Partner visas 820, 801, 309, 100
Partner visa documents that need English translation
The Home Affairs checklists for every partner visa stage carry the same instruction: “Have all documents translated into English.” This page lists the documents those checklists actually name, and what the Department says about who may translate them; for a worked example, see three languages, one partner visa file.
Partner visa: does your document need translating?
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The rule
What the checklists say about translation
Translated into English, originals included
“Have all documents translated into English. Provide original and translated documents in your application. Translators in Australia must be accredited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters.” The same wording appears on the 820, 801, 309 and 100 checklists.
Source: Home Affairs, subclass 820 checklist (page last updated 10 August 2026)
No certification of copies — colour scans
“Scan or photograph all documents (English and non-English) in colour… You do not need to have any documents certified” for the online application. The requirement sits on the translation, not on stamped photocopies.
Ordering for a partner visa and translating in Australia? Choose the NAATI certification option at checkout — that is the kind of translator the checklist wording describes. See how NAATI translation works. Translating abroad? The same checklist says translators outside Australia “do not have to be accredited”, but each translation must include their “full name; address and telephone number; qualifications and experience in the language they are translating”, and “These details must be in English.”
The documents
What documents need translating for a partner visa?
Every document in your application that is not in English. The checklists say “Have all documents translated into English”, and that covers relationship evidence as well as certificates. Which documents you need depends on your circumstances — many lines are conditional. These are the types the checklists name:
- Birth certificate
- Marriage certificate
- Divorce documents, death certificates or separation documents from a previous relationship
- Passport photo pages, a national identity card if you have one, and proof of any change of name
- Overseas police certificates
- Identity documents for each dependent child, and evidence of your relationship with them, like a birth certificate
- Relationship evidence, such as joint bank account statements and household bills in both names
Birth certificate
“Provide a birth certificate showing the names of both parents” — or, where you cannot, alternatives such as a family book showing both parents’ names or government-issued identification. Our birth certificate page covers how these are translated.
Marriage certificate
“If you are married, provide your marriage certificate or other evidence that your marriage is valid in Australia.” Our marriage certificate page covers the detail. Getting married here? See marrying in Australia with foreign documents.
Previous relationships
“If you have previously been married, widowed, divorced or permanently separated, provide divorce documents, death certificates, separation documents or statutory declarations.”
Passport and identity
Passport photo pages, a national identity card if you have one, and proof of any change of name.
Police certificates
Overseas police certificates from countries where you have lived may need translation. Australian AFP certificates are already in English; the checklist notes police certificates are valid for 12 months for immigration purposes.
Dependants’ documents
For each dependent child: identity documents and “evidence of your relationship with your dependant, like a birth or marriage certificate”.
All quoted lines: subclass 820, 309, 801 and 100 checklists, each last updated 10 August 2026. Requirements change — read your own checklist before you order.
Pricing
What translation costs with us
Translation is $39.99 per page into English, delivered digitally. NAATI certification — the option to choose for documents translated in Australia for a visa application — adds $59.99 per page, prepared by a NAATI-certified translator with a digital stamp carrying a scannable QR code.
Overseas police certificate? Divorce certificate from a previous marriage? Death certificate of a former spouse?
The government’s Free Translating Service does not translate documents needed for a visa or citizenship application, so it will not cover this file. It may cover other personal documents once your visa is granted — see who qualifies.
Other visa and passport paperwork: citizenship document translation, passport application translation, skills assessment translations and working holiday visa translations.
Common questions
What people ask about partner visa documents and translation
A partner visa lets the spouse or de facto partner of an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen live in Australia, and it has two stages. From inside Australia you apply for the temporary 820 and the permanent 801 together; from outside Australia the pair is the 309 and the 100. Home Affairs usually assesses the permanent stage once two years have passed since you applied. All four checklists carry the same wording on translation, so nothing about who may translate changes between the stages.
Yes, for the husband or wife of an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen: Home Affairs describes each of the four partner subclasses as a visa for “the de facto partner or spouse”. Married and de facto couples both give evidence of the relationship. A married couple also provides the marriage certificate, with an English translation if it is in another language.
On de facto couples, Home Affairs says you usually must have been in the relationship for at least 12 months immediately before you apply, and it sets out when that does not apply, including where the relationship is registered with an Australian state or territory authority. Its subclass 820 page has the tests, and a registered migration agent can advise on your own case.
The same rule as an onshore application: the 309 and 100 checklists carry the same translation wording as the 820 and 801, and which line applies turns on where the translator is, not where you are. A translator working in Australia falls under the line naming NAATI, even for an offshore application, and the NAATI certification option matches that wording. A translator in your own country falls under the overseas line instead: they “do not have to be accredited”, but each translation must carry their full name, address, telephone number, and qualifications and experience in the language, all in English.
Home Affairs lists supporting evidence under four headings, and its instruction to “Have all documents translated into English” covers all of it, not only certificates. Finances: joint mortgage or lease documents, joint loans, joint bank account statements, household bills in both names. Household: a statement on how you share housework, mail addressed to you both, proof of your living arrangements. Social matters: statements from two witnesses, which can be made on Form 888, and proof you go out or travel together. Commitment: knowing each other’s background and staying in touch when apart. Bank statement translation covers statements in another language.
Yes, if it is not in English, and one translation can serve two purposes. The 820 and 309 checklists name a marriage certificate both as a relationship document and as proof of a change of name, and Home Affairs says to “Attach a document only once, even if you are using it to show more than one thing.” The 801 and 100 checklists ask for it again, so keep the translated PDF with the original. With NAATI certification, a one-page certificate costs $39.99 plus $59.99; each side carrying text, a stamp or a seal counts as a page. Marriage certificate translation has the detail.
Yes, where any of them are not in English. The sponsor’s part of the 820 and 309 pages carries the same translation wording as the applicant’s. It asks a sponsor for a copy of their passport and birth certificate, and an overseas police certificate from every country where they spent a total of 12 months or more in the last 10 years since turning 16. So a sponsor who was born or has lived overseas may hold a birth certificate or police certificate that needs an English translation, even though they are now an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen.
Home Affairs publishes this. The temporary visa lasts until the permanent one is decided: an 820 holder can stay until the 801 application is finalised or withdrawn, and a 309 holder until a decision is made on the 100. The 801 and 100 are permanent visas, with travel to and from Australia for 5 years from the date of grant. If the permanent visa is granted straight after the temporary one, Home Affairs says there is nothing more to do. Otherwise permanent-stage documents go in once two years have passed since you first applied, and not before, so translations for that stage can wait until then.
Usually only for documents that are new or reissued. A translation carries no expiry date, but a police certificate does: for immigration purposes it is valid for 12 months from the issue date, and Home Affairs may ask for it again if it expires before a decision. The permanent stage also asks for an overseas police certificate from any country, your home country included, where you spent a total of 12 months or more since your temporary visa was granted. Each new certificate or statement in another language needs its own translation; whether an officer asks for more is for Home Affairs.
Not for the partner visa file itself. TIS National’s Free Translating Service lists the 820, 309, 801, 100 and 300 among the visas whose holders may be eligible, but its eligibility page also says “Document translations required for visa or citizenship applications, and documents issued by private citizens, are not eligible.” That covers the permanent stage too. Once your 820 or 309 is granted, you may be able to use it for personal documents that help with employment, education or community engagement, while you are in Australia and the grant is under two years old. Tourist and working holiday visa holders are not eligible. Who qualifies for the free service sets out the tests.
$39.99 a page, plus $59.99 a page for the NAATI certification option, so the total depends on how many pages in your file are not in English. Count sides, not documents: each side carrying text, a stamp or a seal is a page, and a bank statement can run to several. Our worked example, with a birth certificate, a divorce decree and two police certificates, came to eleven pages. The order page takes up to four pages per order; a longer document is quoted by email, and the quote stays open for seven days.
Normal delivery is within 3 days at no extra cost, Urgent 12–24 hours for $49, and ASAP within 4 hours for $99 where a translator for your language is available; all three are estimates. We do not deliver on Sundays: a delivery that would fall on a Sunday arrives on the Monday. Documents can go in after you lodge: the 820 and 309 pages ask for required information with your application “or as soon as possible after you apply”, and say to attach anything missing in ImmiAccount as soon as you can. A document longer than four pages is quoted by email first, so allow time for that.
Sources: Home Affairs, subclass 820 checklist (page last updated 10 August 2026), and its 309, 801 and 100 pages; TIS National, Free Translating Service eligibility. Checked 18 September 2026.