This is a question that comes up quite often from our clients. The short answer in terms of applying directly for Permanent Residency is that it is all about the STATUS of your partnership. If you’ve been together for two years and have a child together, the Department may then considers the relationship a ‘long-term partner relationship’.
If this is the case, for your relationship to be considered a ‘long-term partner relationship’, you need to prove you have been together either in a defacto or spousal relationship with your partner for three years.
This is a good question and keep in mind that everyone’s relationship is unique. Even though you have been together with your partner for three years, the Department of Home Affairs requires proof that your relationship has the four aspects or what they consider as the ‘key factors’ of a genuine and ongoing relationship.
At the end of the day, you need to be able to present all your hard evidence because there is no ‘application form’ for you to complete to show your relationship meets the requirements. It’s not as simple as just being able to tick boxes that read: ‘I want to apply for Permanent Residency straight away’ or ‘I’m just trying to claim long-term partner relationship.’
Once you have gathered all the evidence you need to prove your relationship status, please feel free to contact one of our friendly and experienced MARA Registered Migration Agents. We will be happy to help you through the process and give specific advice that is tailored to your unique relationship circumstance.
We hope you found this information useful. Please check out our website, too, which details our Visa Planning Sessions. Feel free to comment and connect; we love getting your feedback and will reply to any questions you may have.
IMPORTANT: Please note, this does not constitute Immigration advice. Always seek advice from a Registered Migration Agent before applying for an Australian Visa. Migration Law is constantly changing. This information is accurate only at the time of publication.
I was born in Changsha (China), lived in Wuhan (China), and moved to Singapore when I was 8. So I speak Mandarin and Singlish. I might also speak a bit of Cat. I studied law and now specialise in migration law.
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So what’s the 4 aspects required?
Hi John! Excellent question.. The 4 aspects of a genuine and continuing relationship are the social aspect, financial aspect, nature of household and mutuality of commitment.
We’ve discussed this in more detail in this blog: https://www.freedommigration.com/how-to-lodge-a-partner-visa-in-6-steps/
We also have an upcoming blog dedicated to these 4 aspects so watch out for that!
Hi John, check out this video we made a while back on the 4 aspects and it gives you some ideas: https://youtu.be/yYnINQTKH1g We have loads of other helpful videos on our YouTube channel and we update it every week so make sure you subscribe.
Hi there,
I’ve been in a defacto for nearly 4 years – we live together in London and we’re looking into lodging the application.
Currently wondering if we could afford to do via an agent.
How much would that cost?
Many thanks!
Hi Magda, we have a range of services depending on how much much work you want to do on the application. If your case is pretty straightforward then you could use our Partner Visa Academy where we teach you how to do your own application. This can save you a lot of money. Check it out here https://thepartnervisaacademy.com.au if you want to use our full service or you think your case might be a bit complicated then the first step is to book in for a visa planning session. The cost for this session is $165AUD approx 95GBP. You can book in by going to this page https://www.freedommigration.com/how-to-book-a-visa-planning-session/