Partnership requirements
You must be able to show us that you're living together in a genuine and stable relationship before we can grant you a visa based on your partnership.
Living together means sharing the same home as your partner, which doesn’t include:
spending time in each other’s homes while you each maintain your own home
sharing accommodation while on holiday
flatmate arrangements.
Assessing partnership
When we assess if you meet our partnership requirements, we'll look at things like:
how long you’ve been together
how long you've been living together as a couple
your living arrangements
whether you support each other financially
how you share financial responsibilities
how committed you are to a life together
whether you own property together and/or share your property
any children you have together, including your arrangements for their care
whether you share common household tasks
whether other people recognise your relationship.
Evidence of partnership
You and your partner must provide enough evidence to show us that you're living together in a genuine and stable relationship.
Your evidence will be more credible if it's from official sources. For example, a joint tenancy agreement showing the date that you and your partner started renting a property together is better than your friend writing us a letter to tell us how long you've been living together.
You don’t have to provide all of the documents listed as examples, but the more evidence you provide, the easier it will be for us to make a decision about your application.
Examples
Evidence to show us you're in a genuine and stable relationship can include:
marriage or civil union certificates
birth certificates for any children you share
cards, letters, emails and social media conversations
photos together
evidence that others recognise your relationship
evidence you make decisions and plans together
evidence you parent together
evidence you spend leisure time together
a joint rental agreement or home loan
mail addressed to you together at the same place and time
joint bank accounts
evidence you own assets together
joint credit cards or hire purchase agreements
joint utilities accounts, like power or phone bills.
Time spent living apart
If you and your partner have spent time living apart, you should provide information about your separation, including:
the reasons you were living apart
how long you were living apart
how you kept in touch while apart.