Engaged to an Australian? The Prospective Marriage visa (subclass 300) lets you come to Australia to marry, then apply onshore. Registered agents in Brisbane. Call us.
The Prospective Marriage visa (subclass 300) lets the fiance or fiancee of an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen come to Australia to marry their partner. It’s for couples who are engaged but not yet married, and who aren’t in a de facto relationship that would let them apply for a partner visa directly. Once you’re in Australia and married, you apply onshore for a partner visa to stay long term.
It’s a genuine and popular pathway, but it runs on a clock, and the evidence has to show a real relationship and a real intention to marry. Our registered migration agents in Brisbane prepare subclass 300 applications and the partner visa that follows. Here’s how it works.
The subclass 300 is a temporary visa. It’s granted while you’re outside Australia, and it lets you travel to Australia, marry your partner, and then lodge a Partner visa from onshore. Think of it as the first step of a two-part journey, not a visa you settle on permanently.
Once granted, the visa gives you a window in which to enter Australia and marry. You don’t have to marry the day you land, but the marriage does need to happen within the validity period. After you marry, you lodge the onshore partner visa (subclass 820, leading to 801), and you’re usually granted a bridging visa to stay lawfully while it’s decided.
To be eligible for a prospective marriage visa, you generally need to show that:
You’re genuinely engaged to your sponsor and intend to marry them.
Your sponsor is an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen.
You’ve met each other in person as adults. Meeting only online isn’t enough.
You’re both free to marry and old enough to do so.
Your relationship is genuine, and you both meet health and character requirements.
The “met in person” rule catches some couples out, especially those who got engaged through family introductions or long-distance. It’s worth confirming your situation before you lodge.
The department wants to see that a real wedding is on the way. That usually means evidence such as a letter from a marriage celebrant confirming a booking, or clear plans and arrangements. Vague intentions aren’t enough. You also need to show your relationship is real, in the same way a partner visa applicant would: how you met, how you’ve kept the relationship going, and how your families and friends see you as a couple.
This is where a lot of applications are thin. We help you put the relationship evidence together properly and line up the marriage arrangements so a case officer can see the picture clearly.
The prospective marriage visa isn’t the end goal. It gets you to Australia and lets you marry. After the wedding, you apply for the onshore partner visa, and that’s the visa that leads to permanent residency once your relationship is accepted as genuine and continuing. It’s worth planning both stages together from the start, so the second application isn’t a scramble. Our Partner Visa page explains that stage in detail.
Once you’ve entered Australia, married, and lodged the partner visa, you’ll usually be granted a bridging visa that keeps you lawful while the partner application is processed. We handle that as part of the job, so there’s no gap where your status runs out. See our Bridging Visa page.
The subclass 300 carries a significant government application charge, and processing times shift with the department’s workload. Rather than quote a figure that might be out of date, we’ll give you the current fee and a realistic timeframe in your consultation. What matters most is getting the application right the first time, because a refusal costs you far more than the fee.
We check you meet the subclass 300 rules, including the “met in person” requirement, before you lodge.
We prepare your relationship evidence and your marriage arrangements so they hold up.
We manage the sponsor’s side of the application too.
We plan the onshore partner visa that follows, so the two stages join up cleanly.
We sort the bridging visa and respond to any requests from the department.
If your engagement or relationship has a complication, or a past refusal, we know how to deal with it.
The prospective marriage visa (300) is for engaged couples who aren’t yet married and don’t qualify as de facto. A partner visa is for those already married or in a de facto relationship. The 300 lets you come to Australia to marry, then apply for the partner visa onshore.
No. The whole point of the visa is that you marry after you arrive in Australia. You need to show a genuine intention to marry, usually backed by a booking with a celebrant.
The visa comes with a validity period, and you need to marry within it. We’ll confirm the current timeframe with you, and we usually recommend having wedding plans well advanced before you travel.
Yes, the subclass 300 generally allows you to work and study in Australia during its validity. This helps while you settle in and prepare for the partner visa stage.
Generally no, not yet. The visa requires you to have met your partner in person as adults. Once you’ve met, your situation may qualify, so talk to us about timing.
If you’re already in a de facto relationship, you may be able to. If you’re only engaged and don’t meet the de facto rules, the 300 is often the right pathway. We’ll work out which fits your relationship.
There may be a right of review at the Administrative Review Tribunal, with strict time limits. If you’ve had a refusal, contact us quickly. See our Visa Refusal & Appeal page.
Yes. The subclass 300 is lodged while you’re offshore, and we work with couples remotely from start to finish, then through the onshore partner stage once you arrive.
