De Facto Relationship Requirement: Your Complete Guide
Your relationship may feel easy to explain, but knowing how to document it for a visa application can be less straightforward. Whether you are applying for a partner visa or including your partner another visa application, you’ll need evidence that your relationship meets the relevant requirements.
Find Your Migration Agent
Get matched with the perfect expert for your journey
At a glance
Key Takeways
This guide explains de facto relationship requirements and the evidence you may need. If you’re unsure where to start, Pathway to Aus’ registered migration agents can review your circumstances and help identify gaps in your supporting documents.
Not sure whether you meet the de facto requirement?
Every relationship is different. Speak with a registered migration agent about your circumstances.
Applies to partner visas and secondary applicants
The de facto requirement generally applies to partner visas and to including a partner in another visa application. Most new Student visa applicants can no longer include a partner.
You need 12 months together
Couples typically need to show at least 12 months of cohabitation, though registering your relationship with a state or territory authority may waive this timeframe.
Evidence covers four areas
Evidence is usually assessed across four areas: your finances, household, social life, and the nature of your commitment to each other.
Form 888 needs no Justice of the Peace
Form 888 is now a supporting statement rather than a statutory declaration. Witnesses sign it themselves, and it doesn’t need a Justice of the Peace.
Check for gaps before you apply
Working with a qualified migration agent can help you find any gaps in your proof before you apply because no two connections look alike.
What is a De Facto Relationship in Australia?
Strip away the paperwork, and the legal definition itself is fairly plain:
A relationship between two people, of any gender, who aren't married to each other but who share a genuine and continuing life together.
It's the practical application of that definition where most of the nuance lives.
To be assessed as a de facto couple, you and your partner will generally need to show that you:
- have a mutual commitment to a shared life, to the exclusion of all others
- are in a genuine and continuing relationship
- live together, and don't live separately on a permanent basis
Not sure you meet all three? Speak with a registered migration agent about your circumstances.
WATCH
The De Facto Relationship Requirement
Hear From Couples We've Worked With
Read how other couples approached their partner visa evidence and worked through their own uncertainties.
Which Visas Require the De Facto Requirement
The de facto relationship requirement doesn't sit in one isolated corner of the migration system. It tends to surface wherever a genuine relationship, rather than a marriage certificate, needs to be established, which in practice covers a reasonably wide set of pathways:
Partner Visa
A visa for the partner of an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, available both onshore and offshore. Each stream begins with a temporary visa and can lead to a permanent one. Onshore applications (subclass 820/801) currently receive higher processing priority than offshore applications (subclass 309/100).
New Zealand Citizen Family Relationship
A temporary visa for family members of a New Zealand citizen who live in Australia but aren’t New Zealand citizens themselves. A de facto partner of the New Zealand citizen can apply on the strength of that relationship.
Being added to your de facto partner’s visa as a secondary applicant
Many temporary and permanent visas allow the main applicant to include a de facto partner in the same application. Your partner generally needs to show a genuine and continuing de facto relationship and, for many visas, that it has lasted at least 12 months. The main applicant’s visa determines what they can do in Australia. Most new Student visa applicants can no longer include a partner, unless an exemption applies.
Being in a relationship, however committed, isn’t of itself enough to satisfy any of these pathways. The Department assesses the relationship against the legal criteria and the supporting evidence provided with the application.
The 12-month De Facto Requirement and the Exceptions
Months
You and your partner must generally show that your de facto relationship was in place for at least 12 months before you lodge your application.
In practice, this means demonstrating a continuous period of shared life together that the Department can look back on and recognise, rather than a year of dating or an on-and-off arrangement.
Route 1
Meeting the 12-month rule
Continuous cohabitation and a demonstrable shared life for at least 12 months before you apply
OR
Route 2
Registering your relationship
Formal registration with a state or territory authority, which may allow the 12-month period to be waived
OR
Route 3
Compelling and compassionate circumstances
Where there are compelling and compassionate circumstances, such as a dependent child of the relationship, the 12-month period may be waived
Not every state or territory offers a relationship registration scheme, and even where one exists, registering is unlikely to carry the same weight as evidence in its own right. It's better understood as a way of satisfying the timing requirement than as a substitute for the broader evidence the Department still expects to see.
How to Prove a De Facto Relationship: The Four Pillars of Evidence
The Department tends to organise its assessment around four broad areas: your finances, your household, your social life as a couple, and the nature of your ongoing commitment to each other. None of these operate in isolation, and a shortfall in one area doesn't necessarily undermine an application, provided the others are reasonably well supported.
Lodge your strongest evidence across all four areas at the start, and keep it up to date in ImmiAccount while you wait. If the Department asks for more information, you may only get one chance to respond.
Financial aspects
Show that you share financial responsibilities, such as joint bank accounts, shared ownership of property or major assets, joint loans, and how you split everyday household bills.
Nature of the household
Show that you live together as a couple, such as a shared lease or mortgage, both names on utility bills, and how you divide housework and any care of children.
Social aspects of the relationship
Show that other people know you as a couple, such as statements from friends and family, joint invitations, shared travel, and plans for social activities together.
Nature of the commitment
Show that you intend to stay together long term, such as how long you have been together and lived together, the emotional support and companionship you give each other, and your plans for a shared future.
Not sure if your de facto evidence is enough?
A registered migration agent can review your documents and point out any gaps before you lodge.
In a Relationship with a New Zealand Citizen? If your partner holds a Special Category visa rather than permanent residency, the Subclass 461 pathway may apply to you instead.
How to Register a De Facto Relationship
Our migration experts can explain how each option typically works in practice if you're debating whether registration, the 12-month rule, or a compelling circumstances argument best suits your circumstances.
Who handles registration?
If registration looks like the more realistic option for your circumstances, the process itself sits with the state or territory you live in rather than with the Department of Home Affairs directly, and the requirements shift from one jurisdiction to the next.
Registration schemes exist in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT. Western Australia and the Northern Territory don’t have a scheme recognised for migration purposes.
What do registries ask for?
Some registries ask for a joint application and a modest fee; others set their own eligibility conditions entirely.
What should I check first?
Given how much variance there is between jurisdictions, it is usually safer to check directly with your local registration of births, deaths, and marriages before relying on this option.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a de facto relationship in Australia?
A de facto relationship is defined for Australian visa purposes as one in which you and your partner are not legally married but are genuinely committed to a shared life together as a couple, including living together on a genuine domestic basis. It is often evaluated using the same four categories of evidence as a marriage-based application, and it applies equally to same-sex and opposite-sex couples.
How long do we need to be together before applying?
Before applying for a partner visa under the Migration Regulations of 1994, you usually have to demonstrate that you and your partner have been in a de facto relationship for at least a year. If you register your relationship with a state or territory government, or if there are compelling or compassionate circumstances, this requirement may be avoided.
Does Form 888 need to be witnessed by a Justice of the Peace?
No. Form 888, the Department's supporting statement for partner and prospective marriage visa applications, is no longer a statutory declaration. Your witnesses generally don't need to have it witnessed by a Justice of the Peace, though they will need to provide evidence of their own identity.
What counts as evidence of a de facto relationship?
The Department of Home Affairs generally looks at evidence across four areas: your finances, your household, your social life as a couple, and the nature of your commitment to each other. No single document is required, and what's relevant will vary from couple to couple.
Can same-sex couples apply as de facto partners?
Yes. Same-sex couples can apply for a partner visa on the same grounds as opposite-sex couples since Australian migration law defines a de facto relationship without regard to gender.
Can I include my de facto partner on my student visa?
For most applicants, no. From 2 October 2026, most Student visa applicants can’t include a partner, and partners can’t be added after the visa is granted. Exemptions apply to some groups, such as PhD students and certain scholarship holders. If an exemption applies, your partner generally needs to meet the de facto requirement. See the Home Affairs Student visa changes factsheet.
GET IN TOUCH
In case of questions, feel free to reach out to one of our experienced Registered Migration Agents.
Contact details
Give us a call
Australia: +61 7 5526 5900
Fiji: +679 922 3842
United Kingdom: +44 20 3948 3865
Send an email
info@pathwaytoaus.com
Gold Coast Office
2242 Gold Coast Highway,
Mermaid Beach, QLD, 4218
UK Office
5 Merchant Square
London, W2 1AY, United Kingdom
(By Appointment Only)