For Australian migration purposes, the term de facto relationship has a specific legal meaning defined in section 5CB of the Migration Act 1958. A de facto relationship is a genuine domestic relationship — either opposite-sex or same-sex — between two persons who are not married to each other and who live together as partners.

The de facto relationship pathway is one of the two relationship types that qualify a person to apply for an Australian partner visa (the other being marriage). The Migration Act definition is separate from the definitions used in state and territory family law and property law, which may differ.

• Migration Act 1958, s 5CB — definition of "de facto relationship" and "de facto partner"
• Migration Regulations 1994, reg 1.09A — prescribed registered relationships for migration purposes
• Migration Act 1958, s 5F — definition of "de facto partner" (cross-reference to s 5CB)
• DHA: About partner visas — immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/about-partner-visas
• DHA: Evidence of relationship — immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/evidence-of-relationship

The 12-month cohabitation requirement

To be in a de facto relationship for migration purposes, the two people must have been living together in their relationship for at least 12 months immediately before the date of the visa application. "Living together" means sharing a home and having a domestic life together — it is more than a casual or visiting relationship. The 12-month period must be continuous, though brief separations for work or family obligations do not automatically break continuity if the couple maintained their shared domestic life.

The 12-month requirement applies to unregistered de facto relationships. For registered relationships (see below), the 12-month period is not required.

Registered relationships

Couples whose relationship is registered under an Australian state or territory law prescribed for the purposes of the Migration Regulations are taken to be in a de facto relationship without needing to satisfy the 12-month cohabitation period. This provides an alternative pathway for couples who have recently formalised their relationship under state or territory relationship registration schemes.

Each Australian state and territory has its own relationship registration scheme. A relationship registered under one of these schemes — for example, a registered domestic partnership in Victoria or a registered relationship in the ACT — may satisfy the de facto relationship requirement. The Migration Regulations prescribe which state and territory registration laws are recognised for migration purposes. Overseas relationship registrations do not count as registered relationships for this purpose unless they are recognised under Australian law.

What "genuine domestic relationship" means

The de facto relationship must be a genuine domestic partnership. DHA assesses whether a relationship is genuine by reference to four aspects of the relationship:

• Financial aspects: Whether the couple have combined their finances, have joint accounts, or share financial commitments such as a mortgage, lease, or bills
• Nature of the household: Whether the couple share a residence, how they organise household responsibilities, and how long they have lived together
• Social aspects: Whether the couple are known to each other's families and friends as partners, whether they present as a couple in their social lives, and how they describe their relationship to others
• Commitment to each other: The length of the relationship, whether the couple have made joint plans for the future, whether they have children together, and any other evidence of long-term commitment

The exclusion requirement

The de facto relationship must be to the exclusion of all others — that is, it must be an exclusive couple relationship. A person in a polygamous arrangement does not satisfy the de facto relationship requirement for migration purposes, even if the relationship meets other criteria.

Same-sex relationships

Migration Act s 5CB expressly includes both opposite-sex and same-sex relationships. There is no distinction in how same-sex and opposite-sex de facto relationships are assessed for migration purposes. Both relationship types use the same criteria.

The Migration Act definition of de facto relationship is distinct from the definition used in state and territory family law (such as the Family Law Act 1975 at the federal level). A relationship that does not meet the family law definition may still qualify as a de facto relationship for migration purposes, and vice versa. The Migration Act definition applies for all migration decisions.

A couple who have been in a de facto relationship for 3 years or more (or 2 years if they have a dependent child together) at the time of the partner visa application may be eligible to have the two-year provisional period waived and be granted the permanent visa component directly. For current criteria, refer to the DHA partner visa pages.

Evidence of a de facto relationship for a partner visa application typically includes joint leases or mortgage documents, joint bank accounts or financial statements, statements from witnesses who know the couple as partners, photographs showing the couple together over time, and communications between the two. For the evidence checklist, refer to the DHA evidence of relationship page.