To be eligible to apply for an Australia Spousal Visa you must be legally married to your partner and this person, in most cases, will be your sponsor. If you were married in a country other than Australia and your marriage is valid in that country, generally, your marriage will be recognised as valid under Australian law. There are some exceptions, such as same-sex, underage or polygamous marriages, which are not legal in Australia.

To be eligible to apply for an Australia De Facto Visa you must be able to show that you have been in a de facto relationship for 12 months immediately prior to lodging your application. You must also show in your application proof that your relationship is genuine and continuing, and that you live together and do not live separately or apart on a permanent basis.

How do they assess a 12 month relationship?
In assessing a de facto spouse or interdependent relationship, the government normally looks at evidence of things such as living together full-time, sharing important financial (bank accounts) and social commitments (holidays etc), setting up a household separately from other people, etc. Some of the factors to be considered include:

• Knowledge of each other's personal circumstances;
• Joint finances such as any joint ownership of real estate, joint bank accounts or other major assets;
• The nature of your household, including living arrangements such as joint residential receipts or joint household accounts
• The social aspects of your relationship, provided in statements (statutory declarations) by parents, family members, relatives, friends and other interested parties;
• Joint membership of organisations or joint participation in sporting, social or other activities;
• Joint travel.

Note: Periods of 'dating' would not generally be considered to count towards the 12-month relationship requirement.

You can book your Australia Visa by phone now:

US Office: +1 866 772 9245
UK Office: +44 207 659 9186
Irish Office: +353 1 878 3355
Canada: 647 724 3535

Alternatively, fill in an online registration form to have information sent to you by email.