted, and study is allowed without government funding.
What happens after the wedding?
Lodge the onshore partner visa (subclass 820/801) before the Prospective Marriage visa expires. Lodged in time, it costs $1,955 rather than $11,710, and you receive a bridging visa A that keeps you lawful while it is decided. The permanent 801 stage is usually assessed two years after the partner application was lodged.
If you marry before the Prospective Marriage visa is decided, you are no longer eligible for it. Tell Home Affairs through ImmiAccount, attach the marriage certificate, and ask to be considered for the offshore partner visa (subclass 309/100) instead. The application is converted rather than refused, with no new charge. Our offshore partner visa page covers that pathway.
If the visa expires before you lodge the 820, you become a person without a substantive visa. The partner visa can still be lodged at the $2,475 tier, but extra criteria apply to applicants in that position, and a refusal is then far harder to recover from. Get advice before the expiry date.
What if the relationship ends?
If the relationship ends before the visa is granted, the application will be refused, because the intention to marry is tested again at decision. If it ends after grant but before the wedding, tell Home Affairs through the Notification of Relationship Cessation form. The visa may then be cancelled, as condition 8519 cannot be met.
The family violence provisions do not attach to the Prospective Marriage visa itself. They can apply once you have married and lodged the 820/801: an applicant whose relationship ends because of family violence by the sponsor can still be granted the partner visa. Our family violence provisions post explains the evidence.
Want to know whether the Prospective Marriage visa or a partner visa is the right choice?
Tell us how long you have been together, where you both are now and when you plan to marry, and we will tell you which visa fits and what it will cost, in writing, before you lodge. Book an eligibility call.
Frequently asked questions
How long does the Prospective Marriage visa take to be granted?
Home Affairs’ guide of 4 September 2026 shows half of applications decided within 14 months and 90 per cent within 26 months. Applications with complete evidence and no character complications tend to sit at the shorter end.
Which is faster, the fiancé visa or a partner visa?
Neither is reliably faster. The Prospective Marriage visa shows 14 months for half of applications; the offshore partner visa (309) is processed under the same Ministerial Direction. The Prospective Marriage visa is the right choice when the couple does not yet meet the partner visa’s relationship requirements, not because it is quicker.
Can I visit my partner in Australia while the application is processed?
Usually, on a visitor visa, if you meet its requirements and intend to leave at the end of the visit. You must be outside Australia when the Prospective Marriage visa application is lodged, but you can be in Australia when it is granted, provided you are not in immigration clearance.
Can we marry outside Australia?
Yes, once you have entered Australia on the visa at least once. Condition 8515 stops you marrying before that first entry, and the marriage, wherever it is held, must be valid under Australian law. You still lodge the 820/801 from inside Australia before the visa expires.
How long until permanent residence after marriage?
The 820 partner visa is lodged after the wedding, and the permanent 801 is assessed about two years after that application was lodged. A couple who marry six months into the Prospective Marriage visa are typically looking at permanent residence roughly three years after the 820 is lodged, once processing is added.
