Including secondary applicants in your application
You can include the following secondary applicants in your visa application:
- your spouse
- your interdependent partner
- a dependent child of you, your spouse or your interdependent partner
- a dependent relative of you or your spouse.
Spouse
A spouse is the person that you live with as husband or wife. This relationship may be a legal marriage or a de facto/common law relationship which involves members of the opposite sex.
Evidence to attach to your application
If you are legally married, you must include a certified copy of your marriage certificate issued by an official registry office.
If you are in a de facto/common law relationship, you must provide evidence to demonstrate that you have been in a genuine and ongoing relationship for the 12 months immediately before making the application, unless there are compelling reasons.
See: Fact sheet 35 One-Year Relationship Requirement
In all instances, you must include evidence that your relationship is genuine and continuing and you have a commitment to a shared life together. This may include:
Evidence of the history of your relationship
Both you and your spouse should provide a statement including all of the following:
- how, when and where you first met
- how your relationship developed
- your domestic arrangements, that is, how you support each other financially, physically and emotionally and when this level of commitment began
- any periods of separation, when and why the separation occurred, for how long and how you maintained your relationship during the period of separation
- your future plans.
Note: Your statement does not need to be made on a statutory declaration form. Your statement or statutory declaration must, however, be signed by the author.
Evidence of a genuine and continuing relationship
There are four broad categories of evidence that you need to provide.
- financial aspects:
- your living arrangements such as joint ownership of your house or joint names on a lease, correspondence addressed to both of you at the same address, joint responsibility for children
- social context:
- evidence that you and your partner are generally accepted as a couple socially, such as joint invitations, evidence of common friends, assessments by your friends and family of your relationship, joint travel or joint participation in sporting, social or cultural activities
- your commitment:
- knowledge of each other, intention that your relationship will be long term, through things such as the terms of your wills, and correspondence and phone accounts to show that contact was maintained during any periods of separation.
Interdependent partner
An interdependent partner is a same sex partner with whom you have a mutual commitment to a shared life to the exclusion of all others. The relationship between you and your partner must be genuine and continuing, and you must live together, or not live separately and apart on a permanent basis.
Evidence to attach to your application
You must include evidence that your relationship is genuine and continuing and that you and your partner have a commitment to a shared life together. You must also be able to show that you and your partner have been in an interdependent relationship for the entire 12 months immediately prior to lodging your application.
See: Fact sheet 35 One-Year Relationship Requirement
Note: The 12-month relationship requirement may be waived if you can demonstrate compelling and compassionate circumstances, such as if cohabitation was not permitted under the law of the country where you lived for the 12 months before you applied for your visa.
Evidence of the history of your relationship
Both you and your interdependent partner should provide a statement including all of the following:
- how, when and where you first met
- how your relationship developed
- when you decided to commence your interdependent relationship
- your domestic arrangements, that is, how you support each other financially, physically and emotionally and when this level of commitment began
- any periods of separation, when and why the separation occurred, for how long and how you maintained your relationship during the period of separation
- your future plans.
Note: Your statement does not need to be made on a statutory declaration form. Your statement or statutory declaration must, however, be signed by the author.
Evidence of a genuine and continuing relationship
There are four broad categories of evidence that you need to provide.
- financial aspects:
- sharing of finances, household bills and expenses, such as joint bank accounts, joint ownership of real estate or other assets
- the household:
- your living arrangements such as joint ownership of your house or joint names on a lease, correspondence addressed to both of you at the same address, joint responsibility for children
- social context:
- evidence that you and your partner are generally accepted as a couple socially, such as joint invitations, evidence of common friends, assessments by your friends and family of your relationship, joint travel or joint participation in sporting, social or cultural activities
- your commitment:
- knowledge of each other, intention that your relationship will be long term, through things such as the terms of your wills, and correspondence and phone accounts to show that contact was maintained during any periods of separation.
Dependent child
A dependent child is the natural, adopted, or step-child, of the main applicant, the main applicant's spouse or interdependent partner. They must have legal responsibility for the child. The child must:
- not be married, engaged to be married or in a de facto relationship and
- be under 18
or - if they have turned 18, are wholly or substantially reliant on the main applicant, the main applicant's spouse or interdependent partner for their basic needs, or are incapacitated for work.
Note: You may include in your application a child that is born after you lodge your application but before your application is decided. Your child is automatically taken to have applied at birth and to have made a combined application with you.
Evidence to attach to your application
You will need to show evidence that the child is your or your spouse's or interdependent partner's:
- natural child
- adopted child
or - step child.
'Step-child' means a natural or adopted child of your current spouse or a natural or adopted child of your former spouse where the child is under 18 years and you have a legal responsibility to care for them.
You should provide a certified copy of each child's birth certificate or adoption papers. If you have a step-child, you should provide evidence that you have legal responsibility for that child.
Custody requirement
If your application includes a child under 18 years of age and the child's other parent is not migrating with you, or there is any other person who has the legal right to determine where the child can live, you will need to provide:
- evidence that the law of your home country permits the removal of the child to Australia.
Example: Overseas court order granting you sole custody of the child - evidence that each person who can lawfully determine where the child is to live consents to the grant of the visa. Such evidence must be either:
- a statutory declaration or a legal document signed by the child's other parent (or any other person who can lawfully determine where the child shall live), consenting to the grant of the visa
- evidence that the child's other parent is dead, such as a certified copy of the death certificate
- evidence that the grant of the visa would be consistent with any Australian child order in force in relation to the child.
Example: Original or certified copy of the Australian Court order providing you with sole responsibility to decide where the child should live.
For a step-child, you will need to provide evidence that you were in a spouse relationship with the child's natural parent and that you have one of the following:
- a residence order in force for the child under the Australian Family Law Act 1975
- a specific issues order in force under the Australian Family Law Act 1975 giving you responsibility for the child's long-term or day-to-day care, welfare and development - known as a 'care order'
or - guardianship or custody, whether jointly or otherwise, under a Commonwealth, State or Territory law or a law in force in a foreign country.
Other dependent relatives
Other relatives of you or your spouse may be considered in the application if they meet all of the following:
- they have no other relative able to care for them in their own country and they either:
- have never been married
- are widowed
- are divorced
- are separated
- they are usually resident in your household
- they rely on you for financial support for their basic needs
- you have supported them for a substantial period
- they rely on you more than any other person or source.
Example: an aged, unmarried relative.
Evidence to attach to your application
You must complete Form 47A for each dependant aged 18 years or over, whether they are migrating with you or not. You cannot lodge this form electronically. You must send the form and all supporting documentation by post or courier directly to the Adelaide Skilled Processing Centre.
See: Form 47A Details of child or other dependent family member aged 18 years or over (248KB PDF file)
You will also need to provide:
- a certified copy of your relative's birth certificate and evidence of their relationship to you
- evidence that the relative resides in your household
- evidence that your relative has been dependent on you for at least the last 12 months
- if your relative is divorced or separated, evidence of their divorce or legal separation.