To apply for a Partner visa as a de facto partner, you and your partner must show that you have been in a de facto relationship for the entire 12 months immediately prior to lodging your application.

 

To be eligible for a Partner visa as a de facto partner, you must:

 

• be sponsored by an eligible person (usually by your partner);

• not be related by family;

• together with your de facto partner, be aged at least 18 years at the time your application is made;

• show that you and your partner have a mutual commitment to a shared life to the exclusion of all others;

• show that you have a genuine and continuing relationship with your partner;

• show that you and your partner have been in a de facto relationship for the entire 12 months immediately prior to lodging your application;

• show that you and your partner are living together or, if not, that any separation is only temporary; and

• meet health and character requirements.

 

In assessing a claimed de facto relationship, the department looks at evidence of things such as living together full-time, sharing important financial and social commitments, and setting up a household separately from other people.