South Australian Relationship Register
Ross McDougall Immigration Lawyer.
The South Australian parliament in December 2016 has approved legislation that will introduce a relationship register in South Australia.
How Does it help de facto Visa Applicants?
That’s great news for same-sex and opposite-sex de facto couples. If you have a connection to South Australia and are applying for a partner visa and your de facto relationship is relatively new, the relationship register will help.
Why? Because if a de facto couple can register their relationship, the immigration department does not require them to have lived together for a year prior to applying for a partner visa. That requirement for a partner visa on de facto grounds is ‘waived’.
When Does it Start?
The legislation hasn’t been published yet. A start date has not been announced. I expect it will commence in 2017.
The draft of the relationship register legislation stated that only one of the de facto couple needs to live in South Australia for their relationship to be registered. There is no minimum period of residency in South Australia required. That’s good news on both counts.
So, it will ultimately be easier to register a relationship in South Australia than it is in some other Australian States.
For instance, Victoria requires both parties to the relationship to be living in Victoria. They also have to have lived in Victoria for one year before they can register their relationship.
If one (or both) of you are married, it won’t be possible to register your relationship in South Australia. You can’t register if you have already registered your relationship in another State.
The fine details will be confirmed when the legislation is published. It’s looking optimistic at the moment though.
It’s been a long time coming to South Australia! It will mean that de facto couples no longer need to move interstate to register their relationship before lodging a partner visa application.
