De Facto vs Married for an Australian Partner Visa: The 12-Month Question and Its Exceptions

One of the most searched partner visa questions is some version of: do we need to get married first? The short answer is no — Australia’s partner visa framework treats married and de facto couples as parallel pathways to the same visas. But the pathways carry different threshold requirements, and the difference most couples trip over is the 12-month rule.

The two pathways, briefly

A partner visa — onshore 820/801 or offshore 309/100 — requires you to be either the spouse or the de facto partner of your Australian sponsor:

• Spouse: the marriage must be valid under Australian law, and the relationship must be genuine and continuing.
• De facto partner: you are not married, but live together (or do not live separately on a permanent basis) in a genuine, committed relationship to the exclusion of all others — and, generally, that relationship must have existed for at least 12 months before you apply.

There is a third door for couples who are engaged but not yet married and the applicant is offshore: the Subclass 300 Prospective Marriage visa, which lets the applicant enter Australia and marry the sponsor within the visa period, then move onto the onshore partner pathway.

What the 12 months actually measures

The 12-month requirement is measured against the de facto relationship, not the romance. The clock does not start when you matched online, or even necessarily when you moved in together — it runs from when the relationship had the character of a de facto partnership: mutual commitment to a shared life, exclusivity, and the merging of lives that goes with it. Couples routinely miscount this in both directions: some undercount by assuming only formal cohabitation counts, others overcount by dating the relationship from the first date.

Because it is a threshold criterion tied to the application date, getting it wrong is expensive. If the relationship falls short at lodgement, later months together cannot cure the application — which is one reason relationship timing questions deserve advice before lodging, not after a refusal.

The exceptions

The 12-month requirement is not absolute. The exceptions most commonly relevant:

• Relationship registration. Several Australian states and territories allow couples to register their relationship. A registered relationship generally removes the 12-month requirement for the partner visa. Registration is a state/territory process with its own eligibility rules (including residence-related requirements that vary by jurisdiction), so check whether and where your circumstances allow it.
• Compelling and compassionate circumstances. The rules recognise limited circumstances in which the requirement does not apply — assessed on the specific facts, not on hardship in a general sense.

What no exception does is lower the substantive bar. A registered one-month relationship still has to be proven genuine and continuing — and a young relationship, however real, simply has less history to evidence.

Married or de facto, the evidence burden is the same

This is the part that surprises people: marriage removes the duration requirement, but the Department assesses every partner relationship — married or de facto — against the same four areas: financial aspects, the nature of the household, social recognition of the relationship, and the nature of your commitment to each other. A wedding certificate proves a marriage occurred; it does not prove a shared life. Thin evidence is one of the most common reasons partner visas are refused, whichever pathway is used.

Our partner visa evidence checklist breaks down what belongs under each of the four pillars, and you can download the free partner visa checklist to start organising your documents against them.

So — should you marry, register, or wait?

There is no universally right answer. Marrying, registering the relationship, waiting out the 12 months, or applying under an exception each carry different timing, evidence and personal consequences — and the right sequencing depends on your visa status, where each of you is located, and how strong your evidence already is. That judgement is exactly what a consultation is for; no pathway choice guarantees a grant, and the relationship evidence carries the case in every scenario.

This article is general information only and is not migration advice for your circumstances. Migration advice is provided by Keshab Chapagain (MARN 1576536) after a consultation — contact WIDEN to discuss which pathway fits your relationship and timing.

Common questions

Do I have to be married to get an Australian partner visa?

No. The partner visa is available to both married spouses and de facto partners of an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen. The difference is in what each pathway must establish: a valid marriage for spouses, or a qualifying de facto relationship — generally of at least 12 months — for de facto applicants.

What is the 12-month rule for de facto partner visas?

De facto applicants generally need to show the de facto relationship existed for at least 12 months immediately before the application is lodged. It is measured against the relationship itself — commitment to a shared life together, to the exclusion of others — not simply the date you met or started dating.

How can the 12-month requirement not apply?

The main exception is registering the relationship with an Australian state or territory that offers relationship registration — a registered relationship generally removes the 12-month requirement. There are also limited compelling and compassionate circumstances recognised by the rules. None of the exceptions remove the need to prove the relationship is genuine and continuing.

Is it easier to get a partner visa if you're married?

Marriage removes the 12-month duration requirement, but it does not reduce the evidentiary burden. Married and de facto applicants alike must demonstrate a genuine and continuing relationship across the same assessment areas — financial, household, social, and commitment. A marriage certificate alone has never been enough.

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