What is the one year relationship requirement? De facto partner visa

What is the one year relationship requirement?

The "one year de facto relationship requirement" is a criterion that must be met by applicants for the following visas who claim to be in a de facto relationship:

• a permanent visa
• a business skills (Provisional) (Class UR) visa
• a business skills (Provisional) (Class EB) visa
• a student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa
• a partner (Provisional) (Class UF) visa
• a partner (Temporary) (Class UK) visa
• a general skilled migration visa.

To satisfy this requirement, the couple must demonstrate that they have been in a de facto relationship for at least 12 months before the visa application is made. For migration purposes, a person is in a de facto relationship with another person if they:

• are not married to each other
• have a mutual commitment to a shared life to the exclusion of all others
• are in a genuine and continuing relationship
• live together or do not live separately and apart on a permanent basis
• are not related by family.

Living together

Living together is regarded as a common element in most on-going relationships. It is recognised that, for various reasons, couples may sometimes have to live apart. Provided the separation is temporary and the couple had, at some point since commencement of the relationship lived together, their relationship might still satisfy the requirements of a de facto relationship.

For this reason, the one year relationship criterion does not require the couple to have physically lived together for the entire 12 months, but rather to have been in a de facto relationship for that period.

Partners who are currently not living together may be required to provide additional evidence that they are not living separately and apart on a permanent basis in order to satisfy the requirements of a de facto relationship.

What evidence is considered?

When submitting evidence of a de facto relationship, applicants must be able to demonstrate that their relationship has existed for at least one year before the application is made. Evidence may include but is not limited to:

The history of the relationship through a signed statement regarding:

• how, when and where the couple first met
• how the relationship developed
• the couple's domestic arrangements, that is, how they support each other financially, physically and emotionally and when this level of commitment began
• any periods of separation, when and why the separation occurred, for how long and how the couple maintained their relationship during the period of separation
• the couple's future plans.

Financial aspects of the relationship, such as:

• joint ownership of the house or joint names on a lease
• correspondence addressed to the couple at the same address
• details of financial commitments including bank statements, and any joint liabilities.

The nature of the household, such as:

• any joint responsibility for the care and support of any children
• the couple's living arrangements including sharing responsibilities within the home.

Social context, such as:

• evidence that the couple is generally accepted and recognised as a couple socially such as joint invitations
• evidence of common friends
• assessments by the couple's friends and family of the relationship
• joint travel or joint participation in sporting, social or cultural activities.

The couple's commitment to each other, such as:

• the duration of the relationship including knowledge of each other
• intention to have a long term relationship, for example, through terms of their wills
• correspondence and telephone accounts to show that the couple maintained contact during any periods of separation.

Exemptions from the one year relationship requirement

The one-year relationship requirement does not apply if the applicant can establish that:

• there are compelling and compassionate circumstances for the grant of the visa, for example, there is a child of the relationship
• the relationship is registered under a law of a state or territory prescribed in the Acts Interpretation (Registered Relationships) Regulations 2008 as a kind of relationship prescribed in those regulations
• their partner is, or was the holder of a permanent humanitarian visa and, before the humanitarian visa was granted, was in a de facto relationship with the applicant that was declared to the department at the time
• their partner is an applicant for a permanent humanitarian visa.

Please contact Ryan Curtis-Griffiths, Director at Nevett Ford Lawyers if you require advice and assistance - telephone: 03 9614 7111 or by email at: rcurtisgriffiths@nevettford.com.au.

Legal advice and assistance is highly recommended.