Not married. Togetherless than a year. The rulethat stops most couples,and the two ways around it.
A de facto couple normally needs twelve months of the relationship before a partner visa can be lodged. Registering the relationship under a state scheme removes the rule; compelling circumstances can excuse it. Which applies to you decides whether you lodge this month or next year, and it is settled before anything is paid.
Government charges, de facto partner visa
- Partner visa 820/801 or 309/100the same charge as a married couple$11,710
- Each adult dependant$5,860
- Each child under 18$2,935
- Relationship registration, Victoriapaid to Births, Deaths and Marriagesstate fee
As at 1 July 2026. The partner visa charge is not refunded on refusal, which is why the twelve month question is answered first.
A de facto partner qualifies for the same partner visa as a spouse, once the relationship passes the twelve month test or is registered.
A de facto partner is a person in a genuine and continuing relationship with an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, living together or not living separately and apart on a permanent basis, and not related by family. Unless the relationship is registered under a prescribed state or territory law, or compelling and compassionate circumstances exist, the relationship must have existed for twelve months at lodgement; the charge is $11,710.
Verified as at 1 July 2026 against section 5CB of the Migration Act 1958, regulation 1.09A and regulation 2.03A of the Migration Regulations 1994, and the Department of Home Affairs partner visa pages.
Does the twelve month rule stop us? A 30-second check
Answer the questions to see where you stand.
A guide only, not legal advice. The consultation is where the real answer comes from.
Four elements, and a start date you have to prove.
Section 5CB defines a de facto partner. The twelve months run from the date all four elements were true, and the delegate will want to see that date in the evidence, not in your statement alone.
Evidence for the four pillars
- 01
A mutual commitment to a shared life, to the exclusion of all others
Both of you, not one. The commitment is shown by how you have arranged your lives: money, home, plans, and how you describe each other to family.
- 02
Genuine and continuing
The relationship exists now and has not been interrupted by a permanent separation. A break followed by reconciliation can restart the twelve months; we look at the dates carefully.
- 03
Living together, or not separately and apart on a permanent basis
You do not have to share a house every night. Work, study or visa reasons for living apart are accepted where the reason is explained and the relationship continues across the distance.
- 04
Not related by family
Not a parent, child, sibling or similar. Cousins are not caught. Both of you must be 18.
- 05
The twelve months, counted properly
Twelve months of the de facto relationship, not of dating, not of knowing each other. Time spent in a committed relationship before living together can count where the evidence supports it. Married couples have no minimum period at all.
Registration, or compelling circumstances.
Regulation 2.03A lists the exceptions. Registration is the one you can control.
| Route | What it needs | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Registered relationship | Registration under a prescribed state or territory scheme: Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia or the ACT. Usually one partner resident in the state, neither married or registered elsewhere, and a short waiting period after applying. | Removes the twelve month requirement entirely. The relationship still has to be genuine and continuing. |
| Compelling and compassionate circumstances | A dependent child of the relationship is the clearest example. Others are argued on the facts: a law in the applicant's country that prevented living together, a serious illness, or similar. | Excuses the twelve months where the delegate is satisfied. Argued in a submission with evidence, never assumed. |
| Marriage | A marriage valid under Australian law, in Australia or overseas. Both 18, both free to marry, the ceremony recorded. | Spouses have no minimum period. The relationship still has to be genuine and continuing. |
| Wait | Build the evidence across the four pillars until the twelve months have run. | The safest route where the current visa allows it. Often combined with registration to lodge sooner. |
Western Australia and the Northern Territory do not currently have prescribed registration schemes. A couple can sometimes register in a state where one of them is resident even if the other lives overseas.
How the Victorian scheme works, in four steps.
Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria registers domestic relationships. It is the route most of our Melbourne couples use when the twelve months have not run.
Check you qualify
At least one of you lives in Victoria. Neither is married, in another registered relationship, or in a relationship with a third person. Both are 18 and not related by family.
Lodge the application
An application to register a domestic relationship, with identity documents and statutory declarations from both of you. Fees are paid to the registry and are separate from the visa charge.
The waiting period
The registry holds the application for 28 days before registering the relationship, to allow either party to withdraw. The registration date is the date on the certificate, not the date you applied.
Lodge the partner visa
With the certificate, the twelve month rule no longer applies. The rest of the file, the four pillars, the sponsor's checks, health and character, is unchanged, and the $11,710 charge is paid at lodgement.
What a de facto partner visa costs in government charges.
Government charges only. Registration fees are paid to the state registry. Health, police certificates, translations and our fixed professional fee are additional.
As at 1 July 2026. The same charge applies to the onshore 820/801 and the offshore 309/100.
Four mistakes we see in refused de facto applications.
None of these is about whether the relationship is real. All of them are about how it was presented.
- 01
A start date that moves
The personal statements say one date, an earlier visitor visa application says another, and a Form 888 witness says a third. The delegate treats the earliest consistent date as the start and everything else as unreliable.
- 02
Counting the wrong twelve months
Twelve months since you met, or since you first travelled together, is not twelve months of a de facto relationship. The file has to show when the shared life began.
- 03
Registering and lodging the same week
Registration removes the twelve month rule, not the need for evidence. A couple with a certificate and thin evidence under the four pillars is still refused on genuineness.
- 04
Living apart with no explanation
Separate addresses are fine when the reason is clear and evidenced. Left unexplained, they read as a relationship that has not started, or has ended.
De facto partner visas, answered plainly.
Do we have to live together for twelve months?
You have to have been in a de facto relationship for twelve months. Living together is strong evidence of that, but a couple kept apart by work, study or visas can still be de facto if they are not living separately and apart on a permanent basis and the reason is explained.
Does registering our relationship guarantee the visa?
No. Registration removes the twelve month requirement. The relationship still has to be genuine and continuing, evidenced across the financial, household, social and commitment aspects, and the sponsor still has to pass their own checks.
Which states let us register?
Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory have prescribed schemes. Western Australia and the Northern Territory do not. Usually one partner has to be resident in the state.
Can we register if my partner is overseas?
Often, where one of you lives in a state with a scheme and the scheme allows it. Victoria requires at least one party to live in Victoria. The overseas partner's documents are certified and, where needed, translated.
Can time before we moved in together count towards the twelve months?
Sometimes. If the four elements of a de facto relationship were true before you shared a home, that time can count, but it has to be evidenced. Messages, transfers, travel and family knowledge from that period matter.
What if we break up and get back together?
A permanent separation ends the relationship for the purpose of the rule and a reconciliation may restart the twelve months. A temporary separation does not. The dates and the reasons are set out in the statements rather than glossed over.
Is the charge different for de facto couples?
No. The partner visa charge is $11,710 for the main applicant whether you are married or de facto, plus $5,860 per adult dependant and $2,935 per child, as at 1 July 2026.
Where this visa connects.
- 820Open
Onshore partner visa
Lodging from inside Australia once the rule is satisfied.
- 309Open
Offshore partner visa
Lodging while the applicant is overseas.
- EvidenceOpen
Relationship evidence
How the start date and the four pillars are proved.
- 300Open
Prospective Marriage visa
The alternative for engaged couples who are apart.
Articles on this visa
Under twelve months together?
One consultation tells you whether the rule applies, whether registration is open to you, and when to lodge, with a fixed fee for the whole partner visa.