What Happens After Your 820 Partner Visa Is Granted? Work, Travel, Medicare and the 801 Stage

Receiving a Subclass 820 Partner visa is an important milestone, but it is not the end of the Partner Visa process. The 820 is the temporary stage of the combined 820/801 pathway. Once it is granted, your day-to-day rights usually improve significantly, while your permanent Subclass 801 application remains in progress.

This article answers the specific question of what to do after an 820 grant. For the complete eligibility and application framework, see our Subclass 820/801 Partner Visa hub.

1. You can live, work and study in Australia

Home Affairs currently states that a Subclass 820 holder can live, work and study in Australia while the permanent Subclass 801 application is being processed. The visa is not tied to one employer and is not a sponsored work visa.

2. You can travel overseas and return on the 820 visa

A granted Subclass 820 visa allows multiple travel to and from Australia while the visa remains in effect. This is very different from travelling on a Bridging Visa A, which ordinarily ceases if you depart Australia. Before travel, check VEVO and make sure your passport details are current.

3. Medicare may be available

Home Affairs states that 820 holders can apply for access to Medicare. Services Australia also has separate enrolment rules for people who have applied for permanent residence, including combined 820/801 applications. Medicare eligibility should be checked against your own visa and residence circumstances.

4. Your 801 application is already part of the combined pathway

You do not normally lodge a brand-new permanent Partner Visa application from scratch after the 820 is granted. The 820 and 801 are lodged as a combined pathway. In most cases, you become eligible for permanent-stage assessment two years after the date you originally applied for the combined Partner Visas.

Once two years have passed since the original application, Home Affairs instructs 820 holders to submit the further information for the permanent stage through ImmiAccount. The two-year period runs from the original application date, not from the 820 grant date.

5. A double grant can mean there is nothing further to lodge

In some cases Home Affairs grants the Subclass 801 immediately after the Subclass 820. This is sometimes called a “double grant”. Home Affairs expressly states that if the permanent 801 was granted immediately after the 820, you do not need to provide a second set of permanent-stage documents.

6. Keep building relationship evidence

Unless an exception applies, the relationship generally needs to remain genuine and ongoing when the permanent stage is assessed. Continue keeping sensible evidence of your shared life: joint financial arrangements, household records, travel, important family events, social recognition and evidence of ongoing commitment.

7. Do not casually apply for another substantive visa

This point is easy to miss. Home Affairs states that to be granted the Subclass 801 you must hold the Subclass 820 or, in relevant cases, a Subclass 445 Dependent Child visa. If another visa is granted, you can lose eligibility for the 801 pathway. Get advice before lodging another visa application after your 820 grant.

8. Tell Home Affairs if important circumstances change

Changes can include a new passport, address change, birth of a child, relationship breakdown, family violence, death of the sponsor or another matter relevant to the application. Some relationship-ending situations have special provisions, so do not assume that separation automatically ends every permanent-stage possibility.

Illustrative case example: 820 granted after a long bridging-visa period

Composite example: A client had waited on a bridging visa for almost two years before the 820 was granted. They assumed the two-year 801 clock started again on the 820 grant date. It did not. Because the permanent-stage eligibility date was linked to the original combined application date, the couple was already close to the point at which permanent-stage documents could be submitted. The practical work became updating police checks, relationship evidence and the current household/financial material rather than “waiting another two years”.

Your post-820 checklist

• Save the 820 grant notice and check VEVO.
• Confirm passport details are current.
• Check Medicare enrolment eligibility.
• Keep evidence of the ongoing relationship.
• Diary two years from the original 820/801 application date.
• Prepare for the 801 stage when eligible.
• Get advice before applying for another substantive visa.

For the official visa rights and permanent-stage steps, see the Home Affairs Subclass 820 page and Subclass 801 page.

Emigrate Lawyers assists with permanent-stage Partner Visa strategy, relationship updates and complex 801 matters. Visit our 820/801 Partner Visa lawyers page.

General information only. Visa status and permanent-stage eligibility should be checked against the law and your individual circumstances.