Including Your Partner in a Parent Visa 103 Application: Relationship Evidence in 2026
You can include your spouse or de facto partner in a Parent visa (subclass 103) application, and the relationship evidence the Australian Department of Home Affairs asks for is narrow and specific: your current marriage certificate, or documents proving you have been in a de facto relationship for at least 12 months before you apply. That requirement sits on the Department's Parent visa (Subclass 103) official page (as at July 2026), in the documents list for partners, next to identity documents and character documents for the same person. This is general information rather than personalised migration assistance — the Department's page and the Migration Regulations 1994 are the reference points, and where your situation is unusual, the official wording governs, or advice from someone the Department lists as lawfully able to give immigration assistance.
What does "evidence of your relationship" mean for a partner?
The partner documents list on the official page has four items, and only one of them is about the relationship itself:
- identity documents
- character documents
- evidence of your relationship with them, for example your current marriage certificate or documents that prove you have been in a de facto relationship for at least 12 months before you apply
- documents about other relationships, if applicable
So the relationship question is answered in one of two ways — by a marriage certificate, or by a de facto paper trail. The fourth item catches relationships outside the current one; where your partner has been married before or has another relationship that is relevant, that is where those documents belong.
Is a marriage certificate treated differently from a de facto relationship?
Yes, and the difference is in the type of proof, not in the standard. A married partner is covered by the current marriage certificate; a de facto partner has to be covered by documents that prove the relationship ran for at least 12 months before the application was lodged.
One practical consequence: if a marriage certificate is also being used to explain a change of name, it belongs in the identity material as well. The official page lists a marriage or divorce certificate among the documents that prove a change of name, alongside change of name documents from an Australian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages or the relevant overseas authority.
Do we need 12 months of living together, or 12 months of relationship?
The wording on the official page is "documents that prove you have been in a de facto relationship for at least 12 months before you apply". The period is measured backwards from the date you apply, and the documents listed for proving it are:
- joint bank account statements
- billing accounts in joint names
- joint leases or mortgages
- documents that show you have lived at the same address as your partner
Shared address is one of the four listed ways of proving the relationship, not the definition of it. That matters for couples who keep separate addresses for work, caring or cultural reasons: the page does not say a shared address is the only route, it says documents showing a shared address are one kind of proof.
How should joint accounts, bills and a lease be combined?
Treat the four listed document types as a set rather than a menu. Each one shows a different slice of a shared life, and the value comes from how they overlap:
- Joint bank account statements show money moving through a shared account over time — the dating on the statements is what anchors the 12-month period.
- Billing accounts in joint names show recurring household obligations held together, which is different evidence from a single large transaction.
- A joint lease or mortgage shows a formal, dated commitment to the same household.
- Documents showing the same address corroborate the other three by placing both of you in one place across the same window.
The editorial point is coverage, not volume. A folder with one joint statement from last month says far less than a run of statements, a lease and joint bills that point at the same address over the same twelve months. Where documents name only one partner, they still help if they establish the shared address. Also keep the material consistent with what you write in the form — the official page separately warns that there are consequences for not giving accurate or complete information.
What else does the Department ask for from your partner?
Including a partner means running them through the same basic document checks as any other person on the application:
- Identity: the pages of the current passport showing the photo, personal details, and issue and expiry dates; a national identity card if they have one; proof of change of name if applicable.
- Character: the Department may ask for police certificates, and the page is explicit that you should not arrange a police check until it asks.
- Photos: four recent photos of anyone included in the application — passport-size (45mm x 35mm), less than six months old, good quality colour (no laser copies), full face, plain light-coloured background.
- Health: family members who apply for the visa must meet health and character requirements, and the Department tells you when health examinations are needed.
Including a partner does not switch off the other parts of the application. Balance of family test documents, sponsor documents (unless you are applying as a retiree), and an Assurance of Support when the Department asks for it still sit on the same page. The Assurance of Support does not have to come from your sponsor or a family member — an individual, more than one person, or an organisation can provide it.
Can you add your partner after you have already lodged?
You might be able to add your partner before a decision is made. The official page directs you to complete and send Form 1436 Adding an additional applicant after lodgement, and to give the Department evidence of your relationship plus a copy of your partner's passport. If the application was lodged online or imported into ImmiAccount, the form can be uploaded there; otherwise it can be sent using the Parent visa processing centre form.
Location matters when you add a partner. A spouse or de facto partner can be in or outside Australia when you add them — unless you applied as a retiree, in which case they must be in Australia.
Because the 12-month standard on the page is written for partners who apply with you, the sensible approach for a partner added later is to assemble the same kind of evidence: documents that place the relationship before the point you add them, not just before the point you are asked for papers. Subclass 103 is also capped and queued, and the Department assesses in two stages — an initial assessment to add the application to the queue or refuse it, then a final assessment as places become available. The page states applications may take longer if they are not completed correctly, if documents are missing, or if information takes a long time to verify.
What changes if you apply as a retiree?
The retiree pathway changes who can be included at all. On the official page, someone applying as a retiree under the Retirement visa pathway can include their partner when they apply only if the partner also holds a Retirement visa or Investor Retirement visa, and cannot include children — their own or their partner's. A retiree applicant must be in Australia (but not in immigration clearance) when applying, and does not need to meet the balance of family test or have a sponsor or an Assurance of Support.
The same restriction follows the partner after lodgement: if you applied as a retiree, the spouse or de facto partner you add must be in Australia when you add them.
What happens if the relationship evidence is thin or contradictory?
Three separate mechanisms on the official page deal with weak documentation. Identity failure is the harshest: if identity cannot be proved, the application can be refused, another visa might not be granted for 10 years, and family members listed on the application might also not be granted a visa for 10 years. Inaccurate or incomplete information carries its own stated consequences. And if you make a mistake on the application, the page asks you to report it using Form 1023 Notification of incorrect answers.
Relationship status is also one of the changes you must report after applying, along with phone number, email, address, passport and family composition. That obligation makes a certain kind of inconsistency expensive: a de facto relationship claimed at lodgement and no longer existing by the time the application is reached for final assessment is a change the Department expects to hear about. Under the Migration Regulations 1994, public interest criterion 4020 deals with bogus documents and false or misleading information, and the Regulations set out refusal and an exclusion period as consequences — check the current official wording, since the Regulations are amended regularly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I add my partner if we married after I lodged the application?
You may be able to add a partner before a decision is made, using Form 1436 Adding an additional applicant after lodgement, together with evidence of your relationship and a copy of their passport. Clause 103.612 of the Migration Regulations 1994 provides that condition 8515, which restricts marrying or entering a de facto relationship before entering Australia, may be imposed on this visa, so confirm the current official wording and your own visa conditions.
Is our marriage certificate enough on its own?
For a married partner, the official page asks for your current marriage certificate as the evidence of relationship. It does not ask you to also produce the de facto documents — those are the alternative route for couples who are not married.
Do joint bank statements have to cover the entire 12 months?
The page requires documents proving a de facto relationship of at least 12 months before you apply, and lists joint bank account statements as one type of proof. Statements that span the period are more useful than a single recent one, especially when paired with joint bills, a joint lease or mortgage, and documents showing a shared address.
Does my partner need a police certificate when we apply?
Character documents are on the partner list, but the Department says not to arrange a police check until it asks for one. Your partner will be told if and when character documents, health examinations or biometrics are required.
Can my partner stay outside Australia while the application is queued?
A partner included in the application can generally be in or outside Australia at the time of lodgement, and can be in or outside Australia when added later unless you applied as a retiree, in which case they must be in Australia. The applicant must be outside Australia when the Department makes its decision, unless they applied as a retiree.
Does including my partner change what the visa costs?
The visa costs from AUD 8,665 for a single applicant, with additional charges for each family member who applies with you. It is paid in two instalments — the first when you apply, the second when asked — and the application fee is not refunded if the application is refused.
What if we separate while the application is still waiting?
Relationship status is one of the changes you must tell the Department about after applying, along with changes to contact details, passport and family composition. A partner's inclusion also depends on continued family membership at the time of decision under the Migration Regulations 1994, so the current status of the relationship — not just its status at lodgement — is what eventually matters.