A de facto partner visa allows you to live in Australia if your partner is an Australian citizen, a permanent Australia resident, or a new eligible New Zealand resident according to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. The visa can also allow you to work, study, and enroll in Australia's medical benefits expenses and hospital care schemes. However, to obtain this visa, you need to complete an application, provide evidence of a relationship between you and your partner, and get approved. Here are some of the key requirements that you need to meet so as to get approved for this visa.

Twelve month requirement

A de facto partner visa is applied when two individuals are in a relationship but are not legally married in Australia or any other country. To qualify for this visa, you must have been in a serious and stable relationship with your partner for at least twelve months before the date of application for the visa. You will be required to provide evidence of a committed relationship such as joint bank accounts, joint tickets, photographs, utility bills, rental agreements, and statutory declarations.

Evidence of shared social life

You will need to provide evidence that you and your partner share a social life as proof of a committed relationship. Some of the documents that can be used as proof include joint mail, joint invitations, and joint membership to clubs over the past twelve months or more. This can be difficult to prove if you and your partner hardly ever attend any social events and functions together. You should start gathering the evidence immediately you start thinking about applying for a de facto partner visa.

Police check

You will be required to provide a police clearance certificate from all the countries that you or your spouse has lived in before coming to Australia. This process can take some few weeks or months; therefore, you need to make the application way before deciding to apply for a visa. This will prevent any last minute delays and inconveniences as you will be required to attach the certificates to your visa application.

Statutory declarations

You will be required to provide statutory declarations from friends or people who know you, your partner and can attest to the existence of a committed relationship between you and your partner. These witnesses must be Australian residents or citizens and they will be required to complete a declaration form. Finding witnesses for the statutory declaration should not be difficult for you and your partner are assumed to have lived together and shared a social life for the past twelve months.

Applying for a de facto partner visa can be a lengthy process and exhausting process. Seeking professional help can help smooth the entire process and ensure that all the relevant documents are submitted together with the application. For more information, contact a business such as Fisa Pty Ltd.