Here’s something that surprises most couples: it doesn’t really matter whether you’re married or de facto when it comes to your partner visa application. Both pathways lead to the exact same visas (820/801 if you’re applying onshore, or 309/100 if you’re offshore), cost the same eye-watering $9,365 in application fees, and get assessed against the same criteria.
The big question everyone asks is: “Which one is easier?” Honestly? Neither. What matters is how well you can prove your relationship is genuine and ongoing. That said, there’s one major practical difference that might influence your decision: if you’re applying as de facto, you’ll need to show you’ve been living together for at least 12 months. Married couples don’t have that requirement. But here’s the catch—getting married doesn’t automatically mean approval. A marriage certificate is just one piece of paper. Immigration officers want to see the full picture of your relationship.
Why the 12-month living together rule matters
If you’re going down the de facto path, you need to prove you’ve been in a de facto relationship for at least 12 months immediately before you lodge your application. And this is where couples often trip up—those 12 months need to be actual cohabitation. Dating for two years but only living together for six months? That doesn’t count. Long-distance relationship where you visited each other regularly? Also doesn’t count toward the 12 months.
This is where marriage becomes strategically useful. Get married, and boom—that 12-month requirement disappears entirely. You could theoretically get married and apply for the visa the next day (though you’d still need solid evidence of a genuine relationship).
But wait, there’s actually a clever workaround for de facto couples who haven’t hit that 12-month mark yet: relationship registration. Six Australian states and territories let you officially register your de facto relationship, and once you do, the 12-month rule no longer applies.
Here’s where it gets interesting. NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, and the ACT all offer relationship registration that’s recognized for immigration purposes. Western Australia has registration too, but unfortunately, it doesn’t count for visa applications. And the Northern Territory doesn’t offer it at all.
The costs and processing times vary wildly. The ACT is the best deal—completely free. Queensland is the fastest at about 10 days, though you’ll need to have lived there for at least six months and it’ll cost you $159. NSW takes the longest at around 13 weeks and costs $253. South Australia hits a sweet spot at $138 with a 28-day wait.
There are also some built-in exemptions to the 12-month rule. If you have a child together, you’re exempt. Same-sex couples who couldn’t legally live together in the applicant’s home country get an exemption. So do couples who couldn’t cohabit due to religious, cultural, or legal restrictions.
What they actually look at in your application
This might burst a bubble for some people, but having a marriage certificate doesn’t give you an easier ride through the application process. The Department of Home Affairs uses the same assessment framework for everyone, whether you’re married or de facto. They call them the “four pillars” of evidence, and you need to nail all of them.
The financial pillar covers things like joint bank accounts, shared bills, assets you own together, making each other superannuation beneficiaries, and having power of attorney for each other. It’s about showing you’ve tangled your financial lives together in the way real couples do.
The household pillar is pretty self-explanatory: joint leases or mortgages, bills in both your names, mail coming to both of you at the same address, sharing responsibility for pets or kids. Basically proving you actually live together as a household unit.
The social pillar looks at your relationship from the outside looking in. Photos together (but not just selfies—pictures with friends and family), joint social media presence, travel records, invitations to events addressed to both of you, and those crucial statutory declarations from friends and family who can vouch for your relationship.
The commitment pillar is the emotional heart of it all. This is where your relationship statements come in—detailed accounts of how you met, how the relationship developed, what your daily life looks like together, how you support each other, and your plans for the future. Communication records help here too, especially if you’ve had periods of separation. Wills naming each other, joint insurance policies, and documented future plans all add weight.
One migration agent put it bluntly: “A marriage certificate is not the magic piece of paper that will result in your visa being granted. We’ve seen plenty of cases where married couples have come to us with a visa refusal.” On the flip side, de facto couples with rock-solid evidence across all four pillars get approved all the time without any extra hassle.
When marriage actually makes sense
Look, sometimes getting married before you apply is just the smarter move. If you’ve been together less than 12 months and you can’t register your relationship (maybe you’re in WA or NT, or neither of you can establish residency in a state that offers registration), marriage is your clearest path forward.
Long-distance couples often find marriage simplifies things too. If you’re doing FIFO work, or one of you has been stuck overseas due to visa restrictions, or you’ve just had an international relationship, proving 12 months of cohabitation can be genuinely difficult. Marriage cuts through that complexity.
There’s also the Prospective Marriage Visa (Subclass 300) if you want to marry in Australia. It costs the same $9,365 and lets your partner come to Australia, get married here, and then apply for the partner visa onshore. This works well when your partner can’t easily get to Australia on other visa types.
Some couples also just feel more comfortable with the legal recognition that marriage provides, especially if the relationship started overseas. While Australia generally recognizes overseas marriages if they were valid where performed, proving an overseas de facto relationship can require more documentation.
When de facto works perfectly fine
If you’ve been living together for 12 months or more and you’ve got strong evidence across all four pillars, de facto applications work just as well as married ones. In fact, couples who’ve been together for three or more years (or two years with a dependent child) can get something amazing: the “double grant.” That’s when you get both your temporary and permanent visas at the same time, cutting years off the waiting period. And this opportunity exists equally for married and de facto couples.
De facto is also your only option if you’re still legally married to someone else. As long as you’re genuinely separated from your ex and living with your new partner, you can apply as de facto. You don’t need to wait for a divorce to be finalized.
Let me share a couple of real success stories. One couple deliberately waited until they’d been together 3.5 years before applying, specifically to exceed that three-year threshold for a double grant. They applied de facto and got both visas within 19 months. Another applicant went absolutely meticulous with their evidence—12 files of travel documentation, highlighted bank transactions with explanation notes for each one, daily messaging screenshots organized chronologically. They got their double grant in just four months.
Quick decision guide based on your situation
If you’re together less than 12 months and can’t register your relationship, marriage is probably your best bet. It removes the time barrier completely.
For long-distance couples with patchy cohabitation records, marriage or the Prospective Marriage Visa makes the evidence path clearer.
If you’ve got 12+ months of living together and solid documentation, either pathway works—just focus on evidence quality over which box you tick on the form.
Can’t marry or just don’t want to? De facto with registration works great. The registration waives that 12-month requirement but you still need comprehensive evidence.
If one of you is still legally married to someone else, de facto is your only option—but that’s perfectly fine.
And if you’ve been together three or more years (or two years with a child), either pathway can get you that coveted double grant. The relationship duration matters more than your marital status here.
The waiting game and what to expect
Current processing times for the temporary visa stage (820 or 309) run about 6-20 months for most people, with 90% processed within 23-29 months. The permanent visa (801 or 100) gets assessed two years after you lodge, with most decisions coming through 5-9 months after you become eligible.
Here’s an interesting pattern: offshore applications (309/100) are moving faster than onshore ones right now. Well-prepared offshore applications are seeing 9-13 month processing times versus up to 26 months onshore. This is mainly because more people are applying onshore.
The backlog is significant—about 98,000 partner visa applications are currently waiting, and the annual allocation is only 40,500 places. Some analysts are worried this could eventually stretch to 5+ year wait times, though partner visas legally can’t be capped and must be processed on demand.
There’s no way to pay for priority processing. However, you can request priority consideration through the Partner Processing Enquiry Form if you have compassionate and compelling circumstances—things like expiring health clearances or critical humanitarian situations.
Mistakes that’ll sink your application
The biggest mistake? Inadequate relationship statements. Migration agents typically recommend spending 6-10 hours writing a comprehensive statement of 4-10 pages. The online form only gives you 2,000 character boxes—that’s nowhere near enough. Write your full statement separately, then in those boxes just put “Please see attached [filename]” and upload your detailed document.
Evidence imbalance is another killer. Some couples submit 500 photos but have no joint bank accounts or shared bills. The case officer needs to see strength across all four pillars—financial, household, social, and commitment. A hundred holiday photos won’t make up for a lack of financial integration.
Timeline inconsistencies create huge red flags. Your dates need to match across your relationship statement, your partner’s statement, your Form 888 witness declarations, and all your supporting documents. One migration lawyer noted that even honest mistakes can look like lies to a case officer who’s trying to assess your credibility.
Failing to update your application during the long processing period is surprisingly common. If you move house and don’t notify the Department, they might think your relationship has ended. Successful applicants usually upload fresh evidence every 2-3 months throughout the waiting period.
Don’t forget about social media. Case officers check. If what you’re posting online doesn’t match what you’ve submitted in your application, you’ve got a problem.
The relationship registration breakdown by state
If you’re considering registration to bypass the 12-month rule, here’s what you need to know about each state.
The ACT wins for value—completely free, no fees at all. One of you needs to live in the territory though.
South Australia is next cheapest at $138 with a 28-day processing time. One partner needs to be a resident.
Queensland is the fastest—about 10 days processing—but requires at least one partner to have lived there for six months. It costs $159.
Tasmania costs $226 and uniquely requires both partners to be Tasmanian residents—the only state with this two-resident requirement.
Victoria charges $251.50, processes in 28+ days, and requires one partner to have lived there for three months.
NSW is the slowest at around 13 weeks and the most expensive at $253. One partner needs to be a resident.
Remember though: relationship registration just removes the 12-month barrier. It doesn’t guarantee approval. You still need comprehensive evidence across all four pillars. As one migration agent put it, “We give little weight to a registration of relationship certificate given how easy it is to obtain.” Think of registration as opening the door—solid evidence is what gets you through it.
Money talk—what you’ll actually spend
The application fee of $9,365 is the same whether you’re married or de facto. No difference. This single fee covers both stages of the visa—temporary and permanent.
Beyond that, budget for medical examinations ($350-500 per adult), police clearances from every country you’ve lived in for 12+ months in the past decade (prices vary by country), document translations if needed ($50-100 per page), and potentially migration agent fees if you decide to use one ($2,500-7,000+).
If your application gets refused and you want to appeal, the Administrative Review Tribunal fee is $3,580 as of July 2025.
Myths that need busting
“Marriage means automatic approval” is probably the most dangerous misconception. Married couples get refused all the time when they rely too heavily on the marriage certificate and don’t provide enough evidence of their actual relationship.
“De facto is harder” has no basis in how applications are actually assessed. Both types undergo identical scrutiny. The only difference is that 12-month cohabitation requirement.
“Having a baby guarantees a visa” is false. Children can help you qualify for exemptions or a double grant, but without proving you have a genuine relationship, parenthood alone won’t get you approved.
“Engagement grants any rights” misunderstands the system completely. Being engaged shows commitment, which is nice for your evidence, but it doesn’t give you any special visa pathway. You need the Prospective Marriage Visa, or to actually get married first.
“Longer relationships mean automatic approval” ignores what the Department actually cares about—whether your relationship is genuine and continuing right now. A well-documented two-year relationship can succeed while a poorly-documented ten-year relationship fails.
What actually works: lessons from people who’ve done it
The couples who get fast approvals tend to do similar things. One couple who got their double grant in just four months created a detailed timeline table, summary charts to help the case officer navigate their application, organized photos with descriptive captions, and highlighted every relevant bank transaction with explanation notes. They approached it with the mindset: “I’m a case officer who knows nothing about this relationship—what would I need to see?”
Successful DIY applicants recommend starting way earlier than you think you need to. Police clearances can take 2+ months from some countries. Medical appointments get booked out. Get these moving immediately.
Secure more than two Form 888 witnesses as backup—sometimes people who promise to write one don’t follow through, or they do it at the last minute and the quality suffers.
Use cloud storage to organize everything. You can upload 100 files per applicant to ImmiAccount (5MB each). Stay organized from the start and it’ll save you massive stress later.
Here’s the most critical insight from experienced applicants: keep gathering and uploading evidence throughout the entire processing period. Don’t just submit and forget. Regular updates show the relationship is ongoing, keep your file current, and can actually speed up your processing when a case officer finally looks at your application.
So which pathway should you choose?
The honest answer is: it depends entirely on your specific situation. For couples who haven’t been living together for 12 months yet and can’t access state relationship registration, marriage makes life simpler. For established couples with documented cohabitation, either pathway works equally well if you’ve got comprehensive evidence.
The Department of Home Affairs cares about one thing above all else: is your relationship genuine and continuing? Your marital status is just the starting point. Your evidence tells the story that gets you approved.
Focus your energy on building a comprehensive application that covers financial integration, household sharing, social recognition, and mutual commitment. Keep your timeline consistent across all documents. Update regularly during processing. Do those things well, and whether you’re married or de facto becomes almost irrelevant.
At the end of the day, both pathways lead to the same destination: building your life together in Australia. Choose the one that fits your circumstances, then pour your effort into the evidence that proves what you already know, that your relationship is the real deal. Start your journey with us on The Migration, or book a personalised partner visa consultation today to get expert guidance tailored to your situation.
