Everything unmarried couples need to know before applying for a de facto visa for Australia — eligibility, evidence, cost, and timelines explained simply.
In This Guide
- De Facto Australia Visa: Who Actually Qualifies
- The 12-Month Rule and Its Exceptions
- De Facto Visa to Australia: Onshore vs Offshore
- What Your Sponsor Must Provide
- The Four Pillars of Relationship Evidence
- Documents You’ll Actually Need to Gather
- De Facto Visa for Australia: Cost and Timelines
- New Partner Visa Rules for Australia in 2026
- Common Mistakes That Cause Delays
- Life While You Wait, and What Comes After
- De Facto Australian Visa: Frequently Asked Questions
De Facto Australia Visa: Who Actually Qualifies
A de facto Australian visa doesn’t require a marriage certificate. Under Section 5CB of the Migration Act, a de facto relationship exists when two people, regardless of gender, live together genuinely and exclusively as a couple, with no legal barrier to marrying each other.
That definition sounds simple, but the Department of Home Affairs doesn’t take your word for it when assessing a de facto visa for Australia. Officers look for a pattern that resembles a shared life — not just two people who love each other, but two people who have actually merged their day-to-day existence.
Same-sex and opposite-sex couples are assessed under identical rules for the de facto Australia visa. There’s no separate, harder standard for either.
The 12-Month Rule and Its Exceptions
Regulation 2.03A sets the baseline for any de facto visa to Australia: you generally need to show 12 months of cohabitation immediately before lodging your application. This is the single most misunderstood requirement in the entire process.
Here’s the nuance most guides skip: it doesn’t have to be 12 unbroken months in the same postcode. Short separations for work, study, family emergencies, or travel usually don’t reset the clock, as long as the relationship itself continued without interruption.
- You’ve registered your relationship with a state or territory relationship register (not available everywhere in Australia)
- You have a child together, biological or adopted
- Compelling or compassionate circumstances exist — such as family violence, a sponsor’s terminal illness, or safety concerns preventing cohabitation
If none of these apply and you’re under 12 months, the Prospective Marriage visa (Subclass 300) is often the smarter route — get engaged, enter Australia, marry, then apply for the partner visa onshore.
De Facto Visa to Australia: Onshore vs Offshore
Where you are physically located when you lodge — and when the decision is made — determines your pathway to a de facto visa to Australia.
| Situation | Temporary Visa | Permanent Visa |
|---|---|---|
| Applying from inside Australia | Subclass 820 | Subclass 801 |
| Applying from outside Australia | Subclass 309 | Subclass 100 |
Both routes are lodged as one combined application and one combined fee. You’re assessed for the temporary stage first; the permanent stage is typically reviewed roughly two years later, once you’ve demonstrated the relationship has kept going.
Onshore applicants are usually issued a Bridging Visa A automatically, which allows lawful stay, work rights, and Medicare access while the case is decided. Offshore applicants wait outside Australia until the temporary visa is granted, then can move in.
What Your Sponsor Must Provide
Your partner isn’t a bystander in this process — they’re your sponsor, and their eligibility is assessed just as closely as yours.
To sponsor you, your partner must be an Australian citizen, an Australian permanent resident, or an eligible New Zealand citizen. They’ll need to pass character and health-related checks, and submit a formal commitment statement alongside proof of their own citizenship or residency status.
A sponsor with a relevant criminal history, or one who has sponsored multiple partners before, may face extra scrutiny or a limit on how many times they can sponsor someone.
The Four Pillars of Relationship Evidence
This is where most de facto visa for Australia applications succeed or fail. Home Affairs doesn’t accept a single “proof of love” document — it wants a pattern spread across four categories, and thin coverage in even one area invites a request for more information.
1. Financial Commitment
Joint bank accounts, shared bills, a mortgage or lease in both names, combined insurance policies, or evidence that one partner financially supports the other.
2. Household Life
Shared address history, utility bills, mail addressed to both of you at the same place, and evidence of how you divide domestic responsibilities.
3. Social Recognition
Photos across different periods and events, statements from friends and family who know you as a couple, joint invitations, and social media that reflects the relationship over time.
4. Commitment to Each Other
How long you’ve been together, future plans as a couple, wills naming each other, or a joint decision to have or raise children.
Documents You’ll Actually Need to Gather
- Valid passports and identity documents for both partners
- Police clearance certificates from every country lived in for 12+ months
- Health examination results, arranged through a panel doctor
- Statutory declarations from at least two people who know the relationship well
- A personal statement from each partner describing how the relationship began and developed
- Evidence covering each of the four pillars above, ideally spanning the full relationship timeline
Start collecting these early. Police certificates and health checks can take weeks, and gaps here are one of the most common causes of processing delays for any de facto Australian visa application.
De Facto Visa for Australia: Cost and Timelines
The government application charge for the primary applicant rose to AUD $11,710 from 1 July 2026, covering the combined temporary and permanent stages. Additional applicants, such as dependent children, incur extra charges on top of this.
Once you add health checks, police certificates, translations, and migration agent fees if you use one, total costs for a couple commonly land between $13,000 and $20,000.
| Stage | Typical Processing Time (2026) |
|---|---|
| Subclass 820 (onshore temporary) | Roughly 12–24 months, median around 17 |
| Subclass 309 (offshore temporary) | Roughly 12–24 months |
| Subclass 801 / 100 (permanent) | Assessed about 2 years after lodgement |
These figures shift monthly based on application volume and individual complexity, so treat them as a planning guide rather than a promise. The total journey from first lodging a de facto visa to Australia to holding permanent residency commonly spans three to four years.
New Partner Visa Rules for Australia in 2026
If you looked into this pathway a year or two ago, three things have changed enough to catch out unprepared applicants.
Decision-Ready Lodgement Is Now Expected
From April 2026, Home Affairs shifted to a “decision-ready” model. Case officers are no longer routinely chasing missing documents on your behalf — your application is expected to be complete, evidenced, and consistent the moment you submit it.
Only One Follow-Up Request, Not Several
Under the updated practice, if a case officer does need more information, you generally get a single opportunity to respond before a decision is made on whatever is already on file. A weak or incomplete submission no longer gets multiple chances to be patched up.
Onshore Applications Are Now Processed First
Ministerial Direction 117, in effect from 25 July 2026, gives onshore Subclass 820/801 applications the highest general processing priority, ahead of offshore 309/100 and Prospective Marriage 300 applications.
Fees Rose Sharply on 1 July 2026
The combined application charge jumped from $9,365 to $11,710 for the primary applicant — around a 25% increase, reflecting the government’s annual indexation.
Common Mistakes That Cause Delays
- Mismatched dates. If one partner’s statement says you moved in together in March and the other says April, expect a request for clarification.
- Evidence clustered in one period. A folder full of photos from last month but nothing from two years ago looks incomplete, even if the relationship is genuine.
- Skipping the personal statement. A well-written, honest narrative often resolves ambiguity that documents alone can’t.
- Incomplete police or health checks. These are among the most common reasons applications stall well past the median processing time.
Life While You Wait, and What Comes After
While your temporary visa is being assessed, onshore applicants generally have full work rights, Medicare access, and can travel internationally provided they hold the correct bridging visa arrangements before departing.
Once the permanent visa (801 or 100) is granted, you’re free to live, work, and study in Australia indefinitely. After meeting the standard residency requirement — generally one year as a permanent resident within a four-year window — you become eligible to apply for Australian citizenship.
Couples experiencing family violence during this process have specific legal protections, including provisions that allow the relationship claim to proceed even if the relationship has since ended for that reason. If this applies to you, speak with a migration lawyer or a family violence support service without delay.
De Facto Australian Visa: Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to get a de facto partner visa in Australia?
As of 2026, the temporary stage (Subclass 820 onshore or 309 offshore) has a median processing time of around 17 months, with a realistic range of 12 to 24 months depending on how complete your evidence is at lodgement. The permanent stage (801 or 100) is generally assessed about two years after you first apply, so most couples reach permanent residency within three to four years total.
What are the new partner visa rules for Australia in 2026?
The three biggest 2026 changes are: a shift to “decision-ready” lodgement where applications are expected to be complete on submission, a new one-response policy limiting case officers to a single further-information request before deciding, and a processing priority change from 25 July 2026 that puts onshore applications ahead of offshore ones. The application fee also rose to $11,710 from 1 July 2026.
How much does a de facto visa cost?
The government application charge for the primary applicant is AUD $11,710 from 1 July 2026, covering both the temporary and permanent stages combined. Once you factor in health checks, police certificates, and optional migration agent fees, total costs for a couple typically range from $13,000 to $20,000.
What are the requirements for a de facto relationship in Australia?
To meet the legal definition, you and your partner must not be legally married to each other, must be committed to a shared life to the exclusion of all others, and must generally have lived together for at least 12 months before applying, unless an exemption applies. You’ll also need to show evidence across four areas: financial commitment, household life, social recognition, and mutual commitment.
Can I apply for a de facto visa for Australia if we’ve never lived in the same country?
It’s difficult but not automatically disqualifying. You’ll need strong evidence of commitment and continuity despite the distance, and a compelling explanation for why cohabitation wasn’t possible.
Does registering our relationship guarantee approval for a de facto Australia visa?
No. Registration can waive the 12-month cohabitation requirement in eligible states, but you still need to prove the relationship is genuine and ongoing through the four evidence pillars.
What happens if our relationship ends before the permanent visa is granted?
In most cases the application cannot proceed. Exceptions exist for family violence, a sponsor’s death, or where there’s a shared child and the relationship would otherwise have continued.
Is a migration agent required for a de facto visa to Australia?
No, but given the evidence complexity and high fees, many couples choose one to reduce the risk of a refusal or lengthy request-for-information cycle.
Important: This guide is for general information only. Requirements, fees, and processing times change frequently — always verify current details on the official Department of Home Affairs website before applying.
