Partner visa emails explained: the full 820/801 timeline

The partner visa wait is long, currently a median of around 17 months for the temporary stage, and for most of it, nothing happens. Then an email from the Department of Home Affairs lands in your inbox and your heart rate doubles before you've read the subject line.

Having been through this wait ourselves, we know the pattern: every email feels momentous, but almost none of them require anything from you. This guide walks through the correspondence in the order it usually arrives, what each message actually means, and the two types that genuinely have deadlines.

One rule before the timeline: all official correspondence goes to the email address nominated in your application, and everything also appears in your ImmiAccount. If an email ever seems off, log in to ImmiAccount directly rather than clicking links; the messages section there is the source of truth.

Day 0: acknowledgement of application received

Minutes after you lodge and pay, you receive an acknowledgement letter confirming your application has been received, with your application reference. This email matters for one practical reason: it fixes your lodgement date, which determines your fee, your place in the queue, and later, the date your 801 eligibility is measured from. Save the PDF somewhere permanent.

Day 0, usually within hours: Bridging Visa A grant

If you applied onshore while holding a substantive visa, the Bridging Visa A is granted automatically and the grant notice arrives the same day. It doesn't take effect until your current visa expires; the email states this. Read the conditions carefully, because the BVA generally inherits the work conditions of the visa you held when you applied. If you need unrestricted work rights, that's a separate application, not something to wait for by email.

The BVA notice is also the document you'll show employers and real estate agents for the next year and a half, alongside VEVO checks. Keep it with the acknowledgement letter.

Early weeks: health examination referral

If you didn't complete your health examinations before lodging, you'll receive an email with your HAP ID and instructions to book with Bupa Medical Visa Services. This one has a soft deadline: the sooner it's done, the sooner your file is complete. Health results feed through automatically; you won't get a "results received" email, and no news is good news.

Sometimes: biometrics request

Some applicants receive a request to provide fingerprints and a photo at a collection centre. It comes with a checklist and a timeframe. Routine, but it is an action item; book promptly.

The one that matters: the s56 request for more information

At any point, often somewhere in the first year, you may receive a formal request under section 56 of the Migration Act, usually titled "Request for more information". This is the email to take seriously: it lists exactly what the case officer wants (commonly updated relationship evidence, police certificates, or translations of documents), and it typically gives you 28 days to respond through ImmiAccount.

Three things to know:

It's normal, and it's arguably good news: it means a case officer has your file open and is working toward a decision.
The deadline is real. An inadequate or missed response can lead to a decision on the incomplete file, which can mean refusal.
Non-English documents in your response need certified translations, same as the original application. This is the moment people discover a translation need with a clock running; at 1 to 2 business days per document, translations shouldn't be the thing that eats your 28 days, but don't leave them to day 25.

If your certificates were issued in another language and you haven't translated them yet, doing it before the s56 arrives is the single easiest way to keep your file decision-ready. Police checks are the classic case: they expire 12 months from issue, so applicants often need fresh ones mid-application, translation included.

Around 12 months, and again around 18: "your application is being processed"

Somewhere around the one-year mark, many applicants receive a status email confirming the application is still being processed, and often a similar one again around 18 months. No attachment, no request, no deadline.

These emails exist because the wait is long and people write in asking. They are automated reassurance, not a signal that a decision is near, and equally not a sign of a problem. Nothing about your position in the queue can be read from them. File them and carry on; since March 2026, ImmiAccount's live queue position and personalised target decision date tell you far more than these emails do.

The general principle for the long middle of the wait: if an email doesn't ask you for something, it doesn't need anything from you.

If you travel: Bridging Visa B correspondence

Your BVA has no travel facility; leaving Australia on it means it ceases and you can't return on it. If you need to travel, you apply for a Bridging Visa B before departure, and you'll receive its own grant notice with the travel window. This is correspondence you initiate, but it belongs in the sequence because it's the one email people wish they'd known about before booking flights.

The one you're waiting for: the 820 grant notice

The grant email arrives with no warning and no pattern: not on a particular weekday, not after a status email, not at a milestone. Subject line "IMMI Grant Notification", with a PDF stating your visa grant number, conditions, and that the subclass 820 is granted. Your bridging visa ends, the 820 begins, full work rights attach, and Medicare enrolment (if you were on interim eligibility) becomes permanent.

One quiet detail: the grant notice also confirms you're now on the pathway to the permanent stage, and the date that matters for it was set long ago, on lodgement day.

About two years after lodgement: the 801 eligibility email

The permanent stage runs on its own clock: eligibility is assessed from two years after your original application date, not from the 820 grant. Around that mark you'll receive an email inviting you to submit the second-stage documents: updated relationship evidence, statutory declarations, and any documents that changed since lodgement. New non-English documents (a marriage certificate from an overseas wedding, updated foreign bank records) need certified translations like everything before them.

Then a shorter wait, and a second grant notice, this time for the subclass 801. That's the last email in the sequence.

Emails that are not from Home Affairs

Long-running visa applications attract scams, and partner visa applicants are targeted because the wait normalises unexpected official-looking email. The department's correspondence comes from homeaffairs.gov.au addresses, never asks for payment by gift card or transfer to an individual, and everything real is mirrored in ImmiAccount. If an email creates urgency about a payment, it's not the department. When in doubt: don't click, log in directly.

Keeping the inbox that matters

Two housekeeping rules for a two-year correspondence:

If your email address changes, update it in ImmiAccount immediately. Requests sent to a dead inbox still count as sent, and the 28-day clock runs whether you saw the email or not.
You can nominate your partner or an agent as authorised recipient (form 956A) so correspondence goes to them too. Useful when one of you checks email obsessively and the other is the applicant.

FAQ

I got an email saying my application is being processed. Does it mean a decision is close?

No. These are periodic automated status emails, common around the 12 and 18 month marks. They carry no signal about timing, positive or negative.

How long do I have to respond to an s56 request?

Typically 28 days from the date of the request, through ImmiAccount. The exact deadline is stated in the letter; treat it as hard.

Will I get an email when my health results are received?

No. Results flow to your file automatically. Silence after your health examination is normal.

Does the grant email arrive at a predictable time?

No. Grants arrive without warning, at any stage after your file is decision-ready. No email in the sequence reliably predicts one.

What happens if I miss an email from Home Affairs?

Legally, correspondence is taken to be received once sent to your nominated address, and deadlines run from there. Check ImmiAccount regularly and keep your contact details current.

Do documents I send in response to an s56 need NAATI translations?

Yes, if they're not in English, the same requirement as at lodgement. Translations take 1 to 2 business days, so they fit comfortably inside a 28-day window if you don't leave them last.