The Prospective Marriage visa (300), explained
A temporary visa to enter Australia and marry your sponsor, then move onto a Partner visa: eligibility, the marriage deadline, and the $11,710 charge from 1 July 2026.
Reviewed MARN 0317382Jul 2026 published6 min read
The Prospective Marriage (subclass 300) visa lets you travel to Australia to marry your sponsor, then apply for a Partner visa from there. It's a temporary visa, valid for 9 to 15 months from the grant date, and the application charge is $11,710 for the main applicant from 1 July 2026. You need to marry before the visa expires.
Who qualifies
You and your sponsor must both be at least 18. Your sponsor, the person you plan to marry, must be an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, and must be approved by Home Affairs as your sponsor. The relationship can be with a partner of the same or different sex.
You need to have met your prospective spouse in person, as adults, since you both turned 18, and be known to each other personally at the time you apply. You and any family members applying with you must be outside Australia when you lodge the application, though you can be inside or outside Australia when Home Affairs decides it.
The marriage deadline
Your grant letter sets a stay period of 9 to 15 months from the date the visa is granted, plus a first-entry date you must arrive in Australia by. Within that period, you need to marry your sponsor. The wedding can happen in any country, but the marriage itself must be valid under Australian law.
Home Affairs puts it two ways: you must intend to marry before the visa period ends, and you must have married before the visa expires. The grant letter is what sets your actual date, and 9 months and 15 months are very different weddings to plan. Evidence that the wedding is real — a letter from the celebrant or whoever will officiate, for instance — is part of the application, and processing on this visa can run long enough that Home Affairs asks applicants to keep that evidence up to date while they wait.
What it costs
| Cost item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Main applicant, visa application charge | $11,710 |
| Each family member included in your application | Additional charge — check the Visa Pricing Estimator on the Home Affairs website |
| Partner visa (820/801) that follows | A separate charge applies; it's reduced if you marry and lodge the partner visa before your 300 visa expires |
| Eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste passport holders | A lower charge applies from 1 July 2026, based on the primary applicant's passport, for 13 listed countries including Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Timor-Leste, Tonga and Vanuatu |
The $11,710 figure took effect 1 July 2026, up from $9,365, and applies across the whole partner visa family: the 300, the onshore 820/801 and the offshore 309/100. It doesn't include health checks, police certificates or biometrics, which are billed separately.
The evidence Home Affairs wants
Two witnesses aged 18 or over, who know both of you and your relationship, need to complete a supporting statement (Form 888). You'll also need to show you've met in person as adults, that you genuinely intend to marry and live as spouses, and a written history of the relationship — how you met, how it developed, the engagement, and your plans together.
If either of you has been married before, add divorce papers, a death certificate or separation documents. Children in the family unit have their own document lists, including consent from anyone with legal custody who isn't travelling with them.
Health, character and other requirements
You and any family members applying with you need to meet the health requirement and, if you're 16 or over, the character requirement. Anyone who's spent 12 months or more in Australia in the last 10 years since turning 16 needs an Australian Federal Police certificate, plus a police certificate from every other country lived in for 12 months or more in that period.
You also need to be free of debt to the Australian government, or have a repayment arrangement in place, and everyone 18 or over needs to sign the Australian Values Statement. Health results are valid for 12 months, police certificates for 12 months, and a health undertaking, if you're asked for one, for 6 months.
After the wedding
Once you're married, the next step is a Partner visa (subclass 820 and 801) application, lodged before your Prospective Marriage visa expires. That application runs the same two-stage structure as any partner visa: a temporary visa first, assessed for permanent residence roughly two years later. The Prospective Marriage visa doesn't lead anywhere on its own — it exists to get you to the wedding and the partner visa application that follows.
General information only, current at 18 July 2026. Not immigration assistance or advice for your circumstances. Visacorp Pty Ltd — MARN 0317382 · 1799004.
Common questions
Do I need to be in Australia to apply?
No. You and any family applying with you must be outside Australia when you lodge the application. You can be in Australia when Home Affairs decides it, but you must enter before the first-entry date on your grant letter.
How long do I have to get married?
Your grant letter sets the period, and it is 9 to 15 months from the grant date. You must marry before the visa expires. The same letter also carries a first entry date you have to arrive in Australia by.
Can I include my children in my application?
Yes, members of your family unit can be included, subject to their own identity, health and character requirements. Dependent children under 18 and dependants over 18 each have their own document lists.
Does this visa lead to permanent residence?
Not directly. After marrying, you apply for a Partner visa (820/801) before the 300 visa expires. That visa runs its own two-stage temporary-then-permanent structure.
Unsure where your situation fits?
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