Long-time readers will know that we pull updated Department data every month onthe 189/190/491 programs190 and 491 grants now spanning every month of the year. From time to timewe also share 191 figures，Parent Migrationis covered mainly through the contingent-places projection tablesParent Migration mid-year grant data released | How many places are left? Contributory wait stretches to 15 years!. So what about the other migration visa streams?

We’ve just pulled the latest figures onPartner and Child visas — both backlog and grant data. The queues on these two streams are enormous, in fact larger than the skilled-migration queue, so we deliberately dug into this data for you.

The headline on Partner Migration:

Overall the backlog is huge —as at the end of December 2024 the total queue sat just under 250,000,but the current grant pace is holding steady. There is a real risk that processing times will keep stretching from here.

The temporary-visa (820/309) backlog has now cracked 100,000

with 309 sitting above 30,000 and 820 north of 69,000 — genuinely staggering numbers.

Keep in mind the Partner category has an annual allocation of only 40,500,and it’s mainly the temporary-visa stage that consumes that allocation. Even so, dividing a 100,000 backlog by a 40,000 cap puts the theoretical wait at 2–3 years.

If application volumes don’t ease, waits will only grow longer. Partner Migration is technically demand-driven and shouldn’t be capped, but in practice grants have tracked the annual allocation closely for years now — rarely exceeding it by much. Parliamentarians and industry voices have repeatedly called for the cap to be removed, but no real progress has been made.

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The silver lining: despite the huge queue, the grant pace itself looks fairly steady.

In the first half of the financial year, 309 grants came in near 9,000 and 820 close to 12,000 — roughly 20,000+ combined.

309 has held around 1,500 per month; 820 ranges 1,500–3,000 and clearly accelerated in Q2. With a total allocation of 40,500 and half of it left for the second half of the year, the pace should stay in line with H1.

Looking at the July 2024 to November 2025 backlog trend, the queue sat around 70,000 until roughly March 2025. It briefly dipped late in 2024, then surged — climbing all the way to nearly 100,000.

Recent processing speed at the Partner TR (temporary) stage:Our own clients on 309/820 are currently seeing 12–18 month waits; many of those lodged in the first half of last year have started to receive grants.

Now a look at the permanent-residence stage (100/801):

100 and 801 together sit at close to 150,000,noting that the permanent stage of both Partner and Child visas does not consume the annual allocation,and the 100/801 backlog includes the 309/820 backlog.

If the 820/309 stage hasn’t been granted, the 801/100 won’t be either — though where the 820/309 processing time exceeds two years, they can be granted together with the permanent 801 or 100.

Processing speed at the PR stage:October to December clearly sped up, with 801 recording 3,000+ grants every month.The on-the-ground sense is that permanent-stage grants have indeed picked up recently, and processing is now broadly reaching applications lodged around mid-last year.

Prospective Marriage (300) visa backlog

sits at just above 3,600, but the wait is comparable to 309, with roughly 200 grants per month.

Now on to Child visas.

The Child visa is one of the most extreme cases of a runaway backlog in recent years —the queue was approaching 8,000 by the end of last year, yet the annual allocation is only 3,000 places, putting the wait at 2–3 years.Looking at the grant data directly, it’s clear that processing is tracking that allocation on an even monthly pace,with only around 200 grants per month.

Looking at the overall backlog trend,the direction is broadly upward; although there was a brief downward dip at the end of 2024,the queue has climbed steadily overall.

Processing speed:Many Child visa files are still only being processed up to applications lodged in the first half of 2024, with a significant backlog yet to be assessed.

Overall backlogs across Partner and Child visas remain heavy. We’ve recently had many recently-granted Partner and Child clients reach out, and anyone planning to lodge should build in plenty of lead time. Long processing cycles disrupt a lot of plans, so prepare well ahead.