[Umbreon]

Hey all,

I have looked around and couldn't really find a good answer on this. Me and my partner (same sex couple) were intending to apply for a prospective marriage visa (300) now that same sex marriage is legalised in Australia. We thought the 300 would be the best option as we intend to get married and this gave us a little extra time to gather evidence and stuff before applying for the permanent partner migration visa (We don't take pictures very often and having not realised the extent of the evidence needed for a partner visa, we kinda messed up and are worried this might seem strange as we only have 2 or 3 pictures together lying around).

My thought is that we might be considered de facto and as far as I am aware anyone already married to their partner would obviously be ineligible to apply for a 300, would de facto partners also be ineligible even if they are engaged to be married?

Just some quick info:

I am from the UK
We met online 3+ years ago
I came to Aus for a WHV (417) mid 2016 and stayed for pretty much the entire year (minus 2-3days) living with my partner the entire time (this is when we first met)
I signed the rental agreement with him which I am still on
We got a joint bank account which is still active
Around 3 months after I returned to the UK I came back to Australia on a 3 month tourist visa and returned late 2017
Currently in the UK

I'm a bit confused as to whether or not we'd be considered de facto at all (let alone if that affects the Visa 300) as the time living together was broken up (and on tourist visas not resident visas), and also wanted to ask if we should consider applying for the 820 over the 300 if this is the case.

Sorry for the long post and thanks for any help in advance.

 

[Mania]

Defacto partners are eligable for a prospective marriage visa.

A prospective marriage visa is preferable where there is limited evidence of an ongoing relationship for the purposes of a 309 or 820 assuming the couple want to get married. Not it costs slightly more and you will still need to go down the 820 route after marriage.

The class of visa you are/were on is not related to the relationship you have together.

You would need to be onshore to apply for an 820. You can apply for a 309 if you are offshore.

If you are in an ongoing relationship to the exclusion of all other for a period over 12 months wherein you have made mutual commitment to each other then you would be considered defacto. Time apart can be explained due to the nature of your visas. As long as you do not intend to permanently live apart it's not an issue.

Personally based on what you've said I think you will be able to go down the 309 / 820 route, would perhaps be an idea to get all the evidence together, if you're unsure have a consult with a MARA registered migration agent, they will be able to assess your evidence against the legislation and give you definitive answers based on your case.

P.s. Would appreciate it if you can amend the language in the last line of the first paragraph