The applicant for a Prospective Marriage Visa (subclass 300) must be sponsored by an Australian citizen or permanent resident with whom they are in a relationship. The application must be made from outside of Australia, and the applicant must be outside of Australia when the visa is ready to be granted.

The Prospective Marriage Visa (subclass 300) is a more favourable option for people that are in a relationship with a person from overseas but do not have enough evidence to lodge a Partner visa application.

This is partly due to the fact the legislative requirements of being in a de-facto relationship prior to lodging the application are not as stringent as those of the Partner visa. An applicant will need to provide a Notice of Intent to Marry (NOIM) with their application, in addition to their genuine relationship evidence to be considered for the visa grant.

In some cases, applicants who are outside of Australia, apply for a Prospective Marriage Visa (subclass 300) then apply for a Visitor (subclass 600) visa to visit Australia during the processing time. It is important to note, however, the applicant must be outside of Australia for the visa to be granted.

Once the visa has been granted, the applicant will have 9 months to enter Australia and get married to their partner. The marriage does not need to take place in Australia and can occur anywhere as long as it is a valid legal marriage in that country.

The applicant will then be required to make an application for the Partner (subclasses 820 & 801) visa prior to the visa expiry at a reduced visa application charge. The applicant will still, however, be required to wait out the two-year period from the date the Partner (subclass 820) visa is lodged, until it is granted.