Evidence of de facto and/or Spousal Relationship

When someone applies for a partner visa (subclass 302/100, or subclass 820/801, or subclass 300) either as a married spouse or in a de facto relationship, they must provide evidence demonstrating they are and have been in genuine relationship.

If you are married and you lodge your partner visa as a married partner, a marriage certificate is certainly the most important document to demonstrate your relationship. However this is not enough.  You should ensure that you gather and retain as much evidence as you can to support your claims.

If you and your sponsor have not registered for marriage, you must ensure that you have evidence that confirms that your relationship has been of a de facto nature for a minimum of 12 months prior to the lodgement of your application.

Evidence of de facto relationship /or spousal relationship

As well as evidence demonstrating your relationship history with your sponsor, there are 4 broad categories of evidence that you need to provide to the Australian Department of Immigration (if you have not already done so).

• Financial aspects;
• Nature of the household;
• Social context of the relationship; and
• Nature of your commitment to each other with future plans;

Examples of Relationship Evidence

FINANCIAL ASPECTS

• Joint/individual banking accounts / personal accounts showing contributions to hold expenses/savings
• Joint/individual credit cards;
• Joint/individual investments/property/stocks/shares/etc;
• Joint/individual loans (mortgage/car/personal/etc);
• Joint assets or evidence of joint/individual purchases/major expenses;
• Other documentary evidence as much as possible;

NATURE OF THE HOUSEHOLD

• Joint Tenancy Agreement/ownership (if shared accommodation) a statement from house owner/lease holder (this includes the agent if applicable) of how you contribute to household expenses and the living arrangements;
• Home inspection report/property manager’s contact;
• Rental receipts or joint/individual utility accounts -water, gas, phone, electricity or property rates;
• Joint building/contents/car insurance policies;
• Joint responsibility of care and support of children;
• Purchases for baby goods; and
• Other documentary as much as you can;

SOCIAL ASPECTS OF THE RELATIONSHIP

• Evidence Relationship Declared to ATO or Centrelink (e.g. your tax returns where you have completed the declaration stating you had a partner for whole or part of the tax year (note this is not the tax assessment notice from the tax office);
• Evidence relationship declared to other Government/Commercial Financial Organisations;
• Joint group/organisation memberships;
• Correspondence addressed jointly and/or separately to same address;
• Invitation/cards addressed to both parties and separately;
• Joint travel itinerary + boarding passes and photo evidence;
• Photos of couple together during course of relationship in different social settings;
• Other documentary evidence;

NATURE OF THE COMMITMENT

• Marriage certificate (issued from the Registrar Births, Deaths and Marriages). A foreign marriage certificate is equally acceptable;
• Australian Relation Certificates (issued from the Registrar Births, Deaths and Marriages);
• Wills / life assurance/superannuation policies showing partner as beneficiary;
• Family health insurance;
• Birth certificate/s of any children from relationship;
• Notification of couple expecting child;
• Evidence of correspondence between parties during any period of separation;
• Phone records/WhatsApp/WeChat, web transcript/Facebook transcript/info etc.;
• Written statement of future plans, such as purchase of your own property, having a child or children in the near future etc.;
• Other documentary evidence if any;