Registered relationships - a partner visa loophole?

For de facto couples, one of the toughest parts of the partner visa process is establishing that you have been in a de facto relationship for 1 year prior to making the application for a partner visa (1 year requirement). This gets particularly tough when you have come to Australia on a Working Holiday visa or a Visitor visa which both only last for 1 year (without doing rural work or getting an extension). The Department will be naturally sceptical if you claim your de facto relationship started on the day you arrived in Australia (especially given you were meant to be a genuine temporary entrant or coming here to travel and work) and you are making your partner visa application on the last day before your underlying visa expires.

This can be avoided if you get married or register your relationship. Doing either of these things removes the necessity of establishing the 1 year requirement, you only have to establish that you have been in a married or de facto relationship from the date of application onwards. However, registering your relationship has one big advantage over getting married: you can register your relationship after the date of application and be relieved of the 1 year requirement, whereas even if you get married after the date of application you still have to meet the 1 year requirement. Amazingly, you can also register your relationship after your partner visa application has been refused by the Department and apply to the AAT for review of the Department’s decision on the basis you don’t need to meet the 1 year requirement.

The only wrinkle in this swindle is that not all States and Territories allow you to register your relationship. Now that same-sex marriage is lawful, much of the impetus for allowing people to register their relationships has waned. Currently you can register your relationship in Tasmania, South Australia, Australian Capital Territory, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. People from Western Australia and the Northern Territory will need to relocate, at least temporarily, in order to register their relationships.

Information about how to register your relationship in South Australia can be found here, the ACT here, Tasmania here, Queensland here, New South Wales here and Victoria here.