On the visa · weddingGuide record · 3 October 2026

Prospective Marriage visa expiring before the wedding: no extension, the dates that matter, and the options that exist

A Prospective Marriage visa cannot be extended: its period is fixed at grant at 9 to 15 months, and Home Affairs says staying longer requires a new visa (page updated 24 September 2026).

Find the end date on your grant letter or in VEVO, then count back: a wedding before that date needs your notice of intended marriage in the celebrant's hands at least 1 month earlier (Marriage Act 1961 s 42). If you marry in time, lodge the 820/801 in Australia before the end date for AUD 1,955 (from 1 July 2026); if the 300 has already ended after the wedding, the former-holder route in cl 820.211(5) costs AUD 2,475 (Migration Regulations 1994, Schedule 1 item 1124B; Home Affairs Partner visa 820 page). If the 300 ends before the wedding, no Home Affairs page says what happens next: the outcome is case-specific. This page explains the dates and legal routes generally; it cannot determine which route fits your circumstances.

A partner visa with Australian Migration Lawyers usually costs $14,000 plus GST in professional fees, separate from the Home Affairs visa application charges.

Need the dates checked? An Australian migration lawyer can check your grant letter, wedding timetable and proposed lodgement date. The shared enquiry page can send a private question to Australian Migration Lawyers.

For a direct lawyer consultation, have the visa end date, planned wedding date and any delay details ready.

Date check

Use the following dates as a manual check. This page does not calculate or store dates.

The results show:

• Days left until the visa end date: end date minus today.
• Last day for the celebrant to receive notice: wedding date minus 1 calendar month, under Marriage Act 1961 s 42(1)(a).
• Time between the wedding and the visa end date: the days available to lodge the 820/801 before expiry, as required by the Home Affairs Prospective Marriage visa page.
• If no wedding date is entered, the notice calculation uses a wedding on the day before the visa end date.

The legal consequences to check are:

If the last notice day has passed: “One month's notice is no longer possible for this date. Only a shortening-of-time approval (Marriage Act s 42(5)) allows a wedding in Australia on less notice.”

If the wedding is on or after the end date: “This date is outside the visa period (condition 8519).”

If subtracting a calendar month reaches a day that does not exist: use the earlier day and display “Confirm the exact day with your celebrant.”

Worked example — derived calculation: visa end date 3 July 2027; today 10 June 2027. There are 23 days left: 3 July minus 10 June. A wedding on 26 June 2027 needed notice received by 26 May 2027, applying Marriage Act 1961 s 42(1)(a). From 10 June, one calendar month reaches 10 July 2027, after the visa end date. If notice has not already been given, a wedding in Australia before 3 July now depends on a shortening-of-time approval under s 42(5).

The routes depend on whether you married before expiry

At a glance

Deadline: The end date on your grant letter cannot be extended under cl 300.511: a wedding before it needs the notice of intended marriage in your celebrant’s hands at least 1 month ahead under Marriage Act s 42, and Home Affairs says the 820/801 must be lodged in Australia before the end date.

Illustration: a countdown calendar marking the visa end date and the last day to give one month’s notice of marriage. Alt text: “Calendar counting down to a Prospective Marriage visa end date, with the last day to give one month's notice of marriage marked a month before the wedding.”

Can a Prospective Marriage visa be extended?

No. Part 300 of the Migration Regulations 1994 has no extension mechanism: the Minister sets the end date at grant, 9 to 15 months after it, or 9 months if no date is set (cl 300.511, Compilation 288). Home Affairs’ “Visa about to expire” page, updated 24 September 2026, says that staying longer requires applying for a new visa.

A new visa is not an extension of the 300. Under Migration Act 1958 s 82(2), another substantive visa coming into effect ends the existing substantive visa. The Home Affairs Prospective Marriage visa page, updated 10 August 2026, warns that another visa replaces the 300 and may mean a higher later 820/801 charge.

The sponsor cannot extend the visa either. Home Affairs’ 300 page says sponsorship runs from grant until the 300 ceases; it does not move the end date fixed by cl 300.511. Claims that the current 300 can simply be extended are incorrect.

For the rest of the rules, from eligibility to conditions, see the Australian fiancé visa guide.

How to check your visa's end date

1. Read the grant letter. Home Affairs’ Prospective Marriage visa page says the letter gives the grant number, start date and conditions, and identifies the exact visa end date.

2. Check VEVO. The same Home Affairs page says the 300 has no visa label: it is linked digitally to your passport, and its details can be checked in VEVO.

3. Separate the first-entry date from the end date. Migration Regulations cl 300.611 sets the first-entry deadline; cl 300.511 sets the visa period. An expired first-entry date does not itself end the visa. Home Affairs’ 300 page and Partner visa frequently asked questions say travel is still allowed while the visa is valid, but the visa may be cancelled before arrival or at the border.

If no end date was specified, Migration Regulations cl 300.511(b) gives 9 months from grant. Derived example: grant on 3 October 2026 + 9 calendar months = end date 3 July 2027. Do not count the period from your arrival.

For the exact wording of the first-entry requirement and conditions 8515, 8519 and 8520, read the subclass 300 visa conditions.

Can you still marry in time? The notice month and shortening of time

The notice window is 1 to 18 months before the wedding. Under Marriage Act 1961 s 42(1)(a), the celebrant must receive the notice no later than 1 month, and no earlier than 18 months, before the ceremony. For a wedding before your visa end date, count back one calendar month from that wedding date—not from the visa end date.

Build three tasks into the timetable:

These requirements come from the Marriage Act 1961; the separate meetings and declarations also need room in your timetable.

Less than one month’s notice requires approval, not just the celebrant’s agreement. Marriage Act s 42(5) and Marriage Regulations 2017 reg 72 and Schedule 3 allow a prescribed authority to authorise shortening of time where one of five prescribed circumstances applies:

1. Employment-related or other travel commitments.
2. Wedding or celebration arrangements, or religious considerations.
3. Medical reasons.
4. Legal proceedings.
5. An error in giving notice.

The visa end date is not itself a listed circumstance in Schedule 3. The prescribed authority decides whether your facts fit one of the five circumstances. The Attorney-General’s Department publishes the list of prescribed authorities.

For signing, sending and overseas witnessing, see the separate guide to the notice of intention to marry.

An overseas ceremony is another legal possibility, not a guaranteed solution to a short timetable. Home Affairs’ 300 page says you can marry in any country after first entering Australia on the 300, provided the marriage is valid under Australian law. Its guidance still requires the 820/801 application to be lodged in Australia before the 300 ends.

Married, but the 300 expired before you lodged the partner visa

The former-holder route in Migration Regulations cl 820.211(5) is written for this case. Its requirements include that you:

• Hold no substantive visa.
• Last entered Australia on the 300.
• Married the person you entered Australia to marry.
• Ceased to hold a substantive visa after marrying.
• Remain that person’s spouse and are sponsored by them.

These are the route’s conditions under Compilation 288, not a promise of a visa grant.

From 1 July 2026, Schedule 1 item 1124B(2)(a)(xiii) and (xv) sets the standard charges for this former-holder route at AUD 2,475 for the main applicant, AUD 1,235 per additional applicant aged 18 or over, and AUD 625 per additional applicant under 18. The standard main-applicant charge while still holding the 300 is AUD 1,955 under item 1124B.

Derived cost difference: AUD 2,475 − AUD 1,955 = AUD 520 more, using the charges effective from 1 July 2026.

The Home Affairs Partner visa 820 page, updated 24 September 2026, states an extra “compelling reasons” requirement for applicants without a substantive visa who did not previously hold a 300. Clause 820.211(5) is the route written for a married former 300 holder. If no other valid visa is held, the interval between expiry and lodgement leaves you without a valid visa; lodging later does not erase that interval.

The bridging visa is a Bridging visa C, not A.

Derived legal distinction: a former holder applying under cl 820.211(5) holds no substantive visa at lodgement. Read with Migration Regulations cl 010.211(2)(c) and 030.212(2), that means the bridging visa for a valid onshore application is a Bridging visa C, not a Bridging visa A.

Home Affairs’ Bridging visa C page, updated 20 June 2025, and cl 030.212(3) explain that the initial BVC has no work rights for this application: the 820 is not among the listed exceptions. Permission to work requires a compelling need to work. A BVC does not support return travel to Australia.

By contrast, Home Affairs’ 820 page says lodging while holding the 300 gives a Bridging visa A, which starts when the current visa expires.

For the lodgement steps and the permanent-stage clock, read the 300 visa to partner visa 820/801 guide.

Not married when the 300 ends

No Home Affairs page addresses a 300 that ends before the wedding. The legislated former-holder route in Migration Regulations cl 820.211(5) requires the marriage to have happened before the visa ceased, and condition 8519 required the marriage within the visa period. What happens next turns on your circumstances; speak to an Australian migration lawyer before the end date.

If the relationship has ended, the sponsor has died or there is family violence, the routes in Migration Regulations cl 820.211(7)–(9) are explained on the relationship-ended page.

The wedding is delayed: what to do before the end date

1. Fix the two dates. Check the exact visa end date on the grant letter or in VEVO, as Home Affairs directs. Then calculate the last notice day for a wedding before it, using Marriage Act s 42(1)(a).

2. Check whether a wedding before expiry is still possible. Give notice now if the full month remains. If it does not, ask the celebrant about shortening of time. Only a prescribed authority approves it under Marriage Act s 42(5), on one of the five prescribed circumstances.

3. If no wedding is possible before expiry, understand the new-visa rule. Home Affairs’ “Visa about to expire” page, updated 24 September 2026, says staying longer requires a new visa. Another substantive visa replaces the 300 under Migration Act s 82(2), and the Home Affairs 300 page warns that this may raise the later 820/801 charge.

4. Get advice before the end date. No Home Affairs page addresses expiry before marriage, so a lawyer needs your actual dates and circumstances rather than an assumed outcome.

The sponsor’s sponsorship ends when the 300 ceases, according to Home Affairs’ 300 page. Nothing the sponsor lodges changes the end date fixed under Migration Regulations cl 300.511.

To see the full sequence from grant to partner-visa lodgement, use the 300 visa wedding timeline.

Staying after the visa ends: unlawful status and the re-entry ban

Being in Australia without a valid visa risks immigration detention and removal. Home Affairs’ “Visa about to expire” page, updated 24 September 2026, says that if your visa has expired you need to depart or apply for a Bridging visa E immediately. Do not treat a planned wedding as permission to remain.

Home Affairs’ re-entry ban page, updated 25 September 2026, says an exclusion period of up to 3 years may apply after overstaying by more than 28 days; some people are excluded permanently. For temporary visas, a waiver may be requested on compassionate or compelling grounds.

The legislative rule is more specific. Under Migration Regulations Schedule 4, PIC 4014(1) and (4), where that criterion applies, a new application generally must be made more than 3 years after departure if the person left as an unlawful non-citizen or on a Bridging visa C, D or E, unless compelling or compassionate circumstances apply. PIC 4014(5) provides exceptions, including leaving within 28 days after the substantive visa ceased or holding a bridging visa granted within that 28-day window. This is not permission to stay without a valid visa for 28 days.

Derived legal distinction: PIC 4014 is not listed among the criteria for a new 300 in cl 300.223 of the Migration Regulations; it is listed for visitor visas in cl 600.213. Removal is dealt with separately by Schedule 5, SRC 5002, which sets a 12-month period after removal, unless compelling circumstances apply. These distinctions do not establish an outcome for any individual application.

Common mistakes

1. Waiting for an extension: Migration Regulations cl 300.511 has no extension mechanism; Home Affairs’ “Visa about to expire” page, updated 24 September 2026, says a new visa is needed.
2. Confusing the two dates: cl 300.611 concerns first entry; cl 300.511 concerns the visa end date.
3. Booking less than one month after giving notice without approval: Marriage Act s 42(1)(a) requires the notice month; s 42(5) provides the shortening-of-time approval process.
4. Marrying in time but lodging late: from 1 July 2026, item 1124B sets standard main-applicant charges of AUD 2,475 for the former-holder route rather than AUD 1,955 while holding the 300. Without another valid visa there is an unlawful interval, and the derived bridging-visa distinction is C rather than A.
5. Assuming another visa preserves the 300: Migration Act s 82(2) and Home Affairs’ 300 page explain that another substantive visa replaces it.
6. Staying without a valid visa: Home Affairs’ expiry and re-entry-ban pages, updated 24 and 25 September 2026, identify detention and removal risk and a possible exclusion period of up to 3 years after more than 28 days’ overstay.

A 300 visa about to expire: why an Australian migration lawyer should look at the dates now

The end date cannot move; the useful review is of the dates and evidence you still control. Migration Regulations cl 300.511 fixes the visa period. A lawyer can check:

1. The wedding timetable: your grant-letter end date, notice receipt date, separate celebrant meetings and declarations.
2. Any shortening-of-time request: whether the facts and supporting documents address a circumstance listed in Marriage Regulations Schedule 3.
3. The proposed 820/801 lodgement: whether the current-holder or married former-holder criteria fit, whether evidence is consistent, and what documents remain missing before lodgement.

The relevant legal framework is Migration Regulations cl 820.211(5)–(6), Marriage Act ss 42 and 42B, and Marriage Regulations reg 72 and Schedule 3.

If you will not be married before expiry, no Home Affairs page states what happens next. An Australian migration lawyer can examine your exact circumstances before the deadline rather than assume the married former-holder route applies.

If the 300 ends and you hold no other valid visa, Home Affairs’ expiry guidance identifies detention and removal risk, and its re-entry-ban page identifies a possible ban after more than 28 days’ overstay. A married former holder faces strict cl 820.211(5) conditions and a standard main-applicant charge of AUD 2,475 from 1 July 2026 under item 1124B. The derived bridging-visa position is a BVC, with no initial work rights for this application and no return travel, as explained by Home Affairs’ BVC page.

Under Migration Act 1958 s 280(3), an Australian legal practitioner may provide immigration assistance in connection with legal practice. No one can promise a grant. For a review of your dates, criteria and missing evidence, enquire about an immigration lawyer for a subclass 300.

Frequently asked questions

Can I apply for another Prospective Marriage visa from inside Australia?

No. Migration Regulations Schedule 1 item 1215(3)(b) requires a 300 application to be made from outside Australia, as does the Home Affairs Prospective Marriage visa page.

Does leaving Australia and coming back restart the visa period?

No. Migration Regulations cl 300.511 fixes the period from grant, not from arrival or return. Home Affairs’ 300 page permits travel in and out while the visa remains valid.

Will a visitor visa or another visa give us more time?

Another visa is not an extension of the 300. Under Migration Act s 82(2), another substantive visa coming into effect replaces it; Home Affairs’ 300 page, updated 10 August 2026, warns this may mean a higher later 820/801 charge.

Our planned wedding date passed while the 300 was still being processed: what now?

The visa period starts at grant under Migration Regulations cl 300.511, so a wedding date missed before grant does not shorten that period. Home Affairs’ 300 page says to keep documents and relationship evidence up to date in ImmiAccount, including evidence of your continuing intention to marry.