Need to live in South Australia to register your relationship there? – yes and no.
Registering a relationship for de facto couples
For de facto couples who have not lived together as a de facto couple for a year or more at the time they lodge their partner visa application, registering their relationship with the State Government can strengthen their application.
The South Australian Relationship Registration Residency requirement
The requirements for registering a relationship differ slightly from Australian State to State.
Some States require both of the couple to live in the State when they register their relationship. However, South Australia does not.
The South Australian requirement is that at least one of the couple must live in South Australia.
Why is this important?
It is important because it can be useful for de facto couples who want to register their relationship to strengthen their partner visa application, but only one of the couple is currently living in South Australia.
The other of the de facto couple could, for example, be living overseas and be lodging an offshore partner visa application based on their de facto relationship.
Some points to keep in mind:
Your relationship can’t be registered if you or your partner are:
- married
- already in a registered relationship
- in a relationship as a couple with another person
- related by family
- younger than 18 years old.
Couples may apply for registration irrespective of their sex or gender identity.
For the purposes of strengthening a partner visa application, couples can register their relationship right up until the date the Immigration department makes a decion on their partner visa application – the relationship doesn’t necessarily have to have been registered at the date the partner visa application was lodged.
Feel free to contact me to arrange a consultation if you would like to discuss this in more detail.
Regards. Ross McDougall. Solicitor & Registered Migration Agent.
Tel: 08 8528 9187
This information is correct at August 7th, 2020. But, keep in mind that immigration law changes from time to time.
Information (or the lack of it) contained here does not take into account anyone’s individual circumstances and should not be relied upon as immigration assistance or legal advice.
