Prospective Marriage Visa (Subclass 300): What It Is and Where It Leads in 2026

The Prospective Marriage visa (subclass 300) is not the destination. It is the entry corridor: a temporary Australian visa that lets the engaged partner of an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen enter the country to marry, live and work there for 9 to 15 months from the date the visa is granted, and then move — if the marriage happens in time — into an onshore Partner visa (subclasses 820 and 801). Anything beyond that 9–15 month window depends entirely on lodging the Partner visa application after the marriage and before the subclass 300 expires. The details below follow the Australian Department of Home Affairs' official Prospective Marriage visa (subclass 300) page, as current in July 2026; they are general reference material rather than advice tailored to any one relationship or application, so decisions that turn on personal circumstances belong with the official pages or a registered professional.

What is the visa actually for?

The subclass 300 exists to get a genuine partner into Australia so the marriage can take place here. Its whole design is conditional: you must intend to marry your prospective spouse before the visa period ends, you must have an eligible sponsor, and you must have already met face to face as adults. Nothing in the visa itself confers permanent residence, and the visa does not extend itself because plans changed.

That framing matters most for people doing identity or family planning across borders. The subclass 300 buys a fixed slice of lawful time in Australia. Every later stage — the temporary Partner visa (subclass 820), then the permanent Partner visa (subclass 801) — is a separate application with its own eligibility test, evidence and charge. Thinking of the 300 as "step one of immigration" is accurate; thinking of it as a residence outcome is not.

Who can apply from outside Australia?

The Department lists these requirements for the process:

you must be 18 years old or older
you must have a sponsor who is an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen
you must intend to marry your prospective spouse before the visa period ends
you must have met your prospective spouse face to face as adults since turning 18, and be known to each other personally at the time you apply
you must be outside Australia when you apply, along with any family who apply with you
you can be in or outside Australia when the temporary visa application is decided

The combination matters more than any single line. The "met face to face as adults and known personally" requirement is assessed at the moment of application, and staying outside Australia at lodgement is a structural condition, not a formality — applying from inside Australia is not what this visa is built for.

How much time does the visa actually buy you?

This is a temporary visa. You may stay for the period specified on your visa grant letter, which is 9 to 15 months from the visa grant date. If you need to check whether it is still running, the grant letter or VEVO will show it.

There is a separate date to watch. If you are outside Australia when the visa is granted, you must enter Australia before the first entry arrival date ("first entry, arrive by") set out in the grant letter. Travelling after that date has passed is still possible while the visa itself is valid, but the Department notes the visa may be subject to cancellation before arrival or at the border. Entry timing and visa validity are two different clocks, and only one of them ends your ability to use the visa.

What can you do during that window?

The visa gives you three things that make the wait workable: you can live, work and study in Australia during those 9 to 15 months, and you can travel to and from Australia as many times as you want while the visa is valid.

Two qualifications are worth carrying into any budget. Study comes with no government support, so all study costs are at your own expense. Work rights are full work rights, and you are protected by Australian workplace law. Health cover is another practical matter: the Department recommends taking out health insurance, because without it you are personally liable for healthcare costs incurred in Australia; some countries have reciprocal healthcare agreements with Australia that may change the picture.

None of these rights convert into status. They describe the temporary period only.

How does it lead into Partner visa 820 and 801?

The route onward is explicit: if you and your spouse want to settle in Australia, apply for a Partner visa (subclasses 820 and 801) after you are married and before the Prospective Marriage visa ends. The subclass 820 is the temporary stage and the subclass 801 the permanent stage, both handled as one onshore Partner application, and you must be in Australia to apply.

Three operational points decide whether that transition goes smoothly:

Timing is financial. You pay less for the Partner visa if you marry your prospective spouse and apply before the Prospective Marriage visa ends.
Taking another visa is costly. If you are granted any other visa, the new visa replaces your subclass 300, and you may then need to pay the higher Partner visa application charge instead of the reduced one.
New Zealand passport holders should speak up at the border. If an immigration officer processes your clearance, say that you hold a Prospective Marriage visa and that you do not want a Special Category visa (subclass 444). If you do not, you may be granted the 444 visa, and granting it overrides your subclass 300.

A simple worked example, clearly hypothetical: suppose an applicant enters on a subclass 300, marries four months later, and lodges the onshore Partner visa application the day after the wedding, still inside the visa window. On the Department's published terms, the marriage is valid under Australian law, the application is onshore, and the reduced Partner visa charge applies.

What does it cost, and where does the Pacific and Timor-Leste concession fit?

The official page confirms a visa application charge for the main applicant, with concessions applying only in limited circumstances, plus a separate fee for each family member included in the application. The Department will not process an application where the correct charge has not been paid. Health checks, police certificates and biometrics are additional costs, and the pricing estimator does not account for them.

No amount should be assumed here — the Department directs applicants to its Visa pricing estimator to work out the charge for their own circumstances. Budgeting also has to include the later Partner visa charge, since the subclass 300 is not the end of the spending.

One change with a set start date is relevant for some planners: from 1 July 2026, a lower visa cost applies to eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens who lodge a valid application. Eligibility is recognised through a valid passport from one of these countries held by the primary applicant:

Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.

Family members qualify for the lower cost too, based on the primary applicant's (or the primary criteria holder's) passport. The reduced amount is charged during the application process in ImmiAccount.

Who can be included in the application?

Family members can be included when you lodge. Any who apply with you must be members of the family unit, meet the health requirement and the character requirement, and be outside Australia; family members who are not coming to Australia may also have to meet health and character requirements.

The deadlines are unforgiving in one direction only. You may add a dependent child after lodging but before the temporary visa is decided. Once the subclass 300 is granted, you cannot add family members to it — they would need to find their own visa option. If a child is born after the visa is granted, the Department must be told, and there is a separate process covering changes in situation such as a birth.

What happens if the marriage does not take place?

Then the corridor closes. You must have married your prospective spouse before the visa expires — that is the core obligation of the grant, alongside entering Australia before the first entry arrival date. The marriage itself may take place in any country, but it must be valid under Australian law.

If the relationship ends, the outcome is not automatically negative. Depending on the situation you may need to complete the Notification of Relationship Cessation form in ImmiAccount, and you may still be eligible for the Partner visa if the relationship ends or your partner dies; you must be in Australia to apply, and all information provided is treated as confidential. Where domestic and family violence is involved, the family violence provisions mean temporary and permanent visas may still be granted.

Forced marriage sits at the far edge of this topic and is treated as a crime in Australia. Forced marriage is defined as marrying without freely and fully consenting — including where someone is tricked, threatened or pressured, or cannot understand the nature and effect of the ceremony because of age or mental capacity. A subclass 300 holder who cannot consent freely has a different problem from a visa problem, and help is available independently of the visa process.

Which conditions apply while you hold it?

You and any family members must meet all visa conditions and obey Australian laws. Conditions are not uniform by default — the grant letter and VEVO are where yours are recorded, and VEVO is what airlines, Australian government agencies, and employers, banks or other registered organisations use to check status. Visas are digital: there is no label in the passport, and the record is linked to the passport instead.

You must also keep the Department informed. That includes the birth of a child and other changes relevant to the application, plus contact details, address and passport changes. None of this is optional housekeeping; obligations attach to the visa itself.

How does this fit into a longer residence plan?

For residence planning, the honest reading is that the subclass 300 is a bridge with an expiry date, and the strength of a plan is measured by what is ready to lodge before it expires.

Stage	What it is	The constraint that shapes planning
Prospective Marriage visa (subclass 300)	Temporary visa to enter Australia and marry	9–15 months from grant; marriage must happen before it ends
Partner visa (subclasses 820 and 801)	Onshore application covering the temporary and permanent stages	Must be lodged after marriage, before the 300 ends, to attract the lower charge
Any other visa granted in the meantime	Replaces the subclass 300	May remove eligibility for the reduced Partner visa charge

Read that way, the practical sequencing is straightforward: confirm eligible sponsorship and the face-to-face meeting requirement before applying, apply from outside Australia, enter before the first arrival date, marry within the window, and lodge the onshore Partner visa application while the subclass 300 is still valid. That last step is where a residence outcome is either protected or lost, and it is the reason the visa is best understood as a staging visa rather than a status. Government charges and concession settings change, so the figures and effective dates should be re-checked against the Department's current published page before any money moves.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Prospective Marriage visa (subclass 300) a permanent residence visa?

No. It is expressly a temporary visa. You may stay for 9 to 15 months from the visa grant date, as specified in your grant letter, and permanent residence comes only through a later Partner visa (subclasses 820 and 801) application.

Do I have to be outside Australia when I apply?

Yes, for this visa. You must be outside Australia when you apply, along with any family members applying with you, although you may be in or outside Australia when the temporary visa application is decided.

How do I check when my subclass 300 expires?

Check your visa grant letter or use VEVO, which holds your digital visa record. The grant period is 9 to 15 months from the date of grant, and your visa conditions are visible in the same system.

Can I work full time and study on a subclass 300?

Yes. You have full work rights and are protected by Australian workplace law, and you may study. Study attracts no government support, however, and all study costs are at your own expense.

Where does the marriage have to take place?

You can marry in any country, but the marriage must be valid under Australian law, and it must take place before your visa expires. Entering Australia itself must happen before the first entry arrival date on your grant letter.

What if I take a different visa while holding the 300?

Any other visa granted replaces your subclass 300, and you may need to pay the higher Partner visa application charge later. New Zealand passport holders face a specific version of this risk: a subclass 444 granted at the border overrides the subclass 300 unless you tell the officer you do not want it.

Can I add family members after the visa is granted?

No. Family members can be included at lodgement, and a dependent child can be added after lodgement but before the visa is decided. After grant, family members need to explore their own visa options.

Do I lose everything if the relationship ends before the wedding?

Not necessarily. You may still be eligible for the Partner visa if the relationship ends or your partner dies, provided you are in Australia to apply, and information you provide is confidential. Depending on your circumstances you may also need to notify the cessation of the relationship in ImmiAccount.