In most cases, you must be the spouse or de facto partner of an:

• Australian citizen
• Australian permanent resident or
• eligible New Zealand citizen

This applies when you make your application and when your application is being decided.

Your relationship can be with someone of the same or different sex.

If you are experiencing domestic and family violence, we may be able to help you. You can apply for consideration to be granted your temporary and permanent visa. For more information, see Family Violence Provisions.

For more information see Changes in your situation.

MARRIED APPLICANTS

You are a married applicant if your marriage is valid under Australian law and:

• you have a mutual commitment with your spouse to the exclusion of all others
• your relationship is genuine and continuing
• you either live together or don’t live permanently apart
• you are not related by family

To find out if your marriage is valid under Australian law, contact the relevant state or territory agency for births, deaths and marriages.

DE FACTO PARTNERS

To be a de facto partner, you must be in a de facto relationship.

You and your partner are in a de facto relationship if:

• you are not married to each other
• you have a mutual commitment with your de facto partner to the exclusion of all others
• your relationship is genuine and continuing
• you either live together or don’t live permanently apart
• you are not related by family.

Usually your de facto relationship must have existed for at least 12 months immediately before you apply for the visa. Time spent dating or in an online relationship might not count as being in a de facto relationship.

The 12-month requirement will not apply if you can show us compelling and compassionate circumstances exist for you to be granted the provisional Partner visa (subclass 309).

The 12-month requirement also will not apply if:

• your de facto partner holds or held a permanent humanitarian visa and
• your de facto relationship existed before we granted their visa and
• your de facto partner told us about the relationship before we granted their visa .

It also will not apply if:

• you are in a de facto relationship with a partner who is an applicant for a permanent humanitarian visa, or
• you have registered your relationship with an Australian State/Territory authority such as a registry of births, deaths and marriages.

You and anyone who applies for the visa with you must have a sponsor when you lodge your application and when you are on this visa.

Your sponsor is usually your partner.

We must approve your sponsor.

You cannot change your sponsor. The person who sponsors you when you apply for the visa must be same person who sponsors you for 2 years after we grant your temporary partner visa (subclass 309).