What’s the difference between an Australian Spouse Visa, Partner Visa, De Facto Visa?

Spouse Visa, Partner Visa, De Facto Visa — they are all the same Partner Visa essentially!

There is no de facto visa, there is no spouse visa, there is no partner visa. They are all one visa. The difference is actually if you are applying for an offshore partner visa or an onshore partner visa.

If you are applying for a partner visa, you are applying on the basis of being in a de facto relationship means you have lived together for 12 months or you’re in a Married/Spousal relationship, so you’re husband and wife.

The terms can be confusing as different people call it different things. The Department of Immigration tend to use the term Partner Visa.

There is another visa class called a prospective marriage visa, but we will explain that in another video.

The main point to take away is, don’t get confused by the different terms! They are ultimately all the same visa. It’s a Partner Visa and it’s either applied for from outside of Australia (Offshore application which is a subclass 309 visa) or inside Australia (Onshore Application which is a subclass 820 visa).

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.